Lunarpages Hosting Plans

Great blogging tools have become an indispensable element for a good web host.

As for the last time I checked, almost every hosting company are now offering blogging tools via Fantastico and Simple Scipts. Bluehost, Hostgator, Hostmonster, Dot5, WebHostingPad, and yes, including Lunarpages are all offering one of the most widely-used blogging tools – WordPress.

So are you looking for the right place to host your WordPress blog?

Your choices are wide and before you purchase any hosting service for your blog, here’re some of the details that you need to know.

What are the hosting server requirements for WordPress blog hosting?

To host a WordPress blog, your hosting server needs to be running on PHP 5.2.3, MySQL 4.0+ for database management, and mod rewrite Apache module.

Why Lunarpages is recommended for WordPress blog hosting?

• System Requirements – WordPress blog requires PHP 5+, MySQL 4.0+, and mod-rewrite Apache module. All these requirements are complied by Lunarpages hosting.
• Experience – WordPress currently hosts thousands of WordPress blogs.
• Auto Installation – With the help of Fantastico, WordPress blog can be installed within seconds at Lunarpages.

WordPress Installation at Lunarpages

WordPress installation is simple with the help of Fantastico. All you need is to fill in some details on your blog and the setup process should be completed within minutes. In case you need detail guides, check my previous post on WP intallation guide.

Why host your blog on its own domain/hosting?

There are couple of good reasons why you should run your blog on its own domain and hosting.

A free blog on Blogspot.com or TypePad.com is like a ‘rented house’; while own domain is like owning a ‘real estate’. The ownership rights is crucial for bloggers – especially if you’re monetizing your work. On established sites like Blogger and Wordpress, this may not be the issue, but on small sites, if the sites get shut down you’ll also have great chances losing everything on your blog.

There’s a detail article on the issue in my bookmark, further reading is recommended for newbies: Does your blog needs its own domain?

Wrapping things up: Start hosting your WP blog with Lunarpages!

Well, are you still doubtful about hosting your WordPress blog online?

Now here’s the final reason why you should run it on Lunarpages – blog hosting with LP is dead cheap! With just $4.95/mo (zero setup fees), you get to host unlimited blog on a single hosting account and get unlimited disk storage/bandwidth at Lunarpages. Frankly, you don’t have to search anymore as Lunarpages is already the best for your WordPress blog hosting.

What’s a blog? Well you can have your answer here, here, here, and here. As a matter of fact, there’re way too many spoon-feeding guides and tutorials around on blogging and I’m not going to start another one here.

But if you really want to know what’s a blog and how does a blog work? This video is a must watch.

Tired of having your blog on other websites? Frustrated when you discover how little control you have when your blog is hosted on a third party platform? You bet the long URL of your blog that ends with ‘blogspot.com’ or ‘typepad.com’ looks ugly!

Here’s the solution that ends all these frustration: start your blog on your own domain!

There are waaaaaay too many benefits running your blog independently online and guess what? Hosting your blog on an independent domain isn’t expensive at all! I mean, it’s dead cheap!

And also the best of all, hosting your blog on your own domain is very simple. All you have to do is a one time simple setup and you can start publishing blogpost as you were doing it in Blogspot, Typepad, or Friendster.

What you need to start a blog with your own domain?

A domain name, a web hosting service installed with desired blog software, and lots of heart (and time!) to write some good blogposts.

You will need to register your own unique domain name. There are a few reputable domain registering agents around WWW, I would recommend GoDaddy as they are one of the cheapest. Many hosting companies offer free domain registration for their first time customers. Thus in case you have not purchase any web hosting services, save your money and get your free domain names with these web hosting company.

Lunarpages for example, offers free domain name to their customers. Other web hosts that provide such offers are like Bluehost and Hostgator.

Installing a blog at your web host

The next thing to do is to purchase a web host and install related blogging software on it. For those who’re starting for the first time, I would recommend Lunarpages as you can get special offer here (cheapest among all, only $4.95/mo).

How to install WordPress in Lunarpages?

With the help of Fantastico, web application can be installed at your hosting within clicks. I’ll show you how to install your WordPress blog in Lunarpages.

First, login to cPanel and go to ‘Fantastico’. The Fantastico icon looks like a smiley face and it’s normally listed at the bottom of the page.

Click WordPress once you’re in Fantastico main page. Here, you’ll have all the basic details about WordPress in your Lunarpages account. Check out the screen cap below for example, you’ll see the number of WordPress installed in your hosting account, WordPress version, required disk storage size, as well as the link for WordPress quick installation.

Click “New Installation” to install your WordPress blog. You will come to a page where you need to input all the necessary info for your blog. Insert related info such as blog name, blog location (the folder where you wish to locate your blog, leave blank if you want it at root), blog administrator login, email, and blog descriptions.

Click “Install WordPress” at the bottom once you’re ready. You’ll then see a few lines of the installation details and there, you’re done installing your blog at Lunarpages. Upon completion, you can have your installation and login details filed and sent to your inbox. Just keyin your email and press ’send’, the details will be in your inbox within seconds. To start posting or to edit your blog design, login to your WordPress blog for the first time, go to http://yourdomain.com/blogfolder/wp-admin.

Wrapping things up

Well as said, the whole process of setting up your blog on an independent domain is really simple and it makes no sense to have your blog hosted on other platform. After all, you’re the one writing the blog, why let others have control on your blog.

Here’s an update post following up on my previous post about Lunarpages WordPress Themes Design Competition.

Every week starting August 4, Lunarpages is posting their top 5 favorite WP themes for voting. From the amount of votes, I am guessing the competition is not heated yet.

Also, I’m seeing some contestants having multiple designs listed in the top favorites (Contestant named “n252″ for example)…

Now what does this means?

This means the competition is still open for you talented designers out there! With little competition around, you stand a much higher chance winning the $5,000 cash equivalent prizes by submitting your cool WP themes designs.

Past Winners

Here are the compiled list of winners for each rounds at Lunarpages blog.

• Results for round 1
• Results for round 2
• Results for round 3
• Results for round 4
• Results for round 5

Remember to check out for latest results, as well as vote for your favourite WP themes at Lunarpages Blog!

Competition prizes

All contestants are entitled in the chase of $5,000 equivalent of cash and hosting prizes. As stated in the competition time table, winners will be announced by late October.

A quick view on the prizes? Here’s it.

• First Place $1,000 + 5 Years Hosting
• Second Place $300 + 3 Years Hosting
• Third Place $100 + 1 Year Hosting

On top of these three, there will be special bonus prizes given based on Lunarpages CEO and staff’s picks.

• Staff Choice - The Theme with the most staff votes wins 1 Year Hosting
• CEO Choice – The Theme that impresses our CEO most wins 1 Year Hosting

Feels like joining?

To participate, submit your personal particulars as well as your designs here.