WPDesigner

WordPress Themes, Blog Design, and Web Development

5 WordPress Plugins to Increase Your Website Speed

 

And if you’re an online entrepreneur, you probably know that making people wait is bad for your eCommerce business too — really bad.

I mean, think about it. Why would consumers sit around and wait for your page to load when they can get what they need from a faster and more convenient website?

Truth: A slow website is affecting your traffic and conversion. It is also giving your visitors a negative user experience, which is bad for your brand image.

Fortunately, if you use a WordPress site, there are many plugins you can use to make your pages load faster.

It’s essential to use these plugins to optimize your blog for speed and performance. They will make your site appear more professional and user-friendly, too.

Here we list down some of the plugins that you can use.

Let’s dive right in.

1. For caching: WP Rocket

When someone wants to access a page on your website, they need to retrieve a ton of information from your web host and from the WordPress database.

As you can imagine, requesting images, Javascript, CSS, fonts, and other elements can take up a lot of time.

A caching plugin improves site speed by storing a version of frequently-accessed data instead of delivering fresh information each time a user views a page.

This works well for published pages that are not modified or updated very often.

There are many caching plugins out there, but at the top of our list is WP Rocket.

In addition to being the fastest option, it also has a user-friendly interface and efficient design. WP Rocket also has additional features such as lazy image loading, GZIP Compression, and database cleanup.

Here are some of its other features:

WP Rocket Speed

Now here’s a bonus:

You can also use WP Rocket to automatically link up your content to a Content Delivery Network (CDN) after you’ve subscribed to a CDN provider.

A CDN essentially minimizes the distance between the user and your website server. It allows users to interact with your data just as if they were nearby. This gives your website speed a significant boost.

2. For compressing images: ShortPixel

Photos on your site are essential for marketing and aesthetic purposes. However, extensive use of imagery means your site might take longer to load.

You need to compress images to the lowest file size possible while still keeping them high-quality.

Here’s where an image compression plugin like Shortpixel comes in handy. It’s best for people who are uncomfortable with using an editing software such as Photoshop.

ShortPixel

Short Pixel is extremely easy to use, even for beginners. Here are some of its interesting features:

  • Offers up to 100 free compressions in a month.
  • Compresses old uploads in one go.
  • Supports JPG, PNG, GIF, and PDF.
  • Does not have a file size limit.
  • Can restore original image easily.
  • Also offers purchase of 10,000 compressions (with no expiry date) for just $9.98

3. For getting rid of unnecessary tables: Plugins Garbage Collector.

All the plugins you install on your WordPress site automatically add folders, files, and tables to your database. These are necessary elements for any plugin to run.

However, even if you’ve already deleted or deactivated the plugin, the tables get left behind unnecessarily. They turn into liabilities that take up space and make your site slower.

As you can imagine, manually identifying and removing these tables can be a complicated task.

Plugins Garbage Collector can make your life easier.

Plugins Garbage Collector

It works by scanning your WordPress database and giving you a list of unnecessary tables from deleted or deactivated plugins.

After the scanning process, you can manually select all the tables you want to delete. Double check to make sure they are not related to the core of WordPress or to the plugins still installed.

For safety, it is best that you make a database backup before you proceeding.

4. For optimizing the database: WP-Optimize

You may not realize it, but your usual WordPress operations are probably slowing down your site. Simple activities such as posting content and editing your post add useless items in your database.

Eventually, your website will run slower because of all the accumulated data. To prevent this, you need to maintain and clean up your database on a regular basis.

But yeah, it can be such a chore.

Here’s where WP-Optimize comes in. It can help keep your database efficient and well-managed.

WP Optimize

With WP-Optimize, you can easily get rid of useless data such as spam, un-approved comments, and old page or post versions. It even allows you to schedule an automatic database cleanup.

5. For super fast page load: BJ Lazy Load

Usually, when users open a website, the contents automatically load all at once. This means that if you have an image-heavy page, they will have to bear with a very slow loading time.

BJ Lazy Loading can help you with this problem. It improves the user experience by optimizing content delivery.

BJ Lazy Load

Here’s how it works:

Rather than loading all the content the moment a particular page is accessed, BJ Lazy Load allows your site to load content one by one. It efficiently adds images or videos as the user scrolls along.

This enables your site to load much faster. Don’t worry — users won’t even notice that this is happening because they see what they need to see at the right time.

The good thing about BJ Lazy Loading? It also works with videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sites without any hitch.

Final Thoughts

Undoubtedly, WordPress plugins can help make your life easier. The challenge is to choose the best ones that can make your site fast-loading, secure and user-friendly.

