Dumping Blogger for WordPress

August 19, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I’ve spoken out quite a few times about the foibles of using Blogger as a blog-hosting platform. I started out on Blogger, way back when they were Blogspot before Google took over… and it was OK, having a free blogging platform to work with. But I quickly learned that Blogger is extremely limited, and, now that Google had got ahold of it, rather controlled. I still have a few Blogger blogs skulking around, but I am most happy with my self-hosted WordPress blogs.

I’m bringing this up again because of a recent spat with Blogger over the weekend. For about three days, when I tried to visit Blogger blogs, I got the following page:

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Gosh, for a day or two, I thought there was actually something wrong with my router or my computer! I did a virus scan and found nothing. I rebooted the router, changed the IP address, and tried again. The same error message. Slowly I began to realize that it was Google/Blogger’s fault, not mine. And just think– all those Blogger blogs that were unavailable, and that were inaccessible! :-p Very poor.

So once again, if you are serious about blogging, or think that someday you may be– I am enthusiastically recommending that you go with your own hosted blog. It’s not hard to set up. Sure, there’s a learning curve, but WOW it’s the difference between night and day. And I do recommend Hostgator for web hosting. I have tried several web hosting companies, and no one comes close to Hostgator in reliability, service, and professionalism. I’ve helped quite a few people get established on Hostgator with their own WordPress blogs, and I could certainly offer you some help if you need it. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. If you want to get serious about blogging, ditch the Blogger and get your own space!

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Posted in Blogger, blogs, Wordpress. Tags: , , . 14 Comments »

Solving Bluehost Hosting Problems

July 6, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I had Bluehost as my web hosting company for a year. I am a professional blogger (that is, I am paid to blog for various articles), and I run a dozen blogs. I need a reliable web host.

I DID NOT find Bluehost reliable.

I was paying over $100 a year for unending frustrations. Bluehost came to me highly recommended, but I had SO MANY problems. I hated seeing those constant ‘CPU Quota Exceeded’ errors pages, and ‘This Account Has Been Suspended’ pages, and had constant problems. And when ONE of my websites was down, they ALL went down. What crap! I tried a few other budget hosts, none that brought me any satisfaction. I finally went with Hostgator, after hearing some friends give it high reviews.

HOLY COW, what had I been waiting for?!?!

I have NEVER received a “CPU Quota Exceeded” error page, EVER on any of my blogs, with Hostgator. I have NEVER had my account “suspended” (more like ripped out from under me), ever. I have been incredibly impressed with Hostgator. Wow. I cannot recommend them highly enough. You can read my more detailed review here.

I was dropping Entrecards recently and saw another poor blogger who had several blogs with the “Account Suspended” message. This particular blogger is a GOOD blogger, too, not a spam blogger. :( I was aggravated to see it.

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I just wanted to remind any of my blogging readers that I highly, highly recommend Hostgator. I’ve had my share of web hosts out there, and I’ve had my share of LOTS of problems. I am a Hostgator affiliate, so know that anyone who signs up with Hostgator through my affiliate link helps me to earn $50. But also know that those folks who have bought Hostgator through my affilate link have gotten free tech help from me, and have gotten A+ service from Hostgator. If you go through my affiliate link for Hostgator, I will do what I can to help you through the initial process of transferring/setting up a website through them. I’m no tech expert, but I have done a lot of my own blogs, and I’ve helped several folks get started with Hostgator.

They are great! I say: DUMP BLUEHOST and spend your money with a reliable host. Feel free to leave a comment or use the Contact Form if you have any questions. I totally love Hostgator!!

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Posted in Blogger, blogs, websites, Wordpress. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

Today.com Banning Entrecard Widgets

March 24, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.

Some of my favorite blogs are with the Today.com network, and they make up a good percentage of my Entrecard friends and droppers. Entrecard is rather unstable these days, deciding one day to commence monumental changes to the community (like forcing bloggers to accept advertisers on the widgets), and the next, completely turning around. It’s extremely difficult to keep track of where Entrecard stands at any given moment. This instability makes it a very unpleasant experience.

The redeeming factor for Entrecard has been its bloggers. It has been a wonderful place to discover new blogs, new friends, and improve traffic. I’ve loved my particpation in the network for this.

