As of September 2007, more than 106 million blogs have been tracked which makes one wonder just what blogging is.Blogging is that wonderful world where you can write your personal thoughts about what you think on any subject imaginable, whether good or bad, with or without anonymity, although in reality anonymity really doesn’t exist when it come to the Internet. Your website, your email has an ISP address which is easily traceable to any given computer.
In general, blogs are articles you write and post on the web for the entire world to see. Your blog puts you, your thoughts in the forefront, which lets others see your brilliance or idiocy. You can have your own website dedicated to your thoughts, or you can respond to a particular article that has been written which allows you to voice your opinion about the subject or article, although use tact when responding. Most news media allowing you respond to a written article requires you to provide a valid email address in order for you to make a comment.
Most subscribers to the Internet post there blogs on personal web pages or websites their ISP provides. Other bloggers post their comments on the multitude of websites available for posting their thoughts, usually indexed by subject. To find a blog site, simply type “blog/s” in any search engine and behold you will find thousands of blog sites you can read or post.
Methods for blogging vary which you should consider before doing any posting. Blogging in response to a particular article, as well as posting on dedicated blog sites are permanent blogs, in that they can not be changed once posted. With that in mind, you really need to think about what you want to say before posting your thoughts. It’s somewhat like making a comment, once spoken it can’t be undone.
The other side of posting on an open blog site is the libel issue. At present, blog sites are not libel for what you say, so use caution when blogging.
The other method of blogging is to have your own website or page where you write your own blog. Using this method, you can edit your blog, write about another subject or simply delete the blog entirely. This method in my opinion is perhaps the safest method of blogging, but there is a caveat to this method. When you write something on your computer using a word processor and save the document, even if you delete the article, or document, it still resides on your computer and unless you completely reformat or destroy the hard drive, it remains on you computer forever. If someone wants to prove you wrote the article, with the proper software they can retrieve it.
You may wonder if blogging is without peril. That depends. If you are blogging about your Aunt Tilly’s super fruit cake recipe, you’re safe, but if you’re blogging about a politician, an organization, the government, religious leaders, a company, an individual, you need to be careful about what you have to say, as you just might be libel. Presently, in the US, the courts are undecided about blogging, weighing in on the free speech side of the argument, however; individuals have been imprisoned and/or fined for their blogs.
To be safe when blogging, it’s important to use the correct adjectives, or follow the method the news media use when writing an article. Words like; alleged, subject to, suspected of, and the like may keep you out of trouble. Although, innuendos you make can been seen as an attack, an accusation, by some very sensitive people and they just might decide to take action against you.
Even when using safe words, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to suffer the consequences for your big mouth. Many states have what is known as; “The Right To Work Law,” which simply means employers can fire an employee for any reason, or for no reason. Individuals have been fired from their jobs for posting blogs about their company.
Many blogs are instructional in nature from how to grow a tree, wash a cat to building an explosive device. Here again you need to be careful. Those blogs about explosive devices just might cause a visit from a federal agency. Unfortunate as it is, when it comes to blogging, “Big Brother Is Watching!”
Sunday, June 8, 2008
What Is Internet Fax?
Internet Fax is simply using the Internet or your email system to send and receive faxes. Since it is web based, you can send your faxes anytime anywhere; as long as you have an Internet connection and these days that's available just about everywhere.
You sign up with an Internet fax service provider to get your own fax number (local or toll free) which you use in the same manner as you would use any fax number. There is a small charge for this service but keep in mind you do not need an extra phone line to do Internet faxing since everything is done online.
Many small and large business owners are switching over to Internet Fax for some obvious advantages: it is very convenient, it is very fast, it offers more privacy, many faxes can be sent/received simultaneously (no busy signals) and it is available wherever you have the Internet. Plus there are no messy fax machines and no need for a second phone line.
One of the most asked questions about Internet Fax relates to the confusion over just how the whole thing works. Many traditional fax users can't quite get their heads around the idea of having faxes without the traditional fax machine.
