To quote from the WordCamp LA web site:

WordCamp is a conference type of event that focuses squarely on everything WordPress. Everyone from casual end users all the way up to core developers show up to these events. These events are usually highlighted by speeches or keynotes by various people.

For those of you in the WordPress community who’ve never been, I highly recommend you check one of these out, as they are jam-packed with great people and super-informative presentations.

And a super-special kudos to Austin Passy and all of the amazing volunteers who made sure that the event ran as awesomely as it did.

Although there was a ton of actionable information given, here are just a few great tidbits from the event that I think would be worth sharing.

Practical exploits of jQuery with WordPress

Presenter: Bill Heaton

• Displaying photos, videos, static HTML content, “forward to a friend” boxes, and really anything else inside of an overlay window, the jQuery plugin called Pretty Photo is a rock solid option. For those less comfortable with JavaScript code, there’s a WordPress plugin you can use to get those overlay windows going.
  • jQuery plugin (JavaScript files and code that you implement yourself): http://www.no-margin-for-errors.com/projects/prettyphoto-jquery-lightbox-clone
  • WordPress plugin (for easier implementation): http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-prettyphoto
• Use the jQuery.noConflict() function to avoid conflicts with other libraries.

Optimizing the performance WordPress

Presenter: Josh Highland

• Only load server modules that you need.
• Things to cache include:
  • database queries
  • PHP code
  • page requests
  • assets (images, javascript, css)
• W3 Total Cache is becoming known as the best WordPress performance optimization plugin.
• Not all WordPress themes are created equal when it comes to site performance. Things to be aware of when choosing a theme:
  • Number of CSS/JS/Images being loaded
  • Is the CSS/JS minified out of the box?
  • Are the images optimized?
  • Is the code optimized (too many database calls)?

• Images:
  • How many are you loading?
  • look into LazyLoad juery plugin
  • Use CSS sprites (create theme automatically at http://spriteme.org)
  • Are the images optimized?
  • Dont resize the image in using the image size percentage in WordPress’ image upload/gallery tool
• Watch out for the “Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.” It queries every single blog post every time the user lands on any blog post.

Advanced Use of Custom Fields

Presenter: Thom Meredith

• Magic Fields is a much more user/client friendly alternative to Custom Post types. It allows you to set up post types that are not necessarily standard WordPress pages or posts, but special entries made specifically for your site. For example, if you have a site that lists movies, you don’t necessary want to create a blog post or a static page for each movie. Perhaps all you need for each movie listing is the name of the movie and the URL. Magic Fields allows you to create the equivalent of a custom post type that adds a simple form to the bottom of the post or page edit screen with text fields where a non-technical client can easily enter the name and the URL for the movie.
• The Pods CMS plugin does the same thing as Magic Fields, but is a bit more flexible, but also a bit more complex to set up.

Introduction to posting on the go

Presenter: Austin Passy

• The Postie plugin is a great option for those who want to update their blog via email. It allows simple uploading of photos and blog content, and is also great for clients who don’t want to mess with the WordPress admin.

Photographic Highlight

Now THAT'S dedication! Notice the killer WordPress tattoo on John Hawkins of 9seeds and vegasgeek.com!

By default, the WordPress sidebar remains identical on every single page of your web site. However, sometimes we need to be able to have a specific sidebars for different pages. For example, maybe you have a “Products” page that needs testimonials along the sidebar while your “About Us” page sidebar needs to display a listing of awards.

Solutions:

The Advanced Way:
Create a separate page template with it’s own sidebar widget function. Alternately, you could include a conditional statement in your sidebar.php to display different sidebars depending on the page that’s being displayed.

If none of what I’m saying makes any sense to you, then you’ll probably want…

The “Regular Folks” Way:
Simply download the Per Page Sidebars plugin at
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/per-page-sidebars.

