Wordpress installer

[MrPhelps]

This guy is giving away a Windows app that does any or all of three things:

1) Registers a domain name at Namecheap and sets the DNS entries to your host;

2) Creates a new account if needed on your host (requires WHM/cPanel) and installs Wordpress;

3) uploads a batch of plugins, installs them, and activates them. It also configures a few of them.

The price: you won't believe it!

http://www.ugetlinks.com/subscribe/

-David

[jacquic]

Very interesting find, David. Have you tried it out?

His uVerify software seems good too.

~ Jacqui

[MrPhelps]

Very interesting find, David. Have you tried it out?

His uVerify software seems good too.

~ Jacqui

Nope, not yet.

-David

[Winston]

Looks like it is a free software. But when you go to the download it says there is a subscription to use it.

[MrPhelps]

That's a poor choice of words on the author's part, IMO.

He has something built into the software to verify that, when you run it, you supply an email address that indicates you actually downloaded the software from his site. The "subscription" is his way of capturing your email when you request the download.

-David

[George]

I have 100+ domains in my NameCheap account, some very valuable. I'm just not sure I would enter my account info into some form on a website and give them carte blanche to do whatever they want.

Anyone else see problems with this concept?

[MrPhelps]

I have 100+ domains in my NameCheap account, some very valuable. I'm just not sure I would enter my account info into some form on a website and give them carte blanche to do whatever they want.

Anyone else see problems with this concept?

I'm not sure what you're talking about; this assertion has no bearing at all with this software. Have you downloaded it and tried it, or are you just going by what's in this thread?

As far as the "concept" goes, it's something that people do all the time when they're working with outsourced labor, so apparently it's not much of a concern to THEM. The only difference is they usually put all of their various account login info into an email, rather than a web site. And as many know, email is much less secure than most websites these days. I'm not going to defend other people's behaviors in this respect; I can only point out the obvious -- people don't seem terribly concerned about giving out their account login info to others.

That said, there are discussions in other threads here where they're talking about spending $25 a pop to outsource Wordpress installations. Some guy said he's spent $750 already for a bunch of WP site installations.

So I figured that a piece of software that lets you do it all yourself in about 5 minutes might be helpful to some. Not to mention that it's also 100% free. AND you don't have to expose your login info to ANYBODY.

(The program uses it when communicating with your web host and, optionally, with Namecheap, because it's simulating what you'd do yourself. If you don't trust the software in your own hands, then you're probably not going to trust outsourced labor with your account info either. Which begs the question, why ask if the "concept" of sharing sensitive account info with others makes sense? If you don't want to do the work yourself, you don't have any other options!)

-David

[George]

David,

Security is important to me. Perhaps you know the people behind this website and trust them, however, I do not. I did download the software to have a peek at it. I did not use it. It actually installs only 3 plugins and seems very limited... there is way more involved in setting up a WordPress site properly than what it appears to do.

I did a whois on this domain and that information is blocked. Which basically tells me they do not want you to know who they are or where they are from. The domain was registered in February 2010. Perhaps the software is ok, but for what convenience the software offers, to me, is just not worth the risk. The ability of this software is very limited at best.

I've been in this game since 1995, and run a number of dedicated servers. I take my security very seriously and will not give access to my domain registrar or root to my server to what could very well turn out to be another fishing scam. Sure it may create a site, register a domain but at what risk? That software could very well log and send that info anywhere... to anyone. I personally have issues with this whole concept.

George

[MrPhelps]

Unfortunately, George, every single piece of software you use can be outfitted to send virtually anything on your computer to some black-hole somewhere on the internet.

That's mainly how trojans work today.

Which is why there is software like Spy Sweeper, Black Ice, and other stuff to monitor data coming in and going out of your computer.

Windows XP has a built-in firewall that's rather difficult to disable, and it has only gotten more annoying (to me, anyway) with Vista and Windows 7. So even without any third-party software, you're in "good hands" -- that is, if you trust Microsoft. (I don't! Which is why I disable that stupid firewall of theirs and use SpySweeper. And I don't go near their so-called "anti-virus" software either. Half of Windows acts like a virus, and their "security patches" do as much harm as many viruses.)

I routinely mask all of my domain registrations, because I got sick of getting spam emails. I also get crap in the mail from places who harvest domain registration info and send you letters that look like renewal notices. Also, since ICANN requires that info to be accurate, I don't like the fact that it's sitting there for anybody in the world to use.

It's strange to me that the people who feel most strongly about "privacy" issues also like to point at the use of privacy mechanisms in domain name registrations as an indicator that someone may be "less than forthright" about things. Or, in your words, "Which basically tells me they do not want you to know who they are or where they are from."

You're damn right I don't want you to know who I am or where I'm from just because you can find my domain registration records! I did NOT buy a bunch of domain names as a means of profilerating my contact info all over the known universe, any more than I'd expect people to believe they have a right to the info on my driver's license just because I gave it to a governmental agency. (People regularly file FOIA requests attempting to get data like this!)

Just be careful -- the FTP client you use could be snarfing your login info. Your SSH terminal program could be sending all of your keystrokes to an invisible logger somewhere. And don't forget ... a lot of places that give away free browser plugins *DO* log everything you type into your address bar, including Google, Alexa, and Yahoo among others.

