Search for Wordpress hosting

Unless I find something better I'll be using Wordpress in future so I'm looking for hosting. Here is the list of hosts I've found so far.

I'm not totally sure what I want yet. Just seeing what's out there. I'm not set on this being my long term host. I've used hosting before but not for a while. So I know you only really know the market and what you need from it when you actually set up your site and use it. In most situations you either love what you have or get by for long enough. So I can't expect perfection in my first choice because I don't have the time to find it. Compromise is expected, I just don't know which aspects I will be compromising on yet.

Review Process

So the layout of this post is:

• Reviews: A quick search on the current market
• In the hunt: Hosts that fit my criteria
• Favourite: My preferred choice
• Failed the grade: Hosts that don't match my criteria

Related reviews and discussions

My search for "good wordpress hosting uk" returned:

• suitable wordpress host in the uk
• hosting-review: Top 10 Web Hosting Providers - Updated February 2014: Just alist of sites. I'm not clear what the metrics really mean. 

I found others but I quickly found some hosts that impressed me enough and then a clear winner.

In the hunt

These hosts are currently in the hunt as part of my current search.

Detailed review: As my review progresses I've begun a spreadsheet to make a thorough review easier

tsohost (My Favourite) : We're UK WordPress Hosting Experts, Supporting Over 10,000 Installations.

• package:
• Standard Hosting package at £2.99 a month (paying £34.99 for the year).
• Pro: £4.99/month (£50/year)
• Hosted software: The list of supported software isn't obvious. I found it in web hosting under the second 1 Click Apps section. Click on the title  "1 Click Apps" to expand the list which includes:
• Wordpress
• Drupal
• Moodle
• phpBB
• OpenCart
• 1 free domain name: What are their terms? Is it easy to migrate the name out?
• support: email 24hr, phone 9am - midnight
• I asked a question through the sales query tab on their site. Got a response within a couple of minutes. It was a tough technical question "Is it possible to use git with your professional hosting package?". Not something everyone would know. The way it was handled was very professional.
• used by: mumturnedmon
• review rgbartlett
• 2.5gb disk space
• network information provides an in depth explanation of the whole technical setup from network to server and database infrastructure.
• I like their backup statement "Unlike conventional hosting systems, we are able to take backups multiple times per day with absolutely no performance degradation. These backups are instantly browsable via our online control panel and files can be downloaded or restored at will with no need to contact support."
• Knowledgebase is a giant forum: Checked some recently updated threads on 
• .Net 4.5 and was impressed by the clarity of response. A lot of useful detail companies don't usually share. A good sign.
• Domain auto renewal period again very professional. Good clear explanations. This one took 16 days to reply though so not super quick

EVO Hosting 

Good UK hosting. More expensive than TSOhost. Not as much information available as TSOhost and everything EVO offers is matched or bettered by TSO.

• price: slightly higher at £64.99/year £6.49/month
• Faster web servers: For better performance, we use LiteSpeed, a premium web server that's up to six times faster than Apache. 
• Interesting but could that also mean compatibility problems.
• free domain for life: We'll keep your domain registered for you for free for as long as you host with us! Not included on monthly billing.
• I have to check they allow you to take it with you if you leave and don't charge extra.
• SSH Access Available (On request - Further T&Cs Apply) implies I can use git
• lists the software actually available including Joomla, Mambo, WordPress, Coranto, ocPortal, Drupal, b2evo, WordPress MU & More!
• Crowley said I have been using them for the last 6 months, as they are in the UK and my customers are too I get a better UK Google ranking on my affiliate blogs than if my sites were in the USA. Their support guys are great -- I can't say anything bad about them, you can install wordpress in 1 click using their Installatron and they give you a free domain.
• Their not standard hosting options could be a blessing and a curse. Could make things faster and easier but also make it hard to find support on google. 
• knowledgebase just a simple page with a few links. 
• 
  

34sp.com

• Good testimonials and sample sites: Of course these are presented by 34sp themselves. I like to see it but have to take them with a pinch of salt. Though they have got people to put their name and site to the 34sp brand and they have presented it well.
• Features and version easy to find
• weekly backups
• limited one click installers: phpBB and wordpress. No Moodle
• Data Centres and Network : sounds good but no match for TSOHost. They do everything here and more.
• Support
• forum though when I looked through there wasn't much recent activity. Particularly recent support activity!!!. Don't know the hours of forum support and its priority
• knowledgebase Seems ok. Information seems accurate, useful and easy to follow. Searching seems easy

bluehost.com

• feature list is clear and extensive
• .ssh access
• moodle, drupal, phpbb
• courtesy site backups. How often and not offsite!!
• detailed hosting plan details including server details if you choose advanced in the feature list then advanced features in the capabilities field. Impressive to actually see the server spec you are buying. 
• US host

Favourite

TSOHost are my favourite so far. They seem to match everyone else on price and features and then do more. The customer service seems implicit in what they do.

