Quick Online Tips » Hosting

How To Backup and Restore WordPress Database

QuickOnlineTips — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:36:07 +0000

Guest Post by Udegbunam Chukwudi.
How can you backup and restore your WordPress blog database? If you’ve been blogging long enough, you might have heard the words “Backup Your WordPress Database Regularly!” Well, this is quite true. Don’t take it with a pinch of salt! A healthy backup of your database could one day be THE ONLY means of restoring your blog should something go wrong such as a bad plug-in installation or an attack by blog hackers.

For a second time since I started blogging, this database backup of a thing, as some would call it, has saved me a lot of headache. Recently I messed up my blog’s permalink structure and my saving grace was the day before’s database backup.

DISCLAIMER: This tutorial is provided as it is. I shall not be held responsible in any way should you encounter problems like loss of database and entire blog/website along the way. Use this at your own discretion. It worked EXCELLENTLY well for me and should do the same for you hopefully!

How to Backup Wordpress Database.

1. Download, install and activate Wordpress Database Backup

2. Go to Tools in the sidebar of your dashboard and click on Backup

Under Backup options as shown below, select “Download to your computer” and click on “Backup Now”. When the backup is done you’ll be given an option to choose where to save the backup. Save the backup and you’re done.

Note: I strongly advice you schedule a daily backup of your database as issues could arise at ANY TIME. Simply navigate down the Backup option page to Scheduled backup. Select the once daily option and select which tables you’d like included in the backup. Type in your email address, click the schedule backup button and all is well. Check to see if your first backup gets delivered successfully the next day.

How To Restore Wordpress Database

The guide below will help you restore your database in no time using the backups that have been made in the past. I’m assuming that your current database has been damaged or is behaving erratically.

1. Log into your FTP account and Delete everything in the /wp-content/cache directory.

2. Log into PHP MyAdmin and select your wordpress database. It’s mandatory you remember clearly well the name of your wordpress database especially if you auto-installed it using Fantastico.

A list of all of the tables contained in the database will be shown. As shown below, click on Check all to select all the tables then select the Drop option to delete them PERMANENTLY.

You’ll be prompted to confirm the Drop action

Choose Yes and all tables will be DELETED with this result displayed on your computer screen

Now that the database for wordpress is empty, let’s proceed to uploading our database backup file

Click on the Import menu as shown above and then browse to the location of the backup file as shown below. Once you’ve done that, click on go and wait for the upload process to finish.

A successfully database restoration will show you something similar to the message below

Once the whole restoration process is done, log into your dashboard and make sure everything is working okay. Don’t forget to browse your site to see if it’s functioning as expected.

This guest post was written by Udegbunam Chukwudi who shares make money online and blogging tips @ his PR 2 dofollow blog. You can also write a guest article and share your WordPress tips.

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Original article: How To Backup and Restore WordPress Database
Copyright 2009. Quick Online Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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Which is the Most Reliable Hosting Company?

QuickOnlineTips — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:17:27 +0000

Do you know which is the Most Reliable Hosting Company? I have been following the Netcraft monthly notifications which showcase the most reliable web hosting services and it provides some interesting facts.

This month’s article reveals that DataPipe and Server Intellect had the most reliable hosting company sites in August 2009. Web.com, New York Internet, Virtual Internet and Hosting 4 Less had the most reliable hosting company sites in July 2009. It is surprising but many of the expected top web hosts are not in this list.

How do they measure the hosting reliability? Actually Netcraft measures the response times of fifty leading hosting providers’ sites at 15 minute intervals from separate points around the internet, and averages are calculated over the immediately preceding 24 hour period.

So why are these the best hosting sites? Netcraft explains

From a customer’s point of view, the percentage of failed requests is more pertinent than outages on hosting companies’ own sites, as this gives a pointer to reliability of routing, and this is why we choose to rank our table by fewest failed requests, rather than shortest periods of outage.

I checked their table of Hosting Providers sites ordered by failures over the last 1 day and you will find many new hosting companies to look out for. We are on Knownhost VPS hosting and it has served as a very reliable hosting service for us.

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How to Change Cron Time on VPS cPanel

QuickOnlineTips — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:36:15 +0000

I was trying to change our server cron timings which is usually set at 1AM. But when you change your server time to match your own local time, the Cron activities still continue at 1AM. So how can you change the cron timing on your VPS Cpanel?

1. Go to WHM >> cPanel >> Manage Plugins

2. Install the cronconfig cPanel plugin which allow users to edit cPanel cron settings/program run times.

3. Now refresh the WHM, you will find the plugin option loaded in the bottom of the left panel.

4. Set Cron time – WHM >> Plugins >> Configure cPanel Cron Times

upcp is the program that updates cPanel and it is recommended to run this script once a day. It has, by default, been set to a random time between 9pm and 6am local time. cpbackupcpbackup is the program used to run backups on your server and set by default to run at 1am. However, it is a good idea to set these cron jobs to run at an off peak time of your site.

