Author: admin

Manually install Drupal on your hosting account

On this page we will learn to manually install Drupal on your hosting account.

STEP 1

Download the latest Drupal version – The latest version of Drupal currently is 7.xx. One can use the currently stable versions for Drupal 6.xx and 7.xx from the Drupal’s Download page. Go to this page Download the latest copy of Drupal from Drupal site.

Save it on your computer’s drive so it is easily accessible when you need to upload it.

Extract the tar.gz file. This will create a folder in your download folder on your computer. We will later take the contents of this folder and upload that on the hosting site.

STEP 2

Now we need to create a new database. Please follow the steps on this page – Set up a New Database from the Cpanel.

STEP 3

In this we need to upload the Drupal code file to the Hosting site. We will use Filezilla to move the contents of the folder on the computer with Drupal files to public_html folder on the hosting site. This is the root director on the hosting site. (Using Filezilla to move files from your computer to the hosting site)

STEP 4
Preparing the filesystem – In the File Manager on the cpanel, you will need to navigate to /public_html/sites/default/ and copy default.settings.php into a new file settings.php. Also change the permissions of this file to 666. In addition set the permissions of /public_html/sites/default/ to 777. This will allow Drupal to create the files folder as owned by Apache user itself. Remember to set this back to 755 once installation is done.

STEP 5

Drupal Installation – Once the files are moved to the webroot you can install Drupal by accessing the domain corresponding to your hosting account from a browser. Drupal Installer will guide you through the rest of the installation, as it will detect the installation files from the root directory, public_html. Through this process, you will have to enter the database details that were used when we created the database earlier. During this process you will need to input more information such as your site name, webmasters email id etc

Navigate to the URL of your Drupal site and run the install.php file (for example http://yourdomainname.com/install.php). Pick the default profile option for your Drupal application.

Pick English as the default language from the next screen.

In the next screen, you need to enter the database details we had used to create the database earlier.

With this, the basic installation process is completed, and the basic site details are left.

This completes the site installation. Now you are ready to use your Drupal site. You will need to customize it with the installation of various modules and installing themes, as well as configuring them as per your taste.

Set up a New Database from the Cpanel

For now, let us go and set up the database.

Set up the Database – Login to your cpanel account and go to the MySQL DB Wizard.

Create the Database

The MySQL DB Wizard will lead you to a screen with a field for Creating a new database.

This will lead to the create database success message.

Click on “Go Back” button.

Create the User Name

Now we can create the user name. Add in the user name and also the password. Make sure it is a “strong” password.

Once created, it gives the message for successfully creating the user.

Add User to the Database

Now that both, the user and database have been created, we can add the user to the database.

This step sets the database.

Signing up for a Blog Hosting account with Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the best hosting option for bloggers out there. It offers an updated version of the popular cpanel, with very easy interface for billing, domains handling, database handling and installation of any Blogging application like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and many more.

Here is where you start. Add your information below. It offers free domain name along with hosting, so you don’t have to spend an extra $8-10 on the domain cost as well

Once you have entered your desired domain name, it takes you to the registration and billing screen. Let us look at the Registration part of the screen first. It requires your contact information.

You can select any of the packages offered by Bluehost depending on what your budget is and what your plans are. For longer durations, the cost per month is lower.

As you sign up, you are all set for the Cpanel and its use. We will discuss the setting up of a blog and installation of various Blogging Applications on another page.

How to create a Blog on Blogger

Blogger is a simple, yet powerful platform for creating a blog. It is from Google and has very useful features for a blogger. With some new premium themes, one can create a complete magazine on blogger as well.

The video below explains how a blog can be created on blogger.

Types of Blogs

Blogs can be differentiated in many ways. Some of them are:

Genre of the blog: Depends on which topic a blog addresses. So we have Political blogs, Technology Blogs, Religious blogs, Fashion Blogs, Music blogs, Humor blogs etc.

Bloggers involved: Blogs could also be Personal blogs (which are about personal life and thoughts); Individual blogs (Blogs on different topics by individuals); Group blogs (Blogs by a group of individuals); Public Blogs (where the public at large writes and shares information and content on a certain topic).

Blog Media: Blogs can also be classified by the media used for them. Blogs using videos as the medium to share content are known as vlogs. Blogs which share photographs or images are known as photoblogs. Blogs which share audio content are audioblogs.

Hosting of the blog: Blogs could be self hosted or hosted on public hosting provided by different blog application providers. The Self Hosted blogs usually use applications like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla for their websites and these are hosted by the blogger on their own servers or server space bought from the hosting companies.

The companies which provide hosted blogs – so blogger doesn’t have to deal with the hosting technicalities – provide the blog application on a cloud. The different options are:

WordPress.com – This is the cloud hosted application from WordPress guys. They provide a basic free alternative, and quite a few of premium features including some really cool themes.

DrupalGardens – This is the cloud offering from the Drupal folks. One issue with a self hosted Drupal installation is the complexity of upgrading the core and the installed modules. This cloud installation obviates that. It has great features and also ability to customize the theme template.

Blog Platform: Blogs are created on various platforms today. The most popular platforms are.

Self Hosted: The self hosted blogs generally use the WordPress (from WordPress.org), Drupal (from Drupal.org) and the new entrant Ghost (from Ghost.org)

Hosted/Cloud Blogging: We have already talked about the options for cloud or hosted blogging

Hosting for Self Hosted Blogs

Blog Hosting is done using four options:

Own Server
Shared Server
VPS Server from Hosting company
Dedicated Server

There are many companies which provide a combination of Shared, VPS and Dedicated Servers. For having one’s own server is a very involved technical process, which we will leave alone for the purpose of this site.

What is the difference between the three – Shared, VPS and Dedicated Servers?

Let us use the analogy of living in a house and ownership.

Shared Server is akin to leasing an apartment in a large apartment complex. You don’t own anything and not even responsible directly for anything, yet you have to live within the limits. Within those limits, your world is “unlimited”! 🙂 So there is a promise of Unlimited Databases, Accounts, EMails, Bandwidth for all the accounts, while each accounts shares CPU time, memory, and disk space.

Despite the promise of unlimited “everything”, the limits are caused by CPU usage which is impacted by the processes run by the blog installed. This causes overload on the server and your “unlimited” account may be suspended.

This account is however, a boon for starter blogs. If you are starting out a blog and want to test out the efficacy of your idea and writing skills, then please

What is a blog?

Blogs are personal conversations gone public using a digital platform. People share, converse, discuss, debate, opine, educate and critique the world around them and their own lives with others. Following is a good way to put it.

A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. (Blogger)

A blog gives you the power of articulation. A “Voice”, as it were. And, as the ability to share grows, it is no longer enough to speak, but to speak in a way that is effective and promoted.

Blogging as an activity requires one to handle some technical areas, while expressing the creativity. A lot of these technical work can be outsourced. But some of it can be handled easily by all. We will take you step by step to show how it is done. From registering a domain name to creation of a blog to theming it and finally to keep it running.