You’re definitely using WordPress, but hosting is confusing?

The easiest and quickest answer is to see who WordPress recommends. Check out their list of recommended hosting companies. This site is hosted with BlueHost. I have a basic account that allows me to host unlimited sites, domain names and a variety of other cool things. However the BlueHost basic account is shared hosting which can mean slow load time every now and then.

Side Note: If you’re thinking about Godaddy hosting right now, please stop and take an about-face in the other direction. Godaddy is good for domain names, after you’ve figured out the admin, but they are not a hosting company on pare with the vast majority of comparable alternatives. The only time you’ll ever hear Godaddy and WordPress in the same sentence is when a sad face is at the end of that sentence :( Plain and simple, your going to have more questions about things not working than you will have questions about doing cool things with your hosting.

Ok, No Godaddy. Then what?

Apart from the list of WordPress suggestions, the sign of a good hosting company is there customer service and their control panel. The majority of WordPress users do not need anything more than your basic shared hosting plan. Typically you’re looking at $10 to $15 a month maybe $7. If that’s to much for you than maybe you can find a friend to split it with. The vast majority of hosting companies I’ve dealt with have been dedicated servers, random companies that started in the 90′s and have never updated and a handfull of companies that are actually up to date with today web.

• Hostgator
• BlueHost
• Dream Host
• Network Solutions
• Host Monster

Hosting Admin

One of the biggest tasks you will ever face when having your own host is using the admin for your hosting account. Some hosting companies have their own custom control panel and some will use a WebHost Manager type control panel. My favorite is cPanel. Widely used amongst affordable shared hosting cPanel offers the easiest web interface to manage your account. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of other very usable and reliable systems out there, I just think cPanel is the easiest.

Never Let Me Down!

My personal preference for hosting is HostGator. Great support, cPanel, WHM and a slew of pricing options. The only reason I’m still with BlueHost is because I’m to lazy to move all of my friends sites that are sitting on this account. Hostgator is scalable for many different uses, but I feel like it’s the best option for a first time user.

The One Click Install!

If you’re new to the this hosting thing and are a little worried about getting WordPress installed, rest assured there is a thing call “One Click Install”. It’s really that easy, and if you can’t find that click call support, that’s what they’re for.

Recap

• WordPress recommended hosting companies.
• No Godaddy Hosting
• $7 – $10 – $15 per month is a good price.
• cPanel is your friend :)
• I like HostGator
• One Click Install

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Google Sync has been out for quite a while at this point so I’m pretty sure I’m not going to say anything new so I’ll just give a quick outline of what I did and why. (not to mention, I’m really not that great of a writer.)

One thing to note, I used my visualcoma.com Google Apps Account for all of this so if you only have a gmail or simple Google account some things will be a smidg different.

A Second thing to note is that I have ditched iCal and moved to BusyCal. BusyCal has made connecting to Google so simple it’s retarded. Perhaps iCal is easy too, but the “How To” has more than one step so,, nope…

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Google Sync: Setting Up Your iPhone

This step was a little confusing, and a little scary.. I synced my phone with itunes before I went any further, and I suggest you do the same. Before I continued with the full set up, I had to import my Calendars & Contacts into my Google Account. Once I had everything in my Google Account I completed all the steps for the sync including “Deleting Contact” & “Deleting Calendars”. Keep in mind that you have everything backed up on your computer and you have imported everything to Google so you technically have two backups.[clear]

I will fully admit that this was a little stressful when it came to hitting that red delete button, but once I was done and checked my Calendar and my Contacts on my phone I took a huge sigh of relief.

Here are a few factors to keep in mind.

1. The iPhone will only allow for one Microsoft Exchange Account, so be sure you set up this system with the Calendars that you use the most.
2. Back up your iPhone before you do anything!!!
3. You will have to Sync your Phone with your Computer one last time after you have updated your Calendars and Contacts to Google
4. Don’t forget to “Sync Google Contact” from iTunes/Info/Contacts
5. Try out BusyCal unless you just have a thing for iCal.
6. You can export you Mac Address book into a VCard and import it to Google Contacts.
7. Halfway down this page you’ll find instructions on how to sync more than one calendar using Exchange.