Basically, you sign up with a fax service provider and get your own fax number and you send/receive your faxes thru your email system - your fax is attached to an email as either a TIFF or PDF format file. You can access your faxes from an online interface (your fax login site) where your faxes are received and sent. You can also store your faxes online there.
What confuses most people who are not familiar with online faxing is the question: can I still send my faxes to the old traditional machines, since many of my business partners may not be using Internet Fax?
The answer is YES!
You can send your faxes to the old traditional fax machine and if they have your fax number, they can still return a fax to you via the old traditional manner or fax machine.
Here's how Internet Fax works:
You use a fax gateway or Internet Fax provider/server to handle your faxes. For example, say if you were sending a fax.
Computer/Internet -> Fax provider/server -> Phone line -> Fax machine
You use your computer and the Internet to log into your online account/page to send your fax to your fax provider/server which then uses the phone line to send your fax to the receiving fax machine.
If you are receiving a Fax
Fax machine -> Phone line -> Fax provider/server -> Email message (thru Internet) -> Your Email account
Someone uses a fax machine to send you a fax which goes thru the phone line to your fax provider/server which converts it into a TIFF or PDF file and sends you an email message with your fax attached in your email.
If both parties are using Internet Fax, then your faxes can be sent/received using your email systems over the Internet.
Computer/email -> Fax provider/server -> Computer/email
What you really have to keep in mind, once you sign up for an Internet fax service you will have an online interface (login site) where you can send and receive your faxes. Then when you send or receive a fax, you get a confirmation in your web interface and/or by email.
This offers some great advantages such as receiving and sending your faxes whenever and wherever you access the Internet. No more busy signals, no more messy fax machines, no more nosy workers seeing the contents of your fax, and no extra phone line. Plus, many faxes can be sent/received simultaneously, even when your computer is turned off. No more missed faxes because your phone line was busy.
However, in order to get all these advantages you have to sign up for an Internet fax service. There are many well known Internet fax providers such as MyFax, eFax, RapidFax, TrustFax, Send2Fax... and some very good lesser known faxing companies such as MetroHiSpeed out of Seattle and Faxage out of Denver.
A word of caution, when signing up for any long term business service it pays to do your homework first. It pays to shop around mainly because even any small savings may prove significant over the long haul. Prices can range from very cheat (under $20 a year) to around $10 - $15 a month depending on the kind of service you need. There are many different plans and services, and keep in mind, you will pay more for International faxing.
Internet Fax seems to be the way of the future as more and more businesses go online. Besides, as we become more and more modernized, computers are offering us simple and convenient solutions to many of our daily traditional business tasks such as faxing. Can your business or any company really afford to be left behind or not take advantage of the benefits of Internet Fax? Can you still remain competitive without Internet Fax? It's your call?
You sign up with an Internet fax service provider to get your own fax number (local or toll free) which you use in the same manner as you would use any fax number. There is a small charge for this service but keep in mind you do not need an extra phone line to do Internet faxing since everything is done online.
Many small and large business owners are switching over to Internet Fax for some obvious advantages: it is very convenient, it is very fast, it offers more privacy, many faxes can be sent/received simultaneously (no busy signals) and it is available wherever you have the Internet. Plus there are no messy fax machines and no need for a second phone line.
One of the most asked questions about Internet Fax relates to the confusion over just how the whole thing works. Many traditional fax users can't quite get their heads around the idea of having faxes without the traditional fax machine.
Basically, you sign up with a fax service provider and get your own fax number and you send/receive your faxes thru your email system - your fax is attached to an email as either a TIFF or PDF format file. You can access your faxes from an online interface (your fax login site) where your faxes are received and sent. You can also store your faxes online there.
What confuses most people who are not familiar with online faxing is the question: can I still send my faxes to the old traditional machines, since many of my business partners may not be using Internet Fax?
The answer is YES!
You can send your faxes to the old traditional fax machine and if they have your fax number, they can still return a fax to you via the old traditional manner or fax machine.
