Blog posts from NEXCESS NET blog |
683 blog posts:
Aug 20, 2021
Deciding between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org? Nexcess details the key differences between the two and what they're both primarily used for.
The post WordPress.com vs WordPress.org: Understand the Key Differences appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 19, 2021
Learn the basics of pricing products to ensure profitability in your online store. Discover your retail pricing strategy with these 10 examples.
The post How to Price Your Products: 10 Retail Pricing Strategies Ecommerce Shops Can Adopt appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 19, 2021
Debating why you should use WordPress as your CMS? Nexcess explains 8 reasons why you should use WordPress for your site.
The post Why Use WordPress? 8 Reasons Why You Absolutely Need It appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 19, 2021
Ecommerce sites are at an elevated risk due to sensitive payment data. Ensure ecommerce security on your site with these 10 best practices.
The post 10 Web Hosting Best Practices for Ecommerce Security appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 16, 2021
What is shared hosting? Shared hosting is a type of website hosting that involves a single server being responsible for hosting multiple websites. Learn more.
The post What is Shared Hosting? Definition & Guide appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 13, 2021
You can export WooCommerce products with WP All Export. Read this blog to learn how to export products in WooCommerce.
The post How to Export WooCommerce Products with WP All Export appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 11, 2021
When you hear someone refer to a CDN, they mean a content delivery network. The topic most likely comes up during a discussion about website speed and WordPress hosting. CDNs play a big part in delivering your website from the closest server to your visitors’ browsers.? You may be wondering, why do you need a […]
The post Why You Need a WordPress CDN appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 11, 2021
Nexcess today announced the release of Sales Performance Monitor as a feature on all WooCommerce plans.
The post Nexcess Introduces Sales Performance Monitor appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 10, 2021
What is web hosting? Learn all you need to know about the basics of hosting, including the definition, how web hosting works, and the different types of hosting.
The post What is Web Hosting? A Beginners Guide to Hosting appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 09, 2021
Learn the keys to business success: ecommerce strategy and an entrepreneurial mindset. Learn the characteristics commonly associated with a business mindset.
The post Think Big With an Entrepreneurial Mindset, Even When You’re Small appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 06, 2021
You’re ready to take the leap and launch your new website, but you keep hearing that you need to choose a hosting service first. So why do you need hosting for WordPress? Quite simply, because your site can’t function without it.? Who you choose to host your site is as important as why you need […]
The post Why Do You Need Hosting for WordPress? appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 05, 2021
You already have a well-designed business website or online store. Your content is ready, and your website is live. But wait, something’s wrong — your new website takes a long time to load.? Speed is a crucial performance factor for your business. If your website loads too slowly, potential visitors might abandon it in the […]
The post How Page Speed Affects SEO appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 04, 2021
What is managed hosting? Learn more about how managed hosting services work, the pros and cons of managed hosting, and what to look for in a web hosting provider.
The post What is Managed Hosting? How it Works appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 03, 2021
If you’re thinking about launching a website, chances are you are considering using WordPress.?It is easily the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. Throughout the history of WordPress, the free and open-source CMS has proved to be a versatile and lasting tool for beginners and pros. This is why WordPress is so […]
The post What Is WordPress Hosting? appeared first on Nexcess.
Aug 02, 2021
Learn how to use WordPress to get your website started. Read this blog for top WordPress resources. Learn WordPress best practices and optimization techniques.
The post Learn How to Use WordPress With Our Most Helpful WordPress Resources appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 30, 2021
Learn how to find a profitable niche and how to find a niche product to differentiate yourself from the competition and maximize profits in your ecommerce store.
The post Choosing a Profitable Product Niche for Your Ecommerce Shop appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 29, 2021
Page speed can make or break you on the internet. A faster page load usually means better results overall for your site speed. Every aspect of a website’s success is linked to page speed, from SEO to conversions, to user experience and beyond. From the hosting provider you choose to the application you decide to […]
The post How to Speed Up Page Load Time With Simple Website Optimizations appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 28, 2021
We’re running our first-ever Stellar Sale, where we're offering 40% off all StellarWP products—including The Events Calendar, iThemes, GiveWP, and more.
The post Looking for Stellar WordPress Products? Look No More appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 27, 2021
Slow sites hurt your sales. Read this blog for strategies on boosting WooCommerce site speed. Learn how to avoid and troubleshoot WooCommerce slow queries.
The post How to Boost WooCommerce Site Speed & Avoid Slow Queries appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 22, 2021
Learn how an ecommerce business plan contributes to your online shop’s success. Write your own strategy with this guide on how to create a business plan.
The post How To Create an Ecommerce Business Plan for Your Online Store appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 20, 2021
Nexcess today announced the release of the first product in their new WPQuickStart set of WordPress solutions — Membership Sites with WPQuickStart.
The post Nexcess Introduces Membership Sites with WPQuickStart appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 20, 2021
Learn the importance of WooCommerce product image sizes and how they lead to ecommerce success. Speed up WooCommerce with the right WooCommerce image sizes.
The post Top WooCommerce Image Size Hacks To Keep Your Website Fast appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 20, 2021
Maybe you’ve created your membership site already. Maybe you’re thinking about starting one. Once you’ve got one up and running — then what?? Building a great site might seem like the biggest hurdle but after you get past that barrier, how do you get your base to keep coming back? In this article I’m going […]
The post Increasing Engagement for Membership Sites appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 16, 2021
Membership sites can be a great way to create recurring revenue. Learn how to start a membership site in nine simple steps in this blog.
The post How to Start a Membership Site appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 15, 2021
Introducing WPQuickStart Membership by Nexcess: an intuitive site builder helping you generate a membership site from purchase to go-live faster than any other provider.
The post Introducing WPQuickStart Membership appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 15, 2021
Many site owners ask this question. Why is my WordPress site so slow? Our attention spans are getting shorter the more we use technology. The average attention span today is eight seconds. Think about what that means if your WordPress site is slow to load or function. Why Your WordPress Site is Slow Your website’s […]
The post Why is My WordPress Site So Slow? appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 13, 2021
Experiencing slow ecommerce search? Here are the 7 reasons why your website is slow and how to speed up WooCommerce for a better ecommerce site performance.
The post 7 Best Practices To Accelerate Slow Ecommerce Search appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 12, 2021
Your web host impacts your site’s success. Learn how to choose a web host with the right criteria in mind. Here’s what to look for in a website hosting company.
The post How To Choose A Web Host: What to Look for & What to Avoid appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 09, 2021
Running an ecommerce website? Here are the four biggest challenges in ecommerce and how you can overcome these retailing problems to scale your online store.
The post How To Overcome the Top 4 Ecommerce Challenges appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 08, 2021
What version of WordPress do I have? Learn the WordPress latest version. Get a WordPress version history breakdown, including the current version of WordPress.
The post The Ultimate Guide to Each WordPress Version appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 07, 2021
Selecting a managed hosting provider is a big decision. Here are the top factors you need to consider in a managed application hosting provider.
The post 5 Things to Look for in a Managed Hosting Provider appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 06, 2021
The majority of marketers will agree that ecommerce content marketing is one of the best investments you can make for your online store.? Ecommerce content marketing increases traffic and conversions, lowers acquisition costs, promotes thought leadership, boosts search engine results, and improves your marketing efforts. But effective content creation is not as easy as it […]
The post How To Create an Ecommerce Content Strategy To Boost Traffic and Sales appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 02, 2021
Make better, data-driven decisions by adding WooCommerce analytics to your ecommerce site. Setting up a store using WooCommerce has many advantages. Setting up a site analytics package (like Google Analytics) to collect information the day your WooCommerce site goes live will help ensure the success of your online store. This article will walk you through […]
The post An Introduction to Analytics on Your WooCommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 01, 2021
Here are the 9 best WordPress performance plugins to make sure your site operates quickly, and loading speed doesn't cause you to lose visitors.
The post 9 Best WordPress Performance Plugins appeared first on Nexcess.
Jul 01, 2021
A fast website is essential for providing a positive customer experience. Here are 12 easy ways to speed up your WooCommerce site and grow your online business.
The post 12 Easy Ways to Speed Up Your WooCommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 30, 2021
Learning how to write a product description is an essential skill for ecommerce store owners. Besides describing product features, well-written product descriptions can entice customers to buy, increase sales, and boost the visibility of your online store. As crucial as it is, coming up with great product descriptions can be difficult, especially when there are […]
The post 5 Tips for Writing a Winning Product Description appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 29, 2021
WordPress performance tuning is critical to having a fast, secure site. Read this blog for a comprehensive performance tuning strategy for your site.
The post How to Create a WordPress Performance Tuning Strategy appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 25, 2021
Whether you’re thinking of building an ecommerce website to monetize your business or looking for ways to improve your website, focusing on these seven ecommerce website features will help you create a website that your customers love visiting.
The post Top 7 Ecommerce Website Features: What Customers Want in an Ecommerce Site appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 24, 2021
Before deciding on a web hosting provider, be sure to ask these questions so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
The post Top 10 Questions to Ask a Cloud Hosting Provider appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 23, 2021
asics about speeding up your Wordpress site. Now, take your site to the next level with these advanced techniques. In this blog, you’ll learn the three key components of web performance and get five actionable techniques to speed up WordPress.
The post 5 Advanced Techniques to Speed Up Your WordPress Site appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 21, 2021
In this blog, you’ll learn about the Nexcess Global DNS, a globally distributed name service that puts DNS closer to your website visitors. What is DNS? The domain name service (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. Whenever you load a website, open a mobile app, or click on a cat GIF, your device usually […]
The post All About Nexcess Global DNS appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 21, 2021
A good support team means that when those issues arise, you’ll be able to quickly and effectively negate their effects.
The post Why Hosting Support Is Important appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 17, 2021
Ecommerce optimization is critical to having a speedy and successful online store. Read this blog for actionable recommendations you can apply to your ecommerce business to increase site performance and conversions.
The post 9 Ecommerce Optimization Tips for Fast & Effective Sites appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 15, 2021
Speed is crucial to improving website performance — but it’s only one factor. We’re going to explain precisely why website performance matters, and how a subpar website can undermine your digital marketing efforts.
The post Why Website Performance Matters More than Ever appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 10, 2021
Nexcess blew the competition out of the water on WP queries and PHP performance — two critical factors that affect site speed.
The post Nexcess Leads in PHP Performance, WordPress Queries in New Report appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 08, 2021
Nothing will make a visitor leave your site faster than slow loading speed. If the page doesn't load for them immediately, they'll click off and find another option.
The post How to Improve Website Performance in WordPress appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 08, 2021
Learn the most popular WordPress plugins across five categories: commerce, security, page builders, forms, and search engine optimization.
The post The 15 Most Popular WordPress Plugins in 2021 appeared first on Nexcess.
Jun 07, 2021
Google’s latest response to online market trends is their rollout of a new set of signals called Core Web Vitals. The keys to maintaining and improving your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) have evolved over the years. Site owners who want to rank high for relevant searches must stay up-to-date with the demands […]
The post What Are Core Web Vitals? How to Prepare for Google’s Algorithm Update appeared first on Nexcess.
May 25, 2021
Ecommerce SEO is the process of making your website more visible to search engines. When people search for your products on Google, you want your website to show up. This brings in more traffic to your store, and potentially more sales.
The post How to Do SEO for Ecommerce Websites: Techniques, Tools, & Best Practices appeared first on Nexcess.
May 24, 2021
About half of the world’s population is online. You don’t want to miss an opportunity to meet people where they are — especially if you have a website. This beginner’s guide to blogging and digital content strategy will start you on your way to getting your business in front of the online world.?? What is […]
The post A Beginner’s Guide to Blogging and Digital Content Strategy appeared first on Nexcess.
May 21, 2021
A CDN is a content delivery network. It’s a feature for the modern web. Most of the content you consume is delivered via a CDN. CDNs distribute the work of delivering content to your web browser.
The post What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN)? CDN Benefits & Features for Ecommerce appeared first on Nexcess.
May 20, 2021
A note from Joe Oesterling, CTO, Liquid Web For over 22 years, our Liquid Web family of brands has delivered technology and support for businesses and nonprofits running mission-critical websites, stores, and apps. We’ve built a family of brands totally devoted to web and cloud professionals like you, including businesses, nonprofits, designers, developers, and agencies. […]
The post Introducing a New Brand for our Growing Suite of Ecommerce Solutions on WordPress appeared first on Nexcess.
May 17, 2021
Whether you’re a new or established agency, finding a reliable and efficient way to regularly meet with and manage your clients is vital. One of the most popular ways of doing this is by simply adding an online booking system to your digital agency’s website. But first, how do you find the right plugin (or […]
The post How to Create an Online Booking System for Your Digital Agency appeared first on Nexcess.
May 12, 2021
WordPress can be an excellent platform for building a professional website, even if you’re someone without much experience. While on its own, WordPress doesn’t offer an ecommerce option, the WooCommerce plugin makes it easy to transform your WordPress website into an online store that’s intuitive and extremely flexible to work with. Today, we’ll be taking […]
The post Making the Leap From WordPress to Ecommerce appeared first on Nexcess.
May 10, 2021
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a common practice by website designers and owners to help boost a website’s ranking in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).? Common SEO trends include keyword optimization, writing compelling titles, and building backlinks. However, Google’s algorithm is constantly changing and evolving — so your SEO practices need to change, […]
The post SEO Trends in 2021: The Future of SEO, What Matters Most and Why appeared first on Nexcess.
Apr 21, 2021
One of the easiest ways to improve your site loading time is to serve smaller images using an image format that handles image compression.The WebP image format typically will produce an image that is 30% smaller than the JPG version.
The post Convert to WebP images on WordPress appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 31, 2021
Magento is still one of the best eCommerce platforms available for merchants looking to optimize the eCommerce experience. Between incredible functionality and unrivaled product management, it provides the ability to create storefronts that can’t be created in other, comparable applications. We know that one of the top reasons merchants choose Magento is functionality. Yet great […]
The post Four Ways We Make Your Magento Store Faster appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 22, 2021
When a website is hosted, it’s actually being stored on a server. Your hosting provider will likely have servers spread across the globe, but which server your website is located on is something you should be aware of.? No matter who your hosting provider is, the location of the server that your site is physically […]
The post How to Find Out Where Your Server is Located appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 18, 2021
In today’s competitive ecommerce marketplace, every business is competing on a global scale for the same customers. Acquiring new customers tends to be 5 – 10 times more expensive than simply retaining existing customers. In a highly competitive ecommerce environment, improving your customer retention percentage can have a big impact on your business. In fact, […]
The post How to Design and Run A Customer Loyalty Program on WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 15, 2021
Online shopping has increased quite a bit over the last decade, and it grew more exponentially through the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 25% of Americans shop online at least once a month. While online shopping is becoming more popular that doesn’t mean that physical retail is dying – or that there aren’t lessons to be learned […]
The post Incorporating the Retail Experience into Online Purchases appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 08, 2021
We are increasingly spending more time online, and just like in the real world, we want to make our estancia as safe as possible. Secure Socket Layer certificates (SSL) are a great help to achieve this goal. We will be diving in about what is an SSL certificate, why it is important, and how we can get one.
The post What is an SSL & How Do I Get One? appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 05, 2021
StoreBuilder is an intelligent website assistant that helps you start and launch a WooCommerce store faster than any solution on the market.
The post Introducing StoreBuilder appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 03, 2021
Having your website show as “Not Secure” is not the best way toward gaining visitors’ trust. Web browsers and search engines have as common practice punishing non-secure sites either by warning the user about the lack of a trusted certificate or diminishing the said site’s visibility. To avoid this, it’s in our best interest to […]
The post How Do I Install An SSL Certificate? appeared first on Nexcess.
Mar 01, 2021
Selecting and purchasing your domain name is a really fun part of starting your online store or business. There are many domain registrars out there, but buying your domain from the host you intend to use makes things a bit simpler.
The post How to Purchase and Register Your Domain Name appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 26, 2021
FishPig provides web developers a plethora of options & choices for integrating Magento and WordPress.
The post Get the Best of Magento & WordPress with FishPig appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 24, 2021
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows how much ecommerce has boomed just in the past year. With more people online than ever, now’s the time to boost your social media marketing and take it to the next level.
The post 8 Ways to Use Social Media to Grow Your Small Business appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 23, 2021
Announcing the launch of StoreBuilder - an intelligent, no-code ecommerce solution that quickly delivers compelling and customized online stores that stand out from the crowd.
The post Nexcess Launches StoreBuilder for WooCommerce to Get Sellers Online Smarter and Faster appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 22, 2021
Providing a secure connection to your website with a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate is one of the easiest methods of demonstrating to your visitors that you take security seriously. However not all SSL certificates are considered equal or provide the same assurances. Determining which is best for you and your business is an important choice and depends on your particular needs.
The post Best SSL for Web Server Hosting appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 17, 2021
With a wide variety of free or premium themes available, choosing the right tool can certainly become an overwhelming process. That’s why we’re here today - to present some of the fast-loading, SEO-friendly, top-notch solutions that’ll bring your business to the next level.
The post The 7 Fastest WordPress Themes appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 15, 2021
If you're selling one or two products with WooCommerce, keeping track of inventory is simple. If you're selling multiple items, keeping track of inventory is slightly more complex.
The post Advanced Inventory Management Options for WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 12, 2021
Did you notice a spike in traffic at the end of January or early February? The spam bots are at it again! Read on to learn more...
The post Google Analytics Spam in January appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 10, 2021
Currently, the only way to connect a Magento store to social media platforms is through Magento extensions. In this article, we’re going to explore the highest rated social media extensions available for Magento 2.4 available through the Magento Marketplace.
The post Connecting Your Magento Store to Social Media appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 08, 2021
If you’re like many new dropshippers that get into the game only to find out that it’s harder than it looks, this article is probably for you.
The post Beyond AliExpress, Building a Dropship Site with Name Brand Products appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 05, 2021
There are many benefits to adding a Request a Quote button to your WooCommerce store. Learn how to install and configure the ELEX WooCommerce 'Request a Quote' Plugin.
The post Add a Request a Quote Button to Your WooCommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 03, 2021
Last year, ecommerce became all commerce. One thing is sure: 2021 will continue the trend.
The post Ecommerce Trends For 2021 appeared first on Nexcess.
Feb 01, 2021
Magento is definitely one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market. There are always new ways of improving your ranking and driving more organic traffic to your online store. That’s why we’re discussing Magento SEO tips today - to help you build a better marketing strategy and bring your business to a higher level.
The post 8 Magento SEO Tips appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 29, 2021
Today we're going to look at one of the first tools that I dug into as I learned more about server configuration and working with WordPress Core code, Varying Vagrant Vagrants. That's a bit of a mouthful, so it's most often abbreviated to VVV, which is what I'll use.
The post Running WordPress Locally with Vagrant and VVV appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 27, 2021
Recently, Qualys identified a vulnerability in the Linux sudo command, which allows a local user or an attacker to gain unauthorized root privileges on a system. Because the sudo command is one of the oldest and most widely used commands on a Linux system, the inherent dangers significantly elevate this security issue’s importance.? The majority […]
The post Here Is What You Need to Know About the Sudo Vulnerability (CVE-2021-3156) appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 27, 2021
Let's walk through how to set up WordPress with XAMPP.
The post WordPress Local Development with XAMPP appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 25, 2021
If you have used a computer, you have dealt with cache. Perhaps you’ve heard that “clearing the cache” can help you speed up your browser. Perhaps you’ve then felt it was contradictory that cache was supposed to speed up your browsing experience. So what exactly is cache and for what purpose do we use it? […]
The post Caching for WordPress appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 22, 2021
Valet is designed to support WordPress out of the box, along with other CMS's like Craft and Statamic. Let's dig into how to get a WordPress site running on Valet.
The post Local WordPress Development with Valet appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 20, 2021
Let's take a look at one of the newer tools for WordPress development - Composer, a dependency manager for PHP.
The post Using Composer with WordPress appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 18, 2021
Social selling is a smart choice for an ecommerce webshop. But maintaining inventory levels when you’re selling on multiple platforms can be challenging without the right tools. Enter: Social extensions for your WooCommerce Store.? Social Extensions for WooCommerce Facebook for WooCommerce Facebook for WooCommerce allows you to sync WooCommerce products to a Facebook store, buy […]
The post How to Connect Your WooCommerce Store to Social Media appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 15, 2021
If your Magento 1 business handles credit card information, you may already be aware of the 300+ security requirements in PCI DSS. If you’re not familiar, this article will cover some of the basics and offer resources for certifying compliance.
The post Achieving & Maintaining PCI Compliance Requirements appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 13, 2021
Allowing multiple vendors to be able to sell products from their own stores using WooCommerce can be a complex feature to add. There are a number of plugins for allowing a vendor marketplace and one of the best is Dokan.
The post How to Configure the Dokan Pro Plugin appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 08, 2021
While WordPress comes with a standard editor, oftentimes designers need more flexibility and control over page content - and that’s where Beaver Builder comes in!
The post What is Beaver Builder Page Builder? A Feature-Rich WordPress Page Builder appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 06, 2021
Elementor has over 5+ million active installs which means there is a massive market for add-on plugins for Elementor which will extend its features and add additional elements and widgets that can be used on your site.
The post The 5 Best Elementor Add-on Plugins appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 04, 2021
By this point you surely have noticed the little padlock that appears next to a website’s address bar when browsing the web - and perhaps even gotten a security warning when that’s not configured correctly. What does it mean, why should you want it and how can you get it on your own website?
The post A Beginner’s Guide to SSL appeared first on Nexcess.
Jan 02, 2021
Join us in bidding a not-so-fond farewell to a year none of us were crazy about. Goodbye, 2020.
The post 2020: So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 24, 2020
Humans like new beginnings, we like new chapters, and we like symbolism. If we start a habit on The New Year instead of Just Some Day, we’ll be more likely to follow through on our habits.