So far I like it! Modules, Blocks and User levels that put a new spin on my idea of structure. I’ve also gained a new appreciation for the easy of WordPress! It seems like talking to the WP DB has been made really simple, I can only hope Drupal has made it the same.

The biggest appeal to Drupal has been the easy options associated with the user levels, and making subscribed content easy to manage with out having to code everything from scratch. At least it appears that way. Perhaps by the time I’m done with Drupal I’ll have made some needed improvements to my WP theme and subscription based content will become a snap.

So here is to trying something new!!!

Here’s how it went at the Store… in short

	You’re going to need a new phone
	Well that sucks!
	Why? Are you not under warranty?
	No, It’s just, Where to the old Phones Go?
	ummm
	I mean, do they open them up and work on them? You know, does anyone actually fix them? Or is there just a huge trash can of old phones? Or do they just take all the old phone and throw them into a canyon?
	You know I”m not really sure… But I’m going to go and swap this one out and throw the old one into the canyon.

Sometime I wonder if Steve Jobs has all the old iPhone at his house running around like herds of cattle. As if he has some special OS that give them an AI so that they can all hang out. Like a Tachikoma!!!

All the same, I really think that as the Technological age Progresses we really should be making products that are reusable. We should be thinking of way to minimize new waste. Maybe its just a pipe dream, but I think we should at-least try!!

At any rate I’ve installed the Facebook Connect WordPress Plugin and I’m giving it a go. It’s not integrated into my comments because I’m using Intense Debate, but from what I’ve read I’ll have it soon.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about Facebook Connect, but I’m determined to figure out how to fully integrate it so that everyone I work with can start to benefit from there Facebook Friends. (in a way i feel bad for myspace cause they are falling so far behind so fast, but really I’ll pull the trigger if you give the shotgun…)

So if any of you out there have some hot tips feel free to drop them off, and I’ll be sure to check back with all that I find.

So here is the list of apps I’ve decided to keep. Most of these I use on a fairly regular basis, but some are there more for connivence.

Here is a pdf if you want. Apps List

They sent me a message saying, “Can you please let me know if this is still a problem in the new version.” They also put in a link to the latest Version. This is an example of Great PR, and because of it I’ll probably continue to support them. not to mention I’ve come to like their app!

So this is my Recommended FTP Application, Captain FTP. Don’t let the name fool you it’s a great app. And, for all you people out there who just need to upload or download some files this will suit your needs with out confusing you.

:)

The stats in general will say that a 15% of online viewers are still using IE6 which is a large enough block to say it needs to be supported. But!!! Research will tell you that it is the most none compliant browser out there. You actually increase your risk of getting a virus by using it.

Did you know that Mac stopped supporting IE at version 5.2.3!!! Hmmm wonder why?

You can still Download it if you want.

By the end of February I am going to strip all CSS from my site for IE6 users. Consider the speed at which the internet progresses, using IE6 is like driving a car that built in 1965 and saying it’s fuel efficient.

Here’s what you do…

Search —>> “Browsers” (notice how Internet Explorer dosn’t come up at the top of the page…)
Fine one you like.
Download it.
Use it.

I pretty sure I saw the copywrite say 2003-2009 so I get the feeling this one has been around for a while. The company that developed this App (illumineX.com) also has iBlogger.

This is my first post so I really can’t give you a fair comparison on what I think, but I’ll let you know. I’ve been using MarsEdit which is a great app and has some amazing features. No custom fields though, which I’ve been wanting to have for many reasons.

Do you use a Desktop App for publishing your Posts? OR are you old-school diehard “gotta use my browser!”

Almost forgot, for all of you WordPress peeps out there that dislike the WP Post Editor this app is for you!