Setting cron time – Remember the Hour is always set in military time; Day set to 15 means 15th day of the month; Month is coded as 1=January and 12=December; and weekdays are noted as 0=Sunday and 6=Saturday.

Here is what sample settings mean – Minute = 47; Hour = 1; Day = *; Month = *; Weekday = *. This process would run everyday at 01:47AM. Have you set you server cron functions at non peak hours?

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Original article: How to Change Cron Time on VPS cPanel
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Free Google AdWords Credits to ALL DreamHost Hosting Clients!

QuickOnlineTips — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:21:03 +0000

Most Hosting companies offer Free Google Adwords credits to new customers. Dreamhost now offers free Google AdWords credits to new and existing DreamHost customers!

Google Adwords is the remarkable Google advertising platform which lets you place advertisements across millions of websites via Google Adsense ads. These ads are mostly contextually targeted and you pay per click, though you could change options and target specific sites on a CPM basis also.

Buy Hosting, Get Free Google Adwords Credits

So here is the deal they offer -

Sign up today and get $25 Adwords credits
Spend over $50 and get $50 Adwords credits
Spend over $75 and get $75 Free Google Adwords credit.

Free Adwords Credit Terms

Its the terms and conditions that you need to look out for

Promotional credit must be applied to a new AdWords account within 15 days of creating the account
Valid for new Google AdWords customers with self-managed signup accounts.
Advertisers are charged for advertising that exceeds promotional credit.
Advertisers will need to suspend their ads if they do not wish to receive additional charges beyond the free credit amount.
The promotional credit is non-transferable and may not be sold or bartered.
One promotional credit per customer.
Advertisers with self-managed signup accounts are subject to a $5 activation fee.
Offer valid only for sign ups through the URL provided for the promotion by customers with billing address in the US or Canada.
Credits expires 31 December 2009.

Of course this deal will enable Google Adwords to get more accounts and let Dreamhost get more customers by offering free Google Advertising. While most web hosting companies offer new accounts with free Google Adwords, this offer is a win-win deal for all older Dreamhost customers too.

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Original article: Free Google AdWords Credits to ALL DreamHost Hosting Clients!
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Lifetime Hosting Discount Coupon for Knownhost VPS

QuickOnlineTips — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:35:09 +0000

Need a lifetime hosting discount coupon code from Knownhost VPS hosting? Well they released a promo code for that!

The promo code / coupon code KH4LIFE when used on the VS2-VS5 VPS plans, will receive 50% off the first month followed by a 15% lifetime discount. Remember this coupon is accepted on monthly subscriptions only, so if the coupon is used on quarterly or annual payments, they we will cancel the order accordingly.

Hosting companies often keep introducing special coupons and promo codes for limited time periods, which encourages new customers to join, or provides a good opportunity for webmasters to migrate to a new hosting. It is always a good idea to search for working hosting coupons, to get that extra discount before you join a new hosting service.

Our site QOT is hosted on Knownhost VPS hosting and we can vouch for their excellent tech support. Here are some tips to choose the right hosting package.

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Original article: Lifetime Hosting Discount Coupon for Knownhost VPS
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Now Dreamhost PS Hosting Grants Server Root Access

QuickOnlineTips — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:54:27 +0000

Now Dreamhost PS hosting customers, who use their VPS hosting solution, can get full root access! It was a long time wish of Dreamhost PS customers, which has finally come true and I am sure many hosting users are already playing with the new power settings.

Dreamhost warns that users need to accept some new terms

“I understand that the power of an Admin User is mighty and if wielded incorrectly it can cause major damage to my Private Server. I also understand that if I damage my own server through incorrect use of my Admin User power DreamHost’s Happy Tech Support Team may be unable to assist me in repairing the damage, and that I may be forced to reset my Private Server back to its DreamHost-approved configuration via the Reset My Server function of the DreamHost Web Panel.”

For a long time since Dreamhost PS was launched, a major limitation of the services was having VPS without root access which prevented complete control of the server by the webmaster. Dreamhost has a user friendly admin interface, and basically gives enough warnings on every page before webmasters can mess up any settings. While Root access gives site owners more power to play with their server, it also has the risk of irrreversibly harming your websites.

After creating users with root access, now customers can inform Dreamhost to stop managing your private servers and even reset everything to the default configuration. So Dreamhost PS just got more better… and competition increased in the VPS hosting business.

