What Sex Bloggers Need to Know About Web Hosting

June 4th, 2012

A while back, I posted about the WordPress database. It’s a must-read if you’re using WordPress, moving to WordPress or just want to know how the script works. While there are many, many outlets that shed a little light about hosting, domain names and installing blog scripts, but I’ve noticed that many of my peers feel more comfortable finding this information from someone within this group. I am more than happy to supply the information I know, and I hope it helps.

Today’s topic is web hosting:–the what, when, how, how much and why of it–and how any of that applies to us, as sex bloggers.

What is Web Hosting?

If you use the free version of Blogger or WordPress, then your host is technically Blogger or WordPress, respectively. These companies save your website content and data to their servers in a way that is accessible to any Joe Schmoe on the Internet.

How Does It Work With My Domain?

This depends. A lot of registrars now allow you to buy domains and hosting, which means you’re pretty much set right off the bat, without a lot of effort on your own part. I use a separate host and registrar, because that’s how it was done when I got into this scene. If you do that, then you’ll register an account with each company and enter the nameserver data, which you can find in the control panel of your host, into the DNS area in your registrar’s control panel. Either way, your domain will take up to 72 hours to propagate, that is, for the Internet indices to update with the new information about your domain name and which server it should point to.

Why Would I Need a Host As a sex bloggers, there’s pretty much only two reasons why you need a host:

  1. Your current host will no longer allow adult content
  2. You want more space or freedom to alter your website directly with HTML, PHP, CSS et cetera

What Do I Need to Know When Shopping for Web Hosting?

You need to know which hosts allow adult content. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Terms of service may not adequately explain what content is permitted. If you’re unsure, you should absolutely call or email the company and ask. A host might allow you to get away with some sex toy reviews, erotic pictures or porn, but then your host might suddenly deactivate your account and offer no help when it comes to downloading all your content. That’s pretty much the best case scenario. If you don’t already have a backup, you could stand to lost all your hard work, which has already happened to a few sex bloggers and toy reviewers who used Blogger (others have just been forcibly placed behind the warning page).

You need to know what you’re going to do. For example, maybe you’ll just install WordPress and use that to do everything. That’s fine. All you really need, then, is a host with PHP and MySQL support, and that’s pretty much every host out there. In fact, many hosts make it super easier to install WordPress with installer suites like Fantastico; although, the basic installation is so easy I could do it in my sleep!

On the other hand, if you want to run several websites across multiple domains, with a variety of scripts, then you’ll need more–more domain support, more allowed databases, more bandwidth (data transfer) and more hosting space. You’ll see that all types of hosting, including shared, resellers, dedicated servers and virtual privates servers (VPS), offer tiered plans. Essentially, the hosting plans offer more features for more money, so if you need to add more domains, the best plan for you might cost more than the sex blogger who only wants to run a single domain. Similarly, if you plan to upload many photos or videos, you may need more space and bandwidth:

Adriana’s recommendation: Most sex bloggers need no more than 500-megabytes of space. In fact, it’s what I host most of my sites on, and I’m only using a little more than half of that. If your prospective host offers hosting plans catering specifically toward blogs or WordPress, there’s probably less space than “regular” plans, but you might not even notice.

Finally, hosts offer hosting on different server platforms. Again, for a blog, you probably don’t need support specifically for ASP or the .NET Framework. Most hosts default to Linux because it’s stable, and your host’s operating system has nothing to do with the operating system on your personal computers. I have always used Linux, and some users report that WordPress runs a bit more quickly on this OS.

Is There Anything Else You’d Like to Say About Hosting?

Yes. Let me impart you with a few tips:

  • Many hosts offer discounts with promo codes that you can find on sites like RetailMeNot
  • Some hosts offer automatic backup services, and will restore files should a server glitch, hatch or user error occur.
  • If you’re using WordPress, you can install many nifty plug-ins to automatically email yourself a copy of the database or upload a copy to your host’s server for redundancy
  • You can upload files to your host’s server through WordPress, the control panel (cPanel is so ubiquitous that its name has become synonymous for all hosting control panels, regardless of actual software name) or FTP. File transfer protocol programs are the way to go, because it’s ridiculously easy to upload, download or edit multiple files simultaneously. Adriana recommends Filezilla.
  • If you start out with a smaller plan, your host will show your data and space usage, allowing you to determine if you should move up the tier of hosting plans.