Once it’s installed, you’ll notice that at the bottom of each of your pages is a box titled “Custom Sidebar” (see image below). To set up a unique custom sidebar for the page that you’re creating, simply check the “Activate Custom Sidebar” box, and select which of the sidebar widget areas you’d like to replace. In the screenshot below, we’re replacing the “Primary Widget Area” – which is the sidebar that goes at the upper right-hand side of every page.

Now go into the “Widgets” page of your admin, and you’ll see a new widget area labled “PPS-” followed by the name of the page with the page-specific sidebar.

A couple of things to consider:

• At this time the plugin only allows you to set up custom sidebars for pages, and not for posts or custom post types.
• Removing a custom sidebar widget was a little bit unintuitive. To do so, simply go to the page with the custom sidebar, and uncheck not only the “Activate Custom Sidebar?” checkbox, but also the radio button next to the name of the sidebar that your custom sidebar was replacing.

In experimenting with Wazala in conjunction with a WordPress website, sadly, at the time of this blog posting, the WordPress plugin simply did not work for me, and I had to refer to the inaccurate instructions on Wazala’s web site to get the thing working (long story short, you need to paste a bit of code directly before the </head> tage of your site.)

However, once you get the code into your header, then it’s smooth sailing without another lick of code necessary to get your store up and running.

How it Works

To quote from Wazala’s web site:
Add a “store” button to your blog or website, and your store will simply pop-up over your content — no more sending your customers elsewhere to make a purchase. Wazala functions as a part of your existing site.

Wazala Store Button on the upper-right hand side. Upon mouseover, it slides down just a little bit to display checkout information.

Once you click on the store button, you get a clean and attractive overlay window with containing your entire store. By default, the window is styled in a neutral manner so that out of the box it integrates pretty seamlessly into the look and feel of your site.

Here's what the store overlay looks like.

The store in the screencap above allows for multiple categories, which is not possible with the free plan, but comes with the least expensive of the paid plans. The free plan restricts you to 5 products and limited functionality, while the paid plans run anywhere from $9.95 to $29.95 per month, with significant discounts if you pay for the entire year up front. Click here to see full pricing details.

Adding Products

Adding products is done on Wazala’s web site using a set of super-easy and intuitive forms that allow for a good amount of flexibility in terms of product, payment, and shipping options. I actually found this much easier than that the ubiquitous E-junkie shopping cart where the interface for adding products is much more cluttered and involves jumping through some relatively unintuitive hoops for adding product variations.

(Click to enlarge image) This is where add, edit, and delete individual store products

(Click to enlarge image) This is where you control store-wide options.

Other Integration Options

Some other cool things that you can do to make your store integrate more seamlessly and effectively with the rest of your site:

• Replace the default “Store” button on the top of your screen with your own button or text link to be placed anywhere you want on your web site
• Link directly to individual products
• Add an “Add to cart” button or link anywhere on your site
• Add an “Add to Favorites” or “Wish List” button or link anywhere on your site
• Add a “View Shopping Cart” button or link anywhere on your site
• Replace the black semi-transparent overlay which surrounds the store window with a custom background image
• Add a custom page to your store which is accessed by clicking on a link at the bottom of the store overlay

Compatible Payment Processing Options

• Paypal Premier
• Paypal Business
• Google Checkout
• Paypal Website Payments Pro
• Authorize.net

SEO Considerations

While the overlay makes for very easy integration, keep in mind that your products will not be indexed by the search engines, so if SEO of your individual products is a deal-breaker, then this is may not be the solution for you.

One possible workaround would be to create individual product pages within your web site. On each product page you could include a button that spawns the store’s overlay opening to that exact product’s page.

Conclusion

After playing around with the store quite a bit, I found it to be rock-solid and super-easy to use. Unless your intention is to build a site that is completely centered around e-commerce (a la Walmart.com or BestBuy.com), then I highly recommend Wazala.

For more details, see Wazala’s web site.