Here's how Internet Fax works:
You use a fax gateway or Internet Fax provider/server to handle your faxes. For example, say if you were sending a fax.
Computer/Internet -> Fax provider/server -> Phone line -> Fax machine
You use your computer and the Internet to log into your online account/page to send your fax to your fax provider/server which then uses the phone line to send your fax to the receiving fax machine.
If you are receiving a Fax
Fax machine -> Phone line -> Fax provider/server -> Email message (thru Internet) -> Your Email account
Someone uses a fax machine to send you a fax which goes thru the phone line to your fax provider/server which converts it into a TIFF or PDF file and sends you an email message with your fax attached in your email.
If both parties are using Internet Fax, then your faxes can be sent/received using your email systems over the Internet.
Computer/email -> Fax provider/server -> Computer/email
What you really have to keep in mind, once you sign up for an Internet fax service you will have an online interface (login site) where you can send and receive your faxes. Then when you send or receive a fax, you get a confirmation in your web interface and/or by email.
This offers some great advantages such as receiving and sending your faxes whenever and wherever you access the Internet. No more busy signals, no more messy fax machines, no more nosy workers seeing the contents of your fax, and no extra phone line. Plus, many faxes can be sent/received simultaneously, even when your computer is turned off. No more missed faxes because your phone line was busy.
However, in order to get all these advantages you have to sign up for an Internet fax service. There are many well known Internet fax providers such as MyFax, eFax, RapidFax, TrustFax, Send2Fax... and some very good lesser known faxing companies such as MetroHiSpeed out of Seattle and Faxage out of Denver.
A word of caution, when signing up for any long term business service it pays to do your homework first. It pays to shop around mainly because even any small savings may prove significant over the long haul. Prices can range from very cheat (under $20 a year) to around $10 - $15 a month depending on the kind of service you need. There are many different plans and services, and keep in mind, you will pay more for International faxing.
Internet Fax seems to be the way of the future as more and more businesses go online. Besides, as we become more and more modernized, computers are offering us simple and convenient solutions to many of our daily traditional business tasks such as faxing. Can your business or any company really afford to be left behind or not take advantage of the benefits of Internet Fax? Can you still remain competitive without Internet Fax? It's your call?
Benefits Of Material Requirements Planning
Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is a type of software based production planning, which uses an inventory system to organize different manufacturing processes. Basically when a company is going to manufacture something to sell, this software is in charge of organizing all inventories, while making sure that all the products and materials are in place in order for this to be possible. This is important for any kind of company that is using an assembly line or making something that requires a lot of different pieces in order for it to be completed.
There are three basic components that make up material requirements planning. The first is to make sure that all products and materials are all in line. In order for successful production, all the products have to be there. The second component a company needs to keep tabs on is making sure they have very low inventory. Companies want to be able to produce their product whenever they needed, but they don’t want to have too much in excess in case the product should fail to sell. This is the concept of supply and demand. The third component is planning the manufacturing scheme. Companies need to know what exactly is getting produced by their company and where exactly it is being shipped to.
Companies are trying to maximize the amount of money they bring in so there needs to be a good balance between the inventory of materials and being able to meet the demand of the customers. If companies don’t have the right balance then they will cost the company big dollars. Other important factors of material requirements planning involve ordering all the material’s at the right time. If production can’t begin at the right time, a company may fail to meet the deadline.
The main problem with MRP systems is that they aren’t 100% perfect. If there is any kind of error in the system, then it is going to throw off all the other numbers thus making the outputted data incorrect. Another problem is that MRP systems don’t necessarily factor in other warehouses in other cities or states. Therefore, the system will tell you that you don’t need to order anymore parts when in fact those parts are in other factories. The last and biggest factor that the MRP system can’t take into consideration is manpower. Manpower isn’t consistent like a machine and thus creates inaccurate numbers. You can visit http://www.mrp-software-guide.com for more information on material requirements planning.
