Where To Get A WordPress Theme

May 19th, 2012 Editor

You’ve just installed your new WordPress blog.  It’s up and running, and then…plain.  The basic blue-and-white WordPress theme is staring you in the face.  Functional?  Yes.  Adequate?  Maybe.  Sufficient?  No.  So now to the big question.  Where do you get a WordPress theme?

Even if you don’t go looking, there are a few themes that come with the installation of WordPress.  The twenty eleven theme isn’t bad and includes a rotating image header.  It’s also free, but is best described as adequate.

You can search through the free themes directory at WordPress.org.  This link will take you to the filtering page, where you can choose from some general categories like color and layout so you don’t have the impossible task of sorting through them by hand.  I’m a fan of the single sidebar on the right layout, but you may want something in a different color or design.  These themes tend to be OK and are good if you have the HTML and CSS knowledge to tweak them, which you can do from Appearance | Editor in your main admin menu as shown below.

The appearance menu in the WordPress dashboard

Which will send you on a screen that looks like this:

Wordpress theme editor page

You can choose which of your themes to edit in the upper right hand corner dropdown list, the file you wish to edit by clicking on it in the list to the right, and make changes in the window.  However, if you’re in doubt about editing the code of a theme, leave it alone and look for widgets or plugins to improve it instead.  In any case, before editing you should have a backup of the original theme and a theme to which you can change your blog if you accidentally tweak something you should not have.  You don’t want to pull down your blog while you debug something you did.

Some themes are sold and actively promoted.  These are occasionally referred to as premium themes.  Thesis and Genesis are two examples of these.  There’s even a third party Thesis and Genesis theme reskinning site to help you customize them.  Premium themes tend to include things like their own support and extended features, but will cost you money.  However, if your blog isn’t going to serve you well if it looks run of the mill, it’s time to consider buying a premium WordPress theme.

Improving on Themes

Once you have your theme, you can then improve on it.  Widgets and plugins can add features to themes on top of what they already have.  Widgets are things you can add to the sidebars by selecting Appearance | Widgets from the admin menu.  In addition to other options, the basic Text widget is somewhat misnamed but useful if you want to add text or snippets of custom code like Javascript or an opt-in box provided by an email marketing service.

Plugins are additions to the basic functionality of WordPress that tend to work behind the scenes on your blog.  A sitemap generator is an example of a plugin.  So is the spam-killer Akismet.  These can help make a theme better without you having to scour the Internet trying to find one with all the things you want.  Some plugins are free, and others will cost you money.  You can find a directory of WordPress plugins here.

If you’re looking to get a WordPress theme or a better Wordpress theme you have lots of choices you can base on your tastes and budget.  Once you have it, you can improve upon it with widgets and plugins.  WordPress has a large community and you have plenty of options.

Another Good Take On A Standard Website Layout

May 18th, 2012 Editor

Here’s another take on the basic web page framework by www.mlwebco.com.  I’ve seen this format on occasion, and it does indeed have uses to minisite design and business.  It’s attractive, makes for easy navigation and quick intake of information by a visitor, and can be made with the help of stock photography images from places like iStockPhoto.

How To Register A Domain Name In Five Simple Steps

May 17th, 2012 Editor

By Kate L. Graham

A well chosen domain name is the mark of a professional website. Anyone can register a domain name and it only takes a few minutes. This article aims to inform the reader of just how to register a domain name. The major steps in registering a domain name consist of choosing one, finding a domain registrar, registering the domain and finally pointing it to the appropriate name servers of a website.

The first step to registering a domain name is actually choosing one. A domain should fall into one of two major categories. It should either be keyword-centric of brand-centric. As far as the specifics of domain names go, they must start with a letter and they can be composed of numbers, letters or a combination of the two. Domain names may also have dashes.

Keyword-centric domains will be focused more on a certain keyword for search engine optimization purposes. Typically smaller websites use these types of domains. When choosing this type of domain to register, often times the exact match domain will be taken. If this happens, feel free to use dashes between words or a permutation of the previously taken keyword.

Brand-centric domain names will focus on making and selling a brand. Sometimes the keyword that the website owner wishes to focus on will be located in the domain name.