While it might be tempting to install every plugin you see, having too many can slow down your site drastically. Be selective and always choose the options which are truly functional.

If things get a bit overwhelming for you, you can try software testing services that can help you polish your website. It may be exactly what you need to give your business a boost!

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How to Show Only Images that the User Has Uploaded in WordPress

When using WordPress with multiple authors, many things need to be taken into consideration. The default permissions system leaves much to be desired, and we have to take care of things such as users being able to view the posts submitted by others, to ensure that random people don’t have permissions to mess things up on your site.

Why Segregate User Images from Each Other?

However, even if we’re able to maintain a strict wall between writers, we can still see the images that other people have uploaded. This might not seem like a big deal, and indeed it hardly matters in most cases. After all, these images are useful resources that anyone can upload into their posts.

But sometimes, we need to segregate these as well. For example, you might be working on a secret infographic that will truly differentiate your page and you don’t want your dozens of guest authors getting a hold of it before it’s ready for publication. Ideally, we’d all like to trust those who contribute to our site, but it’s never a bad thing to be sure. The last thing you want is for your hard work to be published elsewhere without credit!

Another use case is if you’ve purchased special image rights for some work and protect them on the front end by some sort of copy protection mechanism. That’ll pose a barrier to those visiting your site, but not to others at the WordPress backend. In fact, they may not even reuse the image in bad faith. They might just assume that it’s free and use it in an unauthorized manner.

There might be many other reasons to restrict users to only view the media that they themselves have personally uploaded. This tutorial will show you how to achieve this with only a few lines of code.

User uploaded Images only

But we also should be careful. We want the administrator or the superuser to have full rights to view the images that everyone else has uploaded. So, we’ll need to take that into consideration. Luckily, we have an easy function for that.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Uploading an Image by the Admin

In my test blog, I’ve uploaded an image by my admin with the username “wok8t” as shown here:

uploading images

In fact, the image itself is nothing but a green background that says, “Uploaded by wok8t”. It’s just one of a handful of images that this user has uploaded on thi test site.

Step 2: Checking that the Image is Viewable by Another User

For this tutorial, I created another WordPress user and gave them “Author” rights. Note that creating a user under the “Contributor” role hides the media tab from them by default. A contributor can only write and edit their own posts. They can’t upload anything. So, the “author” is the lowest default permission set that allows people to upload images (We can override this of course, but that’s a separate issue).

Once the user is created, I navigate to the Media tab on the dashboard and see the following:

uploading images as a user

As you can see, the green image uploaded by the admin is visible. This is what we want to prevent.

Step 3: Adding Code to functions.php or a Custom PHP Plugin

To hide all media except those a user has uploaded personally, paste the following code into your theme’s function.php – or any other place you use to insert custom PHP code:

function only_show_user_images( $query ) {

$current_userID = get_current_user_id();

if ( $current_userID && !current_user_can('manage_options')) {

$query['author'] = $current_userID;

}

return $query;

}

add_filter( 'ajax_query_attachments_args', 'only_show_user_images' );

This code does the following:

  • Hooks into the query that displays attachment information via the “ajax_query_attachments_args” filter.
  • Checks to see if the current user has admin permissions
  • If no, alter the query variable to restrict the user ID to the current user ID
  • Returns the altered query for processing

Step 4: Testing to See if it Works

After saving this code, I open up the media page using the same “author” user that I just created in Step 2. And here’s the result:

user images only test

You can see that it’s a blank page. This is because the newly created author hasn’t uploaded anything! They will only see an image if they themselves have put it there. And that solves our problem. In the same way, any user who doesn’t have administrator permissions will see only their own uploads. Of course, we’ve deliberately created our code so that admins have full permission to see everyone else’s posts.

Using a Plugin instead of Custom Code

For one reason or another, many people are averse to changing their WordPress code. Probably due to a (justified) fear of messing something up. If this is you, worry not!

There’s a plugin called “View Own Posts Media Only“. It’s a bit old but so simple that it hasn’t required any changes since it was created. You just need to install and activate it, and you’re done. No need to change any additional settings or anything. The perfect solution for those who don’t want to fool around with potentially dangerous functions.php code which could break your site.

Whichever method you use, it’s a good idea to separate your user’s activities from one another – even when we’re only talking about images. The more prepared you are for security breaches, the better position you’re in to respond to them, right?

Author Bio:

Hi, I’m Bhagwad and I’ve been working with WordPress since 2007. I enjoy mucking around with code samples – and yes, I frequently break my own site with them! But each time I learn something and can pass on that hard-won knowledge to others. I run a site which compares the cheapest web hosting per year packages at WP-Tweaks, between SiteGround offers, Hostgator coupons, Bluehost, and InMotion. Feel free to drop in and send me a message!