I didn't complete the Detailed review completely because it was hard to find all the information. That in itself helped make the decision. TSOHost has everything filled out because they made the info clear enough. In the end TSOHost beat their competitors on:

• support, 
• ease of use of their site: which implies ease of use of their services. What you see often reflects what you get
• price, 
• features
• backups

So the choice is hands down TSO Host. To top it off I heard such good things from mumturnedmon who hosts a busy wordpress site. Independent reviews make all the difference.

Outstanding questions

• Free Domain Names
• Q: who owns a domain your register?
• A: You do. We always register domains in your name not ours.
• Q: how easy is it to transfer out? any costs and requirements
• A: It depends on the type of domain. They don't apply restrictions and you can obtain the EPP(auth) code through their web admin panel and initiate a transfer without contacting support. Though some like uk domains require support to update the IPSTAG
• Q: Do I get to manage the DNS?
• A: Yes
• Site transfers
• Q: Does this include blogger to wordpress transfers?
• A: Yes
• Multihost
• Q: Can I host multiple wordpress sites each with their own domain name?
• A: Yes. I double checked the web hosting page and it's pretty clear. The number of sites depends on your package. Professional hosting would allow 6 separate sites.
• Database Storage
• Q: You can have unlimited mysql databases on a professional account but what storage limit will the DB be taking up? Is it the hosting storage or a separate one and what is the limit?
• A: Database storage is included in hosting storage. There is no separate storage quota.

I just emailed sales@tsohost.com with these questions. I got an instant reply with a ticket number which I find a good sign. I now have a solid reference I can use any time I contact about this query.

Now I just see how long they take to respond. I'm quite excited to get started but it's a big decision so I need these questions answered.

Response

About a minute later I got the following response. It's pretty general so I feel it's ok to share.

Hi Colin,

We always register domains in your name not ours. We are your registration agent but the domains are yours. That means if you ever want to transfer them out then you can do - we won't stop you.

With Nominet (UK domains) the domain will be registered to you or your company, with us just being the TAG holder. With gtlds you have the ability to change the registrant, technical and admin contact details through the client area.

In terms of transfer outs, you can get the EPP (Auth) code through the client area, as well as unlock the domain name. That means you do not need to contact us to move the domains away. If you have a UK domain and want to change the IPSTAG away from us, just open a support ticket and we can do it right away.

On our systems, space is allocated for everything in one go. So you can use that space for website files, emails, databases, logs etc -- it all comes out of one pot. The only other limit we set space-wize is that a database should not be bigger than 1GB. If it is then it becomes inefficient on shared hosting and we'll suggest you move it to a virtual server instead.

Wordpress migrations are usually pretty straightforward. We can move the files and database, then update the wp-config.php file to get it running through us.

If you are moving from a self-hosted Wordpress (or another blogging platform like Blogger) it's slightly different. There is an import tool we can use to do it for you. However, bear in mind you may need to reupload images and so on, as our migration team usually require full access. We always try our best though!

regards

--------

I'm very impressed. A nice clear answer with plenty of advice and detail and a lightning fast response. Of course when you contact sales in any company you generally get a faster response than contacting support but it's a good sign. I'm convinced any way. 

It's a risk who ever I go with but these guys seem to be really high quality.

Failed the grade

US hosts but the exchange rate suggests I could buy more there.
http://wpbloghost.com/

• not impressed couldn't find a list of features
• prices are around £5/month - £8/month
• You don't know what you get for your money

site5 Failed because they're US based and no better than UK offerings. Couldn't find enough detail

• seems ok. US based in Texas. Provide server specs, 
• no monthly plan for cheaper options
• recommended by t31os who said  i also found http://www.site5.com to be very good, very fast response times to tickets etc... but this was Posted 4 years ago!!!

What is grep and How do you use it?

