Choosing the size of your bandwidth pipe

The very same concept applies to the bandwidth available with your host-ing account. Every Web hosting provider offers a variety of bandwidthlimits on the accounts it offers. When I want to view your Web site in mybrowser window, the bandwidth is essentially the pipe that lets your dataflow from your “well” to my computer. The bandwidth limit is similar to thepipe connected to my well: It can hold only a certain amount of water beforeit reaches maximum capacity and won’t bring the water from the well anylonger. Your bandwidth pipe size is determined...

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Choosing the size of your bandwidth pipe

 Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that is carried from point A to pointB within a specific period (usually, only a second or two). I live out in thecountry — pretty much the middle of nowhere. The water that comes to myhouse is provided by a private well that lies buried in the backyard some-where. Between my house and the well are pipes that bring the water to myhouse. The pipes provide a free flow of water to our home so that everyonecan enjoy their long, hot showers while I labor over dishes and laundry, allat the same time. Lucky...

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Managing disk space

 Disk space is nothing more complicated than the hard drive on your owncomputer. Each hard drive has the capacity, or space, for a certain amountof files. An 80GB (gigabyte) hard drive can hold 80GB of data — no more.Your hosting account provides you asame 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...

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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 managerthat allows you to log in to your Web hosting account...

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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 (G...

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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 yousign 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 ourclients have gone this route, only to find out a few months later that the Webhosting provider has full control...

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

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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 frequentl...

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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 baromete...

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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)✦ PHPBecause 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)&nb...

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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 whetheryour chosen host supports WordPress, ask first. If your host doesn’t offersoftware support, you can still find WordPress support in the supportforums 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,...

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

When discussing Web hosting considerations, it is important to understandwhere your hosting account ends and WordPress begins. Support for theWordPress software may or may not be included in your hosting package.Some Web hosts consider WordPress to be a third-party application. Thismeans that the host typically won’t provide technical support on the useof 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...

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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 serverspace and bandwidth for file transfer to Web site owners who don’t haveit. Usually, Web hosting services charge a monthly or annual fee — unlessyou’re fortunate enough to know someone who’s willing to give you serverspace and bandwidth free. The cost varies from host...

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Finding a Home for Your Blog

The next step is obtaining a hosting account, which we cover in the nextsection. Some of the domain registrars have hosting services that you can sign upfor, 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 littleresear...

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Purchase the domain name.

 Follow the domain registrar’s steps to purchase the name, using yourcredit card. After you complete the checkout process, you receive ane-mail confirming your purchase, so be sure to use a valid e-mail address during the registration proce...

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