So, you're probably right. People should avoid tools that make life easier, especially if they're free, because it's most likely that they're being given out as a means of tricking people into giving up sensitive info.

At least, that's one worldview.

-David

[seangreen]

are there any downsides to using a wordpress theme?

[MrPhelps]

are there any downsides to using a wordpress theme?

There's a downside to THIS script that moves the (+Reply to Thread) button BELOW the Quick Reply box when you click the "Reply With Quote" link. I don't know how many times I've clicked it after entering a reply thinking it's going to post my reply. When you do that, it totally loses what you just typed and opens another reply window.

STUPID DESIGN!

Anyway ... are you asking about any downsides vs. using Wordpress WITHOUT a theme?

Or are you asking about Wordpress vs. static websites built with something like Dreamweaver?

I guess it depends on whether you fancy yourself an expert at web page design and layout, HTML, CSS, and other very techie stuff.

Most website designers are trained as graphic artists. They DON'T usually know much about:

* HTML
* CSS
* php
* MySQL
* database design
* scripting
* SEO
* site monetization
* marketing

You can deal with ALL of that and more using Wordpress without knowing anything about how any of it works.

There are presently 9,726 plugins and 1,200 themes listed on the Wordpress.org site, and that doesn't include most of the premium plugins and themes that go far beyond what you'll find in the free ones.

The "downside" IMO is that it can take some time to find something that fits exactly what you're looking for in these two goldmines of cool stuff! And there's no guarantee you'll find what you're looking for, either.

The more you learn about and understand how Wordpress works, to a certain extent, the more value you'll derive from it. That doesn't mean learning HTML, CSS, php, MySQL, and other technical stuff.

I have a client who emails me weekly asking how to login to the Admin panel. (Dreamweaver sites don't have an Admin panel -- that's what your web developer does manually for you.) He picked a page layout in the theme that doesn't have a sidebar, so there's no room for widgets, like the "Meta" widget that has the Admin login link in it.

Is that kind of flexibility what you'd call a "downside" of using Wordpress?

-David

[seangreen]

thanks for your thorough reply.
i was asking about dreamweaver vs. wordpress.

can wordpress themes be customized? (thats probably a dumb question.)
my question is.. lets say i see a wordpress theme that almost fits all my needs..
should i use that as a base - and have a programmer tweak it?

[Don Alm]

Thankx Dexx....

[MrPhelps]

thanks for your thorough reply.
i was asking about dreamweaver vs. wordpress.

can wordpress themes be customized? (thats probably a dumb question.)
my question is.. lets say i see a wordpress theme that almost fits all my needs..
should i use that as a base - and have a programmer tweak it?

Depends ... some can be a challenge to just change the header graphic.

In general, themes for scripts like Wordpress and Joomla are a mashup of php coding and presentation (css) coding. They're not easy to work on by either routine programmers or routine web developers.

While there are people who think it's smart to pay someone $100 or so to "tweak" or just design a theme, I think it's much smarter to invest in a package of premium themes.

Check out iThemes -- in particular, their Builder theme.

There's a theme I purchased recently from Woo Themes named the "Canvas" theme that offers a great deal of flexibility.

The guys at iThemes (among others) have a deal called the "All Access Pass"where you can purchase unlimited use of their themes for 6 months for only $299, or one year for $499, which includes a Developer's license. The nice thing about packages like this is you don't need to hire a programmer. You can do it yourself.

Woo Themes has a similar deal for $125 + $15/mo (without the PSD files, which you probably don't need).

If you're building sites for clients, ALWAYS look at the license terms for "Developers", as they'll usually include the right to use them in client sites.

This goes for not only Wordpress themes, but Joomla themes and even static web site themes.

For even more flexibility, consider a program called "Artisteer". I think Dexx mentioned it at one point. Personally, I'd go with something like the iThemes package first.

-David

[seangreen]

those are great.

I'm just curious, i found this theme - this is the layout i would need for my client. how much flexibility does this have? can i add a newsletter box somewhere? how is this different then the woo and ithemes?

sorry, really new to this :p

i actually hired a webdesigner/programmer - his design skills were great.. his programming skills were terrible.. problem is i paid him once the mockup was good... and now he's disappeared >( argh!!! I think i'm going to have to learn this.. and do this myself!

[MrPhelps]

That appears to be a static web page theme, not a Wordpress theme. I wouldn't use it.

Easy to mock-up, yes. Not easy to convert to Wordpress.

Search Google for "wordpress theme". There are thousands of them.

You want a Wordpress theme that is "widget ready". Most are these days, but older ones aren't.

-David

[seangreen]

do you think i can get the canvas theme to look like that?

[MrPhelps]

Hi Don,
Hows it coming along? A friendly follow up to my May 21st request to see where those free bonuses are. I got your email on the 21st and am following up on it. Looking forward to them.

Thanks
john

This is what the "Private Message" feature is for. No need to post the same message to multiple public forums to contact someone.

Also, since this IS a publicaly-visible forum, it's not a good idea to put your email addy in plain view this way unless you want it to end up on dozens of spam lists.

-David

[lizatailor23]

You can also use simplescripts which is free.