Avoiding learning new technologies means you could very well lose the opportunity to infuse your individual personality into your digital communications. In this new business landscape, standing out from the ever-increasing online crowd means balancing the efficiency of powerful technology with authentic human relationships.

If the thought of updating your blog or adding a PayPal button to your web site leaves you stricken with the fear of God, here are some suggestions to help you claim your digital independence:

1. When in doubt, always Google first. You’ll be surprised how many folks out there have had the same roadblock as you. Google is smart enough that you can usually just type in your exact question in its entirety, but if doing that doesn’t provide you with an answer, try stripping your query down to the words are directly and specifically related to your issue. For example, instead of typing “How do I link my blog to Facebook,” strip your query down to “link blog to Facebook.” And if can get super-specific about the technology you’re using, even better. The best case scenario here would be “link WordPress to Facebook.”
2. Realize that much of what you’re looking at is written in English. If that sounds a bit condescending, let me reassure you that I’ve had to remind myself of this same fact time and again as well! For example, looking at the WordPress control panel that I’m using to compose this blog post, if I read down the various options on the left side of the screen, I see the words “Posts,” “Add New,” “Categories,” and “Post Tags.” While terms such “Post Tags” might take the newbie on a quick Google excursion, generally speaking, the terminology you’ll see on most online products and services is in plain English (as opposed to some intimidating blur of computer jargon).
3. Get clear on precisely where you’re stuck. Maybe you’re not as confused as you might think. Rather than resigning yourself to saying “I JUST DON’T GET IT!,” try and see if you can isolate precisely what it is that you don’t get. For example, maybe you know how to create a blog post, but you’re not sure why it adds that extra space between certain lines of text. Asking “How do I get rid of that extra space between lines of text” is going to get you answers much quicker than just throwing your hands up in dismay and quitting (tempting as that may be at times!).
4. Hire a specialist to give you 1-2 hours of instruction. Since the vast majority of us learn best by doing, taking your first few stabs at trying a new technology with a pro standing by is going to be exponentially faster and more stress-free than going it alone. If necessary, finding a techno-tutor via Craigslist need not be a sketchy affair. Thanks to technologies such as Skype and Adobe ConnectNow, your specialist should be able to conduct the lesson via teleconferencing and screen-sharing rather than meeting you in person. In any case, it’s always good to get some references or at the very least see at a few testimonials before hiring someone.
5. Choose online products and services with a reputation for awesome technical support. If a company hides its tech support contact info somewhere deep inside its web site, then that generally means that they’re probably not going to be very available for you in your time of need. And definitely avoid web hosts that don’t offer phone support, or only offer phone support during business hours.
6. Avoid online products and services that are not widely used. Aside from receiving tech support from the company itself, the next best thing is a strong user community. If the product or online service you’re using has a relatively small user base, then it means that it is unlikely that there will be many online resources such as user forums to supply you the answers you need, rendering your Google-ing efforts quite fruitless.
7. Trick yourself into learning by working on a project that’s close to your heart. Having fun in the process of learning is going to accelerate the process exponentially. Rather than forcing yourself into a crash-course with a stress-filled looming deadline, come up with a project that is low-pressure, but still important. For example, maybe you want to create a really slick online photo album as a surprise for your loved ones. There’s an example of a project that’s fun and meaningful enough to inspire you to persevere through the challenges, but not something that could possibly interfere with your job or your business if not done perfectly.
8. Remember, it’s only the internet. I remember hearing those words from a very talented and dedicated former co-worker. Of course, to many of us this sounds like blasphemy in a hyper-connected world where the internet seems to exist as an Intravenous lifeline. But in most cases, especially if you’re a newbie, chances are you don’t have millions of people depending on your web site for their livelihoods (a la eBay). I’d also venture to guess that national security will probably be just fine if your latest blog post doesn’t show up on your Facebook profile for a few hours.

No need to fear being a beginner and asking for help –  just take that plunge now, you won’t regret it.

