iPage and FatCow

iPage and FatCow have the same control panel interface. Please check their main page screenshots below:

This is FatCow control cpanel.

This is also the iPage.com cpanel.

How to transfer your Wordpress Site from one host to another with a different domain name?

Transferring a WordPress site can be tricky sometime especially if you are new to this stuff. Here are the steps that I can suggest to make your work pretty simple and fast.

1. From the origin host, back up your website files and database.
-The fastest way to backup up your files is to compress the file from the file manager.

2. Go to the new host and make sure you should know where your new domain/subdomain is currently pointed at (the ftp directory where this pointed at). Normally you can check this by going to Domain and check where this domain is pointed at. Upload a test index file to the directory and check if that domain/subdomain is really pointing to it.

3. Once you are sure that the domain/subdomain is pointing to that path, then it is now the time to import your zip file (website files)
-You can unzip the file pressing the unzip button to uncompress it. This can be easily be done using the FTP manager in the regular cpanel.
-However if you are using fatcow or ipage, you can uncompress this zip file under "Additional tools > Archive Gateway".

4. Create a new mySQL database file and import your SQL file into it.

5. Go to your file manager, locate the directory where you uploaded the your uncompressed file and look into this file wp-config.php and edit the database details (username, host and password).
-Most of the cpanel use "localhost" for the hostname/servername however there are some hosting companies require you to use their specified hostname. Fatcow for example use this hostname "username.fatcowmysql.com "

6. Open a new browser and login to your WP site.
Example: http://new-domain.com/wp-admin

7. Notice that when you login, it will still redirect to the old domain. Example: http://old-domain.com/wp-admin

8. To fix this, you need to go to your cpanel and login to your phpmyadmin.
-Once you are inside the phpmyadmin, look for wp_options and click browse
-Under the option_value, you can see a big white box, change the URL information to the new address. Example: http://new-domain.com
-Verify this is correct and click Go to save the information.

9. Open a new browser, clear cache and check your site again.
-Go to http://new-domain.com/wp-admin
-Once you are login to WP dashboard go to Settings > General. And check if the WP site URL is now pointing to the new domain. Update the site address as well and then save it.

10. Your site now should be completely migrated to the new server :)

Aweber Single Opt-in and Double Opt-in

If you already created your form (list) using Aweber, you should have two options on how your visitors subscribe your campaign. We call them Single Opt-In and Double Opt-In. But what is the difference between the two?

Email addresses on a single opt-in list are not confirmed. Anybody can submit anybody's address to the list, and it will be there until it is unsubscribed. Here is how to set up single opt-in in Aweber.

On a double opt-in list, all email address must be confirmed before they are added. A request for confirmation is sent to the submitted address and the address owner must take some action to confirm that she is the owner of the email address, the address is working and she indeed wants to subscribe. Here is how to set up double opt-in in Aweber.

Noticed that in Aweber you only need to turn ON the toggle button to set double opt-in, otherwise toggle it OFF for single opt-in.

How to install SSL certificate into your WordPress website's domain and subdomains?

Most of the SSL companies nowadays offer a one click installation of their SSL certificates. However, besides of this easy installation process, there are still content mixed up when viewing the secure website online. More complicated if you are using a CMS. Here we focus more on how to setup  SSL certificate in your Wordpress CMS website. 

Here are some issues that may come up if you did not setup your SSL properly into your website:
 
1. It will not display the padlock, instead it will display the exclamation point !

 

A properly setup SSL should display the security padlock and it should look like this:

2. The website content will not display properly, some missing content and links might also happen.

Here are some of the pointers that you need to consider in installing SSL certificate into your WordPress website's domain and subdomains.

1. Make sure you installed properly the SSL certificate into your domain name. For instructions on how to do this, please refer to your SSL provider.

Note: Do not use wildcard ssl and remove wildcard subdomain
-Wildcard subdomain will look like this [*.yourdomain.com]
-Do not also setup your SSL certificate on this subdomain format[*.yourdomain.com]
-Wildcards will create conflict to website content and the SSL.

2. Go to Settings > General and make sure the following fields are using the normal URLS:

3. Click on Plugins > Add New. Then install the plugin called "WordPress HTTPS (SSL)"

4. After you installed it click on HTTPS at the left hand side. Check the following:
-SSL Host: this should be the exact domain/subdomain that you had installed into your SSL certificate.
-Domain Mapping: you can redirect a domain name here from your normal site to your https site. Example: http://www.domain.com TO https://www.domain.com

5. Preview the website now and notice that the homepage is still showing the normal site. Go to that page and make sure to check the following boxes below and save it. The other pages should display the https site, you don't need to check them.

6.Wait for 2-3 minutes and check the website again, and you're done. :)