22 pages
Hosting tutorials
One job per page, in the order you actually do it. These are the answers our support threads give, written down once.
DNS and domains
DNS for website owners: the whole map
What DNS does, the records you will actually touch, and the order to do things in — with every step linked to a short how-to.
A record or CNAME: which one do you need?
The difference in one sentence, the rule for picking, and the one combination that is never allowed.
How to change your nameservers
What nameservers do, how to switch them without taking your site offline, and how long it really takes.
How to add a subdomain
Point blog.example.com or shop.example.com somewhere useful, and know which record type to use.
Files and FTP
Getting files onto a shared host
How your files reach the server, where they have to live, what permissions they need, and the limit that bites before storage ever does.
How to upload your site with FTP
Connect over FTPS, find the right folder, and upload without breaking permissions or line endings.
File permissions for a website, explained
What 644 and 755 mean, why 777 is never the fix, and how to repair a site that has the wrong ones.
How to monitor your website's uptime
Why sites go down, the three ways to know before your visitors do, and the free tools that watch a site around the clock so you do not have to.
MySQL and databases
MySQL and databases on shared hosting
What a database is for, the four tasks you will actually do, and the one connection mistake that causes most of the errors people hit.
How to create a MySQL database
Create the database and user, grant the right permissions, and write down the four values you will need next.
How to connect PHP to MySQL
A working PDO connection, why the credentials belong outside the web root, and how to read the error when it fails.
How to import a database with phpMyAdmin
Move a MySQL dump into a new host, and get past the upload size limit that stops most imports.
SSL and HTTPS
SSL and HTTPS on a free host, start to finish
What the padlock actually means, how to switch a site to HTTPS without breaking it, and how to fix it when the browser warns people away.
How to enable free SSL on your site
Getting the padlock without paying for a certificate, and the two things that stop it working afterwards.
How to force HTTPS on your website
The redirect rule that sends every visitor to the secure version, and how to avoid a redirect loop while you do it.
.htaccess and redirects
The .htaccess file, and what it controls
What the .htaccess file is, when the server reads it, and the handful of rules most sites actually use — redirects, HTTPS, error pages and access.
How to set up redirects in .htaccess
301s for pages you have moved, the difference from a 302, and the order that stops rules fighting each other.
How to make a custom 404 page
Replace the server's default error page with something useful, and avoid the two ways it goes wrong.
Email on free hosting: what works, what won't
Why free hosts block outgoing mail, how to send it anyway through an HTTP API, and the DNS records that decide whether it reaches the inbox.
How to send email when SMTP is blocked
Free hosts block outbound mail. Here is why, and how to send contact form mail properly with an HTTP email API instead.
WordPress
WordPress on shared hosting, the whole picture
Installing WordPress, moving one in, keeping it fast inside a free plan's limits, and fixing the handful of errors that account for most WordPress trouble.
How to install WordPress manually
The five-minute install without an auto-installer, and the wp-config settings that matter on shared hosting.