Do you have any hosting-related questions that I haven’t covered? Sound off in the comments!

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Categories: Articles

No Porn On Pinterest? Don’t Despair

May 13th, 2012

Any blogger who relies on social media outlets like Facebook or Digg to increase traffic and communication with readers has probably considered jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon. Indeed, the virtual pinboard site has exploded in popularity faster, in fact, than any other website. It’s no surprise that the majority of its users are women, so the content is largely based upon motherhood, recipes, home decor, fashion and DIY ideas. The occasional adorable pet picture, LOLcat and inspirational quote also make an appearance. Ironically, the recipes that will clog your arteries are next more than a click away from motivation to work out or eat better.

What better place, I thought, than for me to advertise my blog. Are not sex toys, after all, a woman’s world? I did go ahead and add affiliate links to my favorite toys, as well as some direct links to my reviews here on Of Sex and Love. I added a few friends, but not many of my sex toy reviewing peers seem to be active on the website. Most of my followers, then, appear to be akin to my followers on Facebook: horny men and sex toy shops.

It struck me as a bit odd that the sexosphere was so inactive on Pinterest, especially when the potential benefits were so great. However, it wouldn’t have if I’d taken a closer look at the terms. Actually, Pinterest doesn’t explicitly state what you shouldn’t pin or what will happen to anyone who breaks those rules. However, it’s Pin Etiquette page does lightly touch on the subject. The image bookmarking site does not allow:

nudity, hateful content, or content that encourages people to hurt themselves

 

So, you might figure that perhaps porn would be off-limits, but I could still submit product images, as long as they weren’t in use. So far, I haven’t had repercussions from the content I have submitted, but a fellow blogger recently expressed her frustration at not being able to submit any content from PinkCherry, a sex toy retailer. Pinterest now views the retailer as inappropriate and will not allow its user to add new pins, sadly. Nevertheless, none of my pins have been taken down, whether they be realistic dildos, revealing lingerie or nearly-nude book covers.

Of course, it doesn’t much matter if Pinterest plans to simply ban all sex toy retailers, and perhaps they already have. Is anyone still pinning from Babeland, Good Vibes or EdenFantasys? Please let me know in the comments.

Still, plenty of Pinterest imitations have begun to pop up, as you might expect. Manterest, is one such site, catering toward men. The list also includes several places where porn and adult content is especially welcome. Perhaps sex bloggers should focus on these websites, instead. We might even see a more influx of traffic.

  • Sex.com does nothing to hide itself as a knockoff. In fact, it looks nearly identical to Pinterest. Sex toys and reviews wouldn’t be out of a place — a few pins already exist – -but the majority of the content is porn (of women!)
  • Snatchly tries to be a bit more original than its inspiration; although, it’s content doesn’t differ from that of Sex.com.
  • The only thing clever about Pornterest is its name, and the front page has the most NSFW content of the three listed thus far.
  • Although PinClub is mostly geared toward Europeans, and sex toys are scarce, but it’s another potential destination.

Of course, none of these sites has had the amazing growth of Pinterest, which is exactly why it might not be worth the average sex blogger’s time to join another social network. Pinterest could always put the wheel in motion to allowing adult content, behind some sort of warning to placate those who would rather not see it on the website or who browse from work (so very productive!). It’s not a change I would expect to come before any of the more pertinent issues that the team behind Pinterest needs to take on. In the meantime, are we sex bloggers not allowed?

Do you Pinterest with your sex blogger identity? Are you a member of any of the other sites? Or do you think that the virtual pinboard just isn’t for us sex bloggers and toy reviewers??

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Categories: Articles, internet

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