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Choose the Right KnownHost VPS Hosting Package

QuickOnlineTips — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:26:05 +0000

Its been over a week since we migrated to Knownhost. For new customers interested in starting out with Knownhost, we share our experience which will help you get started…

1. Texas or California DataCenter – When you start to signup, they offer a choice where you want to host your server – Texas or California. The help link describes them-

Texas Datacenter - Our Texas Datacenter is a state of the art facility featuring Premium Bandwidth such as Internap & Level 3. With this datacenter you can expect optimal network performance with great connectivity worldwide. California Datacenter – Boasting a blend of 7 Bandwidth Carriers our California Datacenter is another network giving optimal network performance to our clients. You can’t go wrong with either network so we’d recommend whichever is closer to your core website visitor’s location

We chose the Texas center as the ‘State of the art’ facility was appealing. We further checked their network and location at Colo4Dallas, which is a powerful network featuring Level 3, Internap, AboveNet, and TW Telecom providing optimum speed and reliability, high speed connectivity, clean IP addresses in a true carrier neutral environment.

Choose the right center, as it would be difficult to change later. When you are ordering, verify the package as VStx (for Texas) or VSca (for California).

2. Which Control Panel? - Cpanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin are control panels which are loaded on your server which help you manage your server is a user friendly manner. Unless you are really skilled with server management, you need a control panel. All three have their own unique benefits, but I chose Cpanel+WHM (costs $5 per month) based on recommendations of few friends and after browsing around forums.

They offer many add-ons, but for all practical purposes, the control panel is the only essential thing you need to get started, rest you can add-on whenever you want. Remember if you do not buy a control panel, you are self managed. If you want share the differences between these panels, feel free to write a guest article.

3. Don’t Choose Base Package VS1 – They offer many VPS packages, but if you are looking for managed VPS hosting, do not chose VS1 package. Though the cheap $25 per month cheap VPS package seems inviting, read the fine print.

* Fully managed service is included with VPS accounts that have a control panel installed. VPS accounts with webmin or no control panel are self managed.
** Plesk, DirectAdmin or cPanel control panel is not recommended with 192 MB of RAM due to the amount of resources required for control panel itself and all services installed and managed by the control panel

Since VS1 comes with 192MB RAM, they do not recommend you install a control panel like Plesk, DirectAdmin or cPanel because they consume lots of resources; but if you do not install a control panel, you are self managed! So you need a minimum package of VS2 ($35 per month) if you intend to get managed VPS support.

You can upgrade your package whenever you want. We opted for the VS2 package but were hitting memory limits with the provided 384MB, so we bought a 256MB RAM upgrade ($12.50 per month extra) and the excellent support team upgraded our package to 640MB RAM in 10 minutes. We always have an option to upgrade further without any downtime.

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Original article: Choose the Right KnownHost VPS Hosting Package
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KnownHost VPS Hosting Offers Best Tech Support Ever

QuickOnlineTips — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:25:38 +0000

Its been over a week since we moved to KnownHost Managed VPS hosting and till now it has been a great hosting experience. Right form the beginning the experience was incredible starting with the sales team, and then tech support. I am so overwhelmed with their outstanding support, that it is a good example to highlight how hosting support teams should work.

Super Fast Response Time - If there is one single reason I recommend you move to Knownhost, it is the amazing customer support. I must have exchanged about a hundred emails by now, and any hosting service would have been really annoyed by my constantly help seeking emails, but believe me the average response time of each of these emails was 5-10 minutes! In fact I am so spoilt now that if the response time starts crossing 5 min, I think the email might not have been sent.

Managed VPS is managed – I am glad I took a managed hosting solution because moving from shared hosting, there are hundreds of parameters to track, set and goof up. Unless you are an expert in server management, there are high chances you have simple working knowledge, which is not enough to run your own server with root access. Over so many emails, I have never got a response that was inappropriate and in general they were happy to help out a new customer finding his way around the server jungle.

Tech Support is Smart, Accurate - The engineers know what they are dealing with and are true professionals. I have been prodding my way around Cpanel, WHM, PowerPanel, FTP, CFS and they have helped me at every step, and each time the answer was precise, they understood what I wanted, they guided me to fix it in detailed steps with reference links, and set it up if I still fumbled.

Support Ticket Tracking – Each support ticket is tracked, numbered and kept open or on hold such that the same support guy keeps attending to your issue. There is accountability at every step, but since they know what they are doing, it works.

Open to Contact - The contact page clearly has emails for each department you want to reach. They have telephone numbers, fax numbers, and are eager to help you out in every possible way to keep your site online.