The post The Psychology of New Habits appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 17, 2020
For a long time, consumerism has earned a reputation as being the bane of humanity’s existence. And to a certain extent, that reputation is well deserved. But could it also be a way to drive change in the world?
The post How Ethical Brands Can Leverage DoneGood for Better Visibility appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 15, 2020
Best-in-class continuous integration and deployment tool lets developers easily build, test and launch projects in a Git environment with no learning curve.
The post Nexcess Partners with Branch to Expand Automated Workflows for Managed WordPress Customers appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 15, 2020
As our applications, sites, and stores become more modernized, we should be modernizing our deployments, too. From version control to continuous delivery, a modern release process can relieve anxiety around deployments.
The post Modern Deployments for Your WordPress Sites appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 11, 2020
Still on Magento 1? Today might be a good time to start working on a migration plan to a newer platform. In this guide, we will cover the process of migrating your data and customizations from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
The post The Ultimate Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration Guide appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 10, 2020
Hold the body wash gift sets, and put that cookie tin DOWN – here are the presents the solopreneurs in your life ACTUALLY want this Christmas. A Better Chair For the traditionalists who still sit in chairs while they work, a new office chair is always sliding down the wants and needs list. Trust me […]
The post What the Entrepreneurs In Your Life Really Want for the Holidays appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 08, 2020
So far we've done little more than introduce you to the idea of building tests for your WordPress plugins and talk about a bunch of the extra terms you need to understand to dive deeper into testing your code. Today we're going to make it practical by grabbing one of my free plugins and adding a few unit tests to show you how to put it together.
The post Adding Unit Tests to an Existing WordPress Plugin appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 03, 2020
When Magento 2.4 was introduced in July 2020, Elasticsearch became a requirement. If you haven’t already upgraded, you’re going to want to take action as soon as possible to deliver the best possible experience to your customers.
The post Elasticsearch in Magento 2.4: It’s not just a good idea; it’s required appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 03, 2020
Building a blazing fast WooCommerce store used to be a full-time job. Now, basic WooCommerce performance optimization is simply a matter of knowing what technologies and plugins to use to keep your store speedy and your customers engaged. Here’s an intro to five performance topics and related resources for successfully optimizing your online store.
The post WooCommerce Performance Optimization: 5 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 01, 2020
For a really long time, the only people who could build websites were the tech-savvy. You had to know a fair amount of code and do all of the work of creating the functionality your site needed manually. Then came platforms like WordPress, and pretty soon, user-created sites were cropping up all over the Internet. […]
The post The No Code Movement Explained appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 27, 2020
This was a rollercoaster year, but it was also the turning point for the total takeover of ecommerce. We’re bringing more content and commerce businesses online than ever with an unprecedented Black Friday deal for new Nexcess customers.
The post 75% Off 3 Months of Managed Hosting: Position Yourself for Your Best Year Yet with Our Best Deal Ever appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 25, 2020
A round up of the best Black Friday deals that'll improve your ecommerce site's look and feel, marketing and functionality.
The post The Best Black Friday Deals for Digital Commerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 24, 2020
We’ve been urging our Magento 1 customers to either replatform or to install Nexcess Safe Harbor as a stop gap for PCI compliance. In the meantime, stores on Magento 1 remain vulnerable to attack, and their customers’ data is still at risk.
The post This Is What Happens When Your Magento 1 Site Gets Hacked appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 19, 2020
Nexcess, the truly managed commerce and content platform, today announced the addition of Recapture, an abandoned cart and email marketing application, to the Value Added Bundles available with their Managed WooCommerce solution.? Recapture is a five-star rated app that helps online businesses recover lost revenue through technology and tools that assist with abandoned cart recovery, […]
The post Announcing Partnership with Recapture to Help Customers Convert Abandoned Carts into Dollars appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 17, 2020
When searching for a web hosting provider, you’ll find a lot of different options and deciding which to choose can be overwhelming. WordPress is usually a safe bet when starting out with a website – it offers a simple but powerful set of tools to get you started in no time, and because of its […]
The post What’s the Difference Between WordPress Hosting & Web Hosting? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 12, 2020
If you don’t put any effort into your product pages, the natural outcome is little traction with your site.
The post Doing Product Pages Right appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 10, 2020
One thing 2020 has taught us is the importance of an online presence. And many people have taken the extra time at home to start side hustles. The Internet is the way to do it. So much of the buying process has moved online which means there is a larger pool of searches and potential […]
The post How to Build an Affiliate Marketing Website appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 10, 2020
As global ecommerce sales continue experiencing exponential growth, Nexcess, a leader in digital commerce, is partnering with leading-edge software company Oliver POS, to roll-out revolutionary technology for WooCommerce merchants. This latest ecommerce application brings essential data directly into the point-of-sale system from the online store, connecting both channels for seamless inventory management and increased sales […]
The post Nexcess and Oliver POS Team Up to Bridge the Gap Between Ecommerce and Brick & Mortar Retail appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 10, 2020
Nexcess, the market leader in Open Source Digital Commerce, has launched a new feature designed to keep heavy-trafficked websites stable under strain. Nexcess Advanced Auto Scaling is ideal for agencies & enterprises looking to plan ahead and optimize ecommerce performance during the extreme traffic spikes expected for this year’s holiday season. For online stores, having […]
The post Nexcess Enhances Auto Scaling for Traffic Spikes appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 06, 2020
Mobile ecommerce ranges from excellent to so frustrating that throwing your device away seems like the best option to end your shopping experience. Today we're going to look at why you need to take your ecommerce mobile process seriously. Then we'll take a look at best practices for building a good mobile experience.
The post How to Take Your WooCommerce Site Mobile appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 04, 2020
Holiday sales events are right around the corner and if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be ready for anything. This year ecommerce sales have blown projections out of the water, and even in an unstable economic climate, the holiday shopping season is anyone’s guess. Our advice? Read on to find out...
The post Agency Matters: Preparing Your Ecommerce Clients for Black Friday appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 02, 2020
Plenty of site owners encounter this error page from time to time. It’s typically a problem related to an overwhelmed server that’s getting too many simultaneous requests. Fortunately, there are some things you can do about it.
The post What is a 502 error? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 30, 2020
Generally speaking, you don’t have to know what UTC time is. But when you run into an application not working correctly, you’ll have to dig in and see where a time is set incorrectly. We're going to show you how.
The post What is Server Time/UTC Time? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 28, 2020
Whether your WordPress website is a personal blog, ecommerce store, or hosting website, choosing the right SEO plugin shouldn't be ignored. In this post, we're comparing the top SEO plugins for WordPress, so you can learn how to best optimize your site for search engines.
The post The Top 5 SEO Plugins for WordPress Compared appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 26, 2020
Three major benefits to enabling password protection on your website include safety from hackers, sales on the correct website, and SEO & page rank improvements.
The post The Benefits of Enabling Password Protection appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 23, 2020
As you may have heard, WordPress 5.5 introduces a User Interface (UI) for toggling automatic plugin and theme updates. The underlying functionality has actually existed in WordPress since automatic core updates were introduced way back in WordPress 3.7, but for the first time WordPress core is shipping with a user interface for controlling what gets updated.
The post What Automatic Plugin and Theme Updates Mean for Managed WordPress Hosting appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 19, 2020
Today we're going to cover how to combine concepts from unit testing best practices and Github Actions so that we're running our tests automatically with Github actions when pushing new code to the repository.
The post Use WordPress Testing Tools to Build Your Plugin & Run Unit Tests in Github Actions appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 16, 2020
Contact forms are needed on almost all websites. Luckily, there are a number of easy-to-use WordPress form plugins on the market.
The post What is the Best Contact Form Plugin for WordPress? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 14, 2020
Why should developers ship features a bit slower as they take time to write tests? It's simple. Tested code is good code. Start viewing testing practices as an investment instead of an expense to your business.
The post The Business Case for Testing Your Code appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 12, 2020
If you were running a retail store circa 2010, chances are you had an experience like many others at the time. The Web offered a new opportunity to expand your physical store, and Magento was the best solution for the job. So you found your platform, built your strategy, asked one of your trusted employees […]
The post Making Old Stogies New Again: A Magento 1 to WooCommerce Migration Story appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 09, 2020
We spend a considerable amount of time optimizing our infrastructure to make your Magento 2 store faster. After years of research and development, we've pulled together the ultimate 8-step Magento 2 performance checklist.
The post The Ultimate Magento 2 Performance Checklist appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 08, 2020
If you’ve never heard of auto scaling before you can think about it like an HOV lane on the highway. When Nexcess Auto Scaling is enabled, if our servers detect a surge of traffic, we’ll automatically open up an ‘HOV lane’ to manage the expanding traffic.
The post Everything You Wanted to Know About Auto Scaling appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 02, 2020
Git is a powerful version control system that we've barely scratched the surface on over our last few posts. Today, we're going to look at the automation power that Git can give you with Git Hooks.
The post Git Hooks appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 30, 2020
Today, we're going to take another step towards writing well-tested code, by introducing you to all the jargon that gets thrown around when you talk about unit testing for WordPress.
The post Understanding WordPress Unit Testing Jargon appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 28, 2020
While you can find lots of content about unit testing PHP applications, there aren't many people talking about unit testing specifically for WordPress. There is precious little written about where to start for developers that are ready to increase their code quality and want to learn how to add tests to their work.
The post Introduction to Unit Testing for WordPress appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 24, 2020
Automating your WordPress deployment, and taking the time to get it right, means you never accidentally overwrite the wrong files, put the wrong files in the wrong directory, or make any other of the many mistakes I've made moving files around in the 12 years I've been building sites. A day or two of time spent configuring deployment for your first time is worth saving that pain.
The post Deploy WordPress with Github Actions appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 21, 2020
RBG’s persistence and attitude towards her professional mission should be a North Star for all of us. A strong sense of self, confidence that doesn’t turn into arrogance, an honest interest in helping others, a passion for learning, and an ability to grow and evolve.These are key attributes for every leader, no matter their gender.
The post Passing the Torch appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 18, 2020
Magecart attacks against Magento 1 stores won't stop. The best kind of protection against external attacks is a mix of server side protection in the form of a WAF plus modules and patches to keep your store protected.
The post Magecart Attacks Again: the Latest on CardBleed appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 16, 2020
AutomateWoo is built specifically for WooCommerce; to automate your customer interactions completely inside your WordPress admin interface. This means that it has fairly deep hooks into WooCommerce that you can leverage.
The post Adding Custom Triggers to AutomateWoo appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 14, 2020
Have you ever looked at the price difference between two products and gone, “What the hell?? WHY is that one so much cheaper?” It’s like buying something on Wish versus at Target - price is everything, but a race to the bottom is not without consequences. You get what you pay for typically, and when it comes to hosting technology, that’s especially true.
The post 5 Real Differences Between Cheap Hosting and Good Hosting appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 11, 2020
if your site takes three seconds or more to load, you'll likely see more than 50% of your traffic disappear. You can optimize your store for speed but the single biggest factor affecting performance is the hosting configuration of the host you've chosen. So choose...wisely!
The post The One Thing You Can Do (Without Code) To Speed Up Your Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 04, 2020
There are a number of solid and easy-to-use plugins to enable page, post, or any custom post type to be duplicated. One of those plugins is called Yoast Duplicate Post. Using this plugin makes it easy to duplicate a site’s web page or post in WordPress.
The post How to Duplicate a WordPress Page or Post appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 31, 2020
Here’s how to make sure that your clients’ sites are staying compliant, and what to do when you’re dealing with an out of date application that’s reached end-of-life.
The post What Is PCI Compliance? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 28, 2020
Once upon a time, software as a service was the only as a service acronym floating around. As the industry flourished though, forks came off of it into relating spaces to create a whole slew of aaS companies in numerous technological categories. One of those forks is PaaS. What Is a PaaS? PaaS stands for […]
The post What Is a Platform As a Service (PaaS)? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 26, 2020
Even if you’re the only person working on a project, using Git and a Git workflow will help you keep your projects organized. You won’t need to press CTRL + Z until you’ve reset your work after writing code that didn’t work. You’ll be able to trust your system and keep producing work for your projects.
The post Advanced Git Usage & Workflows appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 24, 2020
By using Git to manage your client projects, you will save yourself headaches since you can roll back changes or discard entire branches if you no longer want the work you’ve done. No more Ctrl + Z until you think you’ve rolled back far enough, Git will keep track of it all for you.
The post Introduction to Git appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 21, 2020
When a client’s website is slow or down, they want answers yesterday, and any agency owner will tell you, that means an all-nighter of back and forth calls with the hosting company trying to get it figured out. You need to NOT be the person on those calls. You need a specialist who understands the technical infrastructure behind an ecommerce website and you need them to be able to pick up the phone and figure things out for you.
The post Managed Hosting: The Hidden Hack to Outsourcing for Agency Owners appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 20, 2020
Keeping your Magento 1 store fully operational means protecting it against known vulnerabilities. If you have yet to invest in Safe Harbor, this vulnerability illustrates the importance of staying secure. We’ll notify you about these patches, and when needed, help you apply them.
The post Safe Harbor is Actively Protecting Magento 1 Stores appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 19, 2020
Today we're going to look at one of the built-in methods that WordPress provides developers to help speed up those API calls, by caching the results with the WordPress Transients API.
The post Getting Started with the WordPress Transients API appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 17, 2020
If you have products with similar descriptions, categories, or pricing schemes, it might make sense to make a copy as a starting point. Let’s explore a few ways to duplicate a product in WooCommerce.
The post Creating a Duplicate Product in WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 14, 2020
There’s no question that Shopify is a popular ecommerce platform. When you google “ecommerce,” they’ll often reply, “Did you mean Shopify?” But popularity doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits all solution that makes it perfect for you. To that end, I’d like to share with you four reasons why Shopify may not be the best solution for your eCommerce store.
The post 4 Reasons Shopify May Not Be the Best Solution for Your Ecommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 12, 2020
Here are 10 ways to improve your freelance business, keep your clients happy, and make time for the things you love to do the most. Besides work, of course.
The post 10 Steps to Improve Your Freelance Business appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 10, 2020
When you first set up your WordPress site it’s easy to get caught up in what it looks like, and which plugins you should be using. This often leaves people with little time to think about how they’ll set up their categories and tags on their content. A few months later you end up with […]
The post Creating A Smart & Scalable Tag & Category Infrastructure appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 07, 2020
Ecommerce is booming. Online orders are up 80% since January and emerging trends are setting the stage for an online shopping experience that's more immersive and personalized than ever.
The post Ecommerce Trends for 2020: A Season Like We’ve Never Seen Before appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 05, 2020
Today we're going to solve the problem of theme file transfers using Git and Deploybot to automate your deployment process.
The post Deploying to Live and Staging with Deploybot appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 30, 2020
A CDN is a crucial topic for a WooCommerce store owner to understand because a CDN is key to page speed, and as we know, page speed is everything right now.
The post The Importance of CDNs for Page Speed appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 28, 2020
Here are 5 things about Black Friday sales and marketing that you need to start thinking about before holiday shopping starts this fall.
The post Scheduling Sales & Marketing For Black Friday appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 24, 2020
Picking the right theme for your WooCommerce store will make or break how the site looks and performs. Picking a bloated theme that will cause issues for the store is something that you really want to avoid.
The post The Best WooCommerce Themes You Need Today appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 22, 2020
One of the best things about shared hosting is the low monthly price. One of the worst things about shared hosting is the low monthly price. The reality that both statements are correct presents a constant challenge to customers who are slowly outgrowing their initial decision to use shared hosting.? Before we start talking about […]
The post When is it time to leave Shared Hosting & upgrade to Managed WordPress? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 20, 2020
Build resiliency, connect with your customer base, and get in on the thrill that is DTC ecommerce. Read on to learn what it would take to get your brand online and selling DTC.
The post Why DTC Ecommerce Matters More Than Ever Today appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 17, 2020
Let's compare Managed WordPress, DIY, and cPanel to see which approach gives you the most control and flexibility.
The post Managed WordPress vs DIY vs cPanel: Which Is Best? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 15, 2020
Normally it takes website developers hundreds of hours to learn the basics of website development, but with page builders, you can build a complete website from scratch in just a couple of hours.
The post 4 Best WordPress Page Builders for 2020 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 14, 2020
If a product in your ecommerce store has global appeal, start thinking about a plan for shipping internationally. Shipping overseas isn’t the same as shipping within the country.
The post The eCommerce Guide to International Shipping Costs appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 08, 2020
This beginner's guide to WordPress CSS will give you a walk-through on how to edit CSS in WordPress to help you build a more beautiful, intuitive, and better-performing website. Most CSS classes for WordPress would take you through these same steps.
The post A Beginners Guide to WordPress CSS appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 08, 2020
One of the misconceptions about the Enterprise version of Magento 2 is that you have to use Magento Commerce Cloud for hosting. Or that Magento Commerce and the AWS-based Cloud solution are one and the same thing. Magento Commerce Cloud hosting for your Magento store is built by Adobe and includes powerful features (modules) like […]
The post Nexcess Magento Cloud vs. Magento Commerce Cloud appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 06, 2020
It's July and Magento 1 EOL has come and gone. Is your store safe now that Adobe is no longer providing security patches for Magento 1?
The post Magento 1 End of Life: It’s July. Is your store safe? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 02, 2020
So you’ve got a great product, and a great website to sell it, but does your eCommerce business have the right financial processes in place to survive?
The post Financial Health for Your eCommerce Business appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jul 01, 2020
In so many ways, the first half of this year has been challenging for businesses and organizations. There’s a reason that nearly every email we exchange lately contains words like “unprecedented” and “uncertainty.” But we know that times of upheaval can also be times of tremendous positive change—if we are intentional about the ways we engage with our business, with our employees, and with ourselves.
The post Second Half of the Year Day appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 30, 2020
If you’ve never been to a WordCamp before you’re missing the best part of the WordPress world. While the software is great - it’s the size and giving nature of the community that makes it special.
The post WordCamps Are Going Virtual – Here’s What Happened at WordCamp Denver appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 25, 2020
While categories and tags work great for most sites, if you’re a content creator, chances are, you can do better. You can create custom taxonomies in WordPress that use terms relevant to what your blog is about.
The post How Your WordPress Blog Can Benefit From Custom Taxonomies appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 23, 2020
In the last 8 weeks, the world has been turned upside down. Major sports seasons were cancelled, summer concerts were cancelled, you can’t see or hug your friends, and business as we know it has been put on hold. Many industries are completely shut down, but if you’re in ecommerce you can still do the […]
The post Using Google Shopping with WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 18, 2020
What are Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)? Let’s begin by answering the question – what is PWA? PWA stands for Progressive Web Apps. Progressive Web Apps are a pattern for building web applications using HTML, CSS, JS and modern web browser APIs to bring a native-like experience. PWAs combine the best of 2 worlds: web and […]
The post What is PWA? Using Progressive Web Apps for your Magento Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 16, 2020
If you’ve never heard of WordCamp before you might think it involves playing lots of Scrabble in tents in the woods. But WordCamps actually have nothing to do with camping & nothing specific to do with words or spelling. So, what is WordCamp? A WordCamp is (in non-pandemic times) an in-person gathering of WordPress fans […]
The post What is WordCamp? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 11, 2020
Ready to add new products to your WooCommerce store? You can import WooCommerce products from any CSV or XML file with any file structure. Here are the steps to import any product with WP All Import: Create an import with WP All Import and select WooCommerce Products. Drag & drop the data from your import […]
The post How to import WooCommerce Products with WP All Import appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 09, 2020
WordPress popup plugins are a must for savvy website owners who want to catch visitors’ attention quickly. Fortunately, popup plugins are also cheap or even free for users to install on their sites. With the large selection of free WordPress popup plugins has to offer us, it can be hard to make the right choice. […]
The post Choosing the Best Free WordPress Popup Plugin for Your Site appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 04, 2020
Have you ever wished you could test an alternate a call-to-action or an ad placement on your site without the risking a negative effect on your conversion rate? You don’t have to make decisions blindly when it comes to your marketing. A/B testing gives you the hard data you need to make informed decisions regarding […]
The post WordPress Plugins to Use for A/B Testing Marketing Efforts appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jun 02, 2020
Have you ever felt stressed about the amount of time that tedious, repetitive marketing tasks require every single day? Trust me, you’re not alone.? Today, we want to give you the gift of two magical words: marketing automation. Whether you run a basic WordPress site or a full-fledged online brand, marketing automation will help streamline […]
The post The Basics of WordPress Automation Marketing appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 29, 2020
You know it is important to drive traffic to your WooCommerce store, since a portion of this traffic will become customers. However, how do you know whether your site is efficient at turning visitors into customers? The number of visitors who become customers is called the conversion rate. Conversion rates are important for any growing […]
The post Split-Test WooCommerce With Google Optimize appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 27, 2020
Today WordPress turns 17 years old. If you’ve been in web development a long time you’ll know that the only thing that stays the same is how fast things change.? Just since I started dabbling in web development in college all of these happened: We learned how to lay things out with HTML tables Then […]
The post Happy 17th Birthday WordPress appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 22, 2020
The WooCommerce team released WooCommerce 4.1 in early May, and with it came two big new features: The Marketing Hub, and WooCommerce Payments. Today we’re going to look into WooCommerce Payments, how it can improve your business, some of the potential downsides, and under what circumstances you should look into using it. Where You Can […]
The post An Introduction to WooCommerce Payments appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 20, 2020
Offering multiple shipping options is a great way to keep your customers happy and reduce your abandoned cart rates. With just the built in options in WooCommerce you can create a variety of shipping options for your customers and you can do even more with a few premium extensions.? WooCommerce Specific Shipping Options Overview The […]
The post Everything You Need to Know About WooCommerce Shipping appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 14, 2020
In 2019 I ran a Kickstarter campaign for my game Fry Thief. I successfully funded and delivered 500 packages to my backers. That left me with a little under 1,500 copies remaining, which I hope to sell through conventions and through my website. In the interest of time, I set up a quick store on […]
The post Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 12, 2020
At the end of every WordPress project, after the final website is launched into the world, there is one final task to complete: educating the client on how to use WordPress. The length and depth of the training depends on not only the client’s technical savvy and familiarity with WordPress, but also the complexity of […]
The post How To Reduce The Amount Of WordPress Training Clients Require appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 08, 2020
Liquid Web’s Executive Vice President and General Manager on creating a virtual team building atmosphere where individuals feel valued, supported, and part of a community. A company culture in which employees feel challenged, work with people they enjoy, and work for people who “have their back” creates an atmosphere of high performance, loyalty, positivity, and […]
The post The Fun in Fundamentals: Keeping Company Culture Alive While Working Remotely appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 08, 2020
With more than 35% of all websites using WordPress, you can tell it’s absolutely massive and is very much still growing. There is still a ton of room for good people to do good work and create a thriving business with WordPress. Today, we’re going to look into becoming a freelance WordPress developer. I’m going […]
The post How to Become a Freelance WordPress Developer appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 05, 2020
These are times of authentic fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The last thing any of us – or any of our bottom lines – need is the dissemination of falsehoods or false choices intended to drive panicked business decisions. Unfortunately, shamefully, and near daily, we come across such messages relating to the Magento 1 platform (M1) […]
The post PCI Compliance & Magento 1 EOL – When Not To Push the Panic Button appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
May 05, 2020
Last year, we sold my late father-in-law’s pocket knife collection on eBay. It was the right platform for a project like that. He had collected an impressive number of knives over his long life, but the total amount we were able to sell online was about $5,000 over the course of a few months. EBay […]
The post Always Own Your eCommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 30, 2020
Every small business is unique and faces unique challenges in the best of times. As you navigate today’s challenges, exploring options to ensure sales with minimal disruption, now might be the time to consider taking your business online. Legal and Regulatory Stuff Taxes, payment gateways, shipping, and product liability are just a few areas to […]
The post In Times of Uncertainty, Bridging the Gap Between Technology and Humanity appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 28, 2020
TLDR: We’re excited to announce 14-day free trials for our Managed WordPress & Managed WooCommerce hosting plans. No credit card needed. We’ve always been proud of the services we offer. Nexcess makes running a WordPress store incredibly easy, offering the fastest hosting for WooCommerce on the market. Charts and tables are boring to look through. […]
The post Free Trials for Managed WordPress & Managed WooCommerce Hosting appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 27, 2020
Liquid Web Family of Brands, the market leader in managed hosting and application services to SMBs and web professionals, announced, today, the hiring of Adam Williams as Liquid Web’s Chief Revenue Officer to oversee revenue operations for the Liquid Web and Nexcess brands.
The post Liquid Web Hires Technology Veteran to Expand Sales Reach appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 24, 2020
Whether you’re working from home for the first time, or you’re a experienced virtual commuter, you’ve probably been spending more time online these days. Chances are you’ve been invited to or seen a virtual conference as they’ve started springing up to replace the in-person events that have been cancelled across the globe. As a remote […]
The post 5 Tips for Attending a Virtual Conference or WordCamp appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 13, 2020
As WooCommerce has grown in popularity, the community has seen an influx of web developers and designers offering their services to merchants. Within this group are incredibly talented and knowledgeable developers, as well as ‘green’, less experienced developers. Ensuring you’ve got a developer that can deliver what you’re looking for means this search can turn into a time-consuming task.
The post The 11 Questions You Should be Asking Your WooCommerce Developer appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 10, 2020
When it comes to shipping, consumers definitely prefer fast & cheap (or free) — but determining how you ship your products & how you pass along or absorb that cost is tricky. And it becomes an even greater challenge if you sell large or bulky items. In this article we’re going to provide clarity into: […]
The post Ecommerce Tips: How to Ship Large and Heavy Items appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 02, 2020
If you’re a Magento developer or systems integrator you’ve likely been bombarded by emails, blog posts, and notices that end-of-life (EOL) is coming. That means no new features & no security patches which puts Magento 1 stores at risk. While many store owners are preparing to migrate to Magento 2 or other ecommerce platforms, some […]
The post Is Safe Harbor Right For You? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Apr 01, 2020
Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nexcess and Liquid Web on adapting and maintaining personal connections while managing teams remotely. A remote work situation requires the same fundamentals of managing people and maintaining the community of an office environment — it just magnifies the importance of diligently sticking to the fundamentals. Now more than […]
The post Now More Than Ever: The Fundamentals of Management Matter appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 31, 2020
Google Analytics isn’t the only analytics tool available to ecommerce store owners. See top tools for leads data, SEO, brand management, and general ecommerce.
The post 7 Ecommerce Analytics Tools You Might Not be Using appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 26, 2020
As we all move online, many of us are finding out how hard it is to stay focused while working from home. Your office space can have a big impact on your productivity. The last thing you want is to be searching for your mouse under a pile of paperwork, right? So, how do you […]
The post 6 Tips for Working from Home During Quarantine appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 26, 2020
As a website / store builder, you know that tracking actionable customer interactions is key to increasing conversions. HubSpot is an industry leading suite of customer relationship tools designed to help merchants stay connected with customers during every part of the customer lifecycle. It’s no wonder then, that pairing the customer relationship superpowers of HubSpot […]
The post Supercharge WooCommerce with HubSpot appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 25, 2020
COVID-19 is actively changing our world, but before this global pandemic many online stores were already facing a massive change. Our Magento Product Expert, Miguel Balparda was recently a guest on MageCloud’s Webinar “Magento 1 Migration: How to Save Your Budget and Stay Secure” to show how Nexcess Safe Harbor can extend your Magento 1 […]
The post Magento 1 Migration: How to Save Your Budget and Stay Secure appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 17, 2020
WooCommerce 4.0 was recently released and it includes huge improvements to the admin experience, reporting, and background processes.
The post What’s New in WooCommerce 4.0 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Mar 13, 2020
Nexcess has been closely monitoring the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and guidance as issued by government and health authorities. As of yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic with regards to the coronavirus.
The post Coronavirus Preparedness appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Feb 19, 2020
Nexcess Safe Harbor is the Haven Magento Stores Need The currents and undercurrents of Magento’s strategy are ever changing. One day it’s smooth sailing with technology that simply performs, propelling sales and service; the next day they are raising the anchor, and creating a wake of disruption that the entire ecosystem must brace themselves to […]
The post Don’t Settle for Just Any Port in the Storm appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Feb 17, 2020
Fundamentals and Implementation of WooCommerce Cache Speed is paramount when it comes to ecommerce. Whether you’re chasing down better search rankings or attempting to curb cart abandonment, the speed at which a store loads can determine how many customers convert. Caching in WooCommerce is an essential performance tuning tool that can dramatically decrease page load […]
The post Caching in WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 27, 2020
When deciding what platform to build a website on, one of the more common questions is about what types of websites WordPress hosts. The answer? Anything! While you can do just about anything with a WordPress site, we wanted to focus on seven easy sites you can build without getting too in the weeds. 1. […]
The post 7 Types of WordPress Sites That Are Easy to Set Up appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 24, 2020
2020 has seen a big change for hosting clients. cPanel, a hosting admin panel that allows site owners to make changes to their hosting plans, has changed its pricing structure. As a result, the cost of hosting will likely increase for most hosting clients. But it doesn’t need to. There are a number of cPanel […]
The post cPanel Pricing Changes: A Powerful Alternative appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 22, 2020
NRF 2020 was chocked full of Vision. From walking the floor talking to vendors, to the keynote speeches, to engaging conversations with key partners – we were all focused on the advancements in technology. And for good reason – the retail industry in many ways is leading the way in integrated experiences, artificial intelligence, and […]
The post A Human Lens on NRF’s 2020 Vision: Technology Is Awesome, but Never Lose Sight of Relationships appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 20, 2020
Nexcess is pleased to welcome Patrick Rauland as our new Product Marketing Manager for managed WooCommerce. Patrick is a known WooCommerce expert with experience in development, configuration, and client-based consulting. Before joining Nexcess, Patrick was a Woo Product Manager at WooThemes and Automattic, as well as an industry trainer and author. Patrick has experience developing […]
The post Welcome Our Newest Expert, Patrick Rauland appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 16, 2020
There are over 2.3 million ecommerce stores hosted on the WooCommerce platform, and for good reason. WooCommerce makes creating your own store quick and easy. With Nexcess, WooCommerce solutions combine great functionality, an intuitive interface, and a powerful managed hosting platform to provide merchants with an ecommerce foundation that drives growth. However, the question remains: […]
The post WooCommerce Setup: Your Guide to Getting Started appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 15, 2020
We’re happy to welcome Jessica Mott to the Nexcess team as our new Southeast Regional Channel Executive. Jessica will be based out of Atlanta and brings years of experience building and nurturing relationships with Magento development partners. Before Nexcess, Jessica served as the Ecommerce Partner Manager for Total Server Solutions, where she was responsible for […]
The post Welcome our Newest Expert, Jessica Mott appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 08, 2020
We are excited to welcome David Eblen to the Nexcess team as our new Vice President of Strategy & Analytics. With nearly 20 years experience in technology services and solutions, David brings a proficiency in business development and strong technical expertise in creating vision and business-focused strategies. David is joining us from Rackspace most recently […]
The post Welcome Our Newest Expert, David Eblen appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 08, 2020
Imagine what business would be like if you didn’t have to pitch and sell, or seek out and convince new clients to hire you. Imagine how different your business would be if your pipeline was consistently full and potential clients said “yes” with excitement after only a conversation or two. It’s possible. Providing clients with […]
The post What Prospective Clients Need Before Making The Decision To Hire An Agency appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 06, 2020
Choosing the right ecommerce CMS for your storefront is important. Not only does it influence what you’re able to do, but it also allows you to set expectations in terms of development costs and timeframes. But with your CMS choices now more diverse than ever before, picking the right solution out from the crowd can […]
The post WooCommerce vs Magento: How Opposites Attract appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Jan 02, 2020
Running a WooCommerce store can be as exciting as it is frustrating. Besides identifying targeted sources of traffic, you also need to increase revenue across those traffic sources. Often, this requires implementing sales and marketing tactics to draw in more consumers and direct them to the products they need. Another way to increase revenue, however, […]
The post 5 Strategies To Increase Your Store’s Average Order Value in 2020 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 30, 2019
Historically, consumer use of ecommerce stores has been a mystery to merchants. Traffic sources, bounce rates, and others were the metrics of educated guesses and opinions. Today, however, powerful tracking tools like Google Tag Manager for WordPress have brought data to that mystery, answering questions with a level of certainty never seen before. These tools […]
The post How to Use Google Tag Manager for Your Ecommerce Business appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 26, 2019
Tracking interactions between customers and your ecommerce store is essential if you want to gauge the performance of your business. However, it’s not always obvious which interactions you should be tracking. If you track too little, you’re not getting the most representative picture, and if you track too much, the important data gets buried. In […]
The post Goals and Events eCommerce Businesses Should be Tracking with Google Analytics appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 23, 2019
The holiday season is the happiest, craziest, busiest, most profitable time of year for ecommerce retailers. Overall, holiday sales represent about 20% of annual retail sales annually, but the figure can be as high as 30% for retailers in the hobby, toy and game industry. Unfortunately, the rush of the holiday season is often followed […]
The post How To Generate Post-Holiday Ecommerce Sales appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 19, 2019
Disruption. Not a word anyone running a mission-critical business wants to hear. And there’s no shying away from the fact that Magento has introduced disruption into the commerce market by sunsetting the Magento 1 platform and encouraging merchants to re-platform to M2. But what about when disruption creates opportunity and innovation? When disruption brings about […]
The post Turning Disruption into Opportunity: Our Approach to Magento’s Platform Change appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 17, 2019
Gary Smith, Strategic Partner Development Manager at Nexcess, shares his thoughts on Magento 1, its history, and end of life. We cover the real story on PCI compliance, why staying isn’t the end of world, and how making the move to Magento 2 in your own timeframe comes with opportunities for growth. Ready to begin […]
The post The Magento 1 End of Life With Gary Smith appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 16, 2019
Agencies have a clear charter for their clients: help them get the best ROI from their technology solutions. Part of that is making the platform recommendations that help merchants achieve their vision and drive growth. Nexcess managed hosting makes those choices easier, but the decision process still requires navigating a range of different options, each with […]
The post Find the Right Ecommerce Platform for Your Clients appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 12, 2019
If you own a small business and want your store to be found online via Google and other search engines, you’ll need to do keyword research. Keyword research is core to knowing both what is being searched for and what resonates with your audience. It also helps to construct resonant and valuable product descriptions, content […]
The post How to Use Keyword Research to Drive Your Content Marketing appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 09, 2019
An ecommerce blueprint is your agency’s lifeline. As a vital foundational document, it helps you create a clear strategy for delivering results to a client; results that go beyond just KPIs and metrics. A well-executed blueprint should not just be a list of requirements and solutions. Instead, it should be seen as an evolving guide […]
The post 7 Ecommerce Blueprint Considerations You May Be Overlooking appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Dec 05, 2019
Success and income posturing are a constant throughout social media. Across the Internet, freelancers and agency owners tout their high-dollar contracts and big money months. The hustle, grind, and slay lifestyle is glorified through staged luxury lifestyle photos. But eventually, these same people making a big splash, and even bigger claims, slowly fade away or […]
The post Five Tips To Build A Sustainable WordPress Agency appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 29, 2019
Starbucks has rolled out their Eggnog Latte, which means the holidays are upon us. For consumers, this means being overwhelmed with deals, advertisements, and offers. For you, as a merchant, it means finding a way to separate yourself from your competition, so you don’t lose revenue this holiday season. It’s no longer enough to create […]
The post 8 Ways to Break Through the Holiday Clutter appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 25, 2019
From SEO to conversions, to user experience and beyond, page speed has a direct correlation to the success of your website. The investment of time and resources into developing a well thought through website speed optimization plan is worth the effort – because when done right, the actions you take can expand your reach, increase […]
The post Website Speed Optimization for 2020 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 21, 2019
Selecting the right ecommerce platform requires merchants to consider multiple facets of their business. Decisions require an understanding of store size, the number of products, payment and shipping options, and how they envision their store’s user experience. Finding the right ecommerce platform means finding one that balances your requirements as a merchant, with those of […]
The post Magento vs Shopify: Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 19, 2019
While the data tells us that many sites are seeing more mobile traffic than desktop traffic, conversions on mobile devices still lag far behind. Today we’re going to look at some things you can do to make it easy for mobile users to convert to paying customers on your WooCommerce store. As you try these […]
The post Special Considerations for Streamlining Mobile Checkout on WooCommerce appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 18, 2019
Last week, our team attended DCKAP Summit, one of the few agency-organized conferences in North America. Not only did we sponsor the event, but we also volunteered our time to prepare and give presentations to the conference attendees on how managed ecommerce solutions are paving the way for merchant success. In attendance was Jeries Eadeh, […]
The post Revisiting the DCKAP Summit with Jeries appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 14, 2019
Have you ever browsed through your favorite coffee shop’s website and as you check out with that new order of coffee, you end up getting a 504 error after a delay? Or maybe you were browsing your favorite sports website and as you try to load the next page, it takes a while to load […]
The post What are PHP Workers and Why You Should Care appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 11, 2019
Product search: you can’t live without it. At least, that’s until you start using cumbersome and awkward solutions that don’t deliver the right results. Choosing the right product search for your Magento store means finding an integration that allows for both easy customization and that delivers the results consumers are looking for. Magento’s default product […]
The post How To Improve Product Search On Your Magento Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 07, 2019
Staring down the WordPress plugins page, you find yourself asking what you should be installing. You want more conversions and you have a basic idea of what that entails, but you don’t know how that translates into what you see on the page. Here are 5 WordPress plugins that can help you to boost conversions. […]
The post 5 WordPress Plugins for Increasing Conversions appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 06, 2019
Liquid Web is a proud sponsor of the WordPress community. This year was our first year as a global sponsor, which means we sponsored every WordCamp in North and Central America. That also included WordCamp US 2019 in St. Louis at the platinum level. This is part of our ongoing commitment to support the WordPress open-source […]
The post WordCamp US 2019 Roundup from Nexcess & Liquid Web appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 06, 2019
Another year of WordCamp US has come and gone, and we hope everyone who attended – and didn’t attend – found the best hosting solution for their business. This year, our partner Liquid Web was in attendance. Not only did they offer some incredible booth experiences (recap article to come!), but team members also hosted […]
The post Carrie Wheeler Talks Innovative Solutions with WIWP at WCUS appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Nov 04, 2019
The goal of ecommerce marketing is to expose a store’s products to people most likely to buy them. There are many ways to achieve that goal: display advertising, email marketing, content marketing, and more. Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular marketing strategies: 80 percent of brands use affiliate marketing to promote their products. […]
The post Why WooCommerce is a Powerful Affiliate Marketing Platform appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 30, 2019
WordPress’s plugin ecosystem is one of its greatest strengths. As we write, there are over 50,000 plugins in the official repository, a number that doesn’t include premium plugins and custom plugins created for individual WordPress sites. Plugins range in functionality from tiny interface tweaks to full-featured ecommerce applications, all taking advantage of the hooks and […]
The post How the Success of WordPress is Due to its Plugin Ecosystem appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 28, 2019
While ecommerce stores can reduce transaction costs, and so the overhead of running a business, transaction costs still have enough of a presence to chip away at your profits. Transaction costs traditionally refer to any cost incurred by an entity that maintains or processes the exchange of currency for goods and services. It is not […]
The post How Can Ecommerce Help Reduce Transaction Costs? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 24, 2019
It’s not too late to start circling the wagons the holiday season. Here’s 20 ways to make the most of your Black Friday that don’t involve new code or massive retooling. Use one, or all, or mix and match for maximum effect. #1 Enable Nexcess Cloud Auto Scaling One of the main arguments to go […]
The post 20 Ways to Get Your Store Ready for Black Friday appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 22, 2019
Magento 1 (M1) will be sunsetting June 2020. While the eCommerce platform will still be accessible and usable by both merchants and devs, it will no longer receive official support from either Magento or Adobe. That means that for the 180,000 merchants running M1, the hunt for Magento alternatives is on. Are you unsure where […]
The post 6 Magento Alternatives You Should Be Considering After Magento 1 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 17, 2019
Changes to your website are inevitable. Whether refreshing your theme or applying a critical security update, sites are living environments that can react unpredictably to well-intentioned changes. Any change, small or significant, can disrupt or even break your site when carelessly applied. Such disruptions torpedo both your sales and your customers’ trust. Properly executing these […]
The post What Is a Dev Site? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 14, 2019
In our annual State of Hosting, we found that uptime remains the chief concern for most merchants. Uptime, though critical, is one of only many things that can go wrong with web hosting, and the measure of a solid web hosting provider often means more than 99% uptime. Within, we highlight how to resolve or […]
The post 8 Common Hosting Problems (and How to Avoid Them) appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 09, 2019
MagentoLive Europe 2019 arrives in only a few weeks, bringing Magento merchants and innovators from around the globe to Amsterdam for arguably the biggest ecommerce event on the continent. What and When is MagentoLive? The Magento community hosts various global events designed to connect and educate developers, merchants, and ecommerce influencers. The largest of these […]
The post How to Get Ready for MagentoLive Europe 2019 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 07, 2019
At the beginning of the year, the Nexcess research team put together a report on the State of Hosting at the start of 2019. In it, we predicted that Data Protection would only increase in importance, headless implementations would become more mainstream, and development would improve as hosting infrastructure continued to decrease in visibility. It’s […]
The post Content + Commerce: A Magento 1 End of Life Discussion appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Oct 03, 2019
John McPhee, a renowned writer of non-fiction books and magazine articles, describes in his book “Draft No. 4” the editorial process his articles must pass through before publication in the New Yorker. The first phase involves multiple drafts and editing passes by McPhee himself. When McPhee submits the article, there is a conversation with the […]
The post The Many Ways to Check Your Grammar in WordPress appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 30, 2019
You may have heard of BigCommerce the SaaS platform. An ecommerce platform that has gained popularity in recent years. But forget about the SaaS platform for a second, because what we’re talking about here is BigCommerce for WordPress (BC4WP): a headless ecommerce solution that lets merchants get started quickly by uploading products, setting prices, and […]
The post The Best BigCommerce for WordPress Themes Out There Right Now appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 26, 2019
Modern web applications are large, complex, and resource-intensive. The methods of hosting these applications have changed drastically as as result. It is no longer ideal to simply host a modern web application on a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP (LAMP) stack, as doing so will severely limit the performance capabilities of modern web applications. A web application stack is […]
The post A Modern Web Application Stack From Nexcess appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 23, 2019
Unlike a PCI assessment, which merchants can perform themselves, a PCI DSS audit can only be performed by a qualified security assessor (QSA). If you’re facing an audit, then you’re likely a large store doing so voluntarily, or a smaller merchant ordered to undergo one because of a recent data breach in your store. These […]
The post What Is a PCI DSS Audit? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 23, 2019
Unlike a PCI assessment, which merchants can perform themselves, a PCI audit can only be performed by a qualified security assessor (QSA). If you’re facing an audit, then you’re likely a large store doing so voluntarily, or a smaller merchant ordered to undergo one because of a recent data breach in your store. These audits […]