Material requirements planning can be done by humans but it will take a much greater deal of time versus having computer software that’s sole purpose is for maximizing the profits do all the work. Since there are flaws in the system, an MRP system can only be 98% accurate due to the inability to factor in certain variables. As great as an MRP system is, there are still factors that can’t be fixed. There is new system (MRP II) that has new improvements but will still never be perfect. In the end, there will have to be a mix between the MRP system and human projections in order to get the most accurate numbers to maximize profit.
There are three basic components that make up material requirements planning. The first is to make sure that all products and materials are all in line. In order for successful production, all the products have to be there. The second component a company needs to keep tabs on is making sure they have very low inventory. Companies want to be able to produce their product whenever they needed, but they don’t want to have too much in excess in case the product should fail to sell. This is the concept of supply and demand. The third component is planning the manufacturing scheme. Companies need to know what exactly is getting produced by their company and where exactly it is being shipped to.
Companies are trying to maximize the amount of money they bring in so there needs to be a good balance between the inventory of materials and being able to meet the demand of the customers. If companies don’t have the right balance then they will cost the company big dollars. Other important factors of material requirements planning involve ordering all the material’s at the right time. If production can’t begin at the right time, a company may fail to meet the deadline.
The main problem with MRP systems is that they aren’t 100% perfect. If there is any kind of error in the system, then it is going to throw off all the other numbers thus making the outputted data incorrect. Another problem is that MRP systems don’t necessarily factor in other warehouses in other cities or states. Therefore, the system will tell you that you don’t need to order anymore parts when in fact those parts are in other factories. The last and biggest factor that the MRP system can’t take into consideration is manpower. Manpower isn’t consistent like a machine and thus creates inaccurate numbers. You can visit http://www.mrp-software-guide.com for more information on material requirements planning.
Material requirements planning can be done by humans but it will take a much greater deal of time versus having computer software that’s sole purpose is for maximizing the profits do all the work. Since there are flaws in the system, an MRP system can only be 98% accurate due to the inability to factor in certain variables. As great as an MRP system is, there are still factors that can’t be fixed. There is new system (MRP II) that has new improvements but will still never be perfect. In the end, there will have to be a mix between the MRP system and human projections in order to get the most accurate numbers to maximize profit.
Bulk SMS - a Revolution Of Mobile Phone Industry
Short Message Service or simply the SMS is a revolution of mobile phone industry. SMS are often called the Text Message. SMS started to get huge popularity during the initial days of 21 century. After seeing the rapid popularity of SMS, companies decided to do marketing of their product through SMS. But since they are targeting a large mass to whom they will start to campaign about their product. So it will be an irritable situation to send SMS to the people individually. They started to think about some tool by which they will be able to send the promotional SMS in bulk to campaign about their product. Following this idea a new concept was developed called ‘Bulk Short Message Service’ or the ‘Bulk SMS’.
In this short article you will come to know about some basics of Bulk SMS, its features, and some of its general information. At first you should know the definition of ‘Bulk SMS’. In short ‘Bulk SMS’ is a special type of system by which an institution or an organization becomes able send or receive a large volume of SMS i.e. SMS in a bulk. That’s why this concept is known as the ‘Bulk SMS’. The Bulk SMS do follow a special channel of particular bandwidth limitation. Delivery reports can also be gathered if the Bulk SMS sender wishes to gather.
Now, followings are the some important features of Bulk SMS for you. The most obvious and useful feature of Bulk SMS could be found from its name. A single SMS could be sent to number of users using the concept of ‘Bulk SMS’. The Bulk SMS sender could set the number of recipients. The number of recipient may be set to 1 or to some other huge digit. A unique sender Identification tag or ID Brand is generated for each and every user. Every time the sender has to use that ID brand while sending Bulk SMS.
The group functionality is also an important feature of the ‘Bulk SMS’ service. The reputed companies are using the ‘Bulk SMS’ system to promote their product due to its low cost nature. It is seemed that the cost of sending Bulk SMS in million is 20% to 30% less than the printed media campaigning. The network coverage of these types of ‘Bulk SMS’ operator is quite good and the network area is also very huge.