That's my random thought today. Given the success I had last week with find and xargs I am inspired to understand the most common unix utility I hear about. The mighty grep.

What is grep?

The technical answer is ok but leaves you guessing. Gnu says

grep prints lines that contain a match for a pattern.

in their grep section

A better definition comes from HowTo: Use grep Command In Linux / UNIX – Examples

The grep command is used to search text or searches the given file for lines containing a match to the given strings or words.

How do you use it?

HowTo: Use grep Command In Linux / UNIX – Examples provides some nice straightforward examples. Though I couldn't get the search working in a folder, just on a file.

grep php /mod/quiz 

returned no such file or directory. It will be user error but it's what the tutorials show.

Though I am using GIT bash on windows 7 MINGW32. That could be the problem.

Turns out I need to prefix the command with GIT e.g.

git grep php mod/quiz

this worked fine but returns too much. So I then tried a search with a smaller file base

git grep link question/type/calculated/lang 

This returned a lot less. I also had to remember to type :q to quit the command in git bash. Note that I don't prefix the path with / this returns and error. ./ works but isn't needed. 

Atleast now I know the basics. I'll find a use for it soon I expect :-)

Is running a blog like running a shop?

I see a running a blog as like running a shop. There are those featured items on display and some in the window. These are what everyone sees and draws them in. The big ticket items and big sellers. Then there are the other items that get far less readers individually but as a whole make up a large part of sales. Making the shop more of a whole.

So the principle of running a shop matches that of running a blog. You can have a great shop but if people don't know you exist then you will fail.

This point of view then brings all aspects of business into play which can seem daunting at first but since there is so much help out there for running a business I like to think that makes it easier. It's also why I chose to simply get experience in work first before doing anything like my own business.

Working for others teaches you about success and failure while learning at your own pace and minimising the risks. That's the point of employment as I see it. You don't take all the risk so obviously you don't get all the reward but this means that you can either win or learn and be diligent until you find the idea that fits you.

I've been looking around for the business model behind blogging and found a few. Despite what many claim I don't see any as new, just adaptations for our age. Good writers sell copy through articles or books, graphics people sell images sometimes as books, people with either video or presentation skills sell videos. It's no different to the old world of hardback, comics and video except you get everything sooner.

I've been following conversations like Penelope’s Guide to Blogging which resonates because it's practical. Just blog, get out there and the business model will figure itself out. Deep down that's how I see it. I look back at what I've written in the past and I am proud of much of it. It's the kind of stuff I like reading. It's helped me connect with people I want to connect with. That's the start of a business.

So if my blog is like a shop, I need to understand my market then the right location etc, etc. First I need to understand how I'm helping people. That's what I've been exploring for years. Like everyone else I can see so many things I can do and ways I can help but what am I passionate about that others want and I do well?
I only buy products that fill my own need. That's the point. So it helps to understand my own humanity to see what to do with my blog.

I asked Ian Westermann of Essential tennis about success online. Ian is a successful blogger I have been following for years and I find particularly approachable. His advice was similar to Penelopes. Video has worked well for him. This seems to resonate with his market and skillset. He's a tennis coach. Most tennis instruction is visual because people respond best to it. Though he has tried all sorts of approaches over the years and basically worked very hard.

The point here then is that I prefer to see blogging as like any other business. You need to understand how you help people, who you help, how you help them best. Questions around how you help people with a specific aspect of your life underpin your blog just like how you attract people to your shop and get them to buy.

I also wonder if the better analogy is that a blog is like a shop window. It feels like promotion and marketing to me. I do it to connect and learn. I'm a software developer by trade. I can see all sorts of opportunities to produce products but I buy most things after reading around. So I visit lots of places to find out what I should buy. Often blogs are core to my research. Occasionally I will buy from a blog, sometimes I click an ad but I keep returning to blogs that I found useful.

What is Microsoft Azure?

I was talking to a tech buddy during a play date this weekend. He's currently updating his Microsoft accreditation and is really impressed with what he's learning. He's telling me how he can write one application and publish it to multiple devices, phone, tablet desktop in a snap.

Backend cloud processing for Unity

Yep, we've heard it all before, it's called html 5 these days, but this guy isn't a newbie, for example he's already using phone gap and loves it. We're talking here about solutions for serious backend cloud processing that are maintainable and scalable. Essentially something to rival Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

I was interested because Unity has introduced me to the power of .NET. I already know other Microsoft products like Visual Studio from when I used it years ago and I've been supporting and developing on Microsoft software for so long I'm pretty familiar with their quality. It's not perfect but I was wondering if this could be a useful solution, particularly something to work with Unity.