The post What Is a PCI DSS Audit? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 18, 2019
Search is an essential feature of an ecommerce store. And for any store with more than a handful of products, it’s one of a handful of ways that customers can narrow product selection to a manageable number. So finding the right search engine for your store is vital. For Magento merchants and developers, that search […]
The post ElasticSearch Makes Magento Search Faster and More Accurate appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 16, 2019
Google, Firefox, and Apple certainly think so. Extended Validation (EV) SSLs are effectively being put out to pasture. Upcoming changes to Chrome and Firefox will soon remove the EV badge from their browsers, citing concerns with its diminished reputation for protecting consumers. Standard vs. EV SSL certificates If you’re already familiar with SSL certificates and […]
The post Is the End Near for EV SSL Certificates? appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 11, 2019
In this post we’re going to go through installing the BigCommerce for WordPress plugin, starting with a mostly empty WordPress install. But before we begin, I want to briefly note that if you’re new to Nexcess and/or want to add a BigCommerce for WordPress retail plan to your existing Nexcess hosting account, you can do […]
The post Installing BigCommerce for WordPress, Step by Step appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 11, 2019
In this post we’re going to go through installing the BigCommerce for WordPress plugin, starting with a mostly empty WordPress install. But before we begin, I want to briefly note that if you’re new to Nexcess and/or want to add a BigCommerce for WordPress retail plan to your existing Nexcess hosting account, you can do […]
The post Installing BigCommerce for WordPress, Step by Step appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 09, 2019
Every year, on the fourth Friday of November, shopping chaos unfolds. Stores cut their prices, customers flock to their nearest outlets, and deals are had by everyone. But not anymore. Thanks to ecommerce, customers no longer have to leave the comfort of their home to take part in Black Friday. Keeping an eye on advertisements […]
The post The 2019 Black Friday Ecommerce Prep Guide appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 09, 2019
Every year, on the fourth Friday of November, shopping chaos unfolds. Stores cut their prices, customers flock to their nearest outlets, and deals are had by everyone. But not anymore. Thanks to ecommerce, customers no longer have to leave the comfort of their home to take part in Black Friday. Keeping an eye on advertisements […]
The post The 2019 Black Friday Ecommerce Prep Guide appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 04, 2019
Four years ago, we expanded our European hosting services to include Amsterdam, arguably one of best-connected cities in the world. Now, we’re bringing the scalability and versatility of Nexcess Cloud to our Amsterdam data center! Why Amsterdam Matters for Ecommerce Amsterdam hosts about one-third of Europe’s data center capacity, and for good reason. In North […]
The post Nexcess Amsterdam Data Center Launches Cloud Servers appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 04, 2019
Four years ago, we expanded our European hosting services to include Amsterdam, arguably one of best-connected cities in the world. Now, we’re bringing the scalability and versatility of Nexcess Cloud to our Amsterdam data center! Why Amsterdam Matters for Ecommerce Amsterdam hosts about one-third of Europe’s data center capacity, and for good reason. In North […]
The post Nexcess Amsterdam Data Center Launches Cloud Servers appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 02, 2019
Having a PCI compliant store requires the sustained efforts of both yourself and your hosting provider. Although there are no shortcuts, choosing a credible web hosting provider is an effective place to start. Even so, most PCI requirements can only be met by you, the merchant. Read on to learn more about the dividing line […]
The post How Nexcess Helps Your Store Stay PCI Compliant appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Sep 02, 2019
Having a PCI compliant store requires the sustained efforts of both yourself and your hosting provider. Although there are no shortcuts, choosing a credible web hosting provider is an effective place to start. Even so, most PCI requirements can only be met by you, the merchant. Read on to learn more about the dividing line […]
The post How Nexcess Helps Your Store Stay PCI Compliant appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 28, 2019
With Magento Live Europe just around the corner, we’re gearing up for one of the biggest Magento events of the year. Before we pack our bags and head to Europe though, there are a couple of other events that we’ve been excited about attending all year, and that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on. Since […]
The post Magento Events in September 2019 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 28, 2019
With Magento Live Europe just around the corner, we’re gearing up for one of the biggest Magento events of the year. Before we pack our bags and head to Europe though, there are a couple of other events that we’ve been excited about attending all year, and that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on. Since […]
The post Magento Events in September 2019 appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 26, 2019
WooCommerce has gained massive popularity in the B2C eCommerce market, but it is also an excellent choice for businesses that sell primarily to other businesses. Compared to consumer eCommerce, B2B eCommerce developed along a different path because it was subject to different pressures. B2B buyers expect more interaction with salespeople, buyers spend more and more […]
The post WooCommerce Is The Ideal Solution For B2B Sales appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 26, 2019
WooCommerce has gained massive popularity in the B2C eCommerce market, but it is also an excellent choice for businesses that sell primarily to other businesses. Compared to consumer eCommerce, B2B eCommerce developed along a different path because it was subject to different pressures. B2B buyers expect more interaction with salespeople, buyers spend more and more […]
The post WooCommerce Is The Ideal Solution For B2B Sales appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 19, 2019
Lengthy checkouts annoy your shoppers and send them to your competition. The default checkout page for Magento 2 fails to solve this problem. Fortunately, there’s plenty of extensions in the Magento 2 marketplace that attempt to fix this problem. However, sorting through the available candidates is no small task, so keep reading to help narrow […]
The post The Best One Step Checkout Extensions for Magento 2 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 19, 2019
Lengthy checkouts annoy your shoppers and send them to your competition. The default checkout page for Magento 2 fails to solve this problem. Fortunately, there’s plenty of extensions in the Magento 2 marketplace that attempt to fix this problem. However, sorting through the available candidates is no small task, so keep reading to help narrow […]
The post The Best One Step Checkout Extensions for Magento 2 appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 13, 2019
Do you run an ecommerce store but aren’t sure how to improve its SEO? Worry no more, this is your complete guide to ecommerce SEO. From keyword research to technical audits, this expert guide takes you on a detailed journey through the ins and outs of ecommerce SEO tactics for ranking your products on page […]
The post Ecommerce SEO: A Complete Guide for 2019 appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 13, 2019
Do you run an ecommerce store but aren’t sure how to improve its SEO? Worry no more, this is your complete guide to ecommerce SEO. From keyword research to technical audits, this expert guide takes you on a detailed journey through the ins and outs of ecommerce SEO tactics for ranking your products on page […]
The post Ecommerce SEO: A Complete Guide for 2019 appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 12, 2019
Most web searches are carried out on mobile devices, as they have been for several years. This shift in user behavior shouldn’t be news to any site owner or ecommerce retailer, and nor should Google’s enthusiasm for the mobile platform. The search giant has been cheerleading for mobile-friendly design for the best part of a […]
The post What Google’s Mobile-First Indexing Means For Your Site appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 12, 2019
Most web searches are carried out on mobile devices, as they have been for several years. This shift in user behavior shouldn’t be news to any site owner or ecommerce retailer, and nor should Google’s enthusiasm for the mobile platform. The search giant has been cheerleading for mobile-friendly design for the best part of a […]
The post What Google’s Mobile-First Indexing Means For Your Site appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 08, 2019
Consumer-focused retailers were quick to embrace ecommerce when it became a practical sales platform more than two decades ago. Today, the majority of B2C retailers have an ecommerce store. B2B suppliers, however, were slow to adopt ecommerce. B2B sales relationships are quite different to those in the B2C world, often involving contractual negotiations, personal relationships […]
The post 3 Reasons Why Your B2B Business Needs an eCommerce Store appeared first on Nexcess Blog.
Aug 08, 2019
Consumer-focused retailers were quick to embrace ecommerce when it became a practical sales platform more than two decades ago. Today, the majority of B2C retailers have an ecommerce store. B2B suppliers, however, were slow to adopt ecommerce. B2B sales relationships are quite different to those in the B2C world, often involving contractual negotiations, personal relationships […]
The post 3 Reasons Why Your B2B Business Needs an eCommerce Store appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 06, 2019
One of Craft CMS’s greatest strengths is its collection of high-quality plugins. There may not be as many Craft CMS plugins as there are WordPress plugins, but Craft’s Plugin Store, which was introduced last year with the release of Craft CMS 3, offers a satisfying range of functionality to the already feature-rich content management system. […]
The post 5 Craft CMS Plugins You Need To Know About appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 05, 2019
Choosing the right ecommerce CMS is important. Not only does it influence what you’re able to do, it also allows you to set expectations in terms of development costs and timeframes. In this showdown, we’ll be taking a look at Magento vs WooCommerce. Both are used by an impressive number of stores. WooCommerce has over 3 […]
The post Magento vs WooCommerce: How Opposites Attract appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Aug 01, 2019
Readers with long memories will recall the suspicion the cloud was greeted with when it was first introduced more than a decade ago. Site owners who managed their servers doubted that cloud vendors could do a better job, especially where security is concerned. Who knew what lurked beneath the virtualization layer? In subsequent years, as […]
The post Does Cloud Security Depend on Processor Security Vulnerabilities? appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Jul 30, 2019
Drupal is widely regarded as a secure content management system, so much so that it is often chosen for sensitive sites, including the sites of many government agencies. WordPress’s reputation for security is not quite as impressive, and we’re all familiar with stories of hacked WordPress sites. Does that mean it’s fair to say that […]
The post Is Drupal More Secure Than WordPress? appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Jul 29, 2019
Storefronts can no longer rely on good navigation alone. Search has become a primary purchasing path, with consumers that use it 200% more likely to make a purchase than those who don’t. This article looks at the search options available to Magento merchants, and outlines four of the main tools available; including Elasticsearch, SOLR, Sphinx, […]
The post Magento Search: Uncovering the Benefits of Elasticsearch, SOLR, Sphinx, and MySQL appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Jul 29, 2019
What should happen when a security researcher discovers a vulnerability in a popular software project? Should details of the vulnerability be released so that users can protect themselves? Or should it be kept secret so that bad actors can’t exploit it? There are drawbacks to both approaches. Immediate full disclosure puts users at risk. Bad […]
The post Responsible Disclosure Only Works If Software Is Updated appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Jul 25, 2019
WooCommerce doesn’t require a lot of day-to-day maintenance to keep it in peak condition. But, as winter comes to a close and the dust of the busy holiday season settles, spring is the ideal moment to take stock and make sure everything is working as it should be. A little spring maintenance will help your […]
The post Spring Cleaning Your WooCommerce Store For A Busy 2019 appeared first on blog.nexcess.net.
Mar 09, 2016
We host websites that range from solo blogs and small eCommerce stores to huge WordPress publications and Magento stores with stratospheric levels of traffic. We can accommodate such a diverse range of hosting requirements because of the different infrastructure configurations we offer. In this article, I’d like to discuss how we are able to host… Continue reading ?
Mar 08, 2016
Twice a year, WordPress’s developers release a beta for the upcoming version of everyone’s favorite content management system. The most recent beta landed in early March, and is ready for testing by WordPress site owners who want to get a preview of the new features and test their plugins and themes before the final release,… Continue reading ?
Mar 03, 2016
One of the most challenging aspects of building an effective eCommerce advertising strategy is deciding which regions to target. A new tool from Google — Google Shopping Insights — aims to make it easier for eCommerce retailers to target advertising to markets with higher volumes of interest in specific products. Google Shopping Insights — currently… Continue reading ?
Mar 01, 2016
The number of users who access sites on mobile devices has increased dramatically over the last few years, both as an absolute number and as a proportion of site traffic. In many areas of the web, mobile users now outnumber those who visit sites from desktop or laptop machines. The predominance of smaller screens has… Continue reading ?
Feb 25, 2016
With political season well underway, what’s the only thing that Donald Trump and President Obama agree on? ExpressionEngine. That’s right. ExpressionEngine. Feel free to check out the rest of the top twenty EE sites in the roundup below. If you were unable to attend the first WordPress REST API conference, we’ve included the review of… Continue reading ?
Feb 24, 2016
A few years ago, I had all but given up on email newsletters. My inbox was full of junk newsletters stuffed with thin content and promotional garbage that didn’t provide a shred of value. I spent more time deleting newsletters than reading them. But over the last couple of years, email newsletters have become genuinely… Continue reading ?
Feb 23, 2016
Last week, Google and Red Hat revealed they had discovered a serious vulnerability in the GNU C Library, a collection of software present on almost all Linux servers and used by many Linux-based applications. The vast majority of web hosting platforms — including ours — run on Linux. I’d like to take a quick look… Continue reading ?
Feb 18, 2016
Medium is a powerhouse publishing platform from the founder of Blogger and co-founder and former CEO of Twitter — Evan Williams. It offers push-button publishing, a beautiful reading experience, and a social graph that makes promoting content relatively straightforward. Williams has not been shy about his intentions for Medium: “The idea won’t be to start… Continue reading ?
Feb 17, 2016
For the last couple of years there has been a heated debate between supporters of native apps and those who are strongly in favor of the mobile web. Native app proponents argue that the mobile web will never provide the level of device-integration and performance that a native app is capable of. Mobile web proponents… Continue reading ?
Feb 16, 2016
By now, you’ve probably heard statistics that show that website loading speeds affect conversion rates of website visitors into leads, and into eCommerce sales. Loading speeds can definitely have an impact on your bottom line, especially for mobile users, whose connection speeds are more likely limited. Speeds can also impact your ability to cost effectively… Continue reading ?
Feb 11, 2016
A spate of articles from web security companies report that numerous WordPress sites have been the victim of an attack that leads to code being injected into the JavaScript of WordPress installations. The code is injected into all of a site’s legitimate JavaScript files, and includes various backdoors as well as redirects that send users… Continue reading ?
Feb 10, 2016
When you search Google for a topic with relevance to current affairs, you may notice a section on the results page called “In The News”. Unlike some of the other search page sections, the news section doesn’t come from Google’s main index, but from Google News — an algorithmic curation of new stories that have… Continue reading ?
Feb 09, 2016
For a particular type of morally bankrupt individual, the idea of ransomware must appear to be a stroke of brilliance. For everyone else, ransomware is the stuff of nightmares. That goes double for eCommerce merchants, for whom their store and its data is their business and livelihood. The loss of data to a ransomware attack… Continue reading ?
Feb 04, 2016
WordPress started life as a blogging engine. Today’s WordPress retains many of the traits of its first years, even though it has long since shaken off its image as “just a blogging engine”. Now supporting a quarter of the top million sites on the web, WordPress is a uniquely powerful and flexible publishing tool. Nevertheless,… Continue reading ?
Feb 03, 2016
A brute force attack is the least sophisticated technique online criminals have to compromise WordPress sites. It doesn’t take advantage of obscure coding errors or advanced social engineering techniques. Rather, a brute force attacker simply tries lots of username and password combinations until they find one that works. The execution may be more or less… Continue reading ?
Feb 02, 2016
There are many reasons a WordPress user might want to create a WordPress installation on their local machine. Testing plugins and themes before deploying them on a live site Creating a dev site for theme development Running WordPress Betas to try new features Installing WordPress on your desktop or laptop can be a complicated procedure,… Continue reading ?
Jan 28, 2016
For modern businesses, domain names are an essential part of branding. Most consumers are aware of businesses through their domain name, and all companies with a presence online invest a big chunk of their marketing budget promoting their site. That makes domains valuable. They’re the rare commodity that can be had for a nominal cost,… Continue reading ?
Jan 27, 2016
Commercial blogging as part of a content marketing strategy is not easy. It’s not coal mining, but nor is it a walk in the park. It’s particularly difficult for business owners who have been told that blogging will increase traffic to their site and visibility in social media, but who have no experience of professional… Continue reading ?
Jan 26, 2016
The short answer: probably, but not for the reasons many still believe. Not any more, at least. “Once upon a time” in eCommerce equals about 18 to 24 months. Once up a time, if your site needed a SSL certificate to process credit card transactions, you needed a dedicated IP address. Once upon a time,… Continue reading ?
Jan 22, 2016
2015 was a big year. We were lucky enough to see the long-awaited releases of Magento 2 and ExpressionEngine 3, as well as numerous WordPress releases. More on that below. So for this month’s roundup, we included some of the best recent stories as well as a few articles and bits of news that shaped… Continue reading ?
Jan 21, 2016
After months of blood, sweat, and tears, Magento 2 is a reality. From a technical perspective, Magento 2 outperforms its older sibling, but what about from a business perspective? New eCommerce platforms always provoke familiar questions. Will this be compatible with my workflow? Will it have the modules I use for payment and shipping? Will… Continue reading ?
Jan 20, 2016
With the release of WordPress 4.3, WordPress’ developers have put an end to the problematic practice of emailing passwords to users when they request a new password. The default behavior is now to send a reset link to the user’s email account. In this article, I’d like to discuss why this change is a significant… Continue reading ?
Jan 19, 2016
If you’ve been in the WordPress world for a while, the question in the title of this piece might seem absurdly basic. After all, plugins are a key part of the success of WordPress and every WordPress site uses at least a few. But for someone new to blogging, online publishing, or creating a site… Continue reading ?
Jan 14, 2016
Let’s be frank: web performance on mobile leaves a lot to be desired. With responsive design, we have a solution that makes websites look great on mobile and desktop alike, but there’s still a long way to go if mobile websites are to compete with the performance of native applications. It’s a problem recognized by… Continue reading ?
Jan 12, 2016
With the release of iOS 9, Apple introduced Apple News — a combined news interface intended to be the place iPhone and iPad users go to read news. Apple News isn’t limited to traditional news publishers; bloggers are quite welcome to add their content to Apple News too. If you’re not an iOS user (or… Continue reading ?
Jan 07, 2016
While maintaining your eCommerce store’s security will uphold your reputation and avoid downtime, you are required to abide by Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) in order to process customer credit card data. While this list is not a comprehensive outline on how to pass and maintain PCI compliance, it can help protect… Continue reading ?
Jan 05, 2016
We are happy to announce our exciting new relationship with MageTalk as their exclusive hosting sponsor for their highly successful Magento podcast! If you haven’t already listened to the MageTalk podcast, it’s an extraordinary resource for anyone running a Magento store. Hosted by the quirky experts Phillip Jackson and Kalen Jordan, they raid Twitter feeds… Continue reading ?
Dec 31, 2015
Magento 2 and PHP 7 are now available, and we are ready to host them! Read on for answers to your most pressing questions regarding their availability. Can I just upgrade my store to Magento 2? No. Unfortunately, there is no upgrade path from Magento 1.x to Magento 2. You will need to recreate your… Continue reading ?
Dec 29, 2015
Selling digital content is an excellent way to make money with a WordPress site. Or, to put it another way, WordPress is an excellent platform for selling digital content. Indeed, many WordPress blogs exist to provide promotion and content marketing support to a business that makes its real money selling digital products. Sales aren’t the… Continue reading ?
Dec 24, 2015
The abandoned carts problem is one that has plagued eCommerce retailers since eCommerce was a thing. A significant proportion of customers will follow the buy funnel all the way down to the pointy end, only to disappear at the last possible moment. According to a recent meta analysis of abandoned cart statistics, almost 70% of… Continue reading ?
Dec 22, 2015
Black Friday 2015 was the first time ever that online sales outpaced in-store sales on the post Thanksgiving shopping holiday. And Cyber Monday was the biggest ever. Commerce is going online. We hope your business is prepared. The time since our last roundup has been highlighted by the release of PHP 7 and WordPress 4.4,… Continue reading ?
Dec 17, 2015
Customer support is one of the biggest expenses for any provider of online services and products. It’s also a key factor in creating a positive customer experience. Support matters a great deal to customers, so much so that customers unsatisfied with support are likely to take to social media with their complaints, damaging the company’s… Continue reading ?
Dec 15, 2015
Webfonts are a boon to theme developers. They opens up a vast landscape of potential typefaces — a far cry from the bad old days when there was only a handful of web safe fonts to choose from. But webfonts have drawbacks: most significantly, page weight inflation. For many themes, fonts come second only to… Continue reading ?
Dec 10, 2015
PHP — the programming language behind WordPress, Magento, ExpressionEngine, and thousands of other applications — recently got its first major version bump in years. The move from PHP 4 to PHP 5 happened a decade ago, although the language has seen multiple minor version bumps in the intervening years, culminating in PHP 5.6, which was released… Continue reading ?
Feb 18, 2015
There’s nothing developers like more than scratching their own itches. Some of the best software — including WordPress itself — is the result of a developer solving their own problem and making the solution public. So, as you might expect, WordPress developers have created plenty of plugins that help other developers. WordPress isn’t the easiest […]
Feb 12, 2015
For most of our clients, performance is of paramount importance. The need to provide users all over the world with fast loading websites and eCommerce stores is a key factor in their choosing Nexcess hosting; it’s what we do best. But equally important is user privacy and information security. The ability to protect sensitive data […]
Feb 04, 2015
A famous poet once said: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal”. What’s not often mentioned is the continuation of that quote which adds: “bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better”. Everything we create is influenced by what went before, and web design is no exception. Good web designers […]
Jan 27, 2015
Today, we’d like to draw your attention to a rather serious vulnerability in the Linux glibc library. Using this exploit, an attacker is capable of taking complete control of a victim’s system without requiring access to or knowledge of that system’s credentials. Thankfully, patches are already available for the vulnerability across all distributions- we advise […]
Jan 21, 2015
We are always looking for opportunities to set us apart from other hosting companies. We take our client suggestions seriously and strive to ensure the best possible hosting experience. Over the past few years, we have asked for feedback on how to improve our Client Portal from our development partners and clients. One of the […]
Jan 14, 2015
Back in the dark days of the web, not much thought was given to user experience. Web sites were conceived of as traditional pages with links between them and navigation was often obscure and confused. Times have changed: a great deal of thought goes into information architecture and user experience. That effort is driven primarily […]
Jan 07, 2015
In spite of the diversification of the CMS space over the last couple of years, the enormous popularity of WordPress shows no sign of waning. It’s that popularity that makes WordPress a safe bet for anyone wanting to launch a career in web development. If you have the development chops, you can’t go far wrong […]
Dec 31, 2014
Since our pre-Thanksgiving roundup, we’re sure you’ve all been snowed under by Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and getting ready for the remaining holiday shopping push. In the interim, we’ve had the pleasure of attending Magento Live Australia, an event we were honored to have the opportunity to speak at (slides of which we have shared […]
Dec 24, 2014
The task of typography is two-fold: readability and character. A web page is a machine for transferring information to a reader; if it has poor readability, it can’t function properly. But as many designers will tell you, function isn’t everything. Form matters: it provides character and personality. Typography is a major contributor to the impression […]
Dec 17, 2014
If you don’t update your WordPress site, it may be vulnerable to hackers. Updating a WordPress site is one of those tedious tasks that has to be done, but doesn’t usually confer any obvious benefit. Sometimes you’ll get a new feature, but most of the time, you hit the update button, the site prints out […]
Dec 10, 2014
vBulletin, the web’s most popular forum platform, recently announced the release of vBulletin Connect 5.1.4. It’s a minor maintenance release that focuses on fixes and tweaks, but among the changes are a few that deserve closer attention because they will have a direct impact on vBulletin site owners and their users. Improved Site Builder The […]
Dec 03, 2014
Black Friday is the crunch point of the eCommerce calendar. It’s the day on which retailers reap the biggest rewards, but also the day on which eCommerce platforms show their true performance colors. A number of interesting statistics came out of this year’s Black Friday rush. The first thing to note is that the eCommerce […]
Nov 24, 2014
This month we’re coming at you with an early pre-Thanksgiving roundup. Once you’re done eating all the turkey and watching all the football, maybe you’ll find time to settle into your La-Z-Boy and catch up on the best news from the last thirty days. Big recent news has included the release of a new WordPress […]
Nov 19, 2014
Performance-optimized web hosting is the single most important factor in determining site speed. Without that, your site is going to be slow no matter what other optimizations you make. But although good quality web hosting is a necessary component of a low-latency site, it’s not sufficient. The fastest web hosting can’t accelerate a badly coded […]
Nov 13, 2014
We all know that when it comes to eCommerce, faster is better. Slow web pages cause billions of dollars in lost eCommerce revenue every year. A third of eCommerce shoppers will turn to a competitor if a store provides a poor user experience because of latency. And 44 percent of users assume that a slow […]
Nov 12, 2014
Although I would argue that the phrase “businesses should think like publishers” is overstating the case—no business should emulate Upworthy or Buzzfeed unless pageviews are their business—it’s certainly true that to make a mark on the modern web, a business has to publish content and be involved in content marketing to some degree. Blogs, guest […]
Nov 05, 2014
While there is no shortage of photo storage and sharing services around these days, if you’re a serious photographer who makes a living taking pictures, you’re going to need a web site to promote your business, interact with clients, and display your images. Many photographers choose WordPress for their business sites. It’s a powerful content […]
Oct 29, 2014
We have been following the recently discovered vulnerability known by CVE-2014-3566 (popularly referred to as POODLE). This specific vulnerability has affected the SSLv3 protocol which is supported by most Nexcess servers. SSLv3 (also known as SSL 3.0), is an old and outdated Internet cryptographic protocol that was designed to ensure secure connections for various services […]
Oct 22, 2014
Since our last roundup, we’ve had the pleasure of attending ExpressionEngine Conference and meeting up with all of our friends, old and new alike, in the EE Community. We were also proud to have the opportunity to speak at this year’s event, slides of which we have shared at the bottom of this post. Now, if you follow […]
Oct 21, 2014
WordPress professionals work with the world’s favorite content management system every day and develop an intimate knowledge of the best way to build and manage WordPress sites. We wanted to understand how the most sophisticated WordPress users approach creating a great experience for their clients, so we asked some of our favorite WordPress professionals about […]
Oct 15, 2014
I’m sure that we’ve all experienced issues that deal with file lock (flock) contention. More often than not, within the Nexcess tech community, we see this occuring in Magento (typically the sessions files). As such, I figured I’d put throw together something that will allow you to troubleshooting what’s going on more efficiently. Firstly, lets […]
Oct 08, 2014
Data visualization and data journalism are becoming increasingly important to the modern media landscape. More data is available for public analysis than ever before. Data-focused journalists like Nate Silver and Ezra Klein have made a name for themselves with reporting based on hard-nosed analysis of empirical data sets. Both are in the early stages of […]
Oct 01, 2014
Law offices tend to be fairly conservative when it comes to technology. I know some who haven’t changed their content management system for years. “If it works, don’t fix it” is a great philosophy, but wrestling with ancient content management systems is a frustrating and unrewarding task — it certainly doens’t encourage busy lawyers to […]
Sep 26, 2014
All of our managed servers were patched for CVE-2014-6271 (the “shellshock” bug affecting the Bash shell used on most Linux- and Unix-based systems) on the September 24, 2014. As that was later found to be incomplete (resulting in bug CVE-2014-7169, or “Aftershock”), a second patch was applied today (September 26, 2014). If you’d like to […]
Sep 24, 2014
The Heartbleed bug was one of the worst online security vulnerabilities in recent memory, allowing an attacker to read chunks of a server’s memory that might contain private keys, authentication credentials, and other sensitive data. In the wake of Heartbleed, it’s a good time for WordPress site owners to audit their security procedures and implement […]
Sep 22, 2014
Knowing it’s hard to keep up with all the great content around the web, each month we gather up the best Magento, ExpressionEngine, and WordPress articles for your convenience. If you’re new here, these posts feature a mix of news (i.e. the release of WordPress 4.0 “Benny”), helpful articles, and just generally interesting industry happenings. Looking ahead, this month we will be attending Meet […]
Sep 17, 2014
Nofollow tags are frequently misunderstood. In this article we look at nofollow tags, their rationale, and how to nofollow (or “dofollow”) links on WordPress. Google’s success as a search engine was largely based on its founders’ development of an algorithm that used incoming links as a signal of a page’s quality. The idea is that […]
Sep 10, 2014
Most WordPress users knows that WordPress plugins should be updated. Updates frequently include patches that fix security vulnerabilities. Part of every WordPress user’s routine should include regular plugin and core updates. But there’s another source of potential vulnerability that WordPress users may not be aware of: many themes include bundled plugins and those plugins are […]
Sep 03, 2014
Google has ignited a storm of interest in HTTPS, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of offering SSL-encrypted HTTPS connections to your users. Since Google announced that serving sites over HTTPS would become a search engine ranking signal, the number of people interested in purchasing SSL certificates has skyrocketed. Many webmasters who would never […]
Aug 21, 2014
Big Data is something of a nebulous concept, and like many ideas without a clear definition, it’s been seized on by various writers and pundits as the next big thing. It’s easy to write endlessly about something when you aren’t forced to constrain yourself to practicalities. The eCommerce industry is nothing if not pragmatic, ever […]
Aug 19, 2014
I was recently talking to a friend who wants to create a site for his small business. He’s a landscaper, and needs a simple site — perhaps a few pages to describe his services, a contact form, and a blog. As someone who is fairly knowledgeable about WordPress web hosting, it’s difficult for me to […]
Aug 15, 2014
In a recent blog post, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) revealed a scam in which registrants of top-level domains like .com and .net are approached by fraudsters and told that they need to buy a certificate to “protect their domain”. Although the certificates are well designed and incorporate official ICANN graphics, the […]
Aug 12, 2014
Every few months the wizards who develop WordPress put out another release. It’s always an interesting time for WordPress users and watchers, who are eager to see what benefit the new features and enhancements will bring to their site (or, if you’re more pessimistic, what new annoyances they’ll have to deal with). In this article […]
Aug 04, 2014
Another month has passed and we’re back with a new roundup of the web’s best ExpressionEngine, WordPress, and Magento content. July saw the release of both ExpressionEngine 2.9 and a new WordPress beta, as well as the official announcement that Magento Go and ProStores will be shut down. And, of course, Germany won the World Cup. Knowing it’s hard to keep up […]
Jul 31, 2014
If you have a WordPress blog, you will get comment spam. WordPress comment threads can become a mess of nonsense comments and link spam. Luckily there are tools available that will take care of the great majority of comment spam, although bloggers will still have to keep an eye out, both false positives and false […]
Jul 25, 2014
We are publishing this post in the hope that all Magento users can utilize this information to determine if their site has been compromised and take the steps required to correct the problem. We were recently contacted by a client regarding a Common Point of Purchase Investigation that was initiated by a credit card issuer. […]
Jul 25, 2014
We’ve discussed WPtouch before — it’s a useful plugin for easily equipping a WordPress site with a mobile theme and touch functionality. It was recently reported by the folks over at Sucuri that the plugin contains a vulnerability that could be exploited by users without administrative privileges to upload PHP files to a server. It’s […]
Jul 24, 2014
We’ve written on a couple of occasions about Google Authorship, a semantic markup system that links an article with the Google Plus profile of its author. It had the benefit of enhancing the snippets that appear on search engine results pages with a photo, byline, and various other pieces of information drawn from a writer’s […]
Jul 15, 2014
Even though the web is a global network, many businesses are happy to create an English-language site and leave it at that. In some cases, that’s fine. The burden of translation can be quite high, and if the market a site is addressing is fairly localized, then the ROI of internationalizing isn’t worth the effort. […]
Jul 10, 2014
One of the perks of using WordPress is the large number of themes. There are themes that provide just about any aesthetic or function, with many thousands of free and premium themes available from the official repositories, theme marketplaces like ThemeForest, and direct from developers like Elmastudio — one of my personal favorites. But, not […]
Jul 08, 2014
With the start of the World Cup in June, eyes around the globe have been glued to televisions ever since. Instead of judging you for missing all the great content that was being created over the last month, we went ahead and rounded it all up into one convenient location. These are the best eCommerce, WordPress, […]
Jun 27, 2014
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that domain registrars and web hosting companies have started to offer a large number of new generic top-level domains. There is some confusion among web hosting clients as to the status of these new domains, so I thought it would be useful to explain what […]
Jun 25, 2014
Over the last few years, crowdfunding has taken off in a big way. In 2011, a total of $1.5 billion was raised through crowdfunding. In 2012, that number increased to $2.7 billion. The most successful crowdfunding projects raise many millions of dollars, with prominent examples being Star Citizen, a video game that raised over $44 […]
Jun 19, 2014
If you’re a WordPress user, the chances are that you’ll have to interact with plugin developers at some point. It can be frustrating and anxiety-inducing when a plugin goes awry, especially if it has a significant impact on your site’s functionality or even stops it working altogether. On many occasions, I’ve seen WordPress users vent […]
Jun 17, 2014
US eCommerce was built on the back of secure credit card data handling and a population of which the majority own a credit cards. In the US, and much of the rest of the world, credit cards are still the primary method of payment, but the proportion of people choosing to use alternative payment methods […]
Jun 13, 2014
It’s never been easier to publish content on the web. If you have something to say, you can publish it on any number of platforms in minutes. It’ll look good, have great typography and design, and the publishing process is often as simple as typing, throwing up a few images, and hitting a button. Tumblr […]
Jun 11, 2014
As the original Magento web hosting provider, nobody knows how to make a Magento storefront perform quite like Nexcess. The following infographic is a distilled version of our popular white paper: Best Practices for Optimum Magento Performance, which details how to improve Magento performance by 1,300% or greater. We invite you to share and reblog […]
Jun 09, 2014
The eCommerce market in the US has plenty of room for growth, innovation, and new entries to the marketplace, especially as brick-and-mortar retail loses its dominance in favor of online equivalents offering more convenience and an improved experience. But the US and European markets are mature, and innovation often takes the form of value-adds from […]
Jun 06, 2014
Vulnerabilities have been discovered in the popular All In One SEO Pack WordPress plugin that could allow privilege escalation and cross-site scripting attacks. The plugin has been patched and users should ensure that they immediately update to the most recent version or there is a real risk of their WordPress site being compromised. In a […]
Jun 05, 2014
May was an important month for the Magento community, as over two thousand members came together for the Imagine Conference in Las Vegas (an event we were thrilled to sponsor), and, in equally big news, Magento co-founder Roy Rubin announced that he would be stepping down from position as the CEO of Magento. Here at […]
Jun 03, 2014
It’s no surprise that eCommerce is growing apace. No one with any experience of the online retail sector has any doubt that the eCommerce market is in rude health, with revenues and numbers of retailers growing every year. eCommerce is fast becoming the default shopping venue for many markets in the US and Europe, with […]
May 30, 2014
Although complex in implementation, the Internet is quite simple in principle. Consumers buy bandwidth from last-mile ISPs. Network operators provide international connectivity to those ISPs and to each other via peering. And the majority of content providers host their content with web hosting companies, which manage servers in data centers that connect to network operators. […]
May 29, 2014
If you were to pick a dream team to work on an eCommerce-focused customer relationship management platform, chances are it would include the co-founders of Oro, Inc.: Yoav Kutner, former CTO and Co-Founder of Magento; and Jary Carter, Magento’s former VP of Worldwide Sales and Channel, now CTO and CEO of Oro, Inc. respectively. They’re […]
May 21, 2014
Since the advent of Twitter and its super flexible lists, RSS has become less important to my blogging workflows, but it’s still a daily part of my life and a huge timesaver. The idea of having to go to each of the sites that I need to look at daily to check for updates is […]
May 19, 2014
The Internet is a wonderful place: the most advanced medium for communication of ideas and knowledge that mankind has ever created. But you wouldn’t know it if you looked at the comments section of many blogs and sites, which are full of rancorous trolling and partisan sniping. Not all of them of course, some sites […]
May 15, 2014
This week, Nexcess was honored to sponsor the recently completed Imagine Conference that included epic talks from Roy Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell, as well a huge number of informative presentations from talented members of the Magento community. The Nexcess team had a great time, whether enjoying Nexcess Coolers with new friends at the Monday night […]
May 14, 2014
There have been numerous attempts to build the perfect eCommerce platform over the years. For many, Magento is the closest — it’s an extraordinarily powerful eCommerce application, capable of supporting everything from the smallest boutique vendor to the largest eCommerce retailer. Much of the groundwork for Magento’s success was laid by Boris Gurvich, Magento’s original […]
May 02, 2014
The big news story from April was the discovery of the OpenSSL Heartbleed bug. If you’re a Nexcess client, we got you covered on our end, but if you haven’t updated your passwords around the internet yet, it is time to get that done. Moving on to happier thoughts, May brings the Imagine Conference in […]
Apr 15, 2014
Podcasting is undergoing something of a renaissance. It’s always been popular among a certain demographic, but in the last couple of years, podcasting has gained mainstream acceptance. The number of high-quality podcasts has grown. Traditional media outlets have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon. Skype and Google Hangouts have made creating video and audio podcasts with […]
Apr 09, 2014
You’ve possibly heard about the OpenSSL exploit (commonly referred to as “Heartbleed”) affecting many web servers across the world. We at Nexcess wanted update you on what we are doing to address the issue. We have already patched any of our servers that could have been affected. For more details about the patch, please see […]
Apr 08, 2014
You may have noticed that the 25th anniversary of the web just came and went in March. Looking back at some of the old news reports and videos, it is amazing how far eCommerce, web design, and blogging have advanced since those early days. And as far as we’ve come, the next twenty-years will take […]
Apr 08, 2014
As of 1:45AM EDT on April 8, 2014, all Nexcess managed systems vulnerable to CVE-2014-0160 (Heartbleed) were patched. This security vulnerability is widespread with multiple operating systems globally and not a Nexcess-specific issue. CentOS released an official OpenSSL patch removing the recently discovered vulnerabilities. OpenSSL was upgraded seamlessly. However, all services linked against the older […]
Apr 04, 2014
As we’ve upgraded a lot of our servers to openssl 1.0.1e we’ve seen a handful of problems with APIs or payment gateways. The companies whose API is being used say they don’t support openssl 1.0.1e and/or TLSv1.2 is not support and the server will have to use TLSv1.0. There seems to be a lot of […]
Apr 04, 2014
It can be difficult to publish audience-attracting content on an eCommerce store. Product descriptions are essential but they aren’t the sort of content that will attract a loyal readership. As Google becomes more sophisticated and social media becomes a dominant source of referrals, it’s important that eCommerce retailers get on board with content publishing if […]
Mar 31, 2014
Many eCommerce retailers labor under the misconception that if they share something on Facebook, it will appear in the News Feed of their followers. That’s what happens on Twitter, where there is minimal curation of streams. Facebook is different. The social media giant actively curates its users’ News Feeds in an attempt to surface the […]
Mar 25, 2014
Do you use RSS to read content on sites you are interested in? In 2014, it might be more pertinent to ask if you know what an RSS feed is. RSS use has declined enormously over the years. It wasn’t … Continue reading ?
Mar 19, 2014
Mobile devices are a huge part of our current culture. This is evident from the widespread adoption in America and countless other countries. Cheaper, more affordable phones are being released to work for areas that wouldn’t otherwise be able to … Continue reading ?
Mar 06, 2014
I sometimes find it hard to believe we’re in the 14th year of the 21st century, but that’s what my calendar says and who am I to disagree? A good many online retailers appear to harbor similar doubts. They enact … Continue reading ?
Mar 04, 2014
As the weeks and months pass, it seems like the amount of information out there just keeps increasing and increasing. In just twenty-eight days, February generated an incredible amount of new content, some worthy of sharing and some not so … Continue reading ?
Feb 28, 2014
I’m beginning to think that WordPress developers have a case of Medium envy. Every other new theme seems to take significant design cues from the blogging platform. In many ways, that a good thing. As I’ve argued before, using a … Continue reading ?
Feb 26, 2014
Many bloggers start out with an urge to write and publish without any clear idea of their options when it comes to content management systems. They choose a platform like Blogger, which is Google’s blog platform, and it works fine … Continue reading ?
Feb 21, 2014
We all have a favorite social media network. Some of us are Twitter fanatics, some love the Google+ interface, many are most familiar with Facebook, and the visually oriented like to share their discoveries on Pinterest. But when our aim … Continue reading ?
Feb 20, 2014
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my new endevor as a Magento merchant (Blog Post: A New Perspective). I wanted to follow that post up with a few more, discussing some things I’ve learned along the way. I hope … Continue reading ?
Feb 19, 2014
Sentinote is a WordPress plugin that allows Evernote users to write and publish their posts and pages from within Evernote. If your writing workflows are anything like mine, you make extensive use of Evernote. It’s by far the best tool … Continue reading ?
Feb 14, 2014
Once upon a time, the email newsletter was an essential part of any blog. Now we have many different ways of being notified of new content, particularly social networks like Twitter. But, some still prefer to have content delivered to … Continue reading ?
Feb 12, 2014
In The Beginning The Mobile Service Providers in America have been under a great deal of scrutiny recently. For several years, the thing setting one carrier apart from another was primarily the overall quality of service; initially how well you … Continue reading ?
Feb 10, 2014
We all know that the faster an eCommerce site is, the higher its conversion rate is likely to be. While that’s true in a general sense, in specific cases a law of diminishing returns operates. In an interesting article on … Continue reading ?
Feb 06, 2014
Previously, I talked about creating a cron job for the last day of the month. This time around, I’m going to show how to set a cron job to run every so-many days. We’ll use every three days as an … Continue reading ?
Feb 05, 2014
2014 is going to be a big year. eCommerce keeps getting more important, WordPress continues to expand its user base, and web design has become an integral part of every business’s online presence. With that in mind, we’ve been busy … Continue reading ?
Feb 03, 2014
For new small business owners, a website is a necessity. Tech startups get all the attention in the media, but the fact is that most small business startups don’t have a web technology expert among the founders. The plumbers, electricians, … Continue reading ?
Jan 31, 2014
Having been given an opportunity at Nexcess a while back, I’ve been able to work with Magento since it was in beta. That experience has given me the opportunity to connect with many ecommerce pioneers, and I’ve often found myself … Continue reading ?
Jan 30, 2014
Only a tiny percentage of a site’s visitors will leave comments, and the ones who do are not always representative of the audience as a whole. In an ideal world, a significant proportion of readers would engage in some way … Continue reading ?
Jan 28, 2014
If you’re a creative, you’re going to need somewhere on the web to showcase the products of your creative endeavors. Whether you’re a photographer, a designer, an artist, or a musician, without a website your reach is seriously limited. Of … Continue reading ?
Jan 25, 2014
What is your website for? There are various ways to construe that question and various possible answers. Many businesses and bloggers see their site as a central digital presence from which they can establish their brand, attract referrals from search … Continue reading ?
Jan 22, 2014
Southfield, MI, January 22, 2014 – Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento eCommerce hosting and Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, has announced that its powerful Magento server cluster plans will benefit from an substantial hardware upgrade. Responsiveness is of particular importance … Continue reading ?
Jan 21, 2014
The Ghost blogging platform was one of 2013?s major success stories. John O’Nolan set out to create a platform designed purely for blogging. Early in the year he published a mockup of what he thought the software would look like, … Continue reading ?
Jan 17, 2014
Magento is a feature-rich and powerful eCommerce platform, but from the perspective of conversion rate optimization, it can leave something to be desired. The conventional wisdom is that the harder you make it for users to carry out an action, … Continue reading ?
Jan 15, 2014
Red Hat’s documentation on how to change the timezone tells you to use a GUI to change. As a sysadmin, I’m not going to install a gigantic GUI to change a timezone on a server. The correct way to change … Continue reading ?
Jan 14, 2014
Even without any extensions, Google Chrome is chock full of useful tools for web developers. The most important of which are, of course, the Developer Tools that are built into the browser. But, there’s still a lot of functionality that … Continue reading ?
Jan 10, 2014
Pricing is one of the most difficult problems that retailers face. Picking the right price point can mean the difference between having products fly off the shelves and having them sit unbought. If shoppers perceive products to be priced too … Continue reading ?
Jan 08, 2014
A new year is here, and with it comes the determination to finally get started on the business or creative endeavor that you’ve been procrastinating about throughout 2013. If you want to sell something, to write, or to be creative … Continue reading ?
Jan 03, 2014
In 2013, you might have heard that eCommerce is getting more important. You might also have heard that web design is getting more important. But don’t forget blogging, because that is definitely getting more important. It’s hard to keep up, … Continue reading ?
Jan 02, 2014
We can imagine an ideal brick-and-mortar shopping experience. We know what we want to do, and when we walk into a store, we are greeted by our personal shopper, who knows us better than we know ourselves. We don’t tell … Continue reading ?
Dec 30, 2013
I don’t know about you, but I’m terrible at buying gifts for people, especially on those occasions where I’m invited to a celebration like a wedding or baby shower. I have no idea what to get people and it frequently … Continue reading ?
Dec 26, 2013
Southfield, MI, December 26, 2013 – Nexcess, a provider of optimized WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine hosting, has announced the introduction of a new referral program that will return 75% of a plan’s monthly recurring value. The reimagined Nexcess web hosting … Continue reading ?
Dec 19, 2013
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, if brands want to improve both the efficiency and the effectiveness of their content marketing efforts, they should think less like traditional marketers and more like publishers. And, it’s not only blogging brands would … Continue reading ?
Dec 17, 2013
Christmas is on the way, and that means sites all over the web will be cutesifying themselves in an attempt to catch some of the season’s goodwill. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the sledging Santas and falling … Continue reading ?
Dec 12, 2013
A patch has been released to fix a remote code vulnerability in some versions of Magento Enterprise Edition. The recently discovered remote code execution vulnerability may allow an attacker with administrative privileges to delete files and folders from a Magento … Continue reading ?
Dec 09, 2013
According to figures released by IBM, this year’s Cyber Monday sales made it the biggest online shopping day in history, with a 20.6% increase in online sales. The five day period from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday also broke records … Continue reading ?
Dec 07, 2013
There are two basic strategies for monetizing content. Publishers can either generate revenue by charging for ads placed next to their content, selling the reader’s attention to advertisers. Or, they can skip the middleman and ask their readers to pay … Continue reading ?
Dec 05, 2013
Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have already come and gone, but the eCommerce busy season is still going strong. While you’ve been out shopping and searching online for all those great deals, we’ve been busy gathering up the best … Continue reading ?
Dec 04, 2013
Magento Community Edition version 1.8.0.0 was released on September 25, 2013. Its highlights, as listed in the release notes, include: Major overhaul of tax calculation formulas, correction of rounding errors, and additional assistance with configuration. Optimized cache adapters for single-server … Continue reading ?
Nov 27, 2013
As a guy who does a lot of writing, I’m constantly aware of my predilection for procrastination (and alliteration). If I can put off writing something, I will. It’s not because I don’t love writing; it’s just that putting a … Continue reading ?
Nov 27, 2013
If you’ve tried loading CDN-based Web fonts while browsing with Firefox, you may have noticed they don’t always load. This is because Firefox implemented the W3C Access Control specification and it causes Firefox to reject requests to cross-domain resources. To … Continue reading ?
Nov 26, 2013
Pinterest is the world’s third most popular social media network, with levels of user growth that continue to knock the socks off investors – over 40% in the last few months. Pinterest is uniquely placed to provide valuable referrals and … Continue reading ?
Nov 20, 2013
Google started off as simply an internet search engine, but has since branched off into several different industries with the seeming intent of creating drastic competition within markets otherwise constrained to mostly fixed prices. The purpose being, with more competition, … Continue reading ?
Nov 19, 2013
If you aren’t already familiar with JetPack, it’s a plugin for WordPress that brings a host of very useful features. It is developed by the developers behind the WordPress.com platform, and brings many of the benefits of that platform to … Continue reading ?
Nov 14, 2013
Content curation is a powerful technique for building a following for a blog and on social media. It’s also a great way to build relationships with other influencers in your niche. The basic principles of content curation are easy to … Continue reading ?
Nexcess Ranked 245th Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte’s 2013 Technology Fast 500
Nov 13, 2013
Southfield, MI, November 13, 2013 – Nexcess, a leading provider of WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine hosting, today announced it ranked 245 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500(TM), a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean … Continue reading ?
Nov 07, 2013
WordPress is used on over 20% of websites. It’s a huge success story and with good reason. WordPress is a powerful content management system with just the right combination of ease-of-use and configurability to appeal to both web development professionals … Continue reading ?
Nov 06, 2013
This past month, Nexcess was in London, England for MagentoLive UK 2013. We were honored to sponsor such an amazing event that brought together so many incredible minds. Those in attendance had the opportunity to see enthusiastic and informative presentations … Continue reading ?
Nov 04, 2013
More than 20 percent of the world’s websites now run on WordPress. That’s a huge achievement for the Automattic team. Unfortunately, this massive user base presents hackers with a seductive challenge: the chance to exploit and control millions of sites … Continue reading ?
Nov 01, 2013
With stops in Portland, OR and London, England for ExpressionEngine Conference 2013 and MagentoLive UK respectively, it’s been a busy October around here. Chris Wells, the CEO of Nexcess, was honored to have the chance to speak at both of … Continue reading ?
Oct 31, 2013
For the majority of my PHP career I didn’t store objects in a session. Not that it’s a difficult thing, I simply didn’t have a need to in the past. Now that I do, I have discovered a peculiar (in … Continue reading ?
Oct 30, 2013
Modern eCommerce is heavily dependent on actionable data-driven insights to maximize sales. Big data is something of a buzzword, but there’s no doubt that in the absence of accurate date, eCommerce retailers would be at a significant disadvantage. Useful data … Continue reading ?
Oct 28, 2013
ExpressionEngine isn’t quite as easy to get to grips with as more user-focused content management systems like WordPress, but it more than makes up for that with its incredible flexibility and developer friendliness. EllisLab’s ExpressionEngine should definitely be on the … Continue reading ?
Oct 25, 2013
As the economy has wobbled over last few years, many people have found themselves out of work or with a need to generate extra income. Coupled with the spread of the trend for remote working and the growing number people … Continue reading ?
Oct 23, 2013
Fraud is a serious problem for eCommerce retailers. While less than 2% of eCommerce revenues are lost through fraudulent transactions, in a trillion-dollar industry, that’s no small potatoes, particularly in an industry segment with low margins. But, possibly more significant … Continue reading ?
Oct 21, 2013
One of the most popular narratives around eCommerce in the media focuses on how eCommerce is disrupting and destroying the traditional brick-and-mortar store. It’s a narrative firmly rooted in reality. eCommerce offers consumers an unbeatable value and convenience, and brick-and-mortar … Continue reading ?
Oct 17, 2013
Earlier this week, Nexcess was in Portland, Oregon for ExpressionEngine Conference 2013. It was two days packed with the best and brightest minds from one of the most passionate communities out there. EllisLab put on an amazing event that we … Continue reading ?
Oct 16, 2013
Shutdown uncleanly If you’ve ever had to hard restart a Linux server, you know when it starts up you’ll see a message about your system being shut down uncleanly and it will do an fsck. But, how does it know … Continue reading ?
Oct 16, 2013
There is no shortage of shipping and inventory extensions for Magento; we highlighted some of them in an article earlier this year. But, there’s a new kid on the block that has been generating a fair bit of attention. Ordoro, … Continue reading ?
Oct 14, 2013
Southfield, MI, October 14, 2013 – Nexcess, the exclusive Enterprise Hosting Partner of EllisLab, the developers of ExpressionEngine, has released a comprehensive optimization guide for the popular content management system. While ExpressionEngine performs very well out of the box, sites … Continue reading ?
Oct 10, 2013
SEO is changing. Gone are the days of ranking signals that are easy to game with keyword stuffing and dubious link building tactics. The advent of semantic search is bringing huge changes to the SERPs and the mechanisms that Google … Continue reading ?
Oct 09, 2013
As I’m sure most of you have guessed by my love of Batman, I’m a giant child. I take no offense to this. As a matter of fact, I embrace it. I have two kids, 10 and 8, and they … Continue reading ?
Oct 09, 2013
Southfield, MI October 09, 2013 – Nexcess, a leading provider of optimized Magento hosting and a Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, is thrilled to announce that they will be a Platinum Sponsor for this year’s MagentoLive UK conference in partnership with … Continue reading ?
Oct 07, 2013
Southfield, MI, October 7, 2013 – Nexcess, a provider of managed WordPress and Magento hosting, has announced its second successful SSAE-16 Type 2 examination within the scope of Data Center and Web Hosting Services. The examination was provided by Brightline … Continue reading ?
Oct 04, 2013
The dangers facing a modern web site can be exhausting to protect against. From denial of service (DoS) attacks hindering uptime to the constant brute-forcing of user passwords, a CMS administrator has numerous things to worry about on a daily … Continue reading ?
Oct 04, 2013
Producing sufficient high-quality content to feed a successful content marketing campaign can be both time consuming and expensive. Content is one of the most sustainable forms of marketing: once you’ve published content you own, it will continue to generate traffic … Continue reading ?
Oct 02, 2013
It can be fun to solve problems. Luckily for me, working in Nexcess support, I am given the opportunity to do this every day. I get to dig into a problem, find a solution, and then fix the issue and … Continue reading ?
Oct 01, 2013
With all the great (and some not so great) content out there, it can hard to stay caught up on every bit of relevant news. That’s why we gathered up the best ExpressionEngine, WordPress, and Magento articles from September for … Continue reading ?
Sep 30, 2013
Flat is the new black when it comes to user interface design. Gone are the days of extensive drop shadows and lavish textures. In their place we find simple, bold color palettes, an absence of depth, and ample white space. … Continue reading ?
Sep 26, 2013
One of the strengths of WordPress is the massive range of themes that are available, both free and premium. WordPress sites can take almost any form a site owner might want. However, the chances are that a theme will have … Continue reading ?
Sep 23, 2013
A few years ago, if you landed on a WordPress site, the chances are you’d quickly be able tell which platform it was running on. The design tropes used by WordPress theme developers were easily recognizable. But, in the intervening … Continue reading ?
Sep 19, 2013
When it comes to deploying a Magento store, one of the most important decisions eCommerce retailers can make is their choice of web hosting company. While, in theory, almost any hosting company has the wherewithal to host a PHP application … Continue reading ?
Sep 17, 2013
We’re pleased to announce that members of the Nexcess team will be participating in a Reddit AMA in the Magento subreddit! Head on over to the AMA page now to get your questions in early! Here’s the link to where … Continue reading ?
Sep 16, 2013
It’s that time of the year again. Twice a year, WordPress users get to install a new version that usually comes packed with goodies that improve the WordPress experience. This release is no exception, with a plethora of additional features … Continue reading ?
Sep 16, 2013
Southfield, MI, September 16, 2013 – Nexcess, the leader in Magento, WordPress, and ExpressionEngine hosting, is to be included in the 2013 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing businesses in the United States for the fourth consecutive year. Nexcess … Continue reading ?
Sep 13, 2013
Affiliate marketing is a powerful technique for generating a steady stream of traffic and purchases for eCommerce retailers. Best of all, compared to other marketing strategies, like PPC advertising and content marketing, eCommerce affiliate marketing can be relatively inexpensive, relying … Continue reading ?
Sep 09, 2013
Web apps have come a long way in recent years, both in their design and user experience. However, web apps still have trouble offering the kind of user experience that a native application can. That’s particularly true of applications that … Continue reading ?
Sep 05, 2013
The most recent version of ExpressionEngine was released earlier in August, and, as usual, it adds a host of handy new additions to EllisLab’s feature-rich content management system. If you want to take a look at all of the improvements, … Continue reading ?
Sep 04, 2013
Simple Steps any Magento merchant can take (today!) to tap into the Facebook commerce platform and start boosting profits! Importing your Magento store to Facebook can now be done in 2 minutes. With the right marketing tools and the right … Continue reading ?
Sep 04, 2013
Southfield, MI, September 4, 2013 – Nexcess, the exclusive, official Enterprise Hosting Partner of EllisLab’s ExpressionEngine, have announced that they will be the main sponsor for this year’s ExpressionEngine Conference in Portland, Oregon. ExpressionEngine is an advanced PHP-based content management … Continue reading ?
Sep 03, 2013
Starting a new blog, eCommerce store, or website can be an overwhelming task. And that’s just the beginning of your journey. Maintaining and improving your website presents an entirely different challenge, but don’t worry, there’s a lot of great information … Continue reading ?
Aug 28, 2013
In a move that further signals Google’s intentions to move away from the standard ten blue links approach and towards more meaningful search results, the search giant has introduced a new section to the SERPs for what it terms “in-depth … Continue reading ?
Aug 28, 2013
cos•tum•ing [kos-too-ming, -tyoo-] noun 1. the act of furnishing or designing costumes. act•ing [ak-ting] noun 1. to represent (a fictitious or historical character) with one’s person: to act Macbeth. cos•play•ing [kos-pley-ing] noun 1. the art or practice of wearing costumes … Continue reading ?
Aug 26, 2013
Magento, the world’s most popular open source eCommerce platform, can be used in two major versions. Retailers can either go free with the Community Edition or pay for the Enterprise Edition. The Enterprise Edition is not an inexpensive option, and … Continue reading ?
Aug 22, 2013
Onsite search is often unduly neglected. Every site owner puts tremendous effort into optimizing their site for external search engines, like Google, but onsite search provision is frequently left to the default WordPress search box, which works adequately, but doesn’t … Continue reading ?
Aug 19, 2013
Passwords suck. In theory, they’re an excellent way of verifying identity, provided a few fairly simple rules are followed. In practice, most users follow almost none of those rules, which undermines any identity validation and security functions that passwords are … Continue reading ?
Aug 15, 2013
WordPress recently celebrated its 10th birthday. In the decade of its existence it has developed from a blogging platform to highly flexible solution for building websites of all kinds: from single-page product showcases to enterprise-level publishing sites. For those looking … Continue reading ?
Aug 14, 2013
On July 28, 2013, the United States Postal Service (USPS) rolled-out changes to their API that impact you if your Magento Community Edition store is using USPS Priority or Express shipping methods. If this is the case, it’s important to … Continue reading ?
Aug 12, 2013
There are two Magento editions that those planning to start an eCommerce store can choose from: The Magento Community Edition and the Magento Enterprise Edition. The Magento Community Edition is a powerful and flexible eCommerce platform. It is available for … Continue reading ?
Aug 08, 2013
The old clich? among system administrators is that if data doesn’t exist in three places, then it doesn’t exist at all. If your business depends on its Magento store, then you need to be aware that over a long enough … Continue reading ?
Aug 07, 2013
Body: So let’s face it… it’s summertime (or coming close to the end of summertime) and people are wanting to go out, hang at the beach, go swimming, go to the water park…all activities that involve less clothing that normal. … Continue reading ?
Aug 05, 2013
Last year, eCommerce sales exceeded $1 Trillion for the first time, and the smart money is on the growth trend continuing well into the foreseeable future. If you or your business sell products, then you need to be selling online … Continue reading ?
Aug 01, 2013
If you’ve been following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, you probably know that we like to share our favorite ExpressionEngine, WordPress, and Magento content on those channels. Then, at the end of each month, we gather up the most … Continue reading ?
Jul 31, 2013
Blogging is about more than just the blogging platform itself. WordPress forms the hub of most blogging workflows, but much of the work both pre- and post-publication takes place elsewhere, whether that’s research and creating a content calendar, or promoting … Continue reading ?
Jul 30, 2013
Ann Arbor MI, July 30, 2013 –SCHAWEL+COLES, an interactive ecommerce agency in Utah and New York, has been selected as a partner with Nexcess, the renowned provider of enterprise e-commerce hosting and Magento Platinum Hosting Partner. SCHAWEL+COLES, a leader in … Continue reading ?
Jul 29, 2013
If you’re a WordPress user, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of testing every significant change you make to your installation before deploying it on your production hosting. In most cases, upgrading, adding plugins, or tweaking a … Continue reading ?
Jul 25, 2013
A new white paper from Monetate reveals that although social media provides low conversion rates on eCommerce referrals, its efficacy for building brand awareness makes for a solid ROI. The study, which analyzed 500 million referrals, showed that over half … Continue reading ?
Jul 24, 2013
Zen and the Art of IT Support, Part III: Knowledge Management This is a continuation of a larger discussion of ITIL within IT support I started a few months ago. The first part is an overview (and explains how the … Continue reading ?
Jul 22, 2013
Since Tumblr’s recent acquisition by Yahoo! for $1.1 billion, and in spite of Marissa Mayer’s assurances that they wouldn’t “screw it up”, many Tumblr users have become wary of using the platform. Yahoo! may have the best of intentions, but … Continue reading ?
Jul 18, 2013
Travel blogging has become wildly popular in recent years. With the rise of the life hacking and digital nomad trends, more and more people are taking advantage of the abilities technology provides to cut the ties to home and hearth … Continue reading ?
Jul 16, 2013
Southfield, MI, July 17, 2013 – Nexcess, a Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring and presenting at this year’s MagentoLive Conference in Sydney, Australia. MagentoLive Australia is Australia’s preeminent Magento conference and will provide … Continue reading ?
Jul 16, 2013
Here’s a slightly different post than the usual. This is a small tutorial on how to do one of my favorite art styles: sporadic watercolor. I’ll be using a piece I did of my wife as the progress example to … Continue reading ?
Jul 15, 2013
The educational world has been changing in recent years. Today, it’s expected that teachers will put a significant amount of their course material online. There are dedicated open source educational platforms, but WordPress, the world’s most popular open source content … Continue reading ?
Jul 15, 2013
Google Chrome has gone from strength to strength since its introduction a few years ago. One of its biggest benefits is the huge ecosystem of extensions and applications that can be used to add features and customize the browser experience. … Continue reading ?
Jul 11, 2013
Magento, in both its community and enterprise editions, is overwhelmingly the most popular open source eCommerce platform available. Much of its power is baked right in, with almost all the features an online store needs, but there are also many … Continue reading ?
Jul 09, 2013
Because of the popularity of WordPress, it has become one of the prime targets of hackers. This isn’t because of any particular weakness in WordPress itself, but rather because the sheer number of sites running WordPress make it an irresistible … Continue reading ?
Jul 03, 2013
As a programmer, much of my job is eliminating the chance for human error by automating as much as is sensible. I don’t live with the mindset of “keep those filthy humans away” but I do know the value of … Continue reading ?
Jul 02, 2013
The first half of 2013 is in the books. Before we look forward to the second half of the year, we should take a moment and enjoy all that the previous six months have brought us. As expected, June closed … Continue reading ?
Jul 01, 2013
WordPress is perfectly capable of providing a standard ticketing system for customer support, but adding a forum brings a number of benefits that a ticketing system does not. Community Involvement – Your customers and clients are often your business’s best … Continue reading ?
Jun 26, 2013
If you’re pondering creating a blog or website, whether its because you’re an entrepreneur starting a business, you want to make money blogging, or you simply have a creative itch to scratch, you can’t have failed to come across WordPress. … Continue reading ?
Jun 19, 2013
du is a utility to tell you the disk usage of files or directories. Usually when people run it, they want the output in a human readable format like 314M, 2.7K, and 161G which are a lot easier to read … Continue reading ?
Jun 19, 2013
A vulnerability was recently discovered in two of the most popular caching plugins that allowed the execution of arbitrary PHP code added to blog comments. Both W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache have released updated versions that fix the … Continue reading ?
Jun 11, 2013
WordPress has long worn the laurels as the most popular content management system in the world. With its 10th birthday on the horizon, WordPress has become the platform of choice for a huge range of content producers, including solo bloggers, … Continue reading ?
Jun 05, 2013
Update, Update, Update! Everybody has seen this over and over again, and with good reason. WordPress is one of the most widely used Content Management Systems (CMS) for blogging and the security patches provided in their updates can help keep … Continue reading ?
Jun 03, 2013
Southfield, MI, June 2, 2013 – Nexcess, provider of enterprise eCommerce hosting and Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, have announced that their team will be attending the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition (IRCE) 2013 in booth #1333. The conference, which will … Continue reading ?
May 31, 2013
With school ending and summer starting, it’s a perfect time to catch up on all of your reading. That’s why we’ve been rounding up the most informative and relevant WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine articles that we’ve come across during the … Continue reading ?
May 22, 2013
When it comes to load-times for web pages, faster is always better. It doesn’t matter how incredible a site’s content is, or how effective their social media and advertising strategies are at drawing visitors to a site. If those visitors … Continue reading ?
May 15, 2013
When tackling a topic as large as IT support, the discussion (much too often) stalls at the point of deciding where to begin. After all, as I mentioned in the first part of this series, we debate the question, “How … Continue reading ?
May 14, 2013
Magento is, at its core, an open source and freely available eCommerce solution. Coupled with optimized Magento hosting, the Community Edition incorporates all the basics that new online retailers need to get a store up and running. However, there are … Continue reading ?
May 09, 2013
I think cron is a wonderful creation. It is simple in what it does while being extremely useful. Allow me to present a short introduction to it for those unfamiliar, then I will show you a handy trick you may … Continue reading ?
May 06, 2013
April may bring May flowers, but it also brings a healthy new crop of WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine content that we are thrilled to share with you. So, without further ado, here’s the most informative and interesting content that we came … Continue reading ?
May 03, 2013
Transactional email are the emails that a WordPress site sends out to its users in response to some action they have taken. Newsletters and other promotional emails are considered to be bulk mail rather than transactional mail. Transactional email includes … Continue reading ?
May 01, 2013
Earlier this month, 1,500 developers and merchants traveled from both the USA and around the world to the M Resort in Las Vegas. The event was the third annual Imagine eCommerce Conference. Magento merchants, Solution Partners, Industry, and Hosting Partners … Continue reading ?
Apr 24, 2013
Accuracy, resolution, and precision are easily confused parameters used to describe the performance a system is capable of. While working on a recent temperature monitoring network using digital temperature sensors made by Texas Instruments, I had several choices on how … Continue reading ?
Apr 23, 2013
WordPress was originally designed as a blogging platform and eventually grew into the comprehensively featured content management system we know and love today. It was never intended to be used as a platform for retail. For serious online retailers, the … Continue reading ?
Apr 18, 2013
Sometimes I want view a file and see all the tabs replaced with a tab character and see line endings clearly marked. This might be because I’m trying to parse the file somehow, writing a regex to match something, or … Continue reading ?
Apr 16, 2013
This is a guest post by Steve Shaw. Steve is Head of Digital at leading SEO & Digital agency
Apr 13, 2013
WordPress sites across the Internet are currently under attack from a botnet that is carrying out a brute force dictionary attack against the WordPress login page in the hope of finding correct username/password combinations. This attack is unusually large, with … Continue reading ?
