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This is one of the most common topics that I see customers will ask about. As highly important as PHP handlers are, they often the least understood. They seem complicated, but its not too hard to understand. You don’t have to know that exact science of how it all works, but one should learn the basics if you want to take your website seriously. Picking the right PHP handler for your website will give you the optimal speeds you want and maybe allow you to save some money by using a cheaper hosting package. So I invite you to take a few minutes and learn something new.

What are PHP handlers

In order to run a PHP site, the server must interpret the PHP code and generate a page when visitors access the website. It interprets the code based on which PHP library you are using, such as PHP 4 or PHP 5. A PHP handler is what actually loads the libraries so that they can be used for interpretation. PHP handlers determine how PHP is loaded on the server. There are multiple different handlers that can be used for loading PHP: CGI, DSO, suPHP, & FastCGI. Each handler delivers the libraries through different files and implementations. Each file and implementation affects Apache’s performance, because it determines how Apache serves PHP.

It is essential for your server’s performance that you select the handler that fits your situation. Selecting the right handler is just as important as the PHP version itself. One handler is not necessarily always better than another; it depends on your unique setup.
?    Note: You may assign different PHP handlers to different versions of PHP. For example, version 5 may be handled by CGI while PHP 4 is handled by DSO.

How to change your php handler in cpanel
Changing the handler on your <a href=”http://misolutionz.com”>webhosting</a> server run on cPanel is very easy to do and only takes seconds. Log into WHM and navigate to: Main >> Service Configuration >> Configure

PHP and SuExec
You simply select your PHP handler choice from the drop-down menu. Then hit “Save New Configuration”.
?    Note: If you do not see your desired choice in the drop-down menu, it may need to be compiled on the server first. Run an “Easy Apache” to compile it.
List of PHP handlers

CGI
CGI handler will run PHP as a CGI module as opposed to an Apache module. CGI still runs PHP processes as the Apache ‘nobody’ user. However, if you have suEXEC enabled, it will allow you to see the user that made the request. The CGI method is intended as a fallback handler for when DSO is not available. According to cPanel’s own documentation, this method is neither fast nor secure, regardless of whether or not suEXEC is enabled.

suPHP
suPHP also runs PHP as a CGI module instead of an Apache module. It differs from CGI in that PHP scripts that are called from the web will run under the user that owns them, as opposed to ‘nobody’. suPHP is typically the default handler and is recommended by cPanel for serving PHP because you will be able to see which user owns the account that is running the PHP script. suPHP is beneficial in that if you are using a file upload tool on your site (such as an automatic updater or theme/plug-in installer for WordPress), the files will already have the right ownership & permissions. Uploading and other WordPress functions will not work without suPHP or FastCGI.
suPHP also offers a security advantage that any php script that is not owned by the particular user (such as another account or root) will not be executable. Also, files that have permissions set to world writeable will likewise be non-executable. This means that if one account is compromised, the malicious scripts will not be able to infect other accounts. The drawback is that suPHP generally runs a much higher CPU load. In addition, you CANNOT use an Opcode Cache (such as Xcache or APC) with suPHP. It is strongly recommend that you install a caching plug-into supplement. If you find that your server is still continually struggling with CPU usage, you will want to consider switching to DSO or FastCGI.

FastCGI
FastCGI (aka: mod_fcgid) is a high performance alternative to CGI. It has the security/ownership benefits of suPHP in that PHP scripts will run as the actual cPanel user as opposed to ‘nobody’. The difference with FastCGI is that it can drastically save on CPU performance and give speeds close to that of DSO. It can also be used with an opcode cacher like eAccelerator or APC, which can help further speed the loading of pages. The drawback is FastCGI has a high memory usage. This is because rather than creating the PHP process each time it is called, like suPHP, it keeps a persistent session open in the background. This is what lets it work with an opcode caching software. If you like the security/ownership benefits of suPHP and you can afford a major increase in memory usage (meaning you already have a low average memory usage), you may wish to consider using FastCGI.

More and more websites are switching to wordpress, and with good reason. Not only does it allow you to have a fully functional CMS ready website up and running in minutes, it has thousands of plugins which will allow you to setup any special features you wish and hundreds of great free themes to choose from.

One major downside to running wordpress, like any other website that allows outside visitors to participate spam can become a major problem. You’ll find that 99% of the comments submitted through your posts contain a backlink to a spammers website. The easiest way to see if the comment is legit is to simply look at the name of the commentor. If its not actual name and just something like “Cheap Air Force Ones” or “New miracle drug” its makes things obvious that they could care less about your content. That is if they even read it in the first place.

