We have updated our WordPress installer to install this new release.  As well as the core upgrade being made to 3.0, we have also made some amendments to the way that you can install themes and plugins.  The new changes mean that any theme or plugin can be installed on your web site hosted by us in under two seconds. (Previously we retrieved themes and plugins via FTP, which could take around 30 seconds.)

Main Changes in WordPress 3.0

• A new default theme;
• Custom background support;
• Custom post types (this means you’re no longer limited to posting either posts or pages);
• Custom taxonomies (for example, you can rate each page or post based on its suitability for different age ranges);
• Simple menu management;

Information for Existing Clients

There is no simple way to automatically upgrade from version 2.9.2 to version 3.0.  The easiest way to upgrade is to download the new version from wordpress.org and then upload the new files to your web space using FTP.  As always, before you make any changes ensure that you back up both your files and MySQL database.

If you don’t want the hassle of having to upgrade then we can professionally upgrade WordPress to version 3.0 for just £19.95.  Simply let us know that you would like to upgrade and we’ll take care of it for you.

-Kevin

Following the success of our WordPress hosting package, we’re very pleased to announce the addition of our Gallery hosting package.

Once again we’ve created an automatic installer to save you the hassle of installing and configuring the Gallery script.  You just type in the username and password that you’d like to use to administrate your gallery and we do the rest.  Like all of our other hosting packages, once you have completed your order your package will be ready to use within 10 minutes.

Oh, one more thing: we’re offering you a free trial with this package too.  Sign up today and your first three months’ of hosting are on us.

-Kevin

We’ve just recently updated our WordPress auto-installer to version 2.9.2.  We thought we’d take this opportunity to let you know that we’re currently offering three months of WordPress blog hosting for free.  If you’re wondering what WordPress is, you’re looking at it right now!  It’s an excellent tool for communicating with the outside world.  All you need is an internet connection and a web browser (or, if you’re like us, an iPhone with some decent reception) and you can blog away.

Blogs are a really useful tool when it comes to marketing yourself or your business.  If you keep posting credible information to your blog you’ll be surprised at the results you can achieve.

We make the signup process incredibly simple; all you need to enter is your blog name and a username and password to access the administration area.  If you need a domain name to be registered at the same time, Xengo offer affordable domain registration.

One final thing: all of our hosting accounts are created within 10 minutes of signing up; if you click the button below we’ll have you up and running in no time.

-Kevin

As you are probably aware, the VAT rate in the United Kingdom is being increased on the 1st January 2010 from its present rate of 15% to 17.5%.

Now we’re not economists here at Xengo, but as a business operating in the United Kingdom we are aware of the current economic conditions and the effects that this has on businesses and individual budgets alike.

We have decided that when the VAT rate increase comes into effect from next month the prices we charge for our services will remain the same, though of course we will continue to charge the standard rate of VAT at the time.

(Short version: we’re absorbing the imminent VAT increase and not passing this on to you.)

-Kevin

Nowadays it seems as though a company’s communication policy is incomplete if there isn’t at least some coverage and attention made to social networking sites. As we’re a web hosting company keen on web technology, we embrace this new medium of mass communication.

I’m pleased to say that Xengo is now both on Twitter and Facebook.

We’ll mainly be using Twitter to aggregate these blog posts. More importantly however, we’ll also be using Twitter if we need to let you know about any unexpected downtime. When considering our business continuity plans, the main problem that we will have with unexpected downtime is communicating with you – it’s likely after all that your e-mail addresses will be affected by any unannounced downtime.

The Facebook page will be more of a laid-back area; in my personal life I’ve always considered Facebook to be more of a these-are-my-holiday-photos type of social networking site, with Twitter somewhat more appropriate for corporate communication.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow us here.
Our Facebook page is available here.

We’d be glad to hear from you!

-Kevin

I love being able to administrate MySQL databases remotely, but sometimes using software that allows management on a local machine is a life-saver. This blog will discuss connecting to MySQL databases hosted on your Xengo account using Navicat.

To begin with, we need to log into the control panel and select “Remote MySQL”. This function of the control panel allows you to type in IP addresses which will then allow connections to the server, and then your MySQL databases.

To view your current IP address click here.

With this IP address it can be typed into the Remote MySQL section on your control panel. The main problem that you may find here is that your ISP may allocate you a new IP address each 24 hours or so. To cater for this, I have typed in the first octet of my IP address followed by the % symbol, like the image below:

Next, open up Navicat for MySQL (there is a free trial of this software available from http://navicat.com/en/download/download.html) and click File -> New Connection.

The Connection Name can be anything you like, I chose to use the web site’s address that I’m connecting to.

The Host name/IP address should be the server’s IP address where your domain is hosted.

The Port is fine at its default value of 3306.

The User name is the MySQL username that you have created from the “MySQL Databases” area of your control panel.

The Password is also set up from the “MySQL Databases” area of your control panel.

(One note here, don’t forget to give your MySQL user to your databases!)

After these details have been typed in, click Test Connection and hopefully you should have the following message:

If you cannot connect, ensure that your firewall settings allow connections to port 3306, or raise a support ticket and we can help.

That’s about all for this edition of the blog. Wishing you many happy hours of performing left joins!

-Kevin