Thanks to my marketing compadre Phyllis Zimbler Miller at Miller Mosaic Power Marketing, I was recently made aware of a setting on my LinkedIn profile that’s pretty darn important, super-quick and easy to fix, but which has nonetheless eluded my consciousness over the last few years that I’ve been using LinkedIn.

Click image to for a larger view.

The Ever Important “Websites” Setting

If you go to any LinkedIn profile, at the upper-left-hand side of the page, directly beneath where it says “Connections,” you’ll see the section labeled ”Websites” where you can list up to three links to any URL you choose.  Most people end up simply entering the URL and leaving LinkedIn and its default settings to the task of labeling that URL. The result is often a listing of websites that reads something along the example we see in the image above. As you can see, “My Company”, “My Blog”, and “My Company” is redundant and vague, and most importantly, a missed opportunity to attract folks to your more important online properties.

Adjusting the “Websites” Setting

1. Once you’re logged into your LinkedIn account, go to Profile > Edit Profile
2. In the “Websites” section (circled in red in the screenshot above), click on the “Edit” link near any one of your links
3. From there, you’ll be taken to a page with the settings for up to 3 links at the top of the page. Each link has a drop-down menu, and from that drop-down menu, choose the last option, “Other.”
4. A new input field should appear. Type in the what you’d like your link to be labeled.
5. Repeat this for up to 2 more links, hit the “Save Changes” button, and you’re done!

Since I’m always looking to network with interactive agencies (who are usually a strong match for my particular services), before I meet someone at a particular agency either in person or over the phone, I take a quick glance at that person’s LinkedIn profile and see how I’m connected to that person.

In case you’re not familiar with the part of the LinkedIn profile that I’m referring to, see the screenshot below to see precisely where it is.

Click image for a larger view

Embarking on this 10-second research project before your meeting so that you can bring up your shared connections can build a great bridge.

If nothing else, it’s interesting trivia just to see how you’re connected. Of course, the person I’m meeting may have no idea who the folks who connected to us are, since LinkedIn has a way of hooking us up with pretty random folks at times, but it’s definitely a good start.

So who knows, maybe this is pretty obvious “well…DUH” type of information, but it just now occurred to me, so I figured I’d share.

Inspired by the supa-talented Portland-based designer Deb Pang Davis‘s recent blog post What I Learned this Week #19 2010, I’ve decided to follow suit with my own list of things I learned, last week, but just about WordPress (otherwise we’d be here all month, as I obviously know very little and each week is a completely new adventure in all areas of my life).

1) The Easiest Way to Add a Thumbnail Photo Gallery to your Posts and Pages

While I’ve always been a big fan of the unbelievable WordPress image gallery plugin NextGen, if I want a simpler (but more limited) solution, the Shadowbox JS plugin is an awesome alternative.

For those of you who don’t know, WordPress gives you the option of creating a thumbnail gallery of images right on your blog post or page. However, the default behavior of this gallery is that upon clicking on each thumbnail, a full-size version of the image appears in your browser’s main window, taking the user away from your post or page. Pretty lame in my opinion.

Shadowbox JS makes it so that upon clicking a thumbnail, a dark but transparent overlay with the full-size version of your image appears. Inside this overlay area are navigation buttons so you can flip through your full-size images very easily. This way users quickly see the full-size version of your image without being taken off of the current page.

Get the plugin here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/shadowbox-js/

2) WordPress 3.0′s Custom Post Types Rule.

I’m going to keep this as un-technical as possible, but make a long story short, Custom Post Types allow you to have content on your site that’s not just limited to standard WordPress pages or blog posts. Basically, this makes WordPress a much more powerful and flexible content management system that will also be ultimately much easier for non-technical folks to update.

For example, you could have special movie review pages, photo feature pages, podcast episode pages, etc. Each of these special content types can be on specially-formatted pages separate from your blog posts or pages. And that’s just scraping the tip of the iceberg…

However, setting up custom post types on your WordPress site is likely to take some mucking around with PHP code, so definitely be aware of that.

