HostMonster Web Hosting Package

According to ICANN regulation, all registered domains must be equipped with reachable contact information such as owners’ address and phone numbers. This reveals your personal information to informed web surfers when they go lookup on your whois information.

Hiding whois info at Hostmonster

To hide this whois information, here’s what you can do:

First, login to your cPanel with your domain name and account password. Look for the tab labeled as “Domain Manager” under “Domains” section.

Click in and look for a tab labeled as “Privacy”. The tab should be located at the bottom right of your page. Enable privacy option for your selected domain and it will set the whois information to Hostmonster instead of yours.

Simple? You bet. However, note that this function is only available for domain name that’s registered with Hostmonster. If your domain registration is done with a third party registrant (GoDaddy for example) then you can’t enable this function.

I am sure most web developers heard much about Ruby on Rails. In fact, everyone seems raving about this web tools as it helps web development to be done easier and faster.

Introduction: Ruby on Rails

So what’s exactly is Ruby on Rails? To understand Ruby on Rails, you’ll need to understand what’s Ruby and what’s Rails (yes, they are two separated things).

Folks, meet Ruby

Ruby, just Ruby by itself, is a programming language, just like PHP or Perl. Although many Ruby programmers believe that the language’s syntax has better efficiency; Ruby is, according to the officials, a programming language that somewhat resembles a cross between Perl and Python.*

*Ref: http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/StartAtTheBeginning

Rails meet Ruby

Rails, on the other hand, is a web application framework that’s written in Ruby. Rails, or Ruby on Rails, is the basic support structure for Ruby language, where reusable components and code that can be used throughout the main application. In other words, everything in Rails is based around the Ruby programming language. While there are quite some other frameworks available for Ruby programmers but Ruby on Rails is so far the one that’s widely used.

Why Ruby on Rails?

I am not going to explain the advantages of Rails on Ruby in details as it involved way too many technical aspects. This is, after all, not a programming blog and I’m not a programming expert at all.

In short, Ruby on Rails works better in term of speed and efficiency. The language/platform embraces test-driven development, works with lesser software, and cuts down the needs of long winded configuration files. As Tim O’Reilly, Founder of O’Reilly Media described it: “ Ruby on Rails is a powerful web applications that formerly might have taken weeks or months to develop can be produced in a matter of days.”

At the time of writing, Twitter and YellowPages are the two most well-known websites that’re running on Rails.

Can you use Ruby on Rails at Hostmonster hosting?

The answer is yes. Customers are allowed to run Ruby on Rails in their Hostmonster hosting account.

More over, you can manage your Ruby on Rails application from the HM control panels. Rails applications run just like any other application at Hostmonster. It’s worth noting, however, that you will need to populate it with your code, configure the start/stop of the application, as well as redirect incoming traffic to the specific port that’s being used.

Where can I learn more about Ruby on Rails?

• Rolling with Ruby on Rails
• Rolling with Ruby on Rails, Part 2
• Four Days on Rails (PDF)
• Really Getting Started in Rails
• Tutorial in Ruby on Rails
• Fast-track your Web apps with Ruby on Rails
• Getting Your Feet Wet With Ruby on Rails
• How to make a todo list program with Rails
• Ajax on Rails
• Many to Many Tutorial for Rails (PDF)

In case you had installed WordPress at Hostmonster via Fantastico, be aware the version available is quite outdated (WP 2.6.5). It seems that folks at HM is not updating scripts at Fantastico as often as they do for SimpleScripts.

What to do if your WordPress is installed with Fantastico?

For those who had WordPress installed via Fantatico, the fastest way to keep your WP blog updated is by switching your installation from Fantastico to SimpleScripts. There are several ways to migrate your installation from Fantastico to SimpleScripts and the old methods used to be tedious and very risky.

However things are improved by now as SimpleScripts provide a one-click switching utility at their control page. To start switching, simply login to your Hostmonster cPanel and get to SimpleScripts control page. Click on ‘WordPress’ and scroll down once you reach at the installation page for WordPress. You’ll see a link under the title ‘Convert a Fantastico installation’.

Click in and select the WordPress you wish to convert. Click convert to proceed and everything should be done in seconds. By the time your WordPress installation is converted from Fantastico to SimpleScripts, login back to your WordPress installation page at SimpleScripts for the updates.

The switching process is pretty simple but it takes a few more steps than the usual for a standard WordPress updates. In case you need help, please do not hesitate to post your questions here. I’ll try my best to help.

Well it’s been quite some while I have reveal about Hostmonster server status. Truth is that I’m busy working on some other hosting review websites; but I’m not keeping my eyes close. Anyway, back to our question…

How’s Hostmonster server doing?

I have no problem with Hostmonster hosting service so far. The server I’m on is stable, responsive, and I rarely have to contact the support for helps. However what worries me is that the hard drive usage on my server had been increasing sharply. If you look closely to the diagram, you’ll see the usage of disk2 is over 90% – which is extremely high.

While the heavy usage has not affected any operation of my websites, the data signals that there might be an (serious) overselling issue with the company. Let’s hope this trend won’t be lasting long and hopefully folks at Hostmonster are dealing with the problem by now. I’ll keep you guys posted on the latest server status.

Don’t be fooled by some unethical Hostmonster affiliates that tell you Hostmonster users are getting free web templates downloads. There are quite a lot of blogpost and articles promoting Hostmonster’s hosting services by listing ‘Free Web Templates by DreamTemplate‘ as one of the incentives for Hostmonster sign ups.

The truth about Hostmonster’s free web templates

However, that’s not the truth entirely.

When HM users sign into their cPanel, they’ll see a link pointing to DreamTemplate at the top of the page (refer figure below) under ‘Partners’ category.

From my understanding the link works as strategic partnership for Hostmonster with DreamTemplate, where HM users are referred to DreamTemplate for web templates download. It’s in fact good to have the link embedded in the cPanel interface as it provides a short cut for the users who are in need. Unfortunately, the smart (but unethical) HM affiliates create an ‘illusion’ that confuse consumers that this is a special promotional item.

So hey, if you’re signing up HM because you think there’re free templates to be grabbed – don’t. The offer with Dream Template doesn’t get any better for HM users. DreamTemplate users get the same package with the same price ($59.95) with or without a Hostmonster memberships.

About DreamTemplate

DreamTemplate offers unlimited downloads on various templates (Web, Flash, Word, PowerPoint, Clipart, and so on) with just one time payment. At the time of writing, there are over 3,000 web templates available in the company stock. You can visit DreamTemplate.com to learn more.