Ever wonder what the different roles meant for WordPress users?  Here are some handy definitions:

Administrator – Somebody who has access to all the administration features
Editor – Somebody who can publish and manage posts and pages as well as manage other users’ posts, etc.
Author – Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts
Contributor – Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish them
Subscriber – Somebody who can only manage their profile

Want to automate the backup of you site and it’s database?  Here are the instructions for you:

To make the cron job work, create a file called backup.sh and place the following code inside of it ::

 #!/bin/sh
mysqldump -h DB_HOST -u DB_USER -p'DB_PASSWORD' DB_NAME > YOUR_WEB_ROOT/db_backup.sql

 gzip -f YOUR_WEB_ROOT/db_backup.sql

 tar czf YOUR_WEB_ROOT/web_backup.tgz YOUR_WEB_ROOT/web/content/

In the above script, you will need to replace the portions in ALL CAPS with your actual information as follows :

YOUR_WEB_ROOT – This is the absolute path to your files. You can find this path by Going to your hosting control panel, click the site you want to work with, the click Features, and scroll down. This will be the “Linux Path” listed there. An example would be: /mnt/target02/123456/www.domain.com (Note, the /web/content is not included in that path)

DB_HOST – Database Host an example would be mysql5-9.wc1 or mysql50-78.wc1.dfw1.stabletransit.com

DB_PASSWORD – the password on this database (note the single quotes and that there is no space between the -p and the single quote)

DB_USER – the database username (e.g.: 12345_username)

DB_NAME – the name of the database you are backing up (e.g.: 12345_database_name). Note that there is no parameter for this option unlike the previous examples (-h -p and -u respectively).
Place this file in your web root and create a cron job.

To create the cron job:

1. Go to your hosting control panel.
2. Select the website you want to work with.
3. Click the Features tab.
4. Scroll down to the Scheduled Tasks (Cron Jobs) area.
5. Click on Add New Task. Put the name of the file, which, in our example is backup.sh in the “Command To Run Field”.
6. Select Perl as the Command Language and then select the interval in which you wish to run your backup script.

Taking your WordPress site mobile means that you can publish from your cell phone or other mobile device and anyone using a mobile device can see your site very easily.   The idea first came to me when I saw my 25 year old son surfing away on his new Droid.  Then I talked to my 19 year old and he told me that most of his friends had mobile devices that they use for surfing the web constantly.  So I have been experimenting with the WordPress Mobile Pack with great results.

Of course I would never recommend doing anything to your site without following these steps FIRST:

1. Backup Your Database
2. Backup Your Site

In this example we use Filezilla as our FTP client. However, you will use the same settings (in bold red font) for a web editor such as Web Expressions or Coffee Cup’s Visual editor.

1. First open your FTP client. We use Filezilla for this example.
2. Click on File.
3. Click on Site Manager
4. Click on New Site
5. Name the site for your website.
6. Fill in the Host field like so (replace yoursitename.com with the name of your domain):
   1. ftp.yoursitename.com
7. The Logon Type is Normal
8. Fill in your user name. This will be the FTP user name you can find in your hosting control panel.
9. Fill in your FTP password.
10. Click on the advanced tab.
11. Browse to a folder on your local computer where you want upload the files from.
12. In the Default remote directory field your entry should look like this (replace yoursitename.com with the name of your domain):
    1. /www.yoursitename.com/web/content - it is very important to make sure to upload to this folder. Otherwise your site will not show up on the internet.
       
13. Click Connect
    In one window you will see the files in the folder on your local computer. In the other you will see the files on the server.
14. Right click on the file or folder you want to upload and click upload. Repeat this step until you have all your files and folders uploaded.
15. Once you have uploaded all the files and folders you need for your site, go to your website to check that everything is showing as it should. If not, check to make sure you uploaded to the correct directory as indicated in step 12.a

To set up an email forward for one of your email accounts:

1. Log in to your control panel.

2. Click the “Websites & Email” section link in the left navigation bar.

3. Click the “Email accounts” tab.

4. Select the email account from the list.

5. Enter the email you want to forward to in the “Forwarding Address” text box.

6. Click “Save.”

To have the mail server retain a copy of the message:

1. Log in to webmail for the email address that has the forwarding addresses added to it.

2. Click on the “Settings” link in the top right corner.

3. Click on the “Incoming Email” link on the left menu.

4. Click the “Forwarding” Tab.

4. Check the box “Save a copy of forwarded email.”

5. Click “Save.”

It takes a few minutes for the emails to start saving in you inbox.

ADWH is proud to offer our current customers a chance to earn money just for referring new customers to us!  You will get 10% of any new purchases of hosting from people you refer to us!  Simply log in to your client account, click Affiliates, and activate your affiliate account. You will then see a unique referral link that you can give to people whom you refer.  You can also copy the HTML link code you will see at the bottom of the page and paste it into your website so if someone buys from us after clicking the link on your site, you will get the credit.  It’s that simple!