You see spammers are now using automatied bots to scan through the net searching for wordpress sites just to put their link on. These bots can sometimes post to up to 1000 different sites per min making it impossible to ever try and manually sort through all the spam.

To combat these spam attacks you have a few awesome options. The first of course being to simply disable comments and trackbacks. I know it makes your site a lot less interactive but if your website is just informative and you don’t want the opinions of others then perhaps you don’t even want people to be able to post on your page. You can disable these by going to the “Discussion menu under Settings”

Now obviously their must be a good solution to stop spammers without having to disable features, and YES there is. This is the same setup that we use on our own blog and it reduces spam to an almost invisible rate.

The Akismet plugin was developed to combat all spam and is used by almost all high volumn wordpress sites. In a nutshell it keeps a global database of websites, ips, and emails of known spammers and will block all comments that containing any references to spammers within the database. It doesn’t block all spam as spammers will continuously try to avoid these barricades by rotating emails and ip’s etc, so even though you will see a tramendous drop it won’t completely disappear.

Now on top of the Akismet plugin we also like to add captcha’s to our comment box. The BWP reCAPTCHA plugin makes a perfect pairing with Akismet and works together. Now not only is your website blocking all known spammers but in order to even submit a comment a visitor must type in a text code for verification.

Your website is now almost spam free, and the only thing your real visitors will notice is one extra step to type in text code which only takes 5 sec.

We recently came across a problem where a client could no longer load his flash header using JavaScript. The flash header used an xml file to load images and used JavaScript to load all of the flash parameters.

The code used to load the flash object is:

———————————————————————————————–

<script type=”text/javascript”>// <![CDATA[
var fo = new FlashObject("images/stories/flash/header_v8.swf?xmlUrl=images/stories/flash/&picUrl=images/stories/flash/", "head", "100%", "497", "8", "");
fo.addParam("quality", "high");
fo.addParam("wmode", "transparent");
fo.addParam("scale", "noscale");
fo.write("flashcontent");
// ]]></script>

————————————————————————————————-

For those that know coding you can see their is nothing wrong with how the javascript is written, so the issue would have to be else where. After researching all the files the awnser was with the include file.

It appears after the clients site was hacked awhile back it had somehow deleted the line of code within the header which was the file used to load flash object

<script src=”/scripts/swfobject.js” type=”text/javascript”></script>

So if you guys are having problems with the JavaScript loader not parsing make sure to check the path of the include script as well as proper permissions on the file. The easiest way to know if this is your problem is to simply right click on your website to ‘view source’ and see the code you are using to load flash instead of the normal flash html.

Well now I wouldn’t consider buying myself hosting and going through all the work of designing and programming a site a very great present, but think of other possibilities. There are many reasons to start a website other then just planning a new business opportunity.

Websites are designed for family memories, a place to socialize, to build upon ideas, share knowledge, and sometimes their just for some good ole fun. What ideas have you been keeping locked away inside that dusty thinking cap? Let some of them out to play.

Myself personally I’ve created websites for family and friends for all occasions. Some where to share pictures while others where created to honor special events. In fact I could have easily created just as many fun sites as I have serious sites for local businesses.

What better time to start on a relaxing project then during the time of giving. Who knows you might just have the next million dollar idea. Even Myspace was started for social interations with friends and no revenue in mind.

Other ways to honor the holiday season is to start planning for spring cleaning. Think of some ways to improve your current investments. Nothing starts the juices like new years resolution goals. Nice things to try, rearrange your website to improve click through rates.

Give yourself some boast within search engines, nothing sends traffic like a higher ranking on the G machine. Think of ways to spread relevance for your site as well as increase the presence of your site for that extra back link to put your site over the edge.

Start holiday cheer by giving a discount to your online store. Almost everyone is shopping online now, boast sales and give back at the same time. Just make sure to advertise the discount, you can’t get sales if nobody knows you are offering a sale. Free shipping is a great starter to any ecommerce store.

How about you going through some of your webhosting logs to check for security holes, its amazing how fast platforms are outdated and hacked. Some of the most secure sites fall victom, its always good to make time for some preventive maintenance. Platforms such as wordpress seem to go through a major release every month for one reason or another. Fortunately for us upgrades are done with just a click of a button. Others like Joomla can have half of your plugins unusable when you perform a major upgrades. In fact going through a site upgrade with most open scripts call for your full template to be revised and normally the upgrade of 10 plugins that you are using. A necessary annoyance for the online world.