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Basic Guide to Online Backup

A Basic Guide to Online Backup

You may have heard of it, know you need it, but what exactly is it? Online backup is the way to safeguard your valuable data on your home computer, laptop or mobile devices quickly and conveniently. Backing up data in the past meant that you would save your files to a CD, DVD or a USB flash drive, but those usually ended up on top of a shelf somewhere, never to be found again. The safest place would be a bank deposit box, but that can be very inconvenient despite how important that data is. The new way to protect data is easy to do and easy to recover and that is what Online Backup brings to the table.

What is Online Backup?

If you can connect to the internet, then online backup is for you, but what is it exactly? The best way to think about online backup is to imagine the bank deposit box mentioned previously in the introduction. That’s exactly what online backup is, a safety deposit box of your valuable data, stored safely away from physical damage at a secure building somewhere in the world.

Every major corporation that deals with important data, each one has a disaster recovery plan. A requirement of a disaster recovery plan is that at least one recent copy of all the company’s data is stored offsite. That way, if something were to happen to the building or the computers in that company, then the files would be safe and those files could be reinstalled at another location when the time is right. That is what online backup can do for anyone with a computer.

Why is Online Backup Important?

Here are the solid facts when it comes to your computer and why Online Backup is important:

There is more than a 40% chance that a computer will crash. Hard drives can crash, motherboards, memory and any of those can cause a cascade failure that will potentially corrupt or completely destroy any data.

Also, factor in a 12% chance that the software that you are using could become corrupted.

Viruses, they can slip by when your anti-virus protection needs an update. That is another 7% chance that your files could be irreparably harmed.

It’s important to consider a natural catastrophe such as a fire, flooding or even theft. This is another 7% percent chance where you data could be lost forever.

Finally, the second most common reason for data loss; human error and there is a 30% chance of files being accidentally deleted or overwritten.

This means that there is a 100% chance that something is going to happen to your computer. Online Backup is the only way to protect your data completely. Online Backup shields your important files from physical damage, theft and if that human error factor becomes an issue, then those files that you backup are versioned. This means that there are multiple versions of that one file at different stages. If you need to go back to a prior version, before something was added or deleted, then you also have that extra security.

Who Uses Online Backup?

Online backup was initially only available to large businesses that could afford data protection services in their disaster recovery plans or daily operations. When online backup first came to the IT scene, it was referred to as a SAN (storage area network) and was not as sophisticated as today’s cloud online backup technology. As costs for SANs lowered, medium and small sized businesses were able to afford the technology.

Eventually, the concept of virtualization in data storage arrived in the form of cloud online backup services. Cloud technology is more efficient and the cost to the end user (personal or business) is minimal because of the reduced need for physical data storage hardware, media and onsite technical support. Because of the quick adoption of cloud technology and the affordability of the technology; anyone has access to it for personal or business use.

How Does Online Backup Work?

Online backup is ideally a two-step process. The first part of the process is copying files to an offsite server where they will remain until needed. The second part of the process is that those files should be recovered reliably and brought back to where the end user needs them. Within the process of online backup, there are a number of minute details that make all of the difference between online backup service providers.

The company that gets closest to only two steps and makes it looks easy is usually the company that gets the most business. In order for online backup to work smoothly and seamlessly, a lot of responsibility is put on the end user. Online backup providers that have unnecessarily complicated procedures and software, run the risk of the online backup process failing.

The easier it is for the end user to do their part in the process, then the easier the entire process becomes. This is why it is very important that online backup service providers streamline their backup process and automate at least 98% of it. This is generally done by giving the end user control over what files to backup and then allowing the process to go to auto-pilot.

Online backup for the end user should also just be a two-step process. The first part would be to configure the settings for the files that the automatic system will backup and the second part is a one-click restore feature that returns the stored files to any device the end user needs them on. Will it work like this every time? Barring any major technical problems; definitely.

How Secure and Private is Online Backup?

Security for nearly all online backup providers is equivalent to that used by banks. Passwords are assigned to accounts, data is encrypted and all files are transferred via secured channels. The weakest point of security is on the end user’s side. Considering that cloud backup data centers often have armed guards, but some home computers do not have updated virus protection, it is an easy assumption to make that the end user could probably beef up security.

There are some very simple ways to meet the online backup provider halfway with security at home or in the office. The first, as was mentioned earlier, virus protection updates. Computers should be setup to automatically install anti-virus profiles and updates. Another way to increase security is by making certain that at the very least, there is a software firewall and at the most secure; a hardware firewall.

