StartLogic Hosting Plan

Different from most hosting services, Startlogic uses vDeck and run their own auto-install central (instead of Fantastico or SimpleScripts). This had cause certain level of confusion to bloggers who are unfamiliar with web hosting.

Some frustrated bloggers even accused that upgrading WordPress in vDeck is impossible or complicated. That’s so not true and I’m going to show you how simple it is to upgrade your WordPress software. Assuming that you already had installed WordPress in Startlogic account and wish to upgrade it. All you need to do is login to your Startlogic account and get in “InstallCentral” under “Scripting and Addons”.

Next, get to the WordPress installation page. All your WP installation will be shown here. In case your WP is out dated (based on Startlogic’s database record), you’ll be given the option to upgrade your installation. Referring to the figure below, note that all you need to do is to click ‘Upgrade’ in the whole process and Startlogic’s advance InstallCentral will sort things out accordingly.

It’s recommended to backup your files (and WP settings) before upgrading for safety purpose but everything works out fine for me and I don’t need to roll back any old settings. As soon as the upgrading process is completed, a notification page will be shown in your Startlogic vDeck control panel page. In our example, I had just upgraded http://www.reviewstartlogic.com to WordPress version 2.7.

The entire upgrading process took less than 2 minutes to complete and it is very not-complicated at all. I guess people who are complaining about Startlogic’s InstallCentral are just uninformed and do not know the right way. Once you know the where and how, I’m sure you’ll find Startlogic InstallCentral is convenient to use.

Most StartLogic users are not aware that the hosting company offer bunch of handy web tools and scripting references. In case you are one of them, check out “CGI and Scripted Language Support” when you logged into StartLogic control panel (vDeck).

Click-Through Tracker

One of my favorite tools on the list is Click-Through Tracker. Using Click-Through Tracker, you get to check how traffic flows through your site.

To start tracking your site click-thru, you’ll need to first create a tracking URL. In the Add a URL section:

1. Enter the URL you want to track.
2. Enter the name of the link.
3. Click Add URL.
4. Copy and Paste the tracking code in your web page to track the click throughs.

Sample of the tracking code.

Reporting on Click-Through Tracker

In the URLs Being Tracked section:

• Count – Number of clicks to the URL
• Reset – Click on the Reset link if you want to reset the count of the tracking URL
• Remove – Click on the Remove link to delete the tracking URL to remove the tracking code from your web page

Installing a WordPress blog is easy at StartLogic.

While it’s not the usual-Fantastico-procedure, my first WP installation on StartLogic is done smoothly and quickly. For your instant reference, here’s a step-by-step walk thru on the installation process.

Enabling CGI for script installation

If you’re running a new StartLogic hosting account, there’s a big chance that your CGI is disable (default setting). To install any kind of scripts on your hosting, you’ll first need to enable CGI.

WordPress installation

When you’re in StartLogic vDeck main control page, you’ll notice there’s a shortcut named ‘Install Central WordPress’. Click on the icon will lead you to the this page (as below) where you can setup all the basic info for your WordPress blog installation.

Move on by clicking on ‘Install Now’. You should come to a web form by now where the basic blog information and installation path are set here. First, key in your blog title as well as your username, password, and email. Blog title can be changed anytime after the installation; while your username is unchangeable once it’s created. (you can, however, create/delete users inside WordPress in the future).

The “path to application” refers to the URL you wish to install as your WordPress root folder. Leave the folder section blank if you want to install it at the hosting root folder; or, you can name a new folder and have your WP blog installed in that particular folder.

Do note that the system will automatically create a database for your WordPress blog. To setup your database connection manually, click on ‘Use this database’ at the bottom of the page. Click ‘Install Now’ once everything’s set – your WordPress blog shall be ready in seconds.

Nowadays most hosting are dominate by cPanel control interface.

Without doubt cPanel is one of the best control panel we can ever get online but hosting control panel software is not a one-size-fit-all thing. I am sure there are plenty users that are unhappy with cPanel and wish for something different.

Well, if you’re one of those who crave for a different hosting control panel, vDeck/StartLogic is your answer.

Frankly I respect StartLogic’s apprach in being different from the majority and to go with vDeck. IMHO, both vDeck and cPanel are more or less the same and they should be given even attention since both are serving the same industry.

About vDeck?

vDeck is the GUI for hosting server control panel. The system is mainly used for web hosting server management but it can be used as marketing tools and site building tools. For your quick reference, here’re the message I quoted from vDeck official website.

More than just a control panel, vDeck is the next generation in Web site management. With vDeck, creating, managing and promoting your Web site is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Build Your Site

vDeck is deeply integrated with several easy-to-use site creation tools—choose from hundreds of professional design templates to create your site without any HTML experience.

Available features include:

• Choice of three site-creation tools
• Hundreds of professional design templates
• Design editor
• Content manager
• Graphics editor
• Pre-installed CGI scripts
• Integrated e-commerce solutions

2. Manage Your Site

vDeck makes it easy to manage your Web site, e-mail and domain name from one central location. Take advantage of these vDeck 3.0 features:

• Billing & account management
• Comprehensive FileManager
• MailCentral for easy e-mail management
• Microsoft Exchange Hosting
• DomainCentral for easy domain management
• Install wizards for popular open source applications (such as WordPress)
• Web site statistics programs

3. Promote Your Site

vDeck 3.0 offers access to several marketing services to help you promote your site. Available services include:

• Search engine optimization services
• Search engine submission services
• Free search engine coupons ($30 or more)
• Pay-per-click advertising services
• E-mail newsletter creation and distribution services
• Logo design services

As you might be already aware, StartLogic hosting is using vDeck as its control panel. Thus most hosting operation will be slightly different than the usual cPanel control panel. To be honest I am new to vDