May 24th 2023

WordPress: Standard theme or custom theme?

WordPress themes tend to fall into 1 of 3 categories - Those shipped with WordPress, mass produced themes which might be free or low cost and generally found on template sites, and custom-made themes which might cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Which load faster? One of our members has been trying out a lot of WordPress themes, both paid and free, and has noticed that they seem to slow down the overall website speed. After checking with some developers, they claim that the theme is causing the problem, and that the website can load faster if it's custom-made. Is that true or a sales pitch? Should we be claiming that the theme is always the issue when there's a reduction in speed? There are those that will say that using a multitude of plugins is the main cause of lag whilst others blame poorly made themes that are bloated with unnecessary features that might make the theme look more attractive to potential buyers but are actually little used. Another opinion is that server optimization is the answer for slowly loading sites. As a WordPress user or host, what do you find is the best solution to improve a WordPress site's load time and performance?

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Setting up a basic HTML website

FiftyTifty has been wanting to have a bash at setting up a basic HTML website, and is already a bit lost. All the articles he's found on securing servers are aimed at corporate or professionals, with all the terms, recommended services/technologies, etc., but nothing seems to be aimed at pure beginners. He's found some basic steps like buying a domain, getting a server and adding some DNS entries but needs to know more about the actual process from registering a domain, uploading it to a server, then securing it so other people can't just remote connect into it/upload files/etc? And avoid bots/attacks? He'll be the only person managing the site content, but needs some helpful members to explain the steps he needs to take to get a site online. Can you help guide him through the confusion that must face many people the first time they consider hosting online?

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News from around the hosting industry

Our Industry News section is the place to find current headlines from around the world of hosting and infrastructure, but other general interest threads pop up in other sections of the forum, especially The Lounge. Here we we highlight just some of the interesting news items from around the forum:

• DE-CIX supports non-profit in underserved markets - DE-CIX and Connected Nation Internet Exchange Points (CNIXP) have announced a partnership for operating edge Internet Exchanges (IXs) in underserved US markets. CNIXP is a joint venture between non-profit Connected Nation and Newby Ventures. The project lays the foundation for DE-CIX to serve as the IX platform operator within CNIXP facilities and form part of the DE-CIX Nexus Program for Edge Interconnection, including the integration of each new IX into DE-CIX's North American and global ecosystem. The IXs will enable one-hop connectivity to the nearest major exchange, including DE-CIX's IXs in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, and Richmond VA, among others, including existing independent IXs.
• Nitel activates new Miami PoP - The NaaS provider announced the the activation a new point of presence in Miami's NAP of the Americas. Nitel currently has seven other PoPs, and with this new location will have stronger network coverage in the US and offer greater access to Latin America. The company's wholesale and enterprise customers will experience improved network performance via lower latency connections at service locations in the South East of the US.
• GasLINE offering dark fiber across Germany - The fiber-optic infrastructure firm has released a dark fiber network across Germany. The company has been in business for more than a quarter of a century and has a nationwide fiber network covering over 32,000km. It also operates network interconnections to cross-regional fiber-optic infrastructures in cities and to network operators in nearby countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark. The company has committed to extending its nationwide fiber-optic cable network by an additional 5,500km by 2026.
• AtlasEdge and LINX come together to expand in Manchester, UK - AtlasEdge's current site located in Salford will become an interconnectivity hub enabling customers to connect directly to LINX's members and services in Manchester. The company announced two new facilities late last year which will provide colocation IT capacity and low-latency services to AtlasEdge’s end users, while LINX has a physical technical setup in five data center locations in Manchester.

Got some news of your own to share? If it's news from your own company it belongs in Web Hosting Industry Announcements (no ads please!). If you've scooped some news about something else going on in the hosting industry we'd love for you to share it in our Industry News section!

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