I do still intend on keeping my membership, until the day comes where the Entrecard people decide to implement advertisers ad-hoc, or charge me for the service. That will be going too far.

Back to teh Today.com blog: I’ve been saying for a very long time now that if you haven’t considered getting your own domain and your own webhosting, there is NO time like the present. I was a Blogger blogger, but quit in 2008, after hearing rumors of Google deleting blog content. I now own most of my domains and host all my blogs with Hostgator, whose service has been SUPERB. Please know that clicking on that link and creating an account with Hostgator helps me earn money– I get $50 for the affiliate referral! It would be great if you would consider me if you decide to order a Hostgator account. And I do mean it when I say they are the best around.

As a blogger, if you have any questions about my experience, or desire to hear my reviews or tips, please feel free to email me or leave a comment here with your question. I am no “pro” tech, but I’ve assisted a large number of people with obtaining domain names, getting web hosting, transferring blogs from one host to another, and solving MySQL database problems and such. I’m happy to help others.

My sympathies to the bloggers at Today.com. But it is expected– Today.com and other free blogging platforms essentially have control over the content on their servers. They reserve the right to ban networks that they feel threaten or thwart their policy. This is why it is best, if you are a serious blogger, to part ways with the controlling companies and get your OWN blog.

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Posted in Blogger, blogs, Google, web hosting, websites. Tags: , , , , , . 17 Comments »

Going With Hostgator

January 30, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

It’s hard to fathom that only a year and a half ago, I was completely baffled by the concept of blog hosting, ftp, and cPanel. Now, I am more comfortable. And I haven’t destroyed any of my websites in the process! Amazing!

I’ve had my share of webhosts: Whip An Orbit, WizzerdWerks, Dreamhost, Bluehost, and my new account, Hostgator. I have to say, I’m really enjoying Hostgator. Plus, they have the cutest little alligator. This was my first time transferring ALL my blogs onto a new webhost, with one swift stroke. I signed up for Hostgator’s free service to do it for me, and less than 24 hours later, all my sites are on Hostgator’s servers, the nameservers have been switched over, and my cPanel is chugging along quite smoothly.

WOW it is so good to have this all settled! I highly recommend Hostgator. I checked out their background considerably before signing up with them. They have a good history of uptime, with a 99.9% guarantee. And, unlike Bluehost, when one website has problems, all your websites do not crash. This was the main reason why I left Bluehost. The constant CPU Quota Exceeded errors were driving me nuts. I was paying through the nose for them and they couldn’t seem to handle my website traffic. And when one website went down, ALL went down, all seven blogs. GR! This does not happen with Hostgator. And Hostgator’s pricing is OK. I thought it was a tad pricey ($112 per year), but I used a coupon code for 20% off, which brought the cost down a little. The nice thing is that Hostgator allows you unlimited domain accounts, server space, and bandwidth. So you could host 100 or more websites with them, and it wouldn’t cost a penny more. This is nice. I had a blog with WizzerdWerks, and I while I absolutely loved the uptime (their servers were NEVER down), it was costing me $50 PER WEBSITE. Ouch.

Other nice things about Hostgator:

  • They are competitively priced.
  • They have terrific uptime.
  • They will transfer your websites over to them for free.
  • They have a TON of help pages, video tutorials, and a great forum if you need help or tips.
  • The cPanel is excellent, easy to work with, and looks very pleasant, too.
  • They don’t give you those stupid CPU Quota Exceeded errors and lock you out of your websites, like Bluehost does.
  • They can handle higher-traffic websites.

So anyway, if you decide to move your blogs to a new, reliable host, or are looking for some good solid web hosting to start up some sites, I think you may want to give Hostgator a look. If you would like, maybe you’d think about using my Hostgator affiliate link to place your order. Clicking on the Hostgator badge in this post or on the one in my sidebar will take you to the Hostgator home page. If you place an order using my affiliate badge, I get credit– $125 for every person who signs up through me! That’s a big chunk of change. And you can become a Hostgator affilate, too. See the site for more details.

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Posted in blogs, web hosting, websites, Wordpress. Tags: , , . 3 Comments »
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