I've been searching for Unity backend services including Photon and Smartfox Server and both have the strengths and weaknesses. I was wondering if Azure would be a good fit given it's microsoft and so I assume .Net pedigree.

Quick Comparison

Talking to another colleague I learned that AWS and Azure are pretty similar services but key differences were

• Pricing: 
• AWS billed per hour. Fire up your machine and you are charged for an hour even if you just use 10 minutes
• Azure billed on time machine is running: You only pay for when your machine is actually running
• Builds and publishing
• With AWS being unix based it's easy to build your server locally and publish to AWS. A very quick process. Same as building your applications
• Azure: Longer more difficult process for building your server and then publishing code and software builds

This is an on going explorative article. Helping me decide if Windows Azure is fit for my purpose. So if you have anything to add please do. Particularly if details are wrong. The comparison of services is more hear say at the moment. Something I need to clarify. 

Concerns

My concern with Microsoft is always lock in. They are in my view a walled garden because I learnt to support and work on Microsoft first and from then on I've been struggling to get out. Over time I have learnt that this comes directly from their business model and hence their way of doing business. 

Their systems and products are always sufficiently different to anything else they ensure you must buy their next product. Here's a quick list of MS products I've used along with competitors that I found I prefer:

• I ran IIS servers for years and then I found apache. 
• I ran windows for years, recently I found Apples OS X. So far it's hands down better.
• MS Office v Google Docs, I don't need the power of Office. I need the presence and accessibility of Gdocs
• Exchange and Outlook v GMail, With GMail I often search for details 7 years old and find them in seconds. 
• Visual Studio v Dreamweaver or eclipse. Dreamweaver does better HTML, eclipse does more than just MS code for free

The big lesson of course has been Internet Explorer v Firefox and Chrome as a web developer with passion for the front end I have always designed for firefox and chrome first and then made things work in IE. This is probably the simplest way of describing Microsofts solutions in my experience. 

Develop for the solid quality products first. Then make it work on Microsoft

So why consider a Microsoft development pipeline at all? 

I like to keep my ears and eyes open. Not be prejudiced. Mainly it's because Unity uses .Net. I assume this is because of Xbox. So I don't want to dismiss MS out of hand because there could be some part of the process that's useful or other benefits I don't yet realise. 

Related Articles

• Windows Azure: Pricing seems steep at $48/month minimum

This week in ColChambers: 15th Feb

Time for a look back at what happened this week on ColChambers: Human Performance.

New Articles

• Can you run phpunit tests on entire folders?
• What is affiliate marketing: Rise of the new economy
• Moodle Unity Question Type
• PrimeSense and Kinect

Updated Articles

• A Moodle + Unity + AWS Infrastructure
• On the origin of life Is energy transfer the root of all life. Added the history of our world in 18 minutes

Penelope’s Guide to Blogging

So I've started reading Penelope Trunks blog and I have to admit I'm quite fixated. The way she writes just draws me in and I want to share everything. You know how it is when something resonates with you. Of course I don't want to just share everything I read because that's not what blogging is about.

Today I'm sharing Penelope’s Guide to Blogging because it is typically straight to the point. I've been exploring various approaches the past few months and learning a lot and found much of it resonates with Penelopes advice.

I notice that she has created a bunch of posts on a topic and then made each post the title of each paragraph. That's the vision I have. Her focus on getting on with it speaks right to me. I believe you get good at what you do regularly and that's what I'm finding. When I look at older posts compared to now I see a marked difference.

Success will take time

I like her comment about lack of readers and that you won't make money directly because I feel it's true. Like anything there are the high flyers and the rest of us. The few make most of the money. Those are often the people who get the most readers. That takes time and effort. Just like any venture you rarely succeed early on. It's just nice to be reminded early on to give you better perspective on your results.

I also add things to my blog that I want to read. That's the main criteria I set. If I feel I really want a record of an article later on then I post about it.

I like having Multiple blogs

That is also why I break one of Penelopes guidelines. I have 3 blogs and I'm planning more. The reason is because my core passion covers so many topics from 3d virtual reality and programming to biology and sport. As one it just seems like a mish mash of ideas. Separately each blog has a focus I can build on. As I go I link them up but for now I feel it helps to have separate blogs for a clearer focus for each.