Here’s the best article on the topic that I’ve seen yet: http://justintadlock.com/archives/2010/04/29/custom-post-types-in-wordpress

3) The Magic Fields Plugin also Rules.

For a long time, this plugin has basically done what the newly-introduced Custom Post Types functionality is doing but using a different technological approach. However what this plugin brings to the table is setting up a much nicer user interface for a non-technical user to update their custom pages and posts.

For example, I am currently working on a project where the client needs to create highly-configurable mini-sites which are not blog posts or pages. In fact, each and every mini-site needs to have its own unique header graphics, page backgrounds, and sidebar content.

Magic Fields allows me to set their site up in a way that the admin section for each mini-site comes complete with an additional form at the bottom of the page that’s super-easy to use, thereby allowing my client to establish a totally custom look and feel for each individual mini-site.

At this time, the developers of Magic Fields are updating the plugin to integrate with WordPress 3.0′s Custom Post Types.

Check out the plugin for yourself here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/magic-fields/

4) I’m Learning Way More Than I Thought

As I write this post, I’m having a difficult time keeping it brief, and also having to leave out a good amount of information. Working full-time as a self-employed WordPress and UI developer forces me to squeeze an insane amount of new information into my brain on a daily basis…and for that I’m very grateful.

• Non-Designers and WordPress Newbies – Because you, or the designer you’ve hired have gotta put something in your sidebar, this guide will remove all of the guesswork from the process and give you a visual image of what each widget will actually contain and how it will add to your site’s functionality.
• Web Designers Working with a Client – You may have already accounted for the sidebar content in your design mockup, but in case you’d like to give your client the opportunity to decide which widgets they’d like to use based on their particular goals for the site, a guide like this can save you hours of email and telephone back-and-forth explaining and finally finalizing this absolutely crucial part of the design and development process.

Of course, this list represents just a teeny-tiny micro-fraction of the possibilities for WordPress sidebar widgets, as the total number of available WordPress plugins goes well into the thousands. This is simply meant to be a basic starting point.

For the newbies out there:

• Keep in mind that the images of the widgets below are taken from one particular website, and these widgets will not look exactly like this on your site. Instead, they will be styled to fit your particular site’s design.
• You can make the title of your widgets whatever you’d like. If you’re working with a designer, make sure to let them know what you’d like each widget to be titled.

