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Content management system technology is growing by leaps and bounds in all industries. As more organizations need an efficient method of organizing, searching for and retrieving data, the technology advances. Unfortunately, Yahoo is slowly becoming more removed due to its archaic system which has been compared to “two arthritic camels trying to mate in a pool of quicksand.” As a result, the company is overhauling their entire system.

A  Tremendous Scale Upgrade

Yahoo recently announced its plans to implement a full scale upgrade to its content management system to remain competitive in the marketplace. The main focus of the upgrade will be the software writers use to publish blog posts, videos and articles. Of course the content writers and producers for Yahoo couldn’t be happier with this decision and are excited for implementation.

The Challenges of an Old System

Since the content writers and creators use this system to output interesting tidbits of information each day, they experience the challenges a slow-outdated content management system produces on a daily basis. One writer was quoted as saying (with regards to the content management system) that it is “a clunky HTML labyrinth.”

Keeping up with the Competition

With competitors like Google and Bing, to remain a major player in the competitive market of news and advertisements, the company must constantly be on top of new technology to improve the output of their writers and content creators.

Proprietary Systems

With so many content management systems available on the market, it is unlikely Yahoo will select a basic commercial product. Instead, the system will likely be proprietary so they are able to customize all features that improve the efficiency and productivity of writers and content creators. Therefore, blog posts will be available quicker and more bells and whistles will be added to make the content look much better.

Yahoo Information

Founded in February 1994 and incorporated on March 1^st, 1995, Yahoo is an American corporation that provides various Internet services across the globe which include advertising, communication, content, co-branded internet services, e-commerce, mobile services, personal information storage and small business.

The implementation of a new content management system to the Yahoo platform will significantly improve the company as a whole, especially in the content department. It appears as if Yahoo’s old publishing system will not be missed and the new system is motivating writers at the company.

Security is perhaps one of the most important aspects of a web hosting plan, especially for webmasters that conduct a significant volume of e-commerce on a daily basis. A single security lapse could lead to widespread data loss, site downtime, slow loading pages, and a reduction in daily traffic levels. However, one security issue that is often overlooked and underestimated is spam, which is defined as any excessive and/or forceful communication with or use of a Web server or online system. Although web hosting providers offer integrated modules that are specifically designed to help webmasters maximize spam prevention, there are certain measures that website owners can take to completely eliminate site spam.

Why Should Spam Be Prevented?

Spam is a threat not only to the security but also to the productivity of every online business. Most websites become successful because of their continually updated content, which is of a high quality that visitors gain interest in. However, if your site becomes heavily populated with unmoderated spam comments and low-quality content, it is possible to experience a significant reduction in daily traffic levels and search engine rankings. In fact, it is even possible to be completely de-indexed from some search engines because of a large volume of spam on your site. Spam can also be seen in the form of automated e-mails that are submitted through contact forms on your website. E-mail spam can cause webmasters to waste a lot of time in cleaning up their inbox, reducing productivity and ultimately lowering the value and responsiveness of their customer service.

What Is a Captcha Script?

A captcha script is basically a script that is installed on your website which displays a unique image containing a random combination of characters (including letters, numbers, and sometimes symbols), which visitors must input into a form box to verify that they are not automated robots. Since captcha scripts actually create unique images spontaneously, bots are not able to read or decode them as they would be able to do with regular text. As computer programs are not able to actually view and interpret images, it is extremely unlikely that a bot will be created in the future that can decipher captcha images. Thus, captcha scripts are an effective long-term way to prevent automated spam and ensure that all of your site commenters and anyone sending you an e-mail is actually a human being.

How to Use Captcha Scripts

To use a captcha script you simply need to paste the code snippet into the coding of any form or input field. This will cause the script to randomly generate a captcha image any time the form is loaded on a webpage, making it so no information can be successfully entered into the form without the visitor first solving the associated captcha. Captcha codes can be generated in various programming languages, including PHP, ASP, and NET, making it a flexible and highly compatible spam prevention tool that can be utilized on any web site.

FatCow was established in 1998 and has been offering shared web hosting solutions to small and medium enterprises as well as individuals at affordable rates. FatCow believes in old and simple values evident from its friendly customer services and easy to use hosting plans. Additionally, the web hosting provider takes pride in offering green hosting and has 100% wind-powered data centers.

Hosting Plans

FatCow offers two basic hosting plans. The Original FatCow Plan comprises of all the services of a hosting plan and is priced at $56/year or $4.67/month. It comes with unlimited disk space, unlimited monthly bandwidth, unlimited email accounts and a free site builder. Some of the hosting features included in this plan are integrated Google webmaster tools, online selling and store tools, free advertising and application installation wizards.

The MiniMoo plan, on the other hand comes with limited hosting features suitable for those who have just started their business and are not looking for a complete hosting plan. Using this plan, the clients may add a ‘coming soon’ or ‘under construction ‘page until the business is ready for the hosting plan. Although limited, this plan also offers some very useful hosting features such as spam filtering and newsletter management and is priced at $5 for the first year.

Reliability

With 99.9% uptime and guaranteed reliability, FatCow operates two data centers equipped with 800 servers and both A/C and D/C power supply. The servers are also equipped with identical severs making it easy to deal with the failure with the primary server. The data center also comes with a storage unit which backs up data so as to restore the websites in the event of a disk failure. Its data centers also ensure round the clock monitoring so as to assure maximum performance of servers at all times of the day. Such reliability is generally not seen with budget hosting providers.

