Twitter Facebook RSS

Posts Tagged ‘WordPress’

Installing Web Apps, PHP, MySQL on Hyper-V Server 2008

Posted by Mike on December 22nd, 2009

Are you running a Hyper-V Server, or a Standalone Dedicated Server 2008, and want to utilize an use to use and install Web App, or Web Application?  Microsoft has leveraged the following Web Apps for easy Download/Install on your Web Server:

  • PHP 5.2.11
  • MySQL 5.1
  • URL ReWrite 1.1
  • SQL Server 2008 Express
  • Streaming Media Services
  • Joomla! , SugarCRM, WordPress, Textcube, nopCommerce, Moodle, SilverStripe CMS, DotNetNuke, Umbraco, Drupal, nService. Amplifeeder
  • And Many More

It is kind of hard to believe that Microsoft is leveraging all these Open Source tools on thier Platform, like SugarCRM a competing CRM product as well as MySQL.  But in my opinion, it is great!   Here is a Step by Step Guide on getting your Web Applications up and Running on MySQL/PHP:

1. First Step, go to Microsoft and install the Microsoft Web Platform.  The Installation is pretty straight forward and takes under a Minute.

2. Run the Web Platform Installer.  You can then Choose Three Catagories: What’s New, Web Platform and Web Applications.

3. Select the Applications you want to Install, such as WordPress on Windows.

4. The installer will require some dependacies for WordPress such as a MySQL Database, PHP 5.2.  It will ask for a Database user/password:

5. The installer will then ask for the Web Site Settings for the new web application, and even allow you to add new directories.

6. The Installer will complete with all the applications that were installed on your server.  Next, run the WordPress Easy Web Setup and you are up and running!

As an added bonus, there are even additional Database tools and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2.  Nice!

Well that is it, really easy to get PHP Apps up and running fast on Windows Server.  To get your own Windows Hyper-V Virtual Machine to Install Applicaitons on Server2008 Here.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Most Popular Must Have WordPress Plugins

Posted by Emily on November 2nd, 2009

Based on last months user survey of  RackWire.com App Market users and overall Feedback, we have compiled our Most Used, and Most Popular WordPress Plugin List, in no particular order:

Sociable – Social Bookmarking made easy.  If you are blogging, the ability to socially broadcast your Posts is pretty important to Broadcast over Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Digg, LinkedIn, Etc.

Google XML Sitemaps – Create Google, Bing, Ask and Yahoo Compatible SItemaps for your WordPress Site.  If SEO is on your radar, this is an easy and Simple Plugin to use.  Make sure you select Yahoo and enter your Yahoo Application ID.

SexyBookmarks – A great functioning tool to get readers to suggest your WordPress Page/Post to others via Social Medias.  Who am I kidding, I just like the name.

Contact Form 7 – It allows you to flexibly design the form and mail. You can manage multiple contact forms as well.  In addition, it supports many features including AJAX submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering, file uploading, etc.

NextGEN Gallery –  A NextGENeration Photo gallery for the Web 2.0.  My personal Favorite Gallery Manager that is a well written Plugin and easy to use.

WP to Twitter – Updates Twitter when you create a new blog post or add to your blogroll, also can auto shorten Url’s and Pictures.

All in One SEO Pack - Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog to improve on your Blogs SEO.  A Must Have!

WordPress Gravatars - Uses Gravatars and MyBlogLog Avatars, places Gravatars, OpenAvatar, Wavatar, Identicon, monsterID or MyBlogLog Avatars in the comments section. Uses the comment authors email to display their Gravatar. It also gives the user an Author Profile picture, based on the users Gravatar.

No Comments on Pages - No Comments on Pages is a tiny WordPress plugin which, when activated, disables posting of new comments to all pages and hides existing ones.

Branded Login Screen for WordPress - Branded Login Screen for WordPress lets you use custom login screen instead of WordPress default. Branded Admin which lets you change the admin area is also available.

