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.

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.

No kidding, win up to $1,000 plus 5 years free hosting at Lunarpages WordPress Theme Design Contest Series 3!

Lunarpages Wordpress Theme Design Contest!

Launched from August 4, 2008 to October 22, 2008, we are now at round 5 voting for the contest and you can find the top 5 at this blogpost. In case you are wondering how’s the winners are decided and the contest timeline, here’s the quick view.

Competition time line

The competition basically starts in early August where the voting on top 5 finalists for round 1 started. The result is announced one week later as the round 2 voting started. Following in such sequences, here’s the exact time table for competition announcement and voting period.

• August 4-10, 2008 – voting on Top 5 Finalists for Round 1
• August 11-17, 2008 – Round 1 Winner announced & voting on Round 2
• August 18-24, 2008 – Round 2 Winner announced & voting on Round 3
• August 25-31, 2008 – Round 3 Winner announced & voting on Round 4
• September 1-7, 2008 – Round 4 Winner announced & voting on Round 5
• September 8-14, 2008 – Round 5 Winner announced & voting on Round 6
• September 15-21, 2008 – Round 6 Winner announced & voting on Round 7
• September 22-28, 2008 – Round 7 Winner announced & voting on Round 8
• September 29-October 5, 2008 – Round 8 Winner announced & voting on Round 9
• October 5-12, 2008 – Round 9 Winner announced & voting on Round 10
• October 13, 2008 – Top 15 Finalists Announced (10 from the community + 5 from LP)
• October 13-19, 2008 – Community voting on Top 15 Finalists
• October 20, 2008 – Community voting closed & LP Staff voting commences
• October 22, 2008 – Winners Announced!

References: Lunarpages WordPress Theme Design Competition Updates.

Contestant’s Entries

Here goes some of the top contestant’s entrees:

What are the prizes?

Winners will be announced by late October. The competition grand prizes consist of:

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

Also, there will be special prizes given based on Lunarpages CEO and staff’s choices.

• 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

How can I participate?

Getting hook and feels like testing your design skills? You bet! Now to participate, here’re the rules and regulation as well as the submission form!