Archive for Beginner Help
Google +1 for WordPress
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Since the release of Google +1, webmasters from all around the world have been racing to find the easiest way to get this button added to their websites. Everybody wants to keep the Google overlords happy and will give their left arm to get a higher ranking in the search engine. So, how can people using WordPress get in on the action? Install the new Google +1 Button plugin for WordPress.
Installation is pretty simple. You simply download the add-on and add it to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Then, activate the plugin from the Plugins menu inside of WordPress. You have the option to insert the code automatically or via a shortcode. The choice is up to you.
You can pick up the Google +1 plugin for WordPress from the WordPress Plugin Directory.
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Get Vanilla Hosted for You!
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If you think Vanilla looks like an awesome forum script, but your not sure if you can get things together as far as installing it yourself – you are in luck. If you don’t have a web hosting account or you would rather get Vanilla as an all in one package, try out their hosted installs of the script.
Much like how WordPress has a hosted version of it’s script at WordPress.com, Vanilla does the same thing with VanillaForums.com. There you can get the same Vanilla forum script that others can download and install, but yours will be pre-installed for you.
The prices are pretty reasonable, and vary depending on what you need. You have the Basic plan for $19 per month, the Plus plan for $49 per month and the Premium plan for $199 per month. If you just want to test things out first, they also have an ad supported free version you can try too.
Head over to VanillaForums.com and sign up. If nothing else, you can try the free version out and see if it is something you would like to pay for or possibly install on your own web hosting plan.
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Best YouTube Clone Scripts
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So, you want to start your own website where people can upload videos of dogs of skateboards? A few years back, this would be nearly impossible. These days though, finding a script that will clone many of the best features a video sharing service like YouTube has is pretty easy. There are a lot of duds out there though in the world of YouTube clone scripts so I have gone through the trenches to find you the three best scripts for the job.
ClipBucket
ClipBucket is a free open source script that will not only let you get started with creating your own video sharing service, but it also provides a lot of great social networking features too. Customizable templates and plugins are readily available for any ClipBucket powered website. So this means it should be fairly easy to get a unique template designed and to customize your ClipBucket install to meet your own vision of what you want your video sharing website to be. Check them out at clip-bucket.com to learn more.
PHPmotion
PHPmotion is another great free video sharing script to try. With both video and audio support, this script looks to deliver a lot when it comes to features too. There are a number of great looking themes for PHPmotion that are well worth checking into and a reported user base of 100,000 webmasters – so the support for this script should be phenomenal too. With little to no knowledge required, you can start up your own video sharing website. Go visit phpmotion.com to download it for yourself.
ClipShare
ClipShare promises to be the ultimate video script for starting a highly profitable video sharing community. While it is not free, it might give you the proverbial “step up” if PHPmotion or ClipBucket do not seem a professional as you would like them to be. Over 20 video formats are supported in ClipShare, videos are converted on the fly and you get a fully brand-able video player that other people can embed on their websites. The website, clip-share.com is where you want to go to learn more about this amazing premium video sharing script.
Now, this is not to say these are the only three choices out there. These however seem to have the best resources, reviews and simply look the best overall. I think if you mix a great FFMPEG hosting provider with ClipBucket, PHPmotion or Clipshare you will have great success when it comes to getting your own YouTube-like website off the ground and on the Internet.
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What is FFMPEG Hosting?
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Time to take a look at another hosting term you might have heard of but didn’t really know what it means. FFMPEG hosting is the word up for review today. This is a term that is used to refer to any time of hosting that provides an assortment of of recording, converting and streaming tools for audio and video on the server side.
FFMPEG is an open source project that produces libraries and programs for handling multimedia data. When it is on a hosting server, it’s job is primarily to handle the online conversion of video or audio formats into another audio or video format that is more suited for the web. You can then embed the multimedia file into a player to be played on the website itself or to be taken elsewhere and played on another website.
So, to give you the short version – it is the server-side technology you need to run your own YouTube clone script, like PHPmotion.
So, what are the basic requirements for FFMPEG hosting? Usually, you need a dedicated or semi-dedicated server to do these types of work because the audio or video conversion is often taxing on the server. However, many VPS hosting accounts should be able to handle it these days too. There are even a handful of shared hosting plans out there that say they are fully compatible with the whole FFMPEG hosting setup too.
