Managing disk space

 

Disk space is nothing more complicated than the hard drive on your own

computer. Each hard drive has the capacity, or space, for a certain amount
of files. An 80GB (gigabyte) hard drive can hold 80GB of data — no more.
Your hosting account provides you a

same concept applies. If your Web host provides you 10GB of disk space,

that’s the absolute limit you have. If you want more disk space, you need to upgrade your space limitations. Most Web hosts have a mechanism in place for you to upgrade your allotment.

Starting with a self-hosted WordPress blog doesn’t take much disk space at
all. A good starting point for disk space is between 3-5GB of storage space.
If you find that you need additional space, contact your hosting provider for
an upgrade in space.

limited amount of disk space, and the

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

Think of your Web host as a garage that you pay to park your car in. The garage gives you the place to store your car (disk space). It even gives you the driveway so that you, and others, can get to and from your car (bandwidth). It won’t, however, fix your rockin’ stereo system (WordPress or any other third-party software application) that you’ve installed — unless you’re willing to pay a few extra bucks for that service.

Most Web hosting providers give you access to a hosting account manager
that allows you to log in to your Web hosting account to manage services.
cPanel is perhaps the most popular management interface, but Plesk and
NetAdmin are still widely used. These management interfaces give you
access to your server logs where you can view such things as bandwidth
and hard disk usage. Get into a habit of checking those things occasionally
to make sure that you stay informed about how much usage your site is
using. Typically, I check monthly.

 

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Dealing with disk space and bandwidth

 

Web hosting services provide two very important things with your account:

 

✦ Disk space: The amount of space you can access on the Web servers’
hard drive; generally measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).

✦ Bandwidth transfer: The amount of transfer your site can do per month;
typically, traffic is measured in gigabytes (GB).

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Getting help with hosting WordPress

Here is a list of some of those providers:

✦ Blogs About Hosting: http://blogs-about.com (shown in Figure 1-2)
✦ Laughing Squid: http://laughingsquid.net

✦ BlueHost: http://bluehost.com

✦ DreamHost: http://dreamhost.com

 

A few Web hosting providers offer free domain name registration when you
sign up for hosting services. Research this topic and read their terms of ser-
vice because that free domain name may come with conditions. Many of our
clients have gone this route, only to find out a few months later that the Web
hosting provider has full control of the domain name, and the client can’t
move that domain off the host’s servers, either for a set period (usually, a
year or two) or for infinity. It’s always best to have the control in your hands,
not someone else’s, so try to stick with an independent domain registrar,
such as Network Solutions.

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Getting help with hosting WordPress

 

The popularity of WordPress has given birth to Web services — including WordPress designers, WordPress consultants, and (yes) Web hosts — that specialize in using WordPress.

 

Many of these hosts offer a full array of WordPress features, such as an

automatic WordPress installation included with your account, a library of WordPress themes, and a staff of support technicians who are very experienced in using WordPress.

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

 If the technojargon confuses you — specifically, all that talk about PHP,
MySQL and FTP in this section — don’t worry! Chapter 2 of this minibook
gives you an in-depth look into what FTP is and how you will use it on your
Web server; Book II, Chapter 3 introduces you to the basics of PHP and
MySQL. Become more comfortable with these topics because we discuss
them frequently.

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

 

The easiest way to find whether a host meets the minimum requirement is to check the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the host’s Web site, if it has one. If not, find the contact information for the hosting company, and fire off an e-mail requesting information on exactly what it supports. Any Web host worth dealing with will answer your e-mail within a reasonable amount of time (12-24 hours is a good barometer).

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

✦ Domain e-mail with Web mail access
✦ File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access
✦ Comprehensive Web site statistics
✦ MySQL database(s)

✦ PHP

Because you intend to run WordPress on your Web server, you need to look for a host that provides the minimum requirements needed to run the software on your hosting account, which are

 

✦ PHP version 4.3 (or greater)

✦ MySQL version 4.0 (or greater)

 

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

On the other hand, if your Web host supports the software on your account,
it comes at a cost: You have to pay for that extra support. To find whether
your chosen host supports WordPress, ask first. If your host doesn’t offer
software support, you can still find WordPress support in the support
forums at http://wordpress.org/support, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Several Web hosting providers also have WordPress-related services available for additional fees. These services can include technical support, plugin installation and configuration, and theme design.

Generally, hosting services provide (at least) these services with your
account:

 

✦ Hard drive space

✦ Bandwidth (transfer)

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

When discussing Web hosting considerations, it is important to understand
where your hosting account ends and WordPress begins. Support for the
WordPress software may or may not be included in your hosting package.

Some Web hosts consider WordPress to be a third-party application. This
means that the host typically won’t provide technical support on the use
of WordPress (or any other software application) because software sup-
port generally isn’t included in your hosting package. The Web host sup-
ports your hosting account but, typically, doesn’t support the software you
choose to install.

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

 

After you register your domain, you need to find a place for it to live — a Web host. Web hosting is the second piece of the puzzle that you need to complete before you begin working with WordPress.org.

A Web host is a business, a group, or an individual that provides Web server
space and bandwidth for file transfer to Web site owners who don’t have
it. Usually, Web hosting services charge a monthly or annual fee — unless
you’re fortunate enough to know someone who’s willing to give you server
space and bandwidth free. The cost varies from host to host, but you can
obtain quality Web hosting services for $3 to $10 per month to start.

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

The next step is obtaining a hosting account, which we cover in the next
section.

 

Some of the domain registrars have hosting services that you can sign up

for, but you don’t have to use those services. Often, you can find hosting ser-
vices for a lower cost than most domain registrars offer. It just takes a little
research.

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Purchase the domain name.

 

Follow the domain registrar’s steps to purchase the name, using your
credit card. After you complete the checkout process, you receive an

e-mail confirming your purchase, so be sure to use a valid e-mail address during the registration process.

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Decide on a domain name.

.

Doing a little planning and forethought here is necessary. Many people
think of a domain name as a brand — a way of identifying their Web sites
or blogs. Think of potential names for your site and then proceed with
your plan.

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Verify the domain name’s availability.

 

In your Web browser, enter the URL of the domain registrar of your
choice. Look for the section on the registrar’s Web site that lets you
enter the domain name (typically, a short text field) to see whether
it’s available. If the domain name isn’t available as a .com, try .net or
.info.

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