It is important to remember to avoid choosing trademarked or copyrighted phrases. The proper holders of each term can later file legal action and force the domain name to be given to them by a court if they are found to contain such a term.

The second step is to find a domain name registrar. There are several hundred companies that can offer the service of registering a domain name. Some companies are also cheaper than others.

The third step is to pick a domain extension and check to see if your chosen domain is available. If it isn’t, then another domain name will have to be chosen. The only exception to this is if the current owner of an already-owned domain feels like selling the rights to another person. Generally this involves a fair amount of cash compared to what it would cost to simply register a new domain name.

If one domain name is taken, try looking for the same name with a different domain extension. The recommended choices are “.com”, “.org”, “.biz” and “.net” for most business websites. Just about any top -level domain is available so long as the owner will let it be used. The only major top-level domains reserved for certain websites are “.gov” and “.edu” domains. The former is reserved for government websites and the latter for places of education like universities and schools.

The one word of advice towards top-level domains for a new domain is to stay away from “.info” domains. These top-level domains may be much less costly than other domains, but that also makes them a target to be used by spammers. The last thing that a website owner would want is for their website to be grouped with spammers solely based on the top-level domain.

The fourth step is to actually register the available domain in question with the registrar. The registrar will generally have to be paid money to complete this action and should be paid for the number of years the registering party intends to keep the domain name. This also requires that the purchaser either put in valid personal information or arrange a private registration using the registrar. Either way, valid information is required in case a domain name dispute arises.

The last step in how to register a domain name is pointing the domain to a web host’s nameservers. This is done in order to resolve a name to an IP address and further an actual website. If the registering party of a domain does not have a website host, most registrars offer that service for a nominal monthly fee.

Copyright (c) 2012 2MakeaWebsite.com

Kate Graham enjoys teaching people find the best and easiest way to create a web presence. Kate is a guest blogger at numerous web sites including the website http://www.2makeawebsite.com. A site which contains a huge amount of easy to understand information, free guides and tips and tricks which explain in plain English how to build a website.

Article Source:  How To Register A Domain Name In Five Simple Steps

A Fun Explanation Of Web Hosting

May 17th, 2012 Editor

Posting this video from inmotionhosting.com just for the cute factor.  It also includes an easy-to-understand explanation of the different types of web hosting.  In short, this video is just fun.

An Opinion On Modern Web Site Layout For Businesses

May 16th, 2012 Editor

This fellow is giving an overview of his idea of a modern business web site.  I don’t entirely agree with him, but he hits all of the necessary bits of information and what a business should give on their web page.  However, I’m a bit more spartan in my preferred web site design.  Lately, I’ve taken a liking to the single right sidebar approach like you see here on this blog.  A nice wide sidebar leaves room for things like videos, ads, and explanations without the cluttered feel of two or more.

I’m also a fan of WordPress, and even if you’re considering a business web site I recommend looking into the WordPress blogging platform.  The platform itself is free, it has tons of support and if ever there was a good use of the phrase ‘there’s an app for that’ it with the massive amount of WordPress themes, plugins, and widgets you can get to upgrade the basic WordPress site.  You can make WordPress business sites with a proper choice of template.  All you have to do is look.

Video credit:  Market Moose channel on YouTube.

jQuery Ajax PHP Tutorial : Swapping Out Web Page Content

May 16th, 2012 Editor

A neat little trick for you jQuery fans, and for those of us who are working with PHP.  This video shows how to get your content to change on the click of a link using jQuery and PHP.  Video and tutorial credit:  www.developphp.com.

Web Hosting Research: How to Choose a Web Host For Your Needs

May 15th, 2012 Editor

By Peter Nisbet

Web hosting research will generally be required if you trying to find out how to choose a web host for your needs. Each hosting service has its own range of features to offer you, and while you do not want to pay for features and services you will never use, you need some degree of flexibility should your website take off.

Not only are there large numbers of web hosting services out there, but each may also offer you a number of options ranging from a simple single-domain website to a reseller option that you can use to set up your own hosting business.

The secret of successful web hosting research is to understand your own ambitions, how realistic they are and where you want to start and end. You can then choose a service that offers you a simple inexpensive starting point, but can also enable you to expand seamlessly as your online business develops.

