Whether you’re building sites for friends once in a while or generating an income, being organized and taking the time to understand all the tools available to you is worth it. This blog contains a few suggestions for creating your own webmaster’s toolbox. Many times, just like with Joomla and WordPress, you’ll only need a web browser because many useful applications are online and if you find the right mix of applications there will be more than enough features to get the job done.

Starting at Square One: Selecting a Web Browser

As you develop websites, it’s always best to conduct cross-browser testing, but chances are strong that you’ll settle on one browser where you do most of your work. Windows users typically start out with Internet Explorer and eventually move onto something else like Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome. Mac users will find Safari included with the MacOS, and Linux users will usually find Mozilla Firefox with the default install. The web browser you use most often is up to you, so get something you are familiar and comfortable with.

Communication & Collaboration are Key

The next thing we should talk about is talking. Having a discussion about a project over the phone or in a meeting with the mandatory cup of coffee is great, but that won’t get you very far if you’re not taking notes and creating a tangible plan. The good news is that there are many collaboration tools (both commercial and noncommercial) that are web based and available through a mobile or desktop application.

Free offers from CloudAccess.net just keep coming this month. We're excited to announce that through end of 2014 we’re offering free .org domain names, passing some incredible savings along to our clients. If you’re in the market for more of a fun domain name, we’re also offering discounted .rocks domain names. We’ve helped thousands of clients register domain names and we’d love to add your free .org or your discounted .rocks domain name to our network.

We’re proud to have worked with eNom, our parent domain name registrar, for several years now. Because we’ve had such a great relationship with them for so long, eNom is enabling us to make these exclusive offers to CloudAccess.net clients.

Register a Domain Name Now

We’re excited to introduce FREE HOSTING for Joomla and WordPress! It’s simple: launch a FULL VERSION of Joomla or WordPress, build your website, and keep it online indefinitely for FREE. This blog explains why a free hosting option is ideal for open source web development tools like Joomla and WordPress and why we’re making this incredible offer.

A Bit of Background

In 2013 we submitted a proposal in response to an RFP to host joomla.com, a free, limited option for Joomla hosting. In this proposal we indicated that we were not in favor of offering a limited version of Joomla. When the contract was awarded to another vendor, we started working hard to turn our unique proposal into a reality. The result is a system where anyone can launch a free and fully functional Joomla or WordPress site and keep it online indefinitely.

Keeping Open Source Open

Many believe that the future of Joomla’s growth is to build a model similar to wordpress.com. In the joomla.com model, users will be able to launch a free version of Joomla without the ability to install 3rd party extensions or templates. We believe, in the spirit of open source, that people should be able to install their choice of extensions and templates. We also believe that limiting Joomla’s functionality is not in the best interest of the Joomla community. We appreciate the Joomla and WordPress communities and we realize that it’s the communities that add the most value when choosing an open source CMS. We truly hope that the joomla.com system encourages growth and awareness of Joomla, but we are fundamentally opposed to the concept.

Internet Protocol is the set of rules that governs the exchange of information and the way traffic is routed on the web. Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the next generation Internet communication protocol that provides an identification and location system for devices, computers and networks and will replace IPv4, the current protocol that has many limitations. This blog shines some light on IPv6 and explains the impact on Internet users and how the CloudAccess.net platform is IPv6 ready.

The Growth of the Internet and the Need for a New Protocol

Originally developed in the 1970s, IPv4 is a cornerstone of the Internet as we know it. It was developed long before anyone could really imagine all of the interconnected devices that we have today. IPv4 allows for approximately 4.3 billion unique IP addresses, which might sound like a lot and certainly was a lot in 1970s standards. Nobody in 1970, however, could have predicted that the Internet would be as popular as it is or that many of us would be walking around with high speed computers in our pockets. With close to 3 billion current Internet users, IPv4 presents some serious limitations.

Essentially, the biggest limitation is that IPv4 is running out of the 32 bit addresses that each computer or device is required to have. An example of a 32 bit IPv4 address:

The CloudAccess.net API puts the power of our entire platform directly into the hands of developers. Using the API, your site visitors will be able to launch a custom application directly from your website. The API is ideal for any type of web service provider and can be easily integrated into any site. The best part is that you can expand the services that you offer, attract new clients and earn a recurring monthly revenue stream.