ID #	Name	Notes	Image
PA01	Pages	Displays a list of the pages on your website. Usually unnecessary if you have a navigation bar at the top of your site with all of the pages already listed. Built into WordPress
LI01	Links	Displays a list of links to other websites that you’d like to promote or share on your site. If you’re working with a web designer and you’d like to use this sidebar, make sure you include the links you’d like to use when you request this widget. Built into WordPress
TE01	Text	This is a just simple text widget that allows you to display any text you’d like to include. Built into WordPress
TE02	Text (with image)	This is the exact same widget as TE01, but I’m simply showing you another way to use it. In this case, we can place an advertising banner in the widget. You could even have BOTH an ad AND text in this widget. Built into WordPress
SE01	Search	This widget allows users to search your website. Built into WordPress
NL01	Newsletter Signup	This widget only comes into play if you are sending out an email newsletter Usually this is done using an outside email marketing service such as Constant Contact, MailChimp, or iContact to name just a few of the myriad of companies offering this service. This signup form is created using code provided by your email marketing service which is simply pasted into a standard WordPress text widget (TE01) Built into WordPress
FP01	Featured Page	This widget allows you to take an excerpt from an existing page on your website and feature it in the sidebar. Since you’re only displaying an excerpt of the page’s content here, the widget will provide a link for your website visitors to go to the page that’s being featured. You can also specify a small thumbnail image to go inside the widget, but this is optional. Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
SM01	Find Me On	This widget allows you to display your various social media profiles on your WordPress site to offer visitors to your site another way to connect with you online. You can use this to link to every major social network, and then some (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc etc etc) You can also use this as an RSS link to allow people to subscribe to you blog. Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
SM02	Social Media Page	This widget is very similar to “Find Me On” (SM01), but also give you the option of including the name of each social network. Doesn’t allow you to change the order of your social media profile listings, and also does not allow you to include an RSS link. Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
TW01	Twitter for WordPress	If you’re a Twitter users, this widgets automatically displays your most recent WordPress tweets You can specify how many of your most recent tweets you’d like to display. Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
PH01	FlickrRSS	If you have an account with the photo sharing site, Flickr, this widget allows you to display your most recently added images. You can decide how many images you’d like to display here Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
RP01	Recent Posts	This widget only comes into play if your website is going to be including a blog. This simply lists the most recent blog posts You can select how many of your recent posts you’d like to display here Built into WordPress
RC01	Recent Comments	This widget only comes into play if your website is going to be including a blog. This lists names of your most recent commenters and the name of the blog post that they commented on You can select how many of recent comments you’d like to display here Built into WordPress
RC02	Get Recent Comments	This widget only comes into play if your website is going to be including a blog. This lists names of your most recent commenters and an excerpt of the comment that they left You can select how many of recent comments you’d like to display here Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.
BC01	Categories	This widget only comes into play if your website is going to be including a blog. This lists names of all of the categories for your blog posts Built into WordPress
SU01	Subscribe Here	This widget only comes into play if your website is going to be including a blog. This widget allows your website visitors to subscribe to your blog via RSS This also allows website visitors to enter their email address and have blog posts automatically emailed to them as soon as their published. Web-designers and do-it-yourselfers: Download plugin here.

If you feel that I’ve left out any basic widgets that a high percentage of WordPress users would need on their site, please leave a comment and if I happen to agree with ya, I’ll add it to the chart!

Working with your designer to create a color scheme for your web site can often be a tricky thing.

On the one hand, many designers are wary of being reduced to mere “pixel pushers.” But, in some cases, it’s helpful to provide your designer with the exact color scheme you were hoping for on your site. Of course, your designer may come back to you with their own feedback, but I do think that being very specific can make for an effective and unambiguous starting point at the very least.

I’ve researched many of the online tools for easily arriving at an ideal color palette, and of all the ones I’ve tried, the “Create a Palette” page at ColourLovers.com is my favorite to date.

Within a couple of minutes, it’s possible for a non-technical person to create, and then share a color scheme in a simple format that would be easy for any designer to implement.

Here’s how it’s done (in a nutshell):

1. Go to http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/add.
2. If it’s your first time at the site, you’ll need to create an account (it’s free) using the “Sign In” button at the upper-right-hand side of the screen.
3. Add up to 5 colors using the simple point-and-click interface (see the video below for more details on how to do this).
4. Fill in the ‘Palette Name’ field below the color picker section of the page.
5. Fill out any other fields you’d like to fill out (the rest are optional).
6. Click the ‘Create Palette’ button.
7. Since chances are that at least some of the colors you’ve chosen are new to ColourLovers.com’s existing database, you’ll be prompted by an alert window asking you to name your colors.
8. Create names for the brand new colors you’ve created.
9. Click the ‘Create Palette’ button.
10. You will now be taken to the brand-new page for your color palette on ColourLovers.com.
11. Copy the URL of this page and bookmark it, or simply email it to whomever needs to see it.

If you’d like more detailed instructions on creating your color scheme, check out the quick tutorial video below.

Happy color-scheming!

DISCLAIMER UP FRONT:
Yes, I am totally a Bluehost affiliate. (ie: if you click on any of the links to Bluehost from my website and end up signing up for their hosting services, I will receive a commission payment from them). However, all of the hosting companies offer affiliate programs, so that is most certainly not the reason I’m promoting Bluehost over any of the others. This is indeed my real-life experience, not just some affiliate sales page.

