Webmaster Tips
Dark Code View for Dreamweaver
Nov 28th
If you stare at dreamweaver for hours upon hours each day, as I do, the default color scheme with the white background can get hard on the eyes. In the past I tried change the background color to black to give my eyes a break, but the code colors were then hard to see so I ended up switching back.
That was until last weekend when I came across this dark code view for Dreamweaver. I’ve now installed it on three of my computers and I am really liking it. I recommend checking it out.
Setting up your cPanel email in gmail
Nov 26th
cPanel accounts come with webmail clients like RoundCube, Horde, and Squirrel Mail. But you also have another free option, gmail. It takes a bit of setting up, but it’s well worth it for all the great features that gmail provides. Here are the steps to get it all set up:
- Create a Gmail Account. If you don’t already have a google/gmail account, create one here. Your gmail account name does not matter in this case. It will only be used by you, for logging in. The people to whom you send emails to will only see your cPanel address.
- Auto forward your emails to Gmail. Login to your cPanel email account at www.yoursite.com/webmail. Go to “Email Forwarding” and click “Add Forwarder”. You will need to forward your emails to your gmail address.
- Set up sending from your cPanel Address. Now login to your gmail account. Click “Settings” in the upper right hand corner. Then go the “Accounts and Settings” tab. Next to where it says “Send Mail as” click the “Send mail from another address” button.
- A new window will pop up. Enter your name and your cPanel email address. Go to the next step.
- Select “Send through Gmail (easier to set up).” Go to the next step.
- Click the “Send Verification” button.
- Go back to your gmail inbox. You will have a new email from gmail. Open the email and click the link.
- Head back to gmail and again click “Settings” in the upper right hand corner. Then go the “Accounts and Settings” tab. You should now see your cPanel email address listed. Next to your newly added email address click the “Make Default” button.
You’re done! Now you can test sending emails to your cPanel email address. If everything was setup correctly, they will immediately show up in your gmail account. When you click reply it will automatically reply from your cPanel address. ENJOY!
Web Hosting Types
Oct 24th
When starting a website it’s important to get the right kind of hosting for your particular site. If you choose the wrong kind, you could lose traffic due to downtime, server overload etc.
Let’s look at the different types:
Free Web Hosting
Free web hosting is great for the obvious reason that it’s free. If you are just starting out, free hosting can be a great no risk option. Free hosts will usually have a pretty small limit on space and bandwidth, so once your site starts becoming bigger or getting more popular you’ll definitely need to upgrade.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting plans are the best option for most websites out there. Shared Hosting is usually packed with features and will only cost a few dollars a month. You’ll get much better support than on any free plan. If your site has small to medium amount of traffic, shared hosting is for you.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting is great for web designers who want to host client’s websites for them. The cheapest reseller hosting accounts will usually cost in the $15-$30 per month price range. They allow you to create separate web hosting accounts and control panels for each customer and divide up your resources between these accounts.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
This is when a hosting company divides up it’s server between a small amount of customers. Each customer’s account acts as a separate server, and each customer will have root access to his/her own server.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is for high traffic corporate/business sites. An entire server is dedicated to one customer, and the customer has full control over that server. You can get either managed or un-managed dedicated hosting. With managed hosting, the hosting company will take of the technical side of things like security and software updates, and thus will cost a lot more.
Overselling Explained – so much for so little
Oct 22nd
In order to gain a little more money off of each server they own, some web hosts may oversell the available space or bandwidth. For example, if a hosting company has one server with 250 GB of space and they have 25 customers who each have 10 GB hosting plans, the host is not oversold, because there is enough room for the full 10 GB to be used by each customer. Now, what happens if this company gets a 26th customer. It seems as though they need to buy a new server in order to fit this customer.
But then the host has a brilliant (but not so honest) idea! They notice that even though each of their customers accounts guarantee 10 GBs of space, they are only on average using 2 GBs each. This means they could easily fit the new customer on this server, because the chances of all the customers filling up their 10 GBs completely is low.
How does this affect you?
Overselling often results in:
- Slow page loading times.
- Hosts complaining to you when you are using a lot of space (even though you are within your limits).
- Hosts suspending or disabling your account with no refund.
It’s a good idea to stay away from oversold hosting. If you see a host offering hosting packages that just look way too good to be true – it’s because they are too good to be true.
The Myth of Unlimited Hosting
Oct 20th
While looking for a suitable web host, you probably stumbled upon a hosting company that claims they offer you unlimited space and bandwidth, for only a couple bucks a month. Seems like such a great deal at first! But think about it – If I told you I went down to the store and bought myself a new hard drive with unlimited space, would you believe me? That’s how silly this unlimited hosting is.
These companies like to write a lot more about what “unlimited” really means in their acceptable use policies (AUP). For example, look at this part from an AUP of an unlimited host:
“You understand and agree that shared server space is for business and personal website operations purposes only and not for unrelated data storage.”
I’ve had a bit of experience with these unlimited hosts. Even if I’m not violating the AUP, they like to send me emails asking how each and every file on my account is related to website operations. They actually wanted me to explain for each file and there were hundreds of them. If you start using a lot of space, they try to catch you doing something wrong, so they can reduce the amount of space you are taking up. They also like to complain that your website is using up too much CPU on the server and claim that you need to upgrade to one of their dedicated servers that cost $100/month or more.
Overall, it’s not a good idea to go with an Unlimited host. They hide behind the fine print and don’t offer honesty to their customers.