Twitter Tools - Twitter Tools is a WordPress plugin that creates an integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account. It allows you to pull your tweets into your blog (as posts and digests) and create new tweets on blog posts and from within WordPress. You can also archive your Twitter tweets (downloaded every 10 minutes), post a tweet from your sidebar or the WP Admin screens and pass your tweets along to another service.

FB Share –  Adds a Facebook Share button to your WordPress posts, similar to the ReTweet or Twit This Plugin.

This list will continue to grow, as there are many talented Developers out there.  Happy Blogging!

Tags: , ,

We eat our own BLOG-Food

Posted by Mike on October 13th, 2009

WordPressSetupStepsWhen we launched our Easy 1-Click WordPress Installers we made a decision to move our custom built blogging site over to our own hosted WordPress Servers.  To be completely honest, at first we resisted the change of moving to a new program and Kicked and Screamed (a little).  But after a few months, we are very happy with the change over to a WordPress powered BLOG.  So here are our top reasons to use WordPress and some of our major drivers:

  • SEO Friendly
  • Very User Friendly
  • Multi Author and Permission Capability
  • Open Source
  • Follows Web Standards
  • Endless Amounts of Plugins that add functionality
  • Support Communities
  • The ability to save as a draft, and finish writing later
  • Themes, we probably browse them daily

Over the next few months we will be migrating all of our FAQ’s and KB Articles over to this platform, where we have some added feedback, update and commenting features.  For more information on Open Source WordPress visit WordPress.org.  Don’t take our work for how easy WordPress is to use, and avoid the hassle of a Custom WordPress Installation.  Get WordPress on your own Domain Today!

Tags: , , , ,

How do I choose my Hosting Package?

Posted by Emily on October 9th, 2009

When you are looking for the perfect plan to fit your business needs two things come into play.  Price and Features.  We have put together a simple guide to step you through the process.

Shared Web Hosting – This is the most cost effective plan when you want to host one to many simple web sites.  You are on a shared web server with other customers also running their web site.  This is a very feature rich and cost effective way to host your web site on Windows or Linux.  Shared plans are measured by the number of domains you host in your account.  If you own a large site or a busy forum, you may want to think about upgrading your hosting to a VPS.  These feature the Best Price, has e-mail included, and is easy to setup and use.  Our Windows Shared hosting includes our SiteBuilder, while our Linux Shared Hosting has 1-Click Installer Scripts.  Both plans come with an easy to use Control Panel.

WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, AppMarket – This is another cost effective plan when looking for an easy to use, 1-Click installer for a well known Open Source offering.  Sign up for any of these accounts, and have your content rich web application built and customizable in minutes.  Our Easy WordPress Installer has been a recent favorite among customers, as it features unlimited Themes and feature rich plugins.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) – a server is virtually divided into several virtual servers with guaranteed Memory and CPU.  This is for more technical people who need root access to the server to install their own software, and you get full root access.  You get Dedicated server functionality at a fraction of the price.  With these plans you get Dedicated CPU and Memory, can upgrade / downgrade options, and have full root level access.  Only catch is some Technical Knowhow needed, you are managing your own server.

Dedicated Servers – This is for more technical people who need root access to the server to install their own software, and you get full root access.  You are not affected by any other processes on the server, and Custom server configurations are allowed, such as Raided Drives.  We are talking some major horsepower here with a full dedicated server.  

Colocation –Why choose Colocation?  It is a very cost effective way to host your hardware with redundant cooling, network and Power.  In this scenario you purchase and own the hardware.  You can drop it off in person or ship the equipment to our facility.  We will always rack your equipment for free.  With this plan you can ship a 1U server, all the way up to a full 47U cabinet of equipment with custom networking hardware and security.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Colocation :: Windows VPS :: Linux VPS :: Unmetered Servers :: VOIP Hosting :: Mac Mini Colocation