Hosting and Domain Registration

In this series of Black Cap Design blog posts you will find information that will help you make decisions about website hosting. You will also find information that will help you register a domain name.

Moving to SSL – Increased Website Security and Better SEO
Moving to SSL – Increased Website Security and Better SEO avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Security by

Google and WordPress have made it their mission to secure the Web.  In the “old days” – before 2016, the only way to secure a website – and encrypt data transfer – was to purchase a costly SSL certificate.  That also meant purchasing a dedicated IP address, which ruled out cost-effective shared hosting.  Then, in 2016, a company called “Let’s Encrypt” developed a system to enable SSL without the need for a dedicated IP address.  Google and WordPress both quickly […]

Mapleridge Recreation Centre Site Launch
Mapleridge Recreation Centre Site Launch avatar

 in Design & Development / Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Management / WordPress Development  tagged domain registration / Hosting / Mapleridge Recreation Centre / photo gallery / responsive design / slider / WordPress by

Black Cap Design launched the redesigned & rebuilt Mapleridge Recreation Centre website earlier this year.  Mapleridge, located in Peterborough, Ontario, is a drop-in centre for people over 50 who are looking for social, physical and educational programs, activities and events.  Mapleridge is a community-based not-for-profit organization operating out of a beautiful new building in Peterborough’s west end. Black Cap Design worked with the Mapleridge Board of Directors to develop a website that could be easily managed by staff and volunteers.  […]

3 Things Every Website Owner Should Have
3 Things Every Website Owner Should Have avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Management / WordPress Development  tagged backup / Black Cap Design / CMS / control panel / database / domain registration / Joomla / web host / WordPress / ZenCart by

If you own or manage a website there are 3 things you should have at your disposal. The contact and login information for your domain registrar (where your www address is registered) The contact and login information for your Web Host. If your Web Host doesn’t have a Control Panel for you to log into, you should consider moving your site to a Web Host that does (see: “What is this ‘Hosting’ Thing and Why Should I Care?“) An up-to-date […]

Black Cap Design Hosting Clients are Not Affected by the Heartbleed Bug
Black Cap Design Hosting Clients are Not Affected by the Heartbleed Bug avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Security  tagged Black Cap Design / Hosting / SSL by

A quick notice to our Website Hosting clients: sites hosted with Black Cap Design are NOT affected by the Heartbleed Bug. On Monday April 7, 2014 a major security vulnerability was disclosed on the Internet that can potentially affect some half a million servers worldwide. This vulnerability, known as the Heartbleed Bug affects the encryption keys that are at the core of SSL encryption. (Unencrypted internet connections begin with http, whereas encrypted connections begin with https.) The Heartbleed Bug enables […]

Master of my Domain (Name)
Master of my Domain (Name) avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration  tagged domain registration / Namespro by

One topic that always comes up when talking with customers about starting a new website is what to call it.  In Web Developer terms, this is called assigning the site a Domain Name.  The Domain Name is the www address that appears in the address bar of your Web browser. I suppose assigning names to websites is an extension of our natural impulse to name things (children, puppies, the pet hamster).  Giving each website a unique name also makes it […]

WordPress Security: Fact or Fiction?
WordPress Security: Fact or Fiction? avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Management / Website Security / WordPress Development  tagged CMS / Hosting / Plugins / static website / web host / WordPress by

One of the biggest shifts in website development in recent years has been toward sites that can be managed independently – commonly referred to as Content Management Systems (CMS) or “dynamic” websites.  WordPress has emerged as the leader due to its flexibility (with over 27,000 free plugins available for download), its intuitive administrative console and huge developer community. What many people don’t realize is that any website that enables browser-based editing (the ability for you to manage your own content […]

Selecting a CMS (Why WordPress is King)
Selecting a CMS (Why WordPress is King) avatar

 in Blogging / Hosting and Domain Registration / Website Management / WordPress Development  tagged CMS / Drupal / Hosting / Joomla / Linux / Open Source / PHP / Search Engine Optimization / SEO / static website / WordPress by

“I need a website that I can update myself, but I have no idea where to start.”  This is something we hear a lot from people looking to establish a presence on the Web.  It’s not surprising given the range of options available. A quick search for “Choosing a CMS” will return a mind-boggling amount of sometimes conflicting information.  So, where to start? Selecting a Hosting Platform (Choose Linux) It actually doesn’t matter if you’re opting for a static website […]

What is this “Hosting” thing and why should I care?
What is this “Hosting” thing and why should I care? avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration  tagged dedicated hosting / Hosting / Internet Service Providers / ISP / My SQL / PHP / server / shared hosting by

What is Web hosting? Every site you visit on the Internet – including this one – is stored on a computer somewhere. And all of those computers link together to weave the fabric of the World Wide Web. Web hosting companies exist to store website files and make them available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – for a fee. If you want a website to profile your business, show photos from your latest trip, or publish your […]

Domain Registration vs Hosting: What’s the Difference?
Domain Registration vs Hosting: What’s the Difference? avatar

 in Hosting and Domain Registration  tagged domain name / url / web hosting by

What is domain registration, exactly?In our previous blog post we discussed Web hosting. If your Web host is the physical location where your website files are stored, your domain name is the address needed to find those files. A Web address (also known as a URL) looks like www.yoursite.com. If you are in the process of setting up a website, you will need both Web hosting and a domain name. If you don’t have Web hosting set up already, consider […]