Privacy and security go hand in hand and the online backup companies have security down to a science. There is, however, one method of security that is stronger than another and that comes in the handling of user passwords. Some online backup providers have policies in place where the end user is responsible for their own password and the company does not know it and the other is where the provider knows the end users password.

The first instance is considered more secure, in that actual interaction would have to take place between the end user and the backup company to create a new password. While both methods are secure, the first method is considered more secure because there is less room for human error to be made.

What Features Should I look for When Choosing an Online Backup Service?

The services that you will require from an online backup company will be based on why you need online backup services. If you are a home user and you just want to store music files and videos, then you might not need as many features as a company that is looking for a need of massive amounts of storage and fast deployment features.

However, you will most likely find that every online backup company that serves both the business sector and the private sector, provide nearly the exact services to each, just on a different scale.

As an online backup customer, you will want to have each of these addressed to your satisfaction:

  • How reliable are the servers that the online backup company uses?
  • How expensive is the online backup service compared to other competitors?
  • To increase the ease of use, are additional features such as mobile app software available?
  • Does the company provide a substantial amount of file versioning?

Conclusion

Several online backup companies offer free online backup storage space and/or a free trial. Take advantage of that opportunity to test out the online backup provider’s service. That is an excellent way to discover if their services meet your needs. Another reliable source of helpful information is online backup reviews and comparisons. These are generally written by consumers and can offer some great insight into how a cloud online backup provider operates. The best thing you can do to protect your valuable files and data is to sign up with an online backup company before you lose any of your favorite digital memories or files.

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Web Hosting Hub Review

How did it begin?

Based in Virginia Beach, Web hosting hub has been on the market since 2001. If it were not for Web Hosting Hub, customers would not have gotten a quicker means of connectivity online. They are equipped with amazing features that allow the users to create a website in five minutes. The users can count on tech support around the clock 24/7, 365 days a year!

Web Hosting Hub Control Panel

Web Hosting Hub offers the well-known control panel software application that offers a powerful website administration platform with an easy to use graphical interface that simplifies the process of website configuration and management. It offers features such as website analysis and statistics and quick 1-click installs of various website plugins and programs.

If your current website has control panel as a managing tool, migrating from the current website to Web Hosting Hub is easy. Creating a backup of one’s website is simple. Download the backup and upload files to Web Hosting Hub.

Furthermore, Web Hosting Hub provides a temporary URL, so the site will not see any downtime during the migration process. Users can manage the website using control panel. While Web Hosting Hub has branded the cPanel, the company has not changed it very much from the default configuration.

Backup Policy

When purchasing web hosting package, one can also opt for automated backups as an add-on service. Automated backups have a size limit of 10 GB.

It also makes it fairly easier to migrate any site to a host that offers a cPanel, while anything else will require one to undertake a manual migration process. Web Hosting Hub nowhere states that you cannot take content to another web host.

Is the Price worth it?

The Web Hosting Hub provides three pricing tiers i.e. Spark, Nitro and Dynamo which range from $8.99 per month to $16.99 per month.

Like other web hosting sites, it also provides a promotional discount of 44% for the first year which makes the Spark plan for less than $5/mo (if you commit for more than one year)

So is the price really worth it? The question we are left with.

Let us compare it with the others to answer that for you.

When it comes to the Spark plan, there is a limitation to two websites and ten databases. This looks good for small site owners. For a single WordPress install, 1 database is required. However, with the other two plans, the situation is a polar opposite.  They provide the users with unlimited databases. This directly comes in a clash with HostGator Baby and Business plans and GoDaddy Delux plan.

So here is what the users get:

  • A bang for every buck with unlimited websites and email,
  • Unlimited disk space and bandwidth
  • A free domain name with one’s hosting account or a free website transfer with no downtime!

In a nutshell, the pricing is competitive considering the market needs. And their promos are equally good as HostGator- even for their cheapest Spark plan

Web Hosting Hub Specialties

Web hosting Hub also offers e-commerce tools! The tools are easily compatible with Google Checkout and Paypal. It offers free shared SLL encryption. Moreover, emails are completely secured. Sounds perfect for a business site, right? The users can opt for a free transfer of domain name with no downtime. They can host an unlimited amount of websites on one account.

Web Hosting Hub also specializes in hosting blogging platforms e.g, WordPress.  It offers many content management systems, such as Joomla and Drupal! There’s no doubt that one gets a lot for one’s money from a fast, secure and reliable web host.