Now some of the basic and common advantages of ‘Bulk SMS’ system for you! Though this service has the biggest use in field of product promotion by companies, though it can be used in some other purposes too. This system can be used to send number of messages to the cellular phones of many individuals at any instant. The other advantage is the low cost factor that is mentioned already earlier in this article. These days bulk sms, SMS Messaging to friends are becoming a favourite time pass to youth.
Now, if you want host a business and want to campaign your own product in the mass you may go for the ‘Bulk SMS’ system because this is a latest weapon in the field of business competition.
In this short article you will come to know about some basics of Bulk SMS, its features, and some of its general information. At first you should know the definition of ‘Bulk SMS’. In short ‘Bulk SMS’ is a special type of system by which an institution or an organization becomes able send or receive a large volume of SMS i.e. SMS in a bulk. That’s why this concept is known as the ‘Bulk SMS’. The Bulk SMS do follow a special channel of particular bandwidth limitation. Delivery reports can also be gathered if the Bulk SMS sender wishes to gather.
Now, followings are the some important features of Bulk SMS for you. The most obvious and useful feature of Bulk SMS could be found from its name. A single SMS could be sent to number of users using the concept of ‘Bulk SMS’. The Bulk SMS sender could set the number of recipients. The number of recipient may be set to 1 or to some other huge digit. A unique sender Identification tag or ID Brand is generated for each and every user. Every time the sender has to use that ID brand while sending Bulk SMS.
The group functionality is also an important feature of the ‘Bulk SMS’ service. The reputed companies are using the ‘Bulk SMS’ system to promote their product due to its low cost nature. It is seemed that the cost of sending Bulk SMS in million is 20% to 30% less than the printed media campaigning. The network coverage of these types of ‘Bulk SMS’ operator is quite good and the network area is also very huge.
Now some of the basic and common advantages of ‘Bulk SMS’ system for you! Though this service has the biggest use in field of product promotion by companies, though it can be used in some other purposes too. This system can be used to send number of messages to the cellular phones of many individuals at any instant. The other advantage is the low cost factor that is mentioned already earlier in this article. These days bulk sms, SMS Messaging to friends are becoming a favourite time pass to youth.
Now, if you want host a business and want to campaign your own product in the mass you may go for the ‘Bulk SMS’ system because this is a latest weapon in the field of business competition.
Overcome Your Fear Of Switching Web Hosts
This is intended to be a hold-your-hand guide, to assist even the least intrepid website owner to get over their needless fear of switching to another web host or web hosting package.
It is important to realize that by sticking to your old web host you may be losing out on better deals, more up time and superior back-up and support. All that translates into more income and after all that is why you have a website. Surveys conducted among website owners show that website owners are paying up to ten times more for their current web host than they would for a cheaper and better web host, just because they fear the switching over process. They believe that changing web hosts will be complicated, have direct cost implications and could even lead to the loss or at least the corruption of their website or group of sites. This article intends to help you get over your baseless worries.
If you, as a website owner, started out on the internet by going to a famous branded name for web hosting and you have stuck with it because you think that if they are big and well-known they must give you value for money, then you should reconsider. The odds are that you are paying a premium for the name without necessarily getting the reciprocal service. Do not choose your host because the name makes you feel comfortable, or for that matter because you think it’s a good deal. Rather look at what you are getting and compare the offerings from other web hosting companies. Here is a rule of thumb. You can easily find adequate space for your site requirements, with all the bells and whistles, for under $10 per month, not taking into account handsome discounts for paying quarterly or annually. Another point to watch is the free domain name carrot that web hosts love to dangle. This is not so important, as you will learn later in this article.
Now that we have established that you should look at the benefits rather than the brand name or the bottom line cost, the rule-of-thumb notwithstanding, let us run through the points that you need to check out when investigating alternative hosting companies and their packages.
First, let’s look at capacity. You don’t really need more than 100 megs of space even if you are planning to build a large community or make uploaded albums part of the mix. It is really not necessary to opt for anything above that for the average or even an above-average website. By resisting the temptation to go for more space you could find yourself switching to a superior host for the same or less money.
