Selecting Your First Web Hosting Script
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Just as php scripts have the ability to increase the functionality of a website, so do web hosting scripts. Some web scripts are offered free of charge by web hosts and these include the Word Press script. These scripts can be used to allow website owners to increase the functionality of their site at a low cost and with the minimum of time.
A range of scripts for web hosts are detailed next:
Fantastico is mainly used for commercial reasons and is a script library which assists the automation of web application installation. The website administrator, using control panel, can execute these scripts. Fantastico has revealed claims that their service has been installed on over 10,000 servers and they have in excess of a million users across planet Earth. This is an extremely large amount and would see them as market leaders for this type of product.
When a new website is created or a new application is added to an existing website, the Fantasatico script is executed. The script can assist in a number of ways and these include altering the file configuration of a web server or using a database to create a table. Fantastico may be commonly associated with open source programs, commercial products have been known to utilize it too. Once the script has been uploaded and ran, the script can be placed on every domain which is hosted by a server. An example of this would be the ability to site a website builder for SohoLaunch, software that PerlDesk provides customer support for and do the same for Account Lab Plus, which enables interaction with internet registrars.
Over 50 applications are linked with Fantastico scripts, with the most popular ones being:
software to enable shopping carts to operate
software to enable easy creating of blogs
picture sharing
the enabling of a reliable web content management system
information sites like Wikis
It is difficult to make a selection between the web hosts of LINUX and Windows. You must be aware of the language used in the website prior to selecting a given operating system or the server for your requirement. If your website is a simple one having HTML content, or even an e-Commerce website or one with any programming database feature which is php or MySQL crated, then go for the LINUX platform. However, for ASP or ASP.NET sites, a Windows server is required.
In order to get the best for your site, we shall discuss some issues about PHP, MySQL and ASP.NET.
PHP is a useful abbreviation for the term Hypertext Preprocessor and it is generally a used server side scripting language, associated with building and maintaining sites with interaction or it is known as a language for programming. It is extremely simple to insert a HTML code and it is common to find PHP with APACHE on an operating system and it is usually found on the LINUX system. The chief role of PHP is to work s filter and work through information received from files that contain content and similar instructions from PHP. This information is then transformed into a usable form of data. PHP is provided on the majority if operating systems, servers and platforms at no additional cost.
MySQL has a number of uses and its primary use is for finding and controlling data. It is a computer language for numerous users and has many threads and is handy for users who need to get hands on with their data and need to change it about. It is a management system for SQL databases that has a huge number of uses. MySQL is most frequently found on web applications, used as an open source tool for tracking bugs and to act as a database component on MAMP, LAMP and WAMP. There is no doubt that there are similarities between MySQL and PHP as well as “Ruby on Rails.” The vast majority of sites that are similar to Word Press will only work on a mixture of MySQL and PHP.
ASP.NET [ASP - Active Server Page] is Microsoft’s .NET platform’s division, and Microsoft markets it as well. It is a successor of the ASP technology, and ASP.NET is a web application set which can be used by programmers for building up websites, web applications and XML web services. ASP.NET web hosting helps in making the building of web applications a simple process by bringing down the number of codes required for it. It provides greater flexibility in the selection of language since it supports many .NET languages. Due to HTML and source code being together, web pages can easily be written and maintained in ASP.NET web hosting. Also, it’s not mandatory to register the components since the configuration information is already built-in. Besides, this application is very fast, and can manage a big number of users with a consistent performance.
Having some knowledge about these technical terms will improve your ability to select the best server type for you. At first it is likely to be difficult to automate a website site using CGI scripts but it definitely becomes over time.
Starting with a simpler script is the way to begin. You can visit cgi-resources.com for some CGI scripts. You will find some free and paid scripts for mails, website management, banner rotation, classified ads, protection of password, polls, mailing lists, having a search engine for your site, shopping carts and a host of other activities. Though a fee is charged for some of the scripts, you can save money by using a less expensive script and instead of calling on an expert from the company to set it up, you can do so yourself. Remember that costliest is not always the best since some of them may have more features than what you may require.
Some webmasters believe that a user needs a strong level of computer science to use scripts but this is not the case. After accessing your server, it is possible to find some providers who will enable free uploading of CGI scripts. This will enable the user to test a few CGI scripts before deciding what is best for them.
Running a CGI script is not difficult if the scripts contain a config file or a setup file. After these files have been loaded onto the server, gaining access to the setup or config files will enable the script to set itself up automatically after content is placed in it. An alternative to this is using a variable file. This type of file will ordinarily have the majority of the information that is needed for the script to run and the most used scripts are likely to have a number of files which require configuration before working.
In general, a script comes with a setup file or a read-me, which is used in HTML text. You can follow the directions after opening it up. There are some script writers who give good instructions, but there are some of them who simply assume that the one who is required to set up the script has enough information about it. Try finding an alternative script for performing a similar kind of job if you are confused.
If you want to maintain your site more easily and would like to have interaction on your site, CGI scripts would be the best choice for you.