Our Ratings

  • Cost: 5/5
  • Features: 5/5
  • Storage Allowance: 5/5
  • Bandwidth: 5/5
  • Reliability: 5/5
  • Customer Service: 3/5
  • Technical Support: 4/5
  • Response Times: 4/5
  • Overall Usability: 4/5

Total Score: 96%

Is Web Hosting Hub Reliable?

The users can rely on Web Hosting Hub to keep their website up and run with their 99.9% uptime guarantee and use of high-performance servers in the constantly and closely monitored the data center. Web Hosting Hub uses a wide range of safety precautions to make sure all systems are up, which include power backups and fault-tolerant IP routing.

Money Back Guarantee!

One of the first things a user looks for is reasonable refund policies. Web Hosting Hub comes with full 90 days money back guarantee. This leaves the users with complete three months to run a drive test. And it is completely risk-free! This is a huge plus because people later find that the hosting site is not keeping up with the specifics they require.

However, the fees paid by the user for SSL certification, domain name, and domain privacy is non-refundable. Moreover, the users will retain complete ownership of their domain name(s) and can transfer them to an alternative host after canceling your subscription with Web Hosting Hub.

Excellent Web Hosting Service

Web Hosting Hub’s brilliant customer service and robust shared hosting plans may sound apt if one has no intention to expand to advanced hosting options. The problem is that there’s just no space to grow with Web Hosting Hub. If the users are successful enough to need more-advanced hosting, they’re out of luck, and they’ll have to go through the hassle of shopping for a new provider and migrating the site. Ambitious webmasters will probably want to save themselves that trouble and simply start at a service with a wider range of offerings. Editors’ Choice winners Dreamhost and HostGator both provide better-rounded hosting services, including upgrade paths for when one’s site requires more power. Note, too, that even if it is very certain you’ll never want anything but shared hosting HostGator is still a better option.

Plans That Fit All

Web Hosting Hub offers flexible plans. These plans are easy-to-use for beginners. They can be changed into business plans as per requirement that needs more resources for online stores.

The packages Web Hosting Hub offers are also very comprehensive. It includes everything you need to start running a website. Moreover, one does not have to worry about purchasing the right add-ons to ensure that one can do whatever required for the website.

These features include free domain names, solid-state drives for storage, and one-click install for scripts to extend the feature set and functionality of your website. You will also get personalized onboarding to make the launching as stress-free and easy as possible.

The Flip Side

Industry standard Up-time

Website uptime is a vital element of the web hosting. If your site goes down, clients or customers will be unable to find you or access your products or services.

For this testing, we used a website monitoring tool to track our Web Hosting Hub-hosted test site’s uptime over a 30-day period. Every 15 minutes, the tool pings my website and sends me an email if it is unable to contact the site for at least one minute. The data revealed that Web Hosting Hub is incredibly unstable.

But also know that they’ve struggled since almost the beginning to deliver good up-time consistently. Some months are too good, while others struggle for stability. One can never be sure, to remain true to words.

For Advanced Users

Web Hosting Hub has always kept things simple, offering only shared hosting options.

This comes with a bunch of few benefits, our favorite one is their fast signup process.

But wait there is a downside to it as well. I everything goes well and your site takes off, a couple of issues may arise.

Larger websites are normally used to dedicated hosting options for larger sites that usually need more resources to run. And if you hit this slippery slope, one might have to start the hosting-reviewal process all over again by looking into more premium options elsewhere.

There is no update as for yet to remove this bug.

Customer Support

Web Hosting Hub provides a plethora of ways to get any of the customer support that is needed. Its US-based support team is always available. Whether customers contact them by phone, online chat or email, they are assured that someone will get to them right away. And with their newly enhanced Support Center, users can quickly find a library of information for almost every troubleshooting question they may have, whether through an article knowledge base, video tutorials and much more!

Visit WebHostingHub

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All You Need To Know About HostGator: A Detailed Review

The Basics

One of the best-known web hosting providers, HostGator has a massive 5000 servers at their headquarters in Houston, Texas. Established in 2002, they have gone on to become a leader in the industry, now hosting over 7 million domains.

They have recently launched their Premium addition; HostGator WordPress Cloud. And it has now made it to the top-ranked hosting sites list. It is among one of the largest web hosts throughout the globe. With more than 9 million domain names hosted, it is a very reliable hosting hub.

Its Control Panel

HostGator has the industry-standard control panel for all of its plans. Control panel can be confusing if one has never used it before. Therefore, HostGator has customized it to make it more easy-to-use.

From the control panel, the users can easily add packages to the plan based on what they want to do. For example, one can select that one needs to support more traffic, integrate a blog, or are trying to sell stuff. Based on the selections, HostGator recommends a package to add to users’ plan.

One can see all of your options nicely organized in tabs. This makes it easy to find what one needs.