Second, I mentioned support earlier and that is something you should look at carefully. You should be able to get answers to your queries in 24 hours or less by email. The very best hosts have live chat facilities available during business hours. It is well worth it, for your peace of mind, especially during the switchover process, to opt for a host that has a reputation for good support. Also check before signing up that the web hosting firm has a contactable physical address and phone numbers. Go ahead and test the support system by phoning them, live chatting to them and emailing them.
Thirdly, look at the number of email Pop3 emails your web host can offer. You should be able to get at least 10 and rest assured you will need these in time, as your business grows. Remember, if staff and family use email addresses related to your site, this is a form of advertising for your website. Also your host should offer web-based emails so you can check your email anywhere.
Finally, have a good look at the control panel which the new host is providing. See if there is a demo so you can try it out and get the feel of how user-friendly it is. A plus factor here is FTP access. Ideally you should have 24-hour FTP access so you can make modifications whenever you like. Also look out for a site builder, bulletin boards or chat rooms so you can interact with your visitors using the host’s services. Also check to see if the new host will be able to handle such popular features as PHP, ASP, CGI, Java scripts, Perl scripting or whatever else you have.
Once you have decided to move to a new host, timing becomes paramount. Make sure you cancel your subscription to your existing host before the end of the billing cycle. If you cancel too late you will end up paying for a month’s hosting you will not be using. Forget about refunds from your old host. You will not get one for periods of less than a month. I also recommend at least a week’s overlap when you will effectively have two hosts, the old and the new. You will use this time to ensure that everything works correctly on the new host and that all the files and email accounts are present.
Right, so you have signed up with the new host. Now you must save the files created for the site on your computer so they can be stored and backed-up. If you created the site yourself with a website builder like FrontPage or Dreamweaver you will probably have those files already. If, however, you used a web-based builder then you should download every page of the site along with their dependent files to a folder on the computer. This is easier than it sounds. You can either use an FTP tool to accomplish this or you can use the File>Save As method, which works as follows. Open your web browser (it can be Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer or Mozilla) then find the file button on the tool bar. Now go to the first page of the website. Once it has loaded, click on “File” then “Save As” and save this and all dependent files to a folder. Do this with each page until everything is saved. Now back this up to a disk.
The next step is to see that any other files on the outgoing web host are backed up. For example, if you have been using web-based mail then forward the emails to an “off-network” email address, or even archive emails to the computer’s hard drive. Remember that once you switch to your new host, all emails at the outgoing host will be deleted.
Now that you have control over the contents of your website, you need to upload all of the files to the new host’s servers. They will provide you with the FTP details required and this is where online and live support is invaluable. Once this is done you should create an email accounts to match each email account from the outgoing web host. This is essential so that there are no bouncing emails later when the switch goes through. This is the point at which you can change the domain name’s main servers, and for this the new host should supply all the information. There will also probably be subsidiary servers.
If you have registered your own domain name then the registrar should have a management area. If your domain name is registered through the outgoing host then you should ensure you have access to change this. It will take a day or two for the name server change to propagate so the domain name points to the new servers. Use the week when you have access to the old host and the new one to make any modifications.
It is important to realize that by sticking to your old web host you may be losing out on better deals, more up time and superior back-up and support. All that translates into more income and after all that is why you have a website. Surveys conducted among website owners show that website owners are paying up to ten times more for their current web host than they would for a cheaper and better web host, just because they fear the switching over process. They believe that changing web hosts will be complicated, have direct cost implications and could even lead to the loss or at least the corruption of their website or group of sites. This article intends to help you get over your baseless worries.
