Category: Website

Does your web host offer multiple versions of php?

What is php? Why is having access to use multiple versions of php so important? Does XYZulu offer multiple versions of php?

What is PHP?

According to Wikipedia, “PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to server-side web development, in which case PHP generally runs on a web server. Any PHP code in a requested file is executed by the PHP runtime, usually to create dynamic web page content or dynamic images used on websites or elsewhere.”

Why should you be interested in this?

your website will load faster, and run more efficiently if you are using PHP 7

Your website will load faster, and run more efficiently if you are using PHP 7. Think of is as the fuel that powers the engine your website uses. Use the right fuel, and your web site will run at it’s best.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, that elephant is the official PHP mascot. 🙂

Why is having access to use multiple versions of php so important?

PHP is constantly being updated and deployed on web servers around the world. Usually these updates are to patch security holes and optimize the delivery of website content. Each new version of PHP however, usually brings a greater jump in speed as well as well as additional features for developers. A case in point is PHP 7, which is a big jump forward in performance.

Most major scripts like Joomla, WordPress and Drupal already support PHP 7. Utilizing the performance improvements is as simple as ensuring your website scripts (Joomla, WordPress etc) are up to date and enabling PHP 7.

Aside from the benefits of PHP 7, having access to multiple versions of PHP also means that you can run scripts that support older versions of PHP as well as the latest version of PHP. The choice is up to you. A shared web host that is not running multiple versions of PHP yet, is probably one to avoid for security and performance reasons.

Does XYZulu.hosting offer multiple versions of php?

XYZulu Hosting offers multiple versions of PHP

Yes! You can choose your version of PHP from cPanel > Select PHP version. If you need a hand checking to see if your script or website supports PHP 7, please be sure to contact us from our Support Portal.

Is the .com all there is?

We are all familiar with the most popular website extension, namely .com. Have you noticed that things have changed and now we have so many different domain name extensions available? What’s going on? Which is the best domain extension? Should you still continue to use .com/.com.au domains, or should you look at the other options available? Let’s try to explain and answer those questions.

Things have changed

History

The .com is probably the most well-known domain name extension. For some, local country domains such as .com.au have also become recognised as the most accepted domain name extension. Some domain name extensions, like .com.au for example, are regulated. So, for these you have to meet certain requirements, such as in the case of a .com.au you need to be a registered business in Australia. There are no such rules for .com domain extensions which make the .com space essentially a free for all.

.com domain names are hard to find these days with millions of them being registered and in use. A number of years ago planning was put in place to facilitate the rollout of other top level domain names (TLD’s). Many of these new TLD’s are now available. They are usually reasonably priced as well, except for a few premium regulated ones. For a full list of all available domain name extensions, see this Wikipedia List

Why?

There certainly is a vanity factor to these new TLD’s, however, many of these are far more suited to your business than a .com and could make your website more memorable. For example, our domain name xyzulu.hosting explains exactly what we do and might even be more memorable than a .com

How?

It’s simple to enable your website to work with a new address

It’s simple to enable your website to work with a new address (and redirect all search engine links to the new address), just ask us to make it happen if you already own a new TLD name and are a current customer. If you are interested in purchasing a new TLD name, head over to our Customer Portal and start searching. Contact us if you have any further questions, or post them in the comments below.

Do you SSL/HTTPS? You should. Find out why

First of all, what even is SSL/HTTPS?

You can read the nitty-gritty over on Wikipedia if you like, but basically SSL/HTTPS refers to a secure connection to a website. You will have seen it being used on many other websites. A (usually) green padlock icon next to the domain name you are visiting (lookup and see it on our site) indicates the website is using SSL/HTTPS and that your connection to the site is secure. It’s becoming more and more common on websites, even those without a login section.

Why should you ?

Visitors are assured that they can browse your website with the traffic between their browser and your website being encrypted. ie no one can intercept the connection. This is especially important if your website is one that allows you to manage your website via a login.
Google cares. SSL/HTTPS sites are used as a ranking mechanism by Google. Read the details here: HTTPS as a ranking signal This means that having a SSL/HTTPS website could mean you will be better ranked on Google. Do you need any more reasons not to go SSL/HTTPS?
There are other reasons, but the 2 above are the ones you should care about the most.

How?

It’s not as complicated as you may think. SSL/HTTPS can be enabled on most websites for free. These days SSL certificates can be obtained for free that are just as strong and secure as those that would have cost hundreds of dollars only a few years ago. If you host with us and you don’t have SSL/HTTPS enabled yet, please contact us and in most cases we will be able to make it happen for you.

If you have any other questions about SSL/HTTPS please let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them in the comments below.

Edit: an update from Google on this subject makes it even more important your website is using SSL/HTTPS asap.