How the API Works

Let’s say you’re a developer and you have a perfectly designed application including a template or theme that displays each of your extensions or plug-ins including your image rotator, carousel, gallery and accordion. Your clients typically have to install an application, purchase your software, install it, enable it, configure it, test it and more. At best, this process is time-consuming and tedious.

We pride ourselves on having an extremely secure platform, but even the most secure hosting providers see hacked websites on a daily basis. Almost always, the goal of the hacker is to steal content, send spam, spread malware or conduct some type of phishing scam. Many times we’ll see a site administrator clean a site only for it to be hacked again a few days later, and then they come to us wanting to know why. We find that some additional steps that can secure a site and fend off attacks are often neglected. This blog explains why sites are hacked, steps for cleaning up a hacked site, and preventative measures that can be taken to secure the site moving forward.

Why sites get hacked

Vulnerable Extensions

There are several reasons a site can be hacked, but the culprit we identify most often is an outdated extension. Updating extensions is critical because hackers can easily identify vulnerabilities in older versions, which are like a wide open back door to the site. If you’re using a Joomla site, it’s best practice to visit the Vulnerable Extensions List frequently. If you see an extension you’re using on this list, download and install the patches immediately. If no patches exist, disable the extension and find something to replace it.

Outdated Applications

Another reason we see sites hacked is because the site itself is an older version of the application, like Joomla 1.5 for example, which is no longer supported with security patches. We provide a managed hosting platform, which means we’ll update versions for you when a new STS (short term support) version becomes available. When a new LTS (long term support) version becomes available, it’s up to site administrators to upgrade on their own. It’s definitely best practice to stay current with the most recent version of your application.

Imagine this horrible hypothetical situation: you’re deep in development mode making changes all over your site. You’re in the zone - nothing can stop you as you move about the options as fast as humanly possible. Your site is going to be a miracle, you’re a genius, ideas keep flowing through your head and you’re going to change the world. After making several changes, installing several extensions, posting multiple articles, you refresh the page to see the changes live only to cry out in pain and anger because your site suddenly looks something like this:

Or this:

Also known as the dreaded “500 Internal Server Error”.

The Cloud Control Panel, or the CCP, is an easy-to-use interface used to manage each website hosted with CloudAccess.net. We recently redesigned the entire CCP and this blog describes the process we went through and offers a little history of one of the most important pieces of our platform.

In the beginning, the CCP was actually a custom Joomla component we built and pre-installed in Joomla sites that were launched through our platform. It was completely separate from what we called the “Client Area” at the time.

When Joomla 2.5 was released, we removed the CCP from the Joomla application and added those features to the Client Area, unifying account and application management tools. The result was the second version of the Cloud Control Panel, which you can see below.

It’s almost Spring, and there are several refreshing changes happening at CloudAccess.net. We have a new website and a new office location, and (most importantly) a new product to announce. WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system powering close to 20% of the world’s top websites, has now been completely integrated into the CloudAccess.net platform!

For the last 4 years, we've focused 100% of our attention to developing the most complete web hosting platform available for the Joomla Content Management System. We've scaffolded support services around Joomla and we've helped tens of thousands of people learn how to build and maintain their own Joomla sites. We've now set our sights on doing the same thing with WordPress.

Over the years we've received countless requests to extend our services to incorporate WordPress. After a great deal of hard work by the entire CloudAccess.net Team, we are happy to announce that we are officially providing managed hosting and support for the WordPress application. Just like with Joomla, clients can immediately provision a WordPress website through the Cloud Control Panel™(CCP) and use all the CCP features to manage their application.

We take great pride in our customized Cloud Control Panel™(CCP) that is simple, intuitive and powerful. The CCP is at the heart of our platform and the main interface between CloudAccess.net clients and team members. You won’t find a better control panel at any other hosting company. Today we are launching a new version of our Joomla-specific, feature-rich CCP and we know you'll enjoy your new client experience.