FFMPEG hosting is just one more flavor of web hosting to look for out there. For webmasters who want to start up their own video sharing websites, it is the basic foundation they need to get up and running. For the rest of us though, we can really live without it.
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Basic Checklist for Blog Hosting
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Search for “blog hosting” and you will get millions of pages and thousands of web hosts that would love to have your business. What features, scripts and more should you be looking for when it comes to moving your blog to a new web host or starting one from scratch? Here is my own personal must-have list when it comes to blog hosting that I hope comes in handy next time your searching for real blog hosting help.
Here are something you need to take in consideration when it comes to finding the right blog hosting provider for the website you run or the website you want to run:
Blog Hosting CPU and RAM Needs
The first thing you need to be able to narrow down is what is the size of your audience, and how often are they going to be hitting up your blog – looking at posts. Many web hosts still sell on the promise of unlimited disk space and bandwidth, but these days, those two features are not the most important ones. As soon as a blog really takes off – you want to know how many server resources you are using. If you are starting a new blog, this is a little harder to figure out, but if you are currently hosted some where, your web host should be able to hand over this information. This would be the amount of the CPU power and memory (RAM) you are using on the server. If it is too high, changing to a new shared hosting plan somewhere else might not be enough. You might want to start looking into virtual private server hosting.
Free Blog Migrations from Web Host to Web Host
Another feature I like to have when moving a blog or starting a new one would be free migrations. Web hosts that will help you move your website from an old provider to themselves, as the new hosting provider are priceless. Moving websites from host to host can be a pain – so anybody who will do this for you is providing you a really valuable service.
One-click Install Blogging Scripts
What scripts will the web host provide you with? If you are not sure which blogging script to use – make sure you see which ones are available first, and then do your homework and see if you like any of the blogging scripts they provide. These days though, you can’t throw a rock in the hosting universe without hitting a hosting service that will provide WordPress installs with “one-click” so this should be less of an issue these days.
Blog Hosting Upgrade Options
Blogs have a way of growing on you, so no matter if you are moving your current blog or starting up a new one – you should always see what your upgrade options are for the future. You might need to upgrade in a month or you might need to upgrade three years from now. It is always better to plan in advance – so be sure to see what the costs and advantages are when it comes to upgrading your blog hosting.
That just about covers what I would consider to be the most important features you should look at when it comes to blog hosting. If you have any others not on the list, that you feel are important – be sure to include them in the comments.
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3 Great Free E-Commerce Storefronts
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If you want to start your own virtual store out there on the Web, you don’t have to go through all the hard work of setting up a shopping cart, lining up shippers, processing credit cards and all those other headaches that are often involved with e-commerce. You could sign up with one of these free online storefronts instead. While they might take a cut of the profits, in the long term – they might also save you money too.
Cafe Press
Now Cafe Press is probably the one service I am the most familiar with so I will start with it first. Back around Christmas time I used Cafe Press not to mass market my goods, but to instead create some simple Web Hosting Show swag to give away to friends and family members. At Cafe Press you can create your own posters, mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, hoodies, hats, bumper stickers and more. Then, to make a little money – you just hike up their basic price for the goods you are selling. Anything extra made (minus the costs of the goods) is yours to keep.
Zazzle
Like Cafe Press, Zazzle is another online service that lets you set up a free online store in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is upload your logos or images, decide what products you want to print them on, and then point people to the storefront URL. They too have a large assortment of products to slap your image on, and their shipping is a little ‘bit faster than Cafe Press too.
Lulu
Last, but not least I also wanted to mention Lulu. This service is a little different in comparison to Zazzle and Cafe Press due to the fact that it is more focused towards printed works, like books and calendars. You can set up the same free storefront interface, but Lulu gives you the tools you need to sell books, ebooks, calendars and photo books. Through Lulu, you can also distribute your book through place like Amazon, by getting an ISBN number. As soon as I get my next ebook done, I might very well be selling it through Lulu too.
All three of these services as great when it comes to giving you a unique way to sell your own goods and services online. No matter if you just want to put your logo on a t-shirt, or you want to publish that book you have been writing. If you have any more great online store tales or suggestions – be sure to leave them in the comments.
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