24/7 Support is Not a Myth – These guys are actually sitting there with that quick response time even on Sundays, and off working hours. I found the the same response time on weekdays, Sundays and off working hours. Since our time in India is totally different from US, having a support team actively interested in your problem, is really noteworthy.

Hats off to Jennifer, Chris, Ryan, Mike, Kate, Paul who helped us get online and stay online. I will continue to elaborate my experience about Knownhost and migrating a wordpress blog over the next few days.

I am exploring lots of features in the panels, and I am sure there are many competitive VPS companies, but as of now, if I can give you a single most important reason I love Knownhost – it is their incredible customer support. Send a sales query and see for yourself….

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How to Set Private Nameservers on Domain Names

QuickOnlineTips — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:35:14 +0000

We got some free new white-listed domain specific private nameservers courtesy of our new Knownhost VPS hosting. But setting up private nameservers is a little different, when you try changing the nameservers with your domain name registrar.

Usually your webhosting gives their nameservers to use, like this
ns1.knownhost.com ns2.knownhost.com

But we got private nameservers, specific to our domain name, like this
ns1.quickonlinetips.com ns1.quickonlinetips.com

Set Up Private Nameservers for Domain Names

When you login to your domain name registrar (we use Godaddy) to change DNS settings, you would simply need to edit the nameservers for your domain name to those suggested by your host and it would propagate over a few hours. But when we tried changing our domain nameserver, we kept getting “Nameserver not registered” errors.

We wasted a lot of precious time and effort on this, believing maybe the IP was not yet registered and linked to these nameservers. But actually this time it needed a little more technical skill than before.

The trick is to locate the Host Summary details, which would normally be empty. Click the add link there to add your new private nameservers with their IP there. Create separate entry for each nameserver.

Once you set your host name and IP, then the Host Summary details, which were blank before, now looks like this

Now you can go ahead and change your nameservers the usual way and those “Nameserver not registered” errors will no longer be there, and your new nameserver change request will be accepted.

Keep subscribed to share more of our experiences on shifting to VPS. Need private nameservers? We got them at Knownhost.

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Migrated from Dreamhost to Knownhost VPS Hosting

QuickOnlineTips — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:12:19 +0000

QOT successfully migrated from Dreamhost shared hosting to Knownhost managed VPS hosting today. After a few days unavoidable downtime, we are back to share our learning experience with you over the next few articles.

It all started when Dreamhost disabled our account a few days back. We have requested them to tell us specific issues which we might be unaware of so that we can fix them. While it was scary, it was heartening to see the daily database backup from Wordpress Database backup plugin (my favorite plugin now) sitting in our email, but it was even more gracious of Dreamhost to allow FTP to let us backup our files via FTP. Whatever might be the issue, we had a great hosting experience with Dreamhost for over 3 years and I still recommend Dreamhost as one of the best shared web hosting services to start your site.

Knowing not where to start, I found some amazingly helpful people on Twitter (see my Twitter profile to follow them) who went out of the way to guide us, support us, suggest webhosting, and even provide personal tech support to set our server. There are just too many people to name, and I thank you all for your help and support.

Best managed VPS Hosting

As I analyzed some other popular shared hosting services like Doreo, Bluehost, Hostgator – we decided it was time to expand beyond the constraints of shared hosting (like plugin memory limits) and get a new VPS hosting server which will help QOT spread its wings to expand and grow to meet new demands of traffic.

The next day we started our search for a new managed VPS hosting service. Why managed VPS? – basically because with an unmanaged server you are on your own, you need to know your tech stuff correctly and know what you are dealing with on a daily basis. Since I am no expert with servers, it was safer to switch to managed VPS hosting.

I was recommended several unmanaged VPS hosting services like Linode, Slicehost; some semi-managed VPS hosting tools like MediaTemple and fully managed VPS hosting like Liquidweb, WiredTree, Servint, JaguarPC, and Knownhost.

Why Choose Knownhost Managed VPS?

The VPS package of Knownhost seemed affordable and feature rich. I sent an email to their sales team about how fast they could get us migrated and hosted. I expected a response in a few hours as it was off-working hours in US. To our surprise, we got an email back in less than a minute. I continued my series of queries and exchanges over the next hour and got surprisingly fast response each time. With such amazing support, my decision was easily made and I paid out for the VPS package at $40 per month. The excellent tech support continued over the next few days with the same incredible response time and is a major reason we are back online…

Though the site has been down now for over 3 days, we went through a lot – efforts to get our account back, get backups, find a new host, setup a new VPS, set up new private nameservers, wait for DNS propagation for over 24 hours. We learnt a lot from this experience and will continue to share it with QOT readers.

Stay subscribed and we will share our learning experience about Knownhost, VPS, Wordpress migration and the fascinating lessons learnt ….

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