How to detect and reduce dynamic processing with WordPress
Regardless of all the WordPress caching and speed optimizations you’ve applied, it’s all for nothing when it comes to the cases where your site still needs to launch dynamic PHP processes to serve some types of page requests. These dynamic processes use up more CPU and memory than do the cached requests and sometimes that…
Read MoreHow to use the Staging site feature in 1-Click Web Apps / Installatron to sync apps
Our 1-Click Web Apps (Installatron) has recently updated to include an exciting new “Staging Site” feature. This will let you sync changes back and forth between your dev / live sites without the need to uninstall and clone. If you don’t yet have a staging/development copy of your site, head here to learn how to…
Read MoreHow to add or edit a DNS record in Plesk
Managing DNS definitely sounds like a difficult task, but don’t worry! Once you’re able to get through the highly technical sounding terminology, it’s actually pretty straightforward. I often say that DNS is a bit like an onion: There’s many layers to it, and it’s very likely that you’ll cry if you try to get through them…
Read MoreIntro to Shell (CLI) for Plesk Linux
There’s a lot of Linux shell intro guides out there. There’s also a lot of intro to Plesk guides out there. But a reference guide to help you find the most common paths and command line utilities for managing your Linux VPS or dedicated server running Plesk is harder to come by. Before we get started, if…
Read MoreGreen Web Hosting + Greenwashing
Many web hosting providers take every opportunity they can to tout just how ‘green’ their hosting is, despite frequently not having much of an environmental commitment at all. Some companies talk about how they are 100% carbon neutral, followed by how they bought “green credits” to make this happen. Others make outlandish claims stating that…
Read MoreThe best ways to manage WordPress cron: wp-cron
wp-cron is WordPress’ version of a cron job and a cron job is a task that is run on a schedule, whether just once at a particular date and time or on a recurring basis, like every day at 3pm, or every hour on the 15th minute. Traditional Linux cron jobs run at precisely the…
Read MoreHow to get a free SSL certificate with SSL It! and Let’s Encrypt on Plesk
Haven’t you heard? SSL certificates aren’t just for eCommerce anymore. Everyone needs encryption now since browsers provide insecure notices when they don’t exist and Google is using it as an SEO ranking indicator. But historically SSL certificates have been costly. Enter: Let’s Encrypt. A free SSL provider with a massive amount of industry support. Not…
Read MoreSyncing sliders with number or dropdown fields with Formidable Forms
My client wanted a car loan calculator that could look good and be functional on both mobile and desktop devices. Originally the design called for sliders for the various parts of the car loan options (amount, down payment, and term), but how many website sliders have you used on a mobile device without being frustrated?…
Read MoreAdding a “Province” Dropdown to an Address field with Formidable Forms
Working with a client on a site which only targeted the Canadian market, I was asked to add province drop-downs to the address field in a form we were building. Canadian addresses aren’t typically supported in as friendly a fashion as American addresses in form tools. American addresses often have a state drop-down by default,…
Read MoreMake 2020 the year we all take back the web
In the January 2020 issue of Wired Magazine, I read author Jason Parham’s new entitled By Us, For Us: Why we should think about segregating the web and it’s some concise, powerful stuff. It starts with a brief history of black content online, particularly NetNoir Online, which was, in Jason’s words “Afrocentric culture” on the…
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