Why Bluehost is my hands-down favorite:

1. Their 1-click WordPress installation is the fastest and the easiest. While many of the other popular hosts offer a 1-click install, they usually involve you sitting around and waiting up to 30-ish minutes (worst case scenario) until the hosting company emails you to let you know that the installation is complete. Bluehost uses a system called Simple Scripts, which is by far the fastest I’ve seen. It takes literally, 20-ish seconds to install WordPress, so no waiting around for an email to show up. Many hosts use a system called Fantastico (which Bluehost offers as well), which is still be pretty good, but not as fast as Simple Scripts.
2. Their phone support is amazing. While the other companies usually offer you a few minutes of hold music before getting to talk to a tech support rep, with Bluehost, a real, live, human being answers the phone within 1-3 rings, no matter what time of the day it is. Their reps are patient, well-informed, and U.S.-based, which is nice for U.S.-based folks like myself only due to the language barriers as well as timing delays of overseas tech support.
3. Their servers are super-fast. When developing a site on a live server, what separates the “big dogs” from the “puppies” of web hosting is upload speed. Building sites using Bluehost saves me so much time because unlike the other hosts, Bluehost’s FTP connection doesn’t “go to sleep” after a few minutes forcing me to wait 1-2 minutes just to upload an itty-bitty little micro-file.
4. Their user panel is intuitive. Bluehost uses the popular C-Panel system for their back-end administration. Many of the other hosts I’ve worked with use their own convoluted, proprietary systems that can add tons of additional time and frustration to a web project. In fact, C-Panel even allows you to export all of your website settings so that if you ever move your hosting account, even to another company, you’ll be able to take your site settings over with you as long as the new company also uses C-Panel. There’s a reason a multitude of hosting companies use the C-Panel technology instead of re-inventing the wheel themselves.

WordPress.org agrees

As of the writing of this post, WordPress lists Bluehost at the top of their list of recommended web hosts. Click here or simply check out the graphic below:

Popular Web Hosts to Avoid…

…despite the fact that WordPress.org recommends them.

GoDaddy (aka SLOWDaddy)

• When you install WordPress on your GoDaddy hosting account, if you elect to use Permalinks (highly recommended, the SEO-friendly, intuitive page URL’s that WordPress is known for), you will see that all of your pages other than the homepage will be broken. I’ll be sharing the workaround for this in a future blog post, but nonetheless, it’s very annoying and quite scary for the WordPress + GoDaddy newbie.
• The slowest FTP time (both upload and download) I’ve ever experienced.
• Any changes you make to their control panel take at least a few minutes, and sometimes a few hours to take effect. Not the case with most other hosts.
• Totally convoluted, confusing, and just plain stoopid user control panel. A massive unnecessary time-waster.
• Weak phone support. I’ve seen worse, but hold time is anywhere from between 2-20 minutes, usually around the 3-minute mark.

Media Temple:

• Horrendous hold times for phone support. The least I’ve ever waited is 8 minutes, but it’s usually around 20-ish minutes, sometimes up to 40 minutes. This is one of those hosting companies that loves to steer you to the online forums or email support any chance it gets, as its phone support staff is insufficient to handle the amount of users in need of assistance.
• Difficult domain management. I recently had to build a site on Media Temple using a temporary staging domain until we were ready to move the actual domain over, and this was a major pain to figure out. With effectively no phone support to back you up, this makes for another big time waster.

Until something better comes along, Bluehost is where it’s at for me. Pricing and feature-wise, they’ve about the same as all of the other major players. Perhaps some of the others could come out to be a few bucks cheaper over the course of a year, but hosting is certainly not one of the areas you want to skimp on when working on a web project.

I’m curious to know what your experiences with web hosts have been. Do you agree, sort-of-agree, think I’m the spawn of Satan, etc?