Have any other ideas share them with our community, we would love to hear from you on how you used to holidays to improve your current site, start a new site, or just going through maintenance. If your story is good well post it on our blog so you can brag to everyone else.

Everyone seems to be aware of the present situation of the internet hosting market, which has lead to a drastic reduction in revenue for hosting companies. In addition to income reduction, better competition has placed promoting spots at a premium. But you don’t have any worry, I have discovered 5 services that you could up-sell to your purchasers to carry income, allowing you to afford rising promotion costs.

1. Video Conferencing

It is no secret that businesses and individuals are chopping back on travel expenses. There is no better product than video conferencing for keeping businesses in touch. With video conferencing usage growing by 15% year after yr, there isn’t any better time to include this product into your webhosting offerings.

While there are a whole bunch if not even hundreds of video conferencing firms to choose from, my most referred supplier is Voxwire. They provide non-public labeling to resellers, permitting them to share in the month-to-month income stream from their clients. If Voxwire and its reseller program doesn’t do it for you, there are different providers like WebEx and GoToMeeting that provide reseller/affiliate programs as well.

2. Merchant Accounts

In case you are not helping your purchasers find a merchant account you’re losing out on thousands, perhaps even tens of hundreds of dollars in income every month. Like video conferencing, many service provider account suppliers provide a referral income stream. Companies like www.cdgcommerce.com give you up to 30% in referral fees. You never know if you might need a $100k account buying $7.95/month hosting that needs a gateway provider account for its brick and mortar business or online store. Merchant accounts are easy to sell and you could possibly make more in commissions every month then what the internet hosting account is bringing in.

3. Search Engine Optimization / Search Engine Marketing

Everyone wants to extend traffic to their website. When you do not have traffic, you aren’t making money. Let’s face it, the years of “if you happen to build it, they’ll come” are lengthy gone. You could possibly start off by providing a fundamental SEO / SEM resolution like the I Need Hits reseller program; you may discover a freelancer who will work on a flat charge per thirty days; or you can go right into a partnership agreement with a advertising company like eBridge Advertising and marketing Solutions. You might even provide all three! When most basic SEO packages start out at $19.95 and the premium businesses charge tens of 1000′s of dollars, this might lead to a large chunk of change in your pocket every month.

4. Ecommerce Options

I do know you probably think that every customer wants to do it themselves when it comes to their website. The truth is, the majority DO NOT. The majority of businesses and people beginning out in ecommerce need a simple and straightforward solution. They need to be up and selling in 5 minutes. Why do you assume eBay has completed so nicely? For those who go away your purchasers to try and determine ecommerce themselves, there’s a good likelihood they’ll get annoyed and provides up. This is lost revenue for you. If you happen to had been partnered with an organization like Volusion, TurnKey Commerce or Shopify you might efficiently refer them to your ecommerce options associate and take as much as a whopping 25% of income share to the bank. With the average SaaS purchasing cart answer beginning round $30, you make your $7.50 for life without even having to supply technical support. When you’re handing off the customer to the SaaS provider be certain to supply them the good deals you have got on merchant accounts so you’ll be able to add another 30% in profit to your backside line every month. If you do not, the large boys will be glad to do it for you.

5. Net Design

Similar to Search Engine Optimization companies, web design can be offered in lots of forms. You have got the turnkey template answer provided by a third party; these charge you a setup price plus a month-to-month fee. This could work out properly within the budget internet hosting market. Then you’ve the option of bringing in a freelancer to do your client’s projects. The freelancer prices you a one-time charge and you charge the client. Then there’s the non-public companion design studio product option. Here you outsource the design to a design studio like www.studio1337.com for premium design services. Web design runs from slightly below $100/month for finances design providers to anywhere from $1,000.00 to $5,000.00 for premium design services. With the average commission value 20%, you could add an additional $25.00/month to your backside line or a nice $250.00 to $1,000.00 one-time commission.

The most important piece of information that every website hosting provider should perceive is: YOU HOLD THE POWER. Website hosting corporations are likely to have massive amounts of purchasers as a result of low worth of the service and the scale of the market. Use your shopper base to generate additional income for yourself by offering them with the services they already need. With these 5 simple up-sells you can take a $7.95/month account and switch it into a $150.00/month account with little or no effort. Just keep in mind, for every product or service you do not provide to your shopper you’re sending income into another person’s wallet.