If you run WordPress we recommend you take the following actions for each WordPress site in your account to help ensure the security of your data:

1. Before performing any updates or other major changes, Please follow the backup procedures outlined in the following articles:
   1. Backup Your Database
   2. Backup Your Site
2. Ensure that each of the WordPress sites in your account is running the current version of WordPress.
3. Ensure that the WordPress config file (wp-config.php) for each WordPress site in your account does not have the  “other” or “Public” read and write permission bits turned on. The “other” read and write permissions are not necessary for WordPress sites to function. You can use an FTP client to manage this permission. The numerical value for this file’s permissions should be 670.
4. Inspect your WordPress “users” panel for all users that have “Administrator” listed as their role. Change the password for all of the WordPress users with the “Administrator” role in the WordPress “users” panel.  Any unfamiliar users with the “Administrator” role should be deleted.  This can be accomplished from the WordPress Administration Panel (/wp-admin).
5. Change the WordPress database password (the password that the WordPress application uses to connect to the database server) and update the wp-config.php file with the new password. You can reset the database password through the hosting Control Panel at https://www.websitesettings.com. Click on the features tab and then click the database you want to work with. You will see the database user name near the bottom of the page. click on it to manage the password.

As usual, if you are uncomfortable with doing this yourself, please contact us. We are happy to help.

Here is a list of actions you can make that costs nothing to help improve your site’s ranking on the Internet. I have developed this list over the last couple of years, but I am sure it is not complete. Please register so that you can add to the list.

Promote your web business locally

These are just a few suggestions I have found to promote your website at no cost.

Optimize your website for local search

• Name your city and state/province in the <title> element, preferably near the beginning. You want to do well on the SERP for these terms along with your service keywords.
• Have your full address on your Contact page, including country and zip or postal code. Having this information easily accessible will make it easier for local search engines and directories to add your site without you’re even asking them to.
• Include your city, state/province, and country elsewhere in the text, perhaps on you’re About page. (It’s useful information for non-locals too. People tend to feel better about doing business with a company that has a named location.)

List your company in local directories

• Google Local (Google Maps): create your listing at Google’s Local Business Center (Google account needed)
• MSN Live Search: click on the Help link to get to the form to add your listing
• Yahoo! Local: go to their Add a New Business page (Yahoo account needed) (Currently only for the US)
• Ask Business Search: email their customer service department to have your business added to the listings (Currently only for the US)
• Local.com: add your listing via their submission form (currently only for the US and the UK)
• TrueLocal: go to their List Your Business page (in English, Spanish, and French)
• YellowBook.com and YellowPages.com both have free listing options.

Also search for directories specific to your city and country.

Display your domain with your company name locally

Some of the people you’re in contact with locally may be looking for a web host or know someone who is. Provide your domain wherever your company name appears, and interested people will go to your site for more information.

• In Yellow Pages ads
• In local newspaper and other local print ads
• On your vehicle
• On company letterhead and business cards
• On giveaways

Attend local networking events

• Your local Chamber of Commerce
• Local trade shows
• Meetup.com meetings for entrepreneurs

And last but not least:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Craigslist
• linkedIn
• any other social networking sites you can find
• create a blog or forum site (or join a forum) where you and others can discuss your business.

In order to do a proper back up of a website, many people will need to backup the database it runs on. If you use WordPress or Joomla, a Forum or a shopping cart, you most likely have a database so these instructions are for you.

1. First login to your hosting control panel at https://www.websitesettings.com
2. Click on your domain name.
3. Click on the Features tab.
4. Click on the database you wish to work with.
5. In the next screen you will need to know the information you see.
6. Click on the Online Manager link. This will open a new window with a database manager screen.
7. Go back to the screen with your database information in it.
8. Highlight the username and copy it.
9. Go back to the window with the database management screen.
10. Paste your username in the Username box.
11. Type your password for the database in thePassword box.
12. Go back to the screen with your database information in it.
13. Look at the Hostname. It will look something like this: mysql50-46.wc2.dfw1.stabletransit.com – The number in red is what you need to know. It will be different for every database most likely.
14. Go back to the window with the database management screen.
15. Click on the down arrow by Server Choice.
16. Click on the server with the same number as you found in step 13 behind the “mysql50-“.
17. Click Go.
18. Once you are logged in, click the name of your database located on the upper left side of the screen.
19. Click on the Export tab.
20. On the next screen in the Export box click Select All.
21. Scroll down and check the Save as file box.
22. Type a name for the download in the Filename template box.
23. Click go.
24. If prompted, click save and choose a location on your computer to save the file to.

Once this is saved to your computer, you have created a backup of your database.

1. First open your FTP client. In this example we use Filezilla.
2. Click on File.
3. Click on Site Manager
4. Click on New Site
5. Name the site for your website.
6. Fill in the Host field like so (replace yoursitename.com with the name of your domain):
   1. ftp.yoursitename.com
7. The Logon Type is Normal
8. Fill in your user name. This will be the FTP user name you can find in your hosting control panel.
9. Fill in your FTP password.
10. Click on the advanced tab.
11. Browse to a folder on your local computer where you want to store the files.
12. In the Default remote directory field your entry should look like this (replace yoursitename.com with the name of your domain):
    1. /www.yoursitename.com/web/content
13. Click Connect
    In one window you will see the files in the folder on your local computer. In the other you will see the files on the server.
14. Click on the first folder or file in the list for the files on the server.  Hold the shift key down and scroll to the bottom of the list.
15. Click on the last file or folder in the list.  This should highlight every file and folder in the server list.
16. Right click on these highlighted files and folders.
17. Click Download.  This will start the download process. Once it has downloaded all the files and folders on the list you have created a backup of your site.