The control panel also makes it extremely easy to get support. A knowledgebase search in the sidebar gives a quick access to articles. And a support tab at the top lets the users reach live chat support with no problem. This makes its control panel very user-friendly.

Our Ratings

Cost: 5/5
Reliability: 5/5
Customer Service: 5/5
Technical Support: 5/5
Features: 3/5
Storage Allowance: 5/5
Bandwidth: 5/5
Response Times: 5/5
Overall Usability: 5/5

Total Score – 93%

What you get!

HostGator offers a choice of three hosting plans on their Linux servers. Each has a great range of features and tools. It offers unlimited storage allowance and unlimited bandwidth. Ease-of-use is guaranteed with the top-rated Cpanel as the control panel software of choice. This means that accounts can be managed simply and efficiently. The Fantastico script library is included, providing 52 scripts suitable for forums, blogs or e-commerce sites.

It’s Price

HostGator web hosting plans aren’t that expensive. Unfortunately, they don’t include the price of a domain, which will set one back another $15. Most of their competitors include a domain for free.Host Gator has a wide variety of price points. It’s basically Starbuck’s style of pricing:  the users tell them how much they’re comfortable spending. Host Gator gives the option of VPS or Dedicated Servers.

There’s also the opportunity to join in a more economical package now and upgrade down the road as the business grows. The users can upgrade to a VPS or Dedicated Server without switching web hosts. VPS packages start at $19.95 per month and Dedicated Server packages start at $174 per month. If one is ready to commit to a 3-year deal, one will get a great deal. It’s definitely a big chunk up front, but they’ve been around a long time, so it’s not likely they’ll disappear. Beating the typical promise is Host Gator’s 45-day money back guarantee. That’s 50% longer than most!

Again, unlike most of their competitors, HostGator charge setup fees on some hosting plans.

 

The Sharing Plans

HostGator comes with three sharing plans.

  1. Hatchling plan
  2. Baby plan
  3. Business plan
Source: HostingFacts

Let’s break the three plans down.

The first and the cheapest one is the Hatchling plan which starts at $3.95 per month. Moreover, it offers one domain name, unlimited disk space, and storage. It also includes unlimited subdomains.

The Baby plan has somewhat a reasonable price. It starts with $5.95 per month. It provides unlimited storage, bandwidth, and domain names.

Lastly, the business plan! This one also starts with $5.95 per month. Its features include unlimited storage, bandwidth and domain names. It comprises of a free dedicated IP, SSL and a toll-free number. It is called Business plan because of its improved feature functionality.

Can you rely on it?

Some recent outages from the HostGator servers spoil what was otherwise an exceptional record of reliability. Normally, uptime is good as online customer reviews will show.

It is User-Friendly

The Host Gator interface is great for beginners. One is walked through every single step, regardless of the product or function. If the users pay attention and follow the directions, they’ll be able to get completely set up without a single call to support, even if they’ve never managed a website before. Host Gator uses cPanel. The users can find everything grouped and labeled clearly, and they have everything they need to set up a simple site. Handy SEO tools are right there, as well as a simple marketing suite

Its Up-Time is Great!

A website appeals the audience only if it is easy to use with it’s up-and-running being stable and consistent.

Fortunately, HostGator was able to hit 99.99% uptime over the past year.

Initially, the up-time of HostGator was below average. But it has now become even better than the overall industry’s average. It has been improving ever since.

Account Activation Time

The account activation usually takes 24 to 48 hours which is completely reasonable.

Installation of Apps and CMSs Made Easy

HostGator makes the users’ experience of installing the apps very smooth. They can install Apps using the QuickInstall button.

HostGator also offers  the following features for free with each shared hosting plan:

  • Free HostGator Website Builder that comes with more than 100 Mobile-Friendly Templates and an Image Library
  • It offers website Transfer, Domain Transfer, MYSQL Transfer, and Script Transfer free of cost.
  • The users get to instantly install 52 Free scripts on your account without any hassle.
  • Their exciting $100 Google Adwords Offer (If you already have an AdWords account, this offer is not for you. the offer is only for new Google AdWords accounts)
  • Users also get a 100 dollar Bing Ads Credit (This offer is only applicable for HostGator users who open a new Bing Ads account.)

Are there any hidden clauses?

Unfortunately, there are hidden clauses. It lets the users use the system resources no longer than 90 seconds at a time. Also, shared and reseller hosting accounts cannot have more than 250,000 inodes. Accounts with rather 100.000 inodes will probably get removed from the backup system.

Their Pricing Tactics

Web hosting pricing may appeal you at first but careful, your opinion might change.