I big advantage is that I can try lots of different things out. I believe in achieving success through learning which means trying ideas out. I'll be moving to wordpress soon which is a big change. Having multiple blogs allows me to spread the risk. I'll move the least popular or challenging blog first. Make all the newbie mistakes and do a better job with each successive blog.

It's obviously a lot more work but then I got 5 A levels with this approach where most get 3. So I could aim for 50 points when everyone else could only get 30. They had a lower maximum point limit. I had to work harder but once I realised how each A level could help the other it all got quite easy.

So I've taken Penelopes basic list of points to give you a checklist, check out her article for the full detail, I found it a useful quick primer on a fun and practical way to approach blogging.

• Post: Easiest instructions for how to start a blog
1. Ignore buzzwords.
2. Pick a topic — you can change it when you know what you’re doing.
3. Spend two seconds choosing software.
4. Post something right now.
5. Practice, practice, practice.
6. Ignore your lack of readers.

• Post: How to use links in your blog
• Post: Blogging is essential for a good career
• Post: Don’t waste your time worrying about typos on your blog. Just post.
• Post: Reality check: You’re not going to make money from your blog

Advanced Topics:

• Post: Linkbait: Trying to get big bloggers to link to you is stupid. Just write good posts.
• And one more thing. I have found that if I am nervous to post something”?if I think I might look bad or reveal too much or give advice that people will hate“?these are the posts that people care about, because they further my connection with people and further the conversation we’re having, and connection and conversation are the crux of linking. (…more)
• Post: Starting a second blog: NO!!! DON”T DO IT!!!
• Post: How to blog about a co-worker (or someone else close to you)
• Post: How to get your blog mentioned in print
• Post: Blog ROI: Consider measuring the success of your blog by if it improves your sex life
• Post: Blog under your real name, and ignore the harassment

Who are PrimeSense? Microsoft Kinect and Apple

Primesense are a fascinating firm because they developed the sensors that made Microsoft Kinect possible. The Israeli company are the market leaders in providing computers with the ability to read natural gestures from humans like moving their arms and body. This enables us all to interactive with our digital devices without a mouse, game controller or other device. We just use our selves as the input device.

This evolution is opening up tremendous opportunities for interactivity and experience in the virtual landscape of computers, tv and any digital device.

While Microsoft brought the technology to the mainstream through their Kinect platform it is rumoured that Apple were the originally intended patron. Turning down a deal at the time preferring Siri, the voice recognition technology, instead.

Apple just bought Primesense signalling an about turn in strategy and triggering inevitable speculation on the reasons why. Forbes speculated why without coming to a conclusion. cnet say it's to enhance their maps offering.

What I notice is that PrimeSense are incredibly passionate in the concept of natural interaction with digital devices. To the point that they have developed thier own OpenNI (Open Natural Interface) standard and development kit linked to OpenNi.org. This is the kind of leadership I would hope for from the leaders in Natural Interaction.

As I learn more about Apple, having recently bought my first device, a macbook air, and then an ipad mini I learn that under the hood the standards they set are particularly high. Git and Unix spring to mind. They care about incorporating best of breed technology into their infrastructure and ultimately consumer products. This takes time. So I am wary of listening too much to the gossip I hear about failed mergers. It's never as simple as just plugging a company and its technology in.

We're still waiting to see where this will all lead. The first signs are that the Primesense web site has stripped all news and other info. I remember reading that they had shrunk their technology so much they were now aiming for mobile phones. That implies it will be in iphone and ipad soon. When and if isn't clear. What purpose they would have isn't clear either. The most obvious application is for Apple TV. A real game changer and the most common rumour.

What makes most sense to me is owning the platform not the app the Structure sensor is a fully funded kickstarter project promising amazing potential for Apple products. Now that Apple own the OpenNI standard they can ensure projects like this get the best support possible. Taking the competitive advantage away from their rivals. Structure for example allows your device to scan a room and generate a 3d model. What this means for users isn't Apples concern. That's for app and device manufacturers to explore. Apple has just ensured that they will do it on Apple products.

I'm certainly growing in my faith in the Apple brand and its mission as I learn more about it.

What we do know is that tt's certainly an exciting time to follow tech.

Related news

• Structure sensor: Capture the world in 3D on your phone