Customer Support

FatCow also offers round the clock customer support through a toll free number as well as live chat and email support. The organization also has a ‘HeiferCratic’ Oath which pledges outstanding customer support and after sales services. The customer support department promises to answer phone calls within 2 minutes and resolve problems as soon as possible.

Pricing

With its reliable services and outstanding customer support, FatCow also comes with extremely affordable and competitive hosting prices making it the right choice for all types of customers.

Generally, FatCow is believed to satisfy customer demands and needs to the fullest and receives excellent reviews, however, customers complain about its inflexible plans lacking upgrading possibility and support for Linux only.

Web hosting is simply a service that allows you to lease a web server, which can be used to provide server resources to all of your websites. Since each webmaster has a different set of needs and requirements, there are a plethora of hosting types and plans available on the market today. For the inexperienced or aspiring webmaster it can be extremely difficult to choose a hosting type without knowing the main attributes of each hosting environment. Although there are many sites online that review plans individually, very few actually explain the different types of hosting and how they relate to webmaster capabilities/requirements. It doesn’t make much sense to begin comparing plans and prices without first knowing the type of hosting that will be most suitable for your online endeavors. The following is an overview of the three main hosting types, which can be categorized into three levels of experience.

Novice (Shared) Hosting

Shared hosting is by far the most popular hosting type, and most people that have a shared hosting plan don’t even realize it. The shared hosting environment bears its name because you’ll be given access to a web server that is shared by dozens or even hundreds of webmasters simultaneously. Shared web servers utilize unique load-balancing technology to ensure that a single webmaster cannot overload the server with the tasks of their websites. While this prevents significant performance problems, it also limits your capabilities as a webmaster and makes it impossible to accommodate thousands of site visitors across a large network of sites. Thus, shared hosting is usually recommended for novice webmasters that only have a couple of websites.

Intermediate (VPS) Hosting

Although most webmasters start out with a shared hosting plan, it is extremely common for successful site owners to upgrade to a VPS (virtual private server) hosting plan after reaching the limits of their shared plan. VPS hosting is by far the most diverse hosting type, with plans ranging in cost from $20 per month to $200 per month depending on the capabilities and allocated server resources. Virtual private server hosting is similar to shared hosting in that you will be sharing a web server with other webmasters, however the way the server is shared is very different. Rather than sharing the entirety of the server you are given a specific partition that is solely devoted to the tasks of your websites. This enhances performance and eliminates the possibility of another website affecting the performance of your sites. VPS hosting is an economical option for webmasters that need a powerful solution but cannot yet afford a comprehensive dedicated hosting plan.

Advanced (Dedicated) Hosting

Dedicated hosting bears its name because it gives you dedicated access to a web server that is solely used to power your websites. By having access to an entire web server the amount of tasks that your websites can perform are seemingly limitless, as a vast amount of bandwidth and disk space can be accessed at any time. In fact, many large corporations and Internet entrepreneurs utilize dedicated hosting plans to host hundreds of websites simultaneously without error. Since the cost of dedicated hosting can range anywhere from $100 to more than $400 it is usually a service marketed towards advanced webmasters that have an established online business presence.

Although the Linux operating system is still a favorite amongst webmasters and web hosting providers, Windows is trailing closely behind and has been gaining popularity during the past couple of years. In the home PC market, Windows is well known as the most popular operating system in the world, with the Mac OS X being a close second. Meanwhile, many regular computer users have never even heard of Linux, despite its popularity in the hosting industry. Windows web hosting is more expensive than Linux hosting, and has a significant number of limitations in relation to software compatibility and licenses. Nonetheless, there is a high demand for Windows web hosting plans, and the majority of major hosting providers offer a selection of Windows hosting packages. The following paragraphs explain the recent rise in popularity of Windows web hosting.

Novice Webmasters and Initial Online Endeavors

As mentioned, Windows has established a reputable brand in the home computer market, and is perhaps the most familiar name when it comes to operating systems. Thus, many novice Webmasters choose Windows web hosting over Linux because of its familiarity and renowned reputation, rather than its features or cost. There are two types of aspiring online business owners  – those on a budget that attempt to save as much as possible while building their first websites to mitigate risk, and those that would like to maximize their chances of success and will spare no cost to do so. Individuals within the latter group are usually the ones that will opt for Windows web hosting for their initial online endeavors.

The Need for Windows-Based Applications

Other than novice webmasters, some business owners have a legitimate reason to use Windows web hosting – Windows-based applications. Online businesses that utilize Windows applications like SharePoint and Microsoft Server need a web server with the Windows operating system installed in order to function. Alternatively, it is possible to purchase a Linux web hosting plan and install virtualization software in order to host a third-party operating system like Windows within the Linux operating system. However, most people are not aware of this solution and instead opt to purchase a Windows web hosting plan for their Windows-based business applications.

Windows Performance and Familiarity

The Windows operating system user interface also contributes greatly towards the rising popularity of Windows web hosting during the past few of years. Windows is known for reliable performance, and Microsoft provides continual automatic updates to web hosting providers and computer users. Thus, while it may take longer to repair certain bugs within the operating system, fixes are guaranteed to arrive, and Windows is considered to be much safer than other open-source operating systems like Linux. Even so, Linux is also reliable and safe operating system, and is a cheap alternative to Windows that is suitable for individuals on a budget, or that do not have a need for Windows-based web applications. Although Windows hosting is more expensive than Linux, the margin is not that large, with Windows hosting plans usually only costing $20-$50 more than their Linux counterpart.