The initial tactic is to only offer the lowest possible rates for a longer term. This means users will need to sign up for at least three years if they want the apparent promotion pricing as shown on their website. Or else, if they want a true monthly option or even a twelve-month plan, the monthly rate will rise over  50-150%.

Talking about the promotion pricing, the second trap that they set up for the users is to offer this low advertised rate for only the starting term. That means once the plan does expire and it’s time to renew, the rates will rise back up to their normal pricing (which again would be a havoc; could be more than double the original price).

In a nutshell, HostGator doesn’t look like such a good deal after all.

They Charge for Back-Ups

HostGator claims to provide ‘instant backups’  on the website. Amazing, right?

The real deal is, they’re referring to manual ones which are always available by default in control panel.

Want automated backups to simplify their life? It’ll set you back an extra $15.95 annually.

Here’s their exact statement:

“HostGator’s automatic backup service runs once a week on a random day, and each run overwrites any previous backups. Only one week of backups are kept at a time. The terms of our backup policy vary depending on the type of hosting account.”

Shared servers are only backed up on accounts that are under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes too.The company also claims that they provide backups as a courtesy, so they aren’t  providing you a full guarantee.They recommend that customers seek third-party backup services to protect their important data.

Are the Unlimited Resources Really Unlimited?

The Web Hosting Company’s claim has raised questions. Unmetered or unlimited resources are very misleading as companies often still place some kind of restrictions on your usage of them. HostGator defines what they consider acceptable use in their terms of service.

Their unmetered disk space and bandwidth is really only enough to run personal websites and small businesses. They state that customers using more than 25% of system resources for more than 90 seconds will be asked to reduce their usage. HostGator may even terminate the users’ access to services if they continue to violate this.

If it is just running smaller websites, th users shouldn’t worry about this. It will only be a problem to larger businesses who think that unmetered resources mean they have access to as much as they need.

Customer Care

As far as customer care is concerned, HostGator is perfect. It offers toll-free phone support along with email assistance.Host Gator wants to provide perfect customer service, therefore offers every type of support:  constant phone support, live chat, and a ticketed system, plus a user forum, 600+ video tutorials, and a snail-mail address. Host Gator’s CEO promises that if all of your options are exhausted, he’ll handle your ticket himself. That’s a heck of a promise.  We’re guessing that the CEO gets more than his fair share of emails due to the massive amount of support complaints visible in web forums.

You can chat online 24/7. Tutorials, discussion forum and a lot more await to guide you.

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The Good and The Bad of FatCow Hosting; A Complete Review

Background

Great web hosting with no bull is how Fat Cow describes their company and we certainly agree with. With more than 50,000 satisfied customers, Fat Cow, which began web hosting in New Mexico in 1998, offer an exceptional web hosting plan. ‘Legendary’ support, ‘utterly’ fantastic features, and even a ‘Minimoo’ service all combine to make Fat Cow a different breed from other web hosting companies. Don’t allow the moo slogans to fool you – Fat Cow provides an excellent range of services. Outstanding in their field,  in fact. Here is our Fatcow review:

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What they have!

The company offers the Original Fat Cow Plan, complete with all the cowbells and whistles, which will be sufficient for just about all website owners and which comes with an amazing value for money price tag. Included is a free lifetime domain name, free setup, an unlimited number of email accounts, unlimited storage and transfer allowances, and unlimited domain pointing. Other extras include a range of tools such as web analytics and a free deluxe site builder. Fat Cow also offers programming resources that you won’t find with similar deals from other web hosting companies. These include PHP, MySQL, Ruby-on-Rails, Python, and a full CGI Directory. Sign up now to get a special deal, for a limited time only, that offers free credits for Google and Yahoo Search Marketing. Customer services and technical support are provided 24/7 by the MooCrew via email, phone or online chat.

Price

FatCow often offers promotions, coupons, and special offers to customers during their initial term. You can find these deals on the FatCow site itself as well as reputable coupon sites. All sign-ups come with 24/7 phone, chat, and email support, a free domain registration, and an anytime money-back guarantee.

Its Plans

  • 36-Month plan: $7.99
  • 24-Month plan: $8.99
  • 12-Month plan: $9.99

 

      Ratings:

  • Cost: 4/5
  • Features: 5/5
  • Storage Allowance: 5/5
  • Bandwidth: 5/5
  • Reliability: 5/5
  • Customer Service: 5/5
  • Technical Support: 5/5
  • Response Times: 5/5
  • Overall Usability: 4/5

Total Score: 97%

Should You Trust Them?

