Going to Wordcamp China 2008

Finally, I got the email I’ve been so eager to receive.

Hi, Vienna

The event starts at 13:00pm and ends around 17:00pm. Location is on Fudan University campus, check out the map here: http://china.wordcamp.org/location/ (by default it shows only the Beijing location. You will need to click on the button to the right in order to get the Shanghai location).

Matt’s talk starts at 13:30pm. Afterwards, all the talks and discussions will be in Chinese, so you might want to grab someone and ask them to translate for you. Many attendees are very fluent in English, so I am sure you will find many people to chat with.

With the RMB20 registration fee, you will get a T-shirt of the event and enter a raffle.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

-Liang

I am so going to the Wordcamp Shanghai China 2008 and I am so not going to miss any of it. :).

Finally WPMU!

I remember mentioning that I gave up on working with WPMU already but the day after saying that, I got back on my feet and start all over again.

I am happy because this morning, I finally made it work. “It” is a blogging community I’ve been dreaming for months now and I will not tell you just yet where to find it because though it’s 99% functional, it is still not ready.

I want to make a landing page like that of edublogs.org but that is beyond my narrow and obsolete web designing skills. I tried to look around the net if there are free downloads for WPMU landing pages but I haven’t find anything until now.

Installing WPMU is similar to that of installing a WP single user blog but the difference is that you don’t get a lot of support with WPMU. If you go to WPMU’s support forums and read, you’ll notice that replies to questions are not so friendly like in WP single user forums. Some questions are left unanswered and few are lucky enough to get cold answers. Why? My guess is that the people behind WPMU somehow like to protect their work from people who want to use and earn big bucks from it but without contributing to its development.

In my case, I just really want to create a blogging community where my friends can create their own blog because I am really tired making blogs for them.  Right now I am already thankful to the people behind such great things like WP and WPMU and if this blogging community grows in the future to something which is bigger than what i expected (you see, I am just “one person” with minimal web designing, coding, and marketing skills so that is like punching the moon!) then well I dunno… right now, I  am just so contented and happy that I am able to install WPMU and that it is working.

Finding the Right Web Host

There’s a huge possibility that I might have already convinced you into getting your own domain name and your own paid hosting. If not then I urge you to read my previous posts regarding getting yourself a paid hosting and learn why it is so important that you start your blog in a paid hosting rather than in free blogging sites.

Setting up a blog in a paid hosting is not that difficult at all and if that does not convince you then have somebody do it for you for a minimal price. There are actually some cheap web hosts offering web hosting plans that include Wordpress blog setups for free. All you need to do is have a little patience until you find the right web host that will fulfill your blog’s installation requirements. You’ll get a hosting for as low as 1$ each month so imagine having full control of your blog just for 12$ a year. But you have to be careful, cheap does not always mean reliable so when deciding which web hosting plan to buy, you have to review the following points:

1. Your web/blog requirements.
2. Price
3. Data Transfer
4. Web Space
5. Technical Support

Compare web hosting plans from different sellers. This could get complicated because there are a lot of web hosts that offers the same plan for the same prices. Perhaps it will also help you to read some   web hosting reviews about the web hosting company before you purchase a plan from them.

Giving Up on WP MU

So I gave up on the idea that I can ever install Wordpress MU in my webhost account. I only signed up for a webhosting plan that gives me Cpanel and I am on a shared web server. I can’t touch my DNS settings and I can’t get support from my webhost to edit my httpd.conf file.

So I cancel the hosting plan I dedicated for Wordpress MU and I am still waiting for the refund. I don’t know if I’ll be interested to install Wordpress MU again but it is not likely so. Two days of trying to install it and fighting with an unsupportive webhost didn’t exactly inspire me to continue.

Getting a Paid Web Hosting Plan

Having your blog in a paid hosting gives you 100% control of your blog that is why I always advise my readers and my friends, even those who are neophytes when it comes to blogging, to transfer or to start their blog in a paid hosting.

Getting a web hosting plan and installing your own wordpress blog in it seems scary sometimes specially to non-computer –and-internet savvy persons because they are afraid that they won’t be able to manage to do those. If you have the same problem don’t worry because there are a lot of solutions out there.

You can read articles about it because there are hundreds of how-to articles about managing your web hosting and as for the installation of wordpress blog, you’ll also find some webhosts who are willing to install a wordpress blog in your hosting for free or for a minimal fee. When looking for a webhost,  I advise you to drop by at WebHostingRating.com because they offer a list of top web hosting companies based on costumer rating. WebHostingRating.com should help you in your quest of finding the perfect web hosting  plan and package because they are the biggest searchable web hosting directory featuring complete information on all web hosting providers, their web hosting plans, promotional and discount coupons, and unedited reviews by real customers.