If you, as a website owner, started out on the internet by going to a famous branded name for web hosting and you have stuck with it because you think that if they are big and well-known they must give you value for money, then you should reconsider. The odds are that you are paying a premium for the name without necessarily getting the reciprocal service. Do not choose your host because the name makes you feel comfortable, or for that matter because you think it’s a good deal. Rather look at what you are getting and compare the offerings from other web hosting companies. Here is a rule of thumb. You can easily find adequate space for your site requirements, with all the bells and whistles, for under $10 per month, not taking into account handsome discounts for paying quarterly or annually. Another point to watch is the free domain name carrot that web hosts love to dangle. This is not so important, as you will learn later in this article.
Now that we have established that you should look at the benefits rather than the brand name or the bottom line cost, the rule-of-thumb notwithstanding, let us run through the points that you need to check out when investigating alternative hosting companies and their packages.
First, let’s look at capacity. You don’t really need more than 100 megs of space even if you are planning to build a large community or make uploaded albums part of the mix. It is really not necessary to opt for anything above that for the average or even an above-average website. By resisting the temptation to go for more space you could find yourself switching to a superior host for the same or less money.
Second, I mentioned support earlier and that is something you should look at carefully. You should be able to get answers to your queries in 24 hours or less by email. The very best hosts have live chat facilities available during business hours. It is well worth it, for your peace of mind, especially during the switchover process, to opt for a host that has a reputation for good support. Also check before signing up that the web hosting firm has a contactable physical address and phone numbers. Go ahead and test the support system by phoning them, live chatting to them and emailing them.
Thirdly, look at the number of email Pop3 emails your web host can offer. You should be able to get at least 10 and rest assured you will need these in time, as your business grows. Remember, if staff and family use email addresses related to your site, this is a form of advertising for your website. Also your host should offer web-based emails so you can check your email anywhere.
Finally, have a good look at the control panel which the new host is providing. See if there is a demo so you can try it out and get the feel of how user-friendly it is. A plus factor here is FTP access. Ideally you should have 24-hour FTP access so you can make modifications whenever you like. Also look out for a site builder, bulletin boards or chat rooms so you can interact with your visitors using the host’s services. Also check to see if the new host will be able to handle such popular features as PHP, ASP, CGI, Java scripts, Perl scripting or whatever else you have.
Once you have decided to move to a new host, timing becomes paramount. Make sure you cancel your subscription to your existing host before the end of the billing cycle. If you cancel too late you will end up paying for a month’s hosting you will not be using. Forget about refunds from your old host. You will not get one for periods of less than a month. I also recommend at least a week’s overlap when you will effectively have two hosts, the old and the new. You will use this time to ensure that everything works correctly on the new host and that all the files and email accounts are present.
Right, so you have signed up with the new host. Now you must save the files created for the site on your computer so they can be stored and backed-up. If you created the site yourself with a website builder like FrontPage or Dreamweaver you will probably have those files already. If, however, you used a web-based builder then you should download every page of the site along with their dependent files to a folder on the computer. This is easier than it sounds. You can either use an FTP tool to accomplish this or you can use the File>Save As method, which works as follows. Open your web browser (it can be Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer or Mozilla) then find the file button on the tool bar. Now go to the first page of the website. Once it has loaded, click on “File” then “Save As” and save this and all dependent files to a folder. Do this with each page until everything is saved. Now back this up to a disk.
The next step is to see that any other files on the outgoing web host are backed up. For example, if you have been using web-based mail then forward the emails to an “off-network” email address, or even archive emails to the computer’s hard drive. Remember that once you switch to your new host, all emails at the outgoing host will be deleted.
Now that you have control over the contents of your website, you need to upload all of the files to the new host’s servers. They will provide you with the FTP details required and this is where online and live support is invaluable. Once this is done you should create an email accounts to match each email account from the outgoing web host. This is essential so that there are no bouncing emails later when the switch goes through. This is the point at which you can change the domain name’s main servers, and for this the new host should supply all the information. There will also probably be subsidiary servers.
If you have registered your own domain name then the registrar should have a management area. If your domain name is registered through the outgoing host then you should ensure you have access to change this. It will take a day or two for the name server change to propagate so the domain name points to the new servers. Use the week when you have access to the old host and the new one to make any modifications.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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