Apr 09, 2013
Winter is drawing to a close and soon spring will be in full swing. It’s a great time to take a look at your WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine sites and consider if they need some spring cleaning to speed them … Continue reading ?
Apr 08, 2013
Southfield, MI, April 8, 2013 – Nexcess, a provider of optimized Magento hosting and Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, has published “Magento Hosting: Best Practices for Optimum Performance”, a free white paper that contains guidance and analysis regarding the best configuration … Continue reading ?
Apr 04, 2013
As anyone involved in eCommerce knows, fulfillment is one of the most difficult aspects to manage properly. Many new online retailers don’t realize the amount of work involved in preparing products for shipping and handing them off to delivery services. … Continue reading ?
Apr 03, 2013
Hello, I am Will Hough, and I am a vinyl junkie. I’ve been collecting records on and off (as money allowed) since 1989. I’ve always been a music fan and my tastes are very diverse and picky. My first record … Continue reading ?
Mar 28, 2013
Every few months the good folks over at WordPress drop a new collection of features and fixes on their eagerly waiting users. Next month will the see the –– slightly delayed –– release of WordPress 3.6. You’ll be happy to … Continue reading ?
Mar 27, 2013
Hello! I’m Jamie Alquiza, systems administrator at Nexcess. Performance is something our team discusses quite a bit. Today, I’ve got terrible news: IOPS are a myth. Well, almost. You may or may not be familiar with IOPS. It’s a storage … Continue reading ?
Mar 20, 2013
While I was at my girlfriend Jill’s house today, I wanted to hook up my business phone because I needed to make a few phone calls. In doing so, I ran into a few dilemmas that made what might be … Continue reading ?
Mar 19, 2013
Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento hosting and Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, has added several new features and enhancements to its popular open source Turpentine extension for Magento. Turpentine provides improved Magento compatibility with Varnish, a very fast caching reverse … Continue reading ?
Mar 19, 2013
Using a live chat widget to establish a direct method of connection between a site’s visitors and its owners or customer relations and sales staff is a great way to increase user engagement, deal immediately with queries from potential customers, … Continue reading ?
Mar 13, 2013
When we think of “Zen and the art of [insert punny or topical subject here],” it’s usually a (knowing or unknowing) reference to Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or ZAMM (which, in turn, … Continue reading ?
Mar 11, 2013
ExpressionEngine is a powerful and flexible content management system. It’s the go-to CMS for many who need a highly configurable and reliable platform to build their site on. ExpressionEngine isn’t as old as some of the other CMS platforms, and … Continue reading ?
Mar 08, 2013
It’s been a while since I wrote a post, so let me reintroduce myself. I’m Jay Al-Qalyuby, the Customer Service Manger (CSM) at Nexcess.net. I started working at Nexcess five years ago when I was working on my BBA at … Continue reading ?
Mar 04, 2013
Southfield, MI, March 4, 2013 – Nexcess, a US-based provider of Magento, WordPress, and ExpressionEngine hosting, will be expanding to offer services in Brisbane, Australia effective this month. Nexcess provides services that range from shared (standard) web hosting to enterprise-grade … Continue reading ?
Feb 27, 2013
After my previous post, involving the microwave interface, I asked a few people in my family how they enter one minute on a microwave. I was surprised that none of them had ever thought to enter 6 – 0 for … Continue reading ?
Feb 26, 2013
February is the shortest month of the year, but, nevertheless, acres of articles about our favorite content management and eCommerce platforms have been written. As WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine obsessives, we keep an eye on everything that’s happening in their … Continue reading ?
Feb 25, 2013
Southfield, MI, February 25, 2013 – Nexcess, the industry’s leading provider of Magento hosting solutions and a Magento Platinum Hosting Partner, is proud to announce their Diamond-level sponsorship of the 2013 Magento Imagine eCommerce conference. The Magento Imagine eCommerce conference … Continue reading ?
Feb 20, 2013
The eCommerce industry surpassed a trillion-dollars in sales worldwide for 2012, and continues to demonstrate substantial growth. eMarketer reported for the 2012 selling year, B2C eCommerce sales grew by 21.1 percent worldwide,and predicted that sales will increase another 12.3 percent … Continue reading ?
Feb 15, 2013
Have you ever had that strange experience of visiting a company’s site to look at their products or services and then some time later noticed adverts for that company being displayed on unrelated pages as you browse the web? That … Continue reading ?
Feb 07, 2013
Troubleshooting a site-to-site VPN tunnel that is not working can be a difficult task, luckily most VPN appliances provide ample debugging information for you to diagnose the issue. When viewing this debugging information, a good set of steps can be … Continue reading ?
Feb 04, 2013
Everyone who is familiar with UPnP can stop reading now, unless you’re curious, because you’ve probably already disabled it. UPnP has been a huge security issue ever since its release, with exploitable vulnerabilities showing up with alarming frequency all through … Continue reading ?
Jan 31, 2013
January has been a great month for WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine content. Today we’re going to bring you a roundup of the articles that we found most interesting and informative. Whether you’re new to building a website or an old … Continue reading ?
Jan 30, 2013
We run the Nexcess public mirror for distros and software our servers and employees use. Running our own mirror reduces our bandwidth usage since the traffic for updates and installations of our CentOS servers never leaves our network. It also … Continue reading ?
Jan 28, 2013
Back in the fall, I packed up my laptop and headed out on a long trip. We started with 10 days in Italy (my wife had a conference there) and then headed down to South Africa to visit friends and … Continue reading ?
Jan 21, 2013
One of the first decisions to be made after choosing to use WordPress is where to host it. The two major options are self-hosting or free hosting on the WordPress.com cloud hosting platform. There are advantages to both, but for … Continue reading ?
Jan 15, 2013
Before the advent of Content Management Systems, websites were created from the ground up by web developers and designers. They wrote the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and designed the back-ends. This approach has both benefits and drawbacks. Designing a bespoke … Continue reading ?
Jan 07, 2013
Every month, busy beavers around the Web are producing acres of excellent content about WordPress, Magento, and ExpressionEngine. In our monthly round-ups we like to pick the most interesting and potentially useful content to share with our readers. WordPress and … Continue reading ?
Dec 27, 2012
2012 was the year of the Panda and the Penguin. Google became — or at least tried to become — better at discerning high-quality content from the textual flotsam that isn’t worthy of a reader’s attention. Great for readers, but … Continue reading ?
Dec 21, 2012
The last major WordPress release was nearly six months ago. It brought with it a host of improvements to the WordPress user and developer experience, including a new theme customizer and better handling of image captions. Never ones to rest … Continue reading ?
Dec 14, 2012
It’s been a couple of months since we initially released the Turpentine extension for Magento. It has come quite a ways in that time, with these new features added: Hole-punch support via ESI (and optionally AJAX) Initial cookie bypass support … Continue reading ?
Dec 12, 2012
Content mills are a contentious topic, especially among writers. They can be thought of as the Walmart of the writing industry, where freelance writers are paid very low rates to produce acres of content. They are a profitable business for … Continue reading ?
Dec 10, 2012
As of October 17th, eCommerce sites will see a significant decline in their traffic from Google Shopping unless they set up a Product Listing Ads campaign. Over the last few months, Google has been trialling the planned switch from unpaid … Continue reading ?
Dec 07, 2012
A few weeks ago, I decided to become something of a chocolatier and make chocolate treats for the Nexcess staff. This was the exact reason why I purchased a brand new double boiler. It’s cute, isn’t it? There are a … Continue reading ?
Dec 05, 2012
The integration of GoodRelations classes and properties with Schema.org increases the number of semantic product types and relationships understood by the major search engines. If you’re unfamiliar with Schema.org, it’s a vocabulary, which, when used as part of a page’s … Continue reading ?
Dec 01, 2012
Once again, we’re happy to bring you some of the most interesting, informative, and useful content from across the Web that focuses on WordPress, ExpressionEngine, and Magento. WordPress and Blogging PostRunner: The Best Guest Blogging Platform Out There – Accepting … Continue reading ?
Nov 27, 2012
How do you set your microwave to one minute? For some (like the one I used to have at home) you could just press the number 1 and it would start running at one minute. I like that because I’m … Continue reading ?
Nov 16, 2012
Have you ever had a lot of files and folders that you want to list or print? I am a music fanatic and I discover and buy new music and put together a list each year. I have a folder … Continue reading ?
Nov 13, 2012
Anyone who has organized even a simple social event like a party knows that getting everyone together in the same place at the same time takes a lot of effort. The planning and coordination of larger events like conferences, conventions, … Continue reading ?
Nov 02, 2012
There’s an often-repeated saying among system administrators that if data doesn’t exist in at least three places, then it doesn’t exist at all. Data is ephemeral, and the media we use to store it is by no means immune to … Continue reading ?
Nov 01, 2012
Southfield, Michigan, November 1st, 2012 - Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento hosting and Platinum Magento Hosting Partner, is proud to announce its sponsorship of the first MagentoLive event, which will be taking place in London this month. MagentoLive UK … Continue reading ?
Oct 29, 2012
If you follow our Twitter or Facebook accounts, you’ll know that we like share the best content that we come across on the Web with our clients. In case you’ve missed anything this month, here’s a round-up of content that … Continue reading ?
Oct 15, 2012
Southfield, Michigan, October 15th, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento eCommerce hosting, is proud to announce the availability of Turpentine, a free and open-source Magento extension that modifies Magento’s behavior to improve integration with the HTTP accelerator, Varnish. … Continue reading ?
Oct 12, 2012
Halloween, that frightful time of year, is upon us once again. Not only is it the holiday where kids (and adults alike) get to dress up as their favorite ghosts, ghouls, goblins, fairies, heroes and more, but it happens to … Continue reading ?
Oct 12, 2012
At Nexcess, we specialize in Magento, WordPress, and ExpressionEngine hosting, and we like to keep up to date with the best of what’s happening in those communities. Today’s blog post is a roundup of content published over the last month … Continue reading ?
Oct 11, 2012
SOUTHFIELD, Michigan–October 10, 2012 — EllisLab and Nexcess are proud to announce that they are now working together to provide the premier hosting experience for all ExpressionEngine powered sites. EllisLab, creator of the industry leading web publishing platform ExpressionEngine has … Continue reading ?
Oct 02, 2012
A new extension available from Magento Connect enables Magento users to display a Google Trusted Stores badge on their site. Google Trusted Stores is a recent initiative from Google to give ecommerce stores a way to display their reliability and … Continue reading ?
Sep 27, 2012
Ann Arbor, MI September 27, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of shared and dedicated WordPress hosting, has announced that they will be an enterprise-level sponsor of this year’s WordCamp event in Detroit, Michigan for a second consecutive year. WordCamp … Continue reading ?
Sep 21, 2012
Google Webmaster Tools is an amazing, free resource available to web developers. If you aren’t already using it, you should check it out! There are many features available, but here I’d like to focus just on using Google Webmaster tools … Continue reading ?
Sep 18, 2012
If you use Magento, then you depend on its email functionality to send order confirmations, invoices, and shipping confirmations to your clients. Aside from technical people, many Magento users do not know how Magento sends email. While knowing how Magento … Continue reading ?
Sep 14, 2012
Often times clients will begin work on a site using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress and Magento and will run into “Permission denied” or “Method not implemented” errors when performing routine work such as uploading pictures or … Continue reading ?
Sep 13, 2012
This post is for all of you Minecraft fanatics out there that run a server and are looking for a web based map that automatically updates itself. If you don’t know what Minecraft is you’ve probably been sleeping under a … Continue reading ?
Sep 12, 2012
An issue was identified on newer shared servers (including shared SIP and shared OBP servers) that use PHP-FPM along with APC for an opcode cache. This issue had the potential for clients to see other users shared private data within … Continue reading ?
Sep 10, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 20, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento and WordPress hosting has announced its inclusion in the 2012 Inc.com 5000 for the third year running. The Michigan-based company is ranked 1463rd, and is 38th in … Continue reading ?
Sep 06, 2012
Over the years the WordPress dashboard has improved enormously. From being a relatively frustrating experience, creating blog posts with WordPress has become very slick and straightforward. However, for many reasons, some people prefer to put their posts together offline or … Continue reading ?
Aug 31, 2012
Magento and WordPress are each dominant in their respective domains. Magento is the world’s most popular open source eCommerce platform, and WordPress the leading content management system. Each has its own strengths, but there are areas where those strengths don’t … Continue reading ?
Aug 21, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 22, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of ExpressionEngine and Magento hosting has announced that they will be the main sponsor for this year’s ExpressionEngine Conference, which is taking place from October 15th to October 17th … Continue reading ?
Aug 10, 2012
I like to use keyboard shortcuts for just about anything I can. It confuses my wife a little when she watches me on the computer (she says I’m Computer ADHD) but for me it gets the job done quicker and … Continue reading ?
Aug 08, 2012
When PayPal arrived back in the late 90s, it was a revelation. Offering easy-to-use services that individuals and small businesses could take advantage of and join the burgeoning e-commerce industry, PayPal became enormously popular and successful, and rightly so. Much … Continue reading ?
Aug 02, 2012
Social media can be a bit of a minefield for online retailers. There is a huge number of social networks, and more are sprouting seemingly by the day. With so many options, it’s difficult to know where to target a … Continue reading ?
Jul 27, 2012
If you have ever built or managed a website, you know that site file names don’t always stay the same for whatever reason. This is when you need to add “301 Moved Permanently” rules to your .htaccess file. This does … Continue reading ?
Jul 25, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 23, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of premium Magento hosting services, has announced that it will be quadrupling the storage space on its SIP 400 and SIP 500 dedicated Magento servers and Magento cluster offerings … Continue reading ?
Jul 19, 2012
When you do a fresh install of x86_64 CentOS 5, you might be surprised and annoyed to find yum trying to install 32 bit packages on your 64 bit server. You’ve got a 64 bit processor and operating system so … Continue reading ?
Jul 06, 2012
Magento recently posted an important security update that affects all versions prior to CE 1.7.0.2 and EE 1.12.0.2. The vulnerability is specifically in the Zend Framework’s Zend_XmlRpc module, which means that any application built on the Zend Framework is potentially … Continue reading ?
Jul 06, 2012
Magento recently posted an important security update that affects all versions prior to CE 1.7.0.2 and EE 1.12.0.2. The vulnerability is specifically in the Zend Framework’s Zend_XmlRpc module, which means that any application built on the Zend Framework is potentially … Continue reading ?
Jul 05, 2012
Until recently, integrating a WordPress site with Facebook has been a rather hit-and-miss affair, with functionality spread across third-party extensions that were often less than reliable. The release of a Facebook for WordPress extension, developed in partnership with WordPress, has … Continue reading ?
Jul 05, 2012
Until recently, integrating a WordPress site with Facebook has been a rather hit-and-miss affair, with functionality spread across third-party extensions that were often less than reliable. The release of a Facebook for WordPress extension, developed in partnership with WordPress, has … Continue reading ?
Jul 03, 2012
The evidence has been in for quite some time now: banner ads are not an effective use of the webspace on your page. The expected CTR (Click-Through Rate) for banner ads is below 0.2 percent. That means for every 1000 … Continue reading ?
Jul 03, 2012
The evidence has been in for quite some time now: banner ads are not an effective use of the webspace on your page. The expected CTR (Click-Through Rate) for banner ads is below 0.2 percent. That means for every 1000 … Continue reading ?
Jun 29, 2012
I was sitting around thinking of how I could top my batman blog post. The best advise I’ve ever heard when writing about something is “write what you know”. Otherwise, you might end up sounding like a fool. So as … Continue reading ?
Jun 29, 2012
I was sitting around thinking of how I could top my batman blog post. The best advise I’ve ever heard when writing about something is “write what you know”. Otherwise, you might end up sounding like a fool. So as … Continue reading ?
Jun 27, 2012
Here at Nexcess we’re always on the lookout for ways of improving our technology stack for our clients. This means making things like Varnish or Memcached, which can improve application performance tremendously, to be easy to deploy and manage on … Continue reading ?
Jun 27, 2012
Here at Nexcess we’re always on the lookout for ways of improving our technology stack for our clients. This means making things like Varnish or Memcached, which can improve application performance tremendously, to be easy to deploy and manage on … Continue reading ?
Jun 26, 2012
It’s my pleasure to announce the second edition of D-LUG! We have a special guest speaker this time around. His name is Mark Stanislav (www.uncompiled.com) “Mark Stanislav is a Senior Consultant at NetWorks Group, focused on operational automation and information … Continue reading ?
Jun 26, 2012
It’s my pleasure to announce the second edition of D-LUG! We have a special guest speaker this time around. His name is Mark Stanislav (www.uncompiled.com) “Mark Stanislav is a Senior Consultant at NetWorks Group, focused on operational automation and information … Continue reading ?
Jun 20, 2012
Late static binding (LSB) is new to PHP 5.3 (released 30 June 2009) but until recently there was a bug in how it worked with reflection. See the manual page for LSB with some examples and definition. For our example, … Continue reading ?
Jun 20, 2012
Late static binding (LSB) is new to PHP 5.3 (released 30 June 2009) but until recently there was a bug in how it worked with reflection. See the manual page for LSB with some examples and definition. For our example, … Continue reading ?
Jun 14, 2012
This week sees the release of a new version of everyone’s favorite Content Management System. It’s an opportune time to take a look at the new features and improvements we can expect from WordPress 3.4, which is scheduled for release … Continue reading ?
Jun 14, 2012
This week sees the release of a new version of everyone’s favorite Content Management System. It’s an opportune time to take a look at the new features and improvements we can expect from WordPress 3.4, which is scheduled for release … Continue reading ?
Jun 12, 2012
A recent study from Briteskies shows that only 17 percent of small-to-medium revenue e-commerce businesses have a dedicated site for mobile devices. This fact was more than a little surprising, as countless previous studies have shown that a poor user … Continue reading ?
Jun 12, 2012
A recent study from Briteskies shows that only 17 percent of small-to-medium revenue e-commerce businesses have a dedicated site for mobile devices. This fact was more than a little surprising, as countless previous studies have shown that a poor user … Continue reading ?
Jun 08, 2012
It’s never a bad idea, or a bad time, to talk about some easy methods to help ensure the security of your computer and web site. These may be common knowledge, but the failure to follow these policies are the … Continue reading ?
Jun 08, 2012
It’s never a bad idea, or a bad time, to talk about some easy methods to help ensure the security of your computer and web site. These may be common knowledge, but the failure to follow these policies are the … Continue reading ?
Jun 08, 2012
International e-commerce sales are expected to be worth $1.9 trillion within the next three years. According to a recent study, a large and growing proportion of these sales will be paid for by methods other than a credit card. In … Continue reading ?
May 29, 2012
I use virtual machines at work and home to test and experiment with various things. After setting up a new virtual machine, I install some of the programs I use on a daily basis like emacs, gawk, ack, etc. But … Continue reading ?
May 21, 2012
You’ve compressed and minified your JavaScript and CSS, optimized your database, and tweaked your caching config, and yet you still can’t seem to get that time-to-first-byte to drop below one second. Tweaking dynamic applications like Magento can be frustrating. Sometimes … Continue reading ?
May 14, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 14, 2012 -Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento eCommerce solutions and Magento hosting partner, is pleased to announce sponsorship of the upcoming Meet Magento #6.12 conference in Leipzig, Germany. The conference will feature keynotes from industry … Continue reading ?
May 14, 2012
As I mentioned in my last blog entry about Customer Service, my obsession for Batman would be a blog for another time. That time is here! As a young boy, I knew there was something special about the caped crusader. … Continue reading ?
May 07, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 7, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of premium eCommerce hosting services, has announced that the company’s sustained PCI-compliant web hosting environment will become PCI certified in the coming weeks. This certification relates to directly to … Continue reading ?
May 04, 2012
Detroit’s official motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus “We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes.” It’s my pleasure to announce the first meeting of the Detroit Linux User Group A.K.A. D-LUG! With the rapid growth of the … Continue reading ?
May 03, 2012
The benefits of using social media for building brand awareness, driving traffic, and creating leads are well accepted. However, maintaining and monitoring a coherent content strategy across multiple channels can involve a lot of work. Thankfully, for those with a … Continue reading ?
Apr 27, 2012
Recently, I was notified of an “out of disk space” error message which showed up in one of our applications while trying to send an email. I knew right away the source of the problem and while the short term … Continue reading ?
Apr 27, 2012
Recently, I was notified of an “out of disk space” error message which showed up in one of our applications while trying to send an email. I knew right away the source of the problem and while the short term … Continue reading ?
Apr 27, 2012
Over the last several months, we have dedicated considerable time and effort in revamping our Support Knowledgebase (KB). This undertaking includes updating existing content, adding new content, and organizing information into a more logical and intuitive structure. Also, for those … Continue reading ?
Apr 27, 2012
Over the last several months, we have dedicated considerable time and effort in revamping our Support Knowledgebase (KB). This undertaking includes updating existing content, adding new content, and organizing information into a more logical and intuitive structure. Also, for those … Continue reading ?
Apr 20, 2012
A survey of e-commerce sites in the Alexa top million websites has found that, as of the first quarter of 2012, Magento is by far the most popular e-commerce solution. Alexa Internet Inc. tracks the web use of millions of … Continue reading ?
Apr 20, 2012
A survey of e-commerce sites in the Alexa top million websites has found that, as of the first quarter of 2012, Magento is by far the most popular e-commerce solution. Alexa Internet Inc. tracks the web use of millions of … Continue reading ?
Apr 16, 2012
While doing some profiling and benchmarking of Magento to test PHP-FPM I found that Magento was spending roughly a quarter of the run time for some page loads on comparing attributes. This struck me as odd, and so I looked … Continue reading ?
