Help Save Computer Before I Throw It Out The Window!!!

[Jenn]

Ok, so it's not the computers fault, but my frustration has reached a boiling point and I am hoping someone out there can help me.

Oh, and by the way, Hi! (I'm ticked, not rude)

Anyway, my goal (or so I thought) was to sign up for hosting with HostGator, Get a WordPress Blog, Make it look pretty and functional, and post all of my articles and reviews.

This, however, is not what is happening.

First, I don't understand CPanel. Do I need this to run my WordPress Blog?
Second, I want a template that has some flexibilty in changing the color, where do I find one?
Third, How do I upload this template, through WordPress or HostGator?
Finally, What is the difference between WordPress, Drupal, HTML editor and Rapid Niche Website? Are some of these components the same or do they somehow function together?

Seriously, I'm up a creek. I obviously do not know what I am doing. If anyone could please point me in the right direction I would be extremely greatful. Thanks.

Jenn

PS Anyone have any good recommendations for
books I could check out at the library?

[Cherished Heart]

I will keep my eye on this post because I'm in the place you are Jen. I have tried several different hosting companies hoping one will have a control panel I can actual control! hehe

Luckily they have all gladly refunded me when I cancelled. I'm currently trying out inMotion. But it's just like the others. I can set up a site using the Soho Website software but it's limiting in the areas I want: quality templates, more control on the page layout, a better way of adding products, etc.

I tried website tonight from godaddy. It wasn't my cup of tea. The templates and limitations are not the worse. Plus it's one domain per account so you can't grow out to more sites with the account like hostgator or the others.

Is there any hosting company out there for people like us that have quality templates, multiple sites per account, has feature included like blogs, commerce, newsletters, etc, and doesn't charge an insane amount?


I know it's really frustrating. This hosting stuff has been one of my biggest troubles.

[Jenn]

Hey Cherished Heart,

I was reading some of your posts, we really are in the same boat!!! Since you signed up with HostGator and WordPress maybe we could work through some of this together and hopefully get up and running quicker.

Drop me a line if you are interested.

Jenn

BlueJ31@comcast.net

[jkeifer]

Personally, I really like dreamhost.com
for 7.95 a month, I get unlimited domains, great reliability and even a free domain when I signed up! You also get the option of paying monthly if you like.
I have three domains hosted for my 7.95 a month now.

As for a Content Management System, I really like Joomla (www.joomla.org).
I am creating an affiliate dating site with joomla and it's taken all the pain out of making a website. There are lots of joomla templates out there too.

It was very easy to install, especially compared to some others that I've tried. I couldn't even get Drupal to work, and I'm pretty tech savvy. I'm not sure what I was missing there, but Joomla worked right off the bat.

I've always been a Dreamweaver user, which is what I used when I created PlayKillerGuitar.com, but after finding Joomla, I'm loving the templates available and the massive time savings on putting up a site.

I also really like the idea that you can log into your homepage too and make content changes on the fly, from anywhere. As for setting up the general layout of your site, you would use Joomla's admin control panel.

I discovered Joomla while researching Rapid Niche Websites, which I was originally interested in, and came across a review where the reviewer said that they preferred Joomla over RNW because it had much greater flexibility and better layouts. The other part that appealed to me was that Joomla is free.

Anyway, that's my 2.76 cents... hope it was worth something.
-Jack

[Tropical Tundra]

I also use dreamhost and they're great! I'm using the same plan with unlimited domains to host. I use Mambo for one of my sites: www.bingofunorama.com and I do like it. Joomla uses the same open source code as Mambo.

I still have a few sites with another host I like surpass hosting. They use Cpanel.

Jenn- don't hurt the computer! I'll walk you through changing your wordpress theme.

Using different themes is pretty easy once you get one uder your belt. I use this theme for my wordpress blog:
http://bingo-casino-poker.com/blog/

You don't need cpanel, wordpress is a script which you can install with a few clicks via cpanel. But if you want a different template then you need to upload it to your server. To do that you need to upload the template you want to use into your "wp-content/themes" directory. Once uploaded go to your dashboard click on "presentation" and you will have the themes available for you to use including the template you want to use. Simply click on that and your blog will use that theme. Using cpanel install it comes with two themes.

First you can choose a lot of free themes from here:
http://themes.wordpress.net/
If you use one from somewhere else or you buy one the same steps to install it apply.

First step is to download it to your computer. It will download as a zip. Unzip and you will see a folder. For example my blog is using the red-drop-12 theme. So now I have the files under the red-drop-12 folder on my computer. Next you need to FTP the file to your server. I use filezilla which is free and easy to use. You will need to know your FTP address, Username, and password. If you don't know it log into your cpanel from the main menu click on "FTP Manager". Click on "FTP Accounts" and you will see your FTP accounts. If you haven't setup a password it would be the same one you use to log into Cpanel. Now that you have your FTP account info open up your FTP client (i.e. FileZilla). Enter your FTP account info and click connect. Then browse for your theme folder on your computer and drag it/upload it to your wp-content/themes folder.

Once that is done log into wordpress from your dashboard click on presentation and you will see the theme you just FTP'd ready. All you need to do is click on it and voilà your blog is now using that theme! Once you get the hang of it, it will take less then five minutes to change themes/templates.

Let me know if you need more help since I threw a lot of stuff at you! BTW, I'm in Minneapolis, where are you in MN?

[Jenn]

Hey Tropical-

Funny that we are both from the same neck of the woods. I'm up in the Northern Suburbs - Anoka County.

I really like your bingo site. Very clean and easy to navigate.

Thanks for the info on the blogs. My husband was able to help me figure it out. I had to laugh though when I saw your bingo blog, we picked the same theme! I'm hoping when I generate a little extra cash, I can have the theme guy do some custom work on mine. I like having my blog as my affiliate website. Really easy to manage, now that I'm up and running. I have to say though, I really like your site. Maybe down the road, I'll have to switch hhmmm.

Well, thanks again for the info. My email is posted above, contact me sometime, maybe we can chit chat about affiliate stuff.

Jenn

[Tropical Tundra]

Sweet glad you got it working. That is funny that we're using the same theme but that was the nicest one of the ones over there so you have good taste, ha-ha. Thanks for the comments on my bingo site. I've been having fun with that but I'm looking at diversifying to non-gaming affiliate marketing as well so that's how I ended up here. I agree that wordpress is pretty nifty. I'm thinking about trying the rapid niche websites looks like you can produce some great looking wordpress powered websites with that. For my bingofunorama site I used Mambo which is a nice CMS. If you have cpanel Mambo/Joomla should be a script available for install. I use Adobe GoLive for most of my sites but I'm looking at other solutions geared towards internet marketing instead of design. I'm trying Xsite Pro right now but it's hard for me to let go since I'm used to coding in HTML.