Expect little downtime with Fat Cow as they guarantee that your site will be online at least 99% of the time. This is achieved by load balancing on all their servers, meaning a copy of your site is held on mirror servers so that you’re back online in next to no time if your main server fails. There’s no need to worry about the loss of data either as backups are made each day. Ultra-fast email and website speed are ensured with multi-GB connections to the web.

 

Control Panel

Fat Cow customers can manage their accounts with a range of admin tools by software company H-sphere. Simple to use, they allow website owners to make tweaks and changes without any hassle.FatCow has done everything possible to make website navigation convenient. It only takes a few moments to get all necessary information and a couple of minutes to register and start using their hosting.

Their Original plan includes a customizable control panel. However, there is no free trial before the purchase, and they wouldn’t say what kind of tool you are going to get with your package. Among the features included are web stats, database and domain management tools, email account management, and automated scripts.

Distinguishing Features

‘Great Web Hosting. No Bull.’ – Fat Cow

Host an unlimited amount of domains from just one user account.

‘Udderly’ low-cost hosting plans with massive transfer and storage allowances.

The ‘HeiferCratic Oath,’ a promise of outstanding support and customer satisfaction.

FatCow Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is FatCow’s most talked about feature.

The reason for it being this cheap is because you share the cost (and resources) of a server with many other customers.

They offer you 2 names for shared hosting plans:

  • The Original FatCow Plan
  • WP Hosting.

About the Original FatCow Plan

The original FatCow plan offers a plethora of features.

Worth mentioning is that one where you are given unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and domains.

Don’t start finalizing things as yet, this doesn’t mean that you can host a million large sites on a single FatCow web host plan.

Is Unlimited Actually Unlimited?

When a host says “unlimited” resources, it does not literally means it. Instead, it means “a reasonable amount that is more than most sites will need.”

If you’re just building a couple of simple sites, you are most likely not to have an issue.

However, if you’re building several large sites on one of these hosting plans, there are two possibilities

(a) either your sites will either load very slowly, (b)or not at all in some cases.

WordPress Hosting

Yes, you get to create WordPress sites using the original FatCow plan.

However, there are 2 other plans under the category “WordPress hosting” that are specially designed to help WordPress users. Depending on the one your choice of pick, it can be even cheaper than the plan discussed above.

You get all the same basics: unlimited bandwidth, disk space, and domains.

THE FLIP SIDE

It’s Expensive

There’s this fact that hosts that are also owned and managed by EIG have plans available for cheaper prices. For example, you can go with iPage or eHost and get the same services for less. It doesn’t sound rational to go with FatCow if you can get the same for less.

However, as you move a bit further, you see that the renewal prices for 1-year promotional contracts may double. The sign-up stage is also not that transparent — you get many additional features pre-ticked for you, though some of them are definitely important.  You may run across billing issues because of these seemingly-hidden price tags.  In the event that you need to request a refund, expect to run through lots of red tape—even more so if you request a cancellation of services.

Source: Google

Internal up-selling

Yes, you read that right, FatCow engages in internal selling.Upsells are not necessarily a bad thing. They provide cheaper overall prices for most while providing specific services for anyone who wants to pay for them.But upsells can also be a bad thing. Usually, they become bad when they are overly aggressive or when they are added without explicit consent.They offer upsells at checkout and in their backend. Instead of complementing their services, they overlap with key features. Several also come pre-checked

They can also be bad when they confuse customers and devalue the actual product. This point is where FatCow fails.

Once you sign up for a hosting plan, FatCow will try to get you signed up for free software and web application trials. You’ll find these right in your control panel, and they’ll look appealing because they are made to. But once the trial ends, it will demand money, and it is safer to assume that FatCow gets money when that happens. If you forget to cancel your trial, you’re going to end up with charges on your credit card. That’s alarming.

Do They Care?

There’s no bull involved with Fat Cow’s dedicated MooCrew customer service and technical support team. Advertised as having all the cowbells and whistles, they provide expert assistance should any problems occur. Speak to a representative via free online chat or toll-free telephone support.

While you can reach their agents through e-mail, phone line and live chat. The help-desk of this web host works 24/7, which is crucial for quick and efficient troubleshooting. However, there are many user complaints registered on a variety of forums regarding the efficiency and expertise of the support systems staff.

In addition to the live support, FatCow offers you a chance to master some of the web-hosting theory and practice through their extensive knowledge base consisting of articles, 170+ video tutorials, and a user’s guide. A blog launch is in the works—another bonus.

Email help is also provided as is an extensive knowledge base with Frequently Asked Questions. Fat Cow undertakes their own unique ‘HeiferCratic Oath,’ which guarantees free hosting credits to anyone not completely satisfied with their support services.

 

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