Apr 16, 2012
While doing some profiling and benchmarking of Magento to test PHP-FPM I found that Magento was spending roughly a quarter of the run time for some page loads on comparing attributes. This struck me as odd, and so I looked … Continue reading ?
Mar 30, 2012
The question of whether you can store credit card information within Magento comes up a lot here at Nexcess. The answer to this question is unfortunately not very clear when looking for an answer elsewhere including on the Magento website. … Continue reading ?
Mar 30, 2012
The question of whether you can store credit card information within Magento comes up a lot here at Nexcess. The answer to this question is unfortunately not very clear when looking for an answer elsewhere including on the Magento website. … Continue reading ?
Mar 26, 2012
The control panel we use, Interworx, comes with djbdns as its DNS server. djbdns is actually a suite made up of several separate servers, the two main ones being tinydns for iterative (non-recursive) lookups and dnscache for recursive lookups. Other … Continue reading ?
Mar 26, 2012
The control panel we use, Interworx, comes with djbdns as its DNS server. djbdns is actually a suite made up of several separate servers, the two main ones being tinydns for iterative (non-recursive) lookups and dnscache for recursive lookups. Other … Continue reading ?
Mar 16, 2012
There a lot of ways to use PHP with Apache, with the most popular probably being mod_php due to its ease of use. However there are many problems with mod_php both security and performance-wise and other solutions have been created … Continue reading ?
Mar 16, 2012
There a lot of ways to use PHP with Apache, with the most popular probably being mod_php due to its ease of use. However there are many problems with mod_php both security and performance-wise and other solutions have been created … Continue reading ?
Mar 13, 2012
Ann Arbor, MI, March 13, 2012 - Nexcess, a Michigan-based provider of Enterprise-grade managed hosting services has announced the successful completion of their SSAE 16 Type 2 examination, within the scope of Data Center and Web Hosting Services. Conducted by BrightLine CPAs … Continue reading ?
Mar 13, 2012
Ann Arbor, MI, March 13, 2012 - Nexcess, a Michigan-based provider of Enterprise-grade managed hosting services has announced the successful completion of their SSAE 16 Type 2 examination, within the scope of Data Center and Web Hosting Services. Conducted by BrightLine CPAs … Continue reading ?
Mar 05, 2012
Being one of the most widely-deployed blogging engines around, it’s no surprise that WordPress holds the interests of a wide audience. Unfortunately, not everyone is out to become the next rockstar blogger or tech pundit; the sad truth is that … Continue reading ?
Mar 05, 2012
Being one of the most widely-deployed blogging engines around, it’s no surprise that WordPress holds the interests of a wide audience. Unfortunately, not everyone is out to become the next rockstar blogger or tech pundit; the sad truth is that … Continue reading ?
Feb 24, 2012
I recently worked with one of our Magento Enterprise Cluster clients who wanted to improve the performance of their site. This client was using our Content Delivery Network to offload the serving of static assets, and was following all of … Continue reading ?
Feb 24, 2012
I recently worked with one of our Magento Enterprise Cluster clients who wanted to improve the performance of their site. This client was using our Content Delivery Network to offload the serving of static assets, and was following all of … Continue reading ?
Feb 22, 2012
In the wake of possibly the largest online protests in Internet history over SOPA and PIPA, copyright on the Internet remains no small topic on the public’s collective Internet-linked mind. Amidst this controversy, it became quite clear that the average … Continue reading ?
Feb 17, 2012
There was a time when you could Google my name and see an entry titled “Greg Swaney is what customer service should be”. That was the coolest thing I’d ever seen the first time I came across it. It told … Continue reading ?
Feb 15, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, Feburary 15, 2012 – Nexcess, a leading provider of superior web hosting services and a Gold Magento hosting partner, has announced participation in the second annual Magento Imagine eCommerce Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Acquired by eBay … Continue reading ?
Feb 10, 2012
When I was first approached to write a blog post I said to myself, this can’t be yet another technical article. Yes, the technical posts we write are informative; after all we are a hosting company! A hosting company that … Continue reading ?
Feb 03, 2012
I started using Ubuntu in 2009. By the following year I had dropped the dual boot with Windows XP and was completely Ubuntu. When I hit a glitch during an update in 2011, I figured I would re-install with the … Continue reading ?
Jan 30, 2012
Last summer, we were proud to roll out our Client Portal – a robust, integrated system that allows Nexcess clients to quickly and easily manage their hosting account and utilize the Support system, from a single login. It’s been over 6 months … Continue reading ?
Jan 30, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 30, 2012 – Nexcess, a Michigan-based managed hosting company with specialized solutions in Magento and WordPress hosting, has announced a new enterprise line of managed server clusters that are uniquely optimized for WordPress-based web sites. This … Continue reading ?
Jan 23, 2012
If you are reading this blog post or host a site with us, you have more than likely heard about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP act (PIPA). There is so much information circulating regarding these … Continue reading ?
Jan 16, 2012
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A., January 16, 2011 – Nexcess, a United States-based managed web hosting company with specialized services in WordPress web hosting, has announced a new line of UK WordPress hosting solutions to be made available effective immediately. This … Continue reading ?
Jan 13, 2012
When a website reaches the point where a single web server can no longer handle the amount of traffic to the content or services it provides you must find a way to reliably distribute its load over two or more … Continue reading ?
Jan 12, 2012
In my last blog posting I wrote about some basic features of grep. If you already use grep a lot, it was probably a pretty boring post. One problem I used to have is when running grep, I’d get a … Continue reading ?
Dec 30, 2011
Apache’s Solr search platform is a common solution for more flexible and better performing searches on sites that have outgrown their database’s built-in search facilities. Here at Nexcess, the most common use is by clients with Magento Enterprise Edition (the … Continue reading ?
Dec 19, 2011
Apache’s mod_rewrite and mod_alias can be very useful, but they can also be a huge pain to debug when a problem arises. Luckily, there are a few things that can help, and since you’re probably not the first person attempting … Continue reading ?
Dec 05, 2011
In my last blog posting I wrote about features of the less pager. Its one of those very common Linux utilities that everyone uses but no one reads the man page to learn about features. Just like less, everyone uses … Continue reading ?
Nov 21, 2011
Web hosting is a competitive industry. Hosting companies can often find success by differentiating themselves through specialization. To that end, companies specializing in hosting certain popular web applications such as WordPress or Magento have been able to compete against the … Continue reading ?
Nov 15, 2011
WordPress is typically great about taking care of itself and dealing with upgrades elegantly. However, sometimes it gets stuck in a rut. One common issue we’ve seen is the upgrade loop, which presents you with a page in wp-admin explaining … Continue reading ?
Nov 11, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 10, 2011 – Nexcess, a web hosting provider with data center facilities in Dearborn and Southfield, Michigan, has announced the release of a new web hosting platform that is designed specifically for hosting WordPress web sites. … Continue reading ?
Nov 04, 2011
Scenario 1: You you have two servers located a large geographical distance apart, say one in The US, the other in the UK. You are copying a large file between these two locations via scp but you are only averaging … Continue reading ?
Oct 30, 2011
less is what is known as a pager in the world of Linux. Pagers are used to view files or output piped in. As their name implies, they’re used when there are multiple pages of text that can’t fit on … Continue reading ?
Oct 17, 2011
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is one of the oldest and most widely supported methods of adding dynamic content to a website. However, debugging CGI scripts can be quite a pain, since often the error messages are vague and unhelpful (such … Continue reading ?
Oct 17, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 17, 2011 – Nexcess, a managed web hosting company with data centers located in Dearborn and Southfield, Michigan, has announced their role as an Enterprise Sponsor of WordCamp Detroit 2011. WordCamp is an informal local conference … Continue reading ?
Oct 04, 2011
I often find myself needing a simple tool to diagnose TCP and UDP connection issues in real time. While tcpdump is an excellent tool for debugging issues at the packet level, a higher level tool is often better to diagnose … Continue reading ?
Oct 03, 2011
DNS is perhaps one of the biggest sources of frustration for our clients (trumped perhaps only be e-mail). These issues mostly stem from the way DNS caching works. Since every domain on the internet requires DNS to function, there are … Continue reading ?
Sep 26, 2011
I have the pleasure of dealing with mail problems frequently, specifically problems getting messages delivered from our servers to other servers. When diagnosing a problem, I usually ended up telnetting directly to the server to send it some commands to … Continue reading ?
Sep 12, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 12, 2011 – Nexcess, an eCommerce hosting company and Magento Gold Hosting Partner, has announced that they will be exhibiting at the 2011 X.commerce Innovate Developer Conference on October 12-13 in at Moscone West in San … Continue reading ?
Sep 11, 2011
While there are numerous version control systems available these days, Git (created by Linus Torvalds) has become very popular recently. In this post, I’m going to cover the basic usage of Git, along with other helpful tools. Git is cross-platform, … Continue reading ?
Sep 06, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 6, 2011 – Nexcess, an eCommerce hosting company with facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, has announced their inclusion in the 2011 Inc. 5000 list for a second straight year. The Michigan web hosting company placed #1297 overall, … Continue reading ?
Sep 02, 2011
Recently, a certificate authority (CA) named Diginotar mistakenly issued valid wildcard SSL certificates for some major websites such as Google, Mozilla, Yahoo, WordPress and the Tor Project. Security experts and application vendors considered this a serious threat to the essential … Continue reading ?
Aug 28, 2011
RVM is a great piece of software. Without it, it’d be a nightmare to maintain multiple versions of Ruby and multiple gemsets. I know that I use it every day, and if you’re developing with Ruby, you’ll probably want to … Continue reading ?
Aug 22, 2011
CentOS 6 comes with a splash screen that displays a progress bar as it boots. This looks nice and might be cool on a desktop for some eye candy but I’d rather watch what is happening. You can hit any … Continue reading ?
Aug 14, 2011
It seems that every site you visit has a link to share this article, page or product with your Facebook friends. This tutorial will make it easy for your customers to share your products with their Facebook friends. For this … Continue reading ?
Aug 08, 2011
Software RAID can be a great alternative when greater disk redundancy and/or performance is needed but the expense of a hardware RAID card can’t be justified. On Linux, software RAID almost universally means mdadm, so that is what I’m going … Continue reading ?
Aug 08, 2011
On the heels of our support system upgrade, we are finally fully integrating our client portals of all of our various services into one complete system. This will allow us to provide a single point of contact for all of … Continue reading ?
Aug 05, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 1, 2011 – Nexcess, operator of a PCI -compliant Michigan data center, has announced the addition of Global Crossing (GBLX) to the facility’s network. Effective immediately, Nexcess’ web hosting clients that receive service from the company’s … Continue reading ?
Aug 01, 2011
Many Magento store owners continue to operate old versions of the rapidly maturing e-commerce application. With the 1.6 release looming on the horizon, now seems like a good time to consider upgrading. If you’re running a version prior to the … Continue reading ?
Jul 26, 2011
When you’re working on your store and trying to get something important done, momentum matters a lot, and anything that interrupts your workflow can really get you out of the zone. I find that this happens to me a lot … Continue reading ?
Jul 15, 2011
Partnering with RedStage, Celebros, and Magento, The Nexcess team had the opportunity to organize and be part of our first event, in a series of informal events, focused on Magento and e-commerce at large. This event was intentionally held in … Continue reading ?
Jul 15, 2011
Kernels RPMs are install only packages but CentOS 4 has no limit on the number of install only packages it will keep around, so you can easily end up with years worth of kernels installed on your server. This doesn’t … Continue reading ?
Jul 10, 2011
Virtual machines are undeniably useful in web hosting, not just as an offered service but also just for testing and debugging issues. However, while VMWare and Xen offer good performance they require a server dedicated to running just the VMWare … Continue reading ?
Jul 01, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 1, 2011 – Nexcess, an eCommerce hosting provider with wholly-owned facilities located in Dearborn, Michigan, has announced that they will be giving a presentation on July 7, 2011 at an event in New York City, entitled … Continue reading ?
Jun 29, 2011
What is response time? Response time, or Responsiveness, is simply how quickly an interactive system responds to user input. In terms of the web, definitions vary. Some researchers define response time from the moment the user submits the request for … Continue reading ?
Jun 20, 2011
At Nexcess, we commonly run across problematic extension. Whether the issue is version incompatibilities, database problems, permissions problems, or anything else, the ability to quickly disable an extension or two for troubleshooting is extremely useful. First, a bit about Magento’s … Continue reading ?
Jun 10, 2011
Sooner or later, you will probably want to install a Magento theme other than the default. The good news is, Magento theme installation is quick and easy. This will be accomplished in just 3 simple steps. Step 1: Download a … Continue reading ?
Jun 07, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 30, 2011 – Nexcess, an eCommerce web hosting provider with wholly-owned data center facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, announced today that they are now certified under the U.S.-E.U. Safe Harbor Framework. This achievement is intended to promote … Continue reading ?
Jun 04, 2011
The native replication built into MySQL is a powerful tool to keep an identical copy or copies of a database across multiple servers. MySQL replication is useful if you want have an exact copy of a live database for backup … Continue reading ?
May 27, 2011
We use CentOS almost exclusively here at Nexcess.net and while it’s very stable, a downside is that it often ships with older versions of software. Unfortunately, Ruby is one of those older software packages that we find our clients will … Continue reading ?
May 23, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 23, 2011 – Nexcess, an eCommerce web hosting company and official Magento hosting provider, has announced the expansion of their Magento web hosting product line at the company’s United Kingdom facilities. This addition, which applies only … Continue reading ?
May 21, 2011
“What is the difference between the “Flush Magento Cache” and “Flush Cache Storage” buttons?” We get this question often enough that it’s worth making a short blog post about it. In order to understand the difference between these two options, … Continue reading ?
May 14, 2011
SSL is one of the most widely-used technologies for securing communications over the internet. It does have a few design flaws, but it’s still widely used to secure e-mail (IMAP-SSL and POP3-SSL), HTTP traffic (via HTTPS), and other communications. By … Continue reading ?
May 09, 2011
Qmail is the mail client that comes with the control panel we use, Interworx. Qmail has its strengths and weaknesses, one drawback is there’s no easy built in way to view the messages in the mail queue. One of the … Continue reading ?
May 02, 2011
IPMI is the Intelligent Platform Management Interface which is an open standard that is integrated into most systems by hardware manufacturers. IPMI can provide real time hardware information including system temperatures, voltages, fan speeds and hardware status, along with identification … Continue reading ?
Apr 27, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan U.S.A., April 27, 2011- Nexcess, a Magento Enterprise Hosting Partner, has announced expansion into the UK Magento hosting market. This effort has been designed to better serve the company’s current and future eCommerce hosting clients by providing … Continue reading ?
Apr 23, 2011
Apache’s rewrite engine is very powerful and often misunderstood. It can be fairly cryptic to work with and given that a mistake can take down your site it can be costly to debug. While I’ve tested the following rules thoroughly … Continue reading ?
Apr 15, 2011
In previous weeks, we’ve covered some debugging tools for both MySQL and PHP that can be very helpful in troubleshooting problems with your LAMP-based web applications. However, there is a little known feature in the Varien library installed with Magento … Continue reading ?
Apr 09, 2011
Here at Nexcess, we deal with lots of passwords. Passwords for SSH, passwords for e-mail, passwords for intranet sites, passwords for VPNs. We have passwords that fall within the client realm things like webmail, control panels, e-mail, FTP…the list goes … Continue reading ?
Apr 02, 2011
We’ve seen a few customers failing PCI scans due to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities on the catalogsearch page. Initially it seemed like it was a bug in Magento where it wasn’t sanitizing its input but when we tried to … Continue reading ?
Mar 28, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 728, 2011– Nexcess, an Enterprise eCommerce hosting provider whose wholly-owned facilities reside in Dearborn, Michigan, has announced an SSAE-16 type I and II standards audit of their data center by BrightLine CPAs & Associates, Inc, formerly … Continue reading ?
Mar 25, 2011
APC (Alternative PHP Cache) is an opcode cache for PHP that works very well to speed up page loads when used on servers running Magento. There are many opcode caches available (APC, accelerator, xcache, etc) which can be used with … Continue reading ?
Mar 22, 2011
Magento has emerged as one of the Internet’s leading eCommerce solutions, and perhaps the greatest reason for this is the massive community that is constantly documenting new tricks and writing extensions. Want to get started with your own web-based storefront? … Continue reading ?
Mar 18, 2011
We often have clients that set-up a staging environment in addition to their production e-commerce environment. We also do a lot of website moves for clients who want to see their site on our servers before the final cut-over takes … Continue reading ?
Mar 16, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 14, 2011 – Nexcess, an enterprise eCommerce hosting provider, has announced that they will be exhibiting at Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2011 (IRCE2011). The event is scheduled to take place from June 14-17 at the … Continue reading ?
Mar 11, 2011
Magento version 1.5.0.1 was released on February 9th, 2011. It adds a number of performance improvements in the areas of dataflow and checkout, and comes with the hot new Magento Mobile module installed. While we have not run into the … Continue reading ?
Mar 06, 2011
Hello again! Last time we looked at optimizing performance of web apps, we were checking out how to diagnose PHP performance bottlenecks using XDebug to generate valgrind-style logs of what PHP was doing. While that can be immensely useful in … Continue reading ?
Feb 28, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 28, 2011 – Nexcess, an Enterprise Magento Hosting Partner with facilities in Dearborn, MI, has announced a new line of managed cluster solutions designed to work specifically for web sites that use the Magento shopping cart … Continue reading ?
Feb 25, 2011
Python is a great language but CentOS 5 comes with Python 2.4 which is pretty old nowadays. CentOS’s will remain on that version of Python until it reaches EOL since upgrading to a newer versions can introduce changes which are … Continue reading ?
Feb 20, 2011
New offering will bring dramatically improved web performance to Nexcess customer sites ANN ARBOR, MI – FEBRUARY 21, 2011 – Nexcess, a leading provider of managed web hosting and e-commerce hosting services, today announced the availability of high-quality content delivery … Continue reading ?
Jan 29, 2011
Tracking down a performance issue to the actual PHP app can be hard enough by itself, but what do you do once you’re sure that the app itself is the bottleneck? The excellent Xdebug ( http://www.xdebug.org/ )extension has many useful … Continue reading ?
Jan 21, 2011
I frequently need to look at apache log files to diagnose problems. Over time I’ve developed a series of one liners I can copy and paste to quickly analyze a log file to look for a problems, abuse, popular pages, … Continue reading ?
Jan 19, 2011
Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 17, 2011 – Nexcess, a specialized eCommerce web hosting provider and Enterprise Magento hosting partner, has announced that they will be taking part in the Magento Imagine Conference from February 7-11 in Los Angeles, CA as … Continue reading ?
Jan 18, 2011
The Dell DRAC (Dell Remote Access Card) is a powerful piece of hardware for remote server management. Utilizing a DRAC card, you can have total server control from remote locations including control to power on or off the server as … Continue reading ?
Jan 01, 2011
The latest stable version of magento, version 1.4.2.0, was released on December 8th. Upgrading Magento Community Edition always poses some problem or another, mostly due to user-customized themes and third-party extensions. However, upgrading from a vanilla 1.4.1.x install does generate … Continue reading ?
Dec 28, 2010
A guide and a few examples on the usage of the Dell PERC / LSI MegaRaid MegaCLI utility. Continue reading ?
Dec 19, 2010
mock is tool that builds your RPMs in a chrooted environment which helps make good RPMs. The way most people start out building RPMs is to run rpmbuild -ba on their spec file and hope it builds. While this works … Continue reading ?
Dec 13, 2010
In the Magento 1.4 release, the memcached backend configuration has changed. There are now more options listed than in previous Magento versions. Some confusion has resulted in how to configure memcached in this new version as the previous configuration for … Continue reading ?
Dec 06, 2010
By default most software packages are installed with the most lenient file/directory permissions and ownership. This is normally done for the sake of the software developer given that their software must be installed on a range of diverse systems with … Continue reading ?
Dec 01, 2010
Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 1, 2010 — Nexcess, a leading provider of shared, dedicated, and eCommerce web hosting services, announced it has adopted Ksplice’s Uptrack “rebootless” Linux technology, bringing its customers a new class of best-of-breed server offerings. Starting immediately, Ksplice … Continue reading ?
Nov 26, 2010
There are times when the web-based administration of Magento hits a snag and no longer works as quickly as we’d like it to. Perhaps product exports or backups time out, or refreshing the URL rewrite table seems to run for … Continue reading ?
Nov 21, 2010
Accurately measuring webpage performance across different browsers has always been a challenge. While there are benchmarks that are often quoted (such as the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark and the ACID3 compliance test), measuring total page load time has always been problematic. … Continue reading ?
Nov 14, 2010
I recently ran in to a problem where I had a 1.1 gig Apache transfer log and I needed to produce a list of IPs that had accessed two URLs more than 5 times but exclude a /24 CIDR block … Continue reading ?
Nov 08, 2010
When performance tuning any modern Linux system, selecting a proper I/O scheduler is an important but often under looked optimization. Linux comes configured with the cfq (Completely Fair Queuing) scheduler which has been optimized for best performance over a wide … Continue reading ?
Nov 03, 2010
Saturday, October 30th 2010 marked our 10 year anniversary online and as a web hosting company. Nexcess.net started in October of 2000 in the back room of my house in Southfield, MI with two web-servers, two DNS servers and some … Continue reading ?
Oct 22, 2010
During the development of your Magento eCommerce store, performance usually takes a back seat to functionality and design. However, after you’ve installed all of your extensions and have checked the spelling on your last cms page, you’ll want to focus … Continue reading ?
Oct 17, 2010
Last week, we covered speeding up WordPress with Memcache, which was simple enough, but most shared hosting plans don’t allow you to run memcached. Even if you are allowed to run the memcache daemon on your server and you have … Continue reading ?
Oct 11, 2010
Memcache is a High-performance, distributed object caching system. WordPress is a great piece of blogging / CMS software. If you’re running a WordPress site and you’re having growing pains, you can combine the two to handle increased traffic and, more … Continue reading ?