Price should not be your first consideration since a cheap or very expensive web hosting service is of little use to you if it fails to meet all your needs or excessively exceeds them. Here are some of the options you should be considering when carrying out your web hosting research.

1. Disk Space

Disk space is amount of hard disk storage your host offers you. This in turn will limit the number of files you can store on your web space. If you use a lot of graphics, these files can take up a great deal of storage space. Anything less than unlimited should be examined vary carefully in case they have other important features not offered by the other options. In general, however, most users should select unlimited web space storage.

2. Bandwidth

The term bandwidth refers to the amount of data you are permitted to upload or download in a given time period. The vast majority of hosting services today will offer unlimited bandwidth.

3. Multiple Domains

It is possible to run a number of websites from the one account. Add-on domains enable you to purchase multiple domain names and run these from their own directories as completely unique websites. So you can own, for example, 5 different domain names, and run these as 5 different websites using the one web hosting account. Look for ‘unlimited domains’ – anything less would limit you.

4. Site Building Software

For those that do not, or cannot, use website building software such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, site building software will be essential. Such systems are HTML editors that generally also offer WYSIWYG functionality, enabling you to build your own site. Most also offer a template-driven system, where you can modify templates to meet your needs. Even those conversant with HTML find such a package useful for modifying and extending existing web pages.

5. Traffic Analysis

A good hosting service should offer traffic analysis that informs you of your traffic stats: how many visitors you have to each page, how long they stay on each page and which are the most popular pages. A useful statistic to have is the most popular entry and exit pages on your site, so you can optimize the former and improve on the latter.

6. Uptime Guarantee

You do not want to spend time waiting for your service to come online before you can access your website. A minimum of 99.7% uptime guarantee is acceptable, but 99.9% would be better. That means that for every 1,000 hours, there would be one hour when your website was offline.

7. Email Services

You will require an email service to go with your website, an also one for each of your extra domains. Your web host might offer you unlimited email addresses, though this is not needed unless you require a reseller service. You will be lucky if you can service 50 email addresses let alone hundreds. What you should look for is spam protection and webmail. The former will help filter out spam according to rules you can set yourself, while webmail enables you to use a service such as Outlook or Eudora to check all your emails from all your sites using the one webmail service.

8. Customer Support

Customer support is essential, and if you can get live support by telephone then all the better. Most offer an email support system while some may also provide a live chat service. The service should be toll free, and preferably open 24/7 so that it can be used from anywhere in the world at any time.

9. Scripts and Software

When carrying out research in to the best service for you, you should make sure that you understand what ancillary scripts and software services are being offered. For example, MySQL is a personal database system that is essential for running many software applications involving the collection of data. PHP and CGI/Perl support is necessary as is Java and Flash.

If you register with a service that operates using the cPanel control panel system, then all that is included. CPanel also offers many other services such as Fantastico De Luxe that enables you to install applications such as WordPress onto your websites with a click of a button so you can run WordPress blogs from each of your domains.

It is not always the most expensive web hosting service that is the best for you. The above information is generally what you need to know when finding how to choose a service for your needs. When carrying out your web host research, make sure that you get what you want and that you are able to expand your websites at a later date.

Before setting up your own website it is important that know how to choose a web host. More information on web hosts plus a list of potential web hosting services can be found on the web hosting research website.

Article Source:   Web Hosting Research: How to Choose a Web Host For Your Needs

Phishing Scams: Avoid Being a Victim

May 14th, 2012 Editor

If you’re going to build your own web site and have any means to contact you at all, sooner or later you’re going to run into a phishing attack.  Basically, it’s someone impersonating a company attempting to (usually) panic you into clicking through an email and giving them their personal information.  PayPal impersonators in particular have become very sophisticated lately, at least judging by the last pair of emails phishers have sent me.

Here’s a quick overview of how to avoid being conned by a phishing attach by 403.wddinc.com.

“Admin” And Your Website Security

May 12th, 2012 Editor

Want to an example of how important it is to protect your “admin” in anything?  Well, how about someone on YouTube making a video on how easy it is to get to the “admin” of various web sites?  Is that scary enough for you?

Here’s the moral of this video posting.  When programming your web site or taking things on your WordPress Blog into consideration, remember security.  Also, back up your sites on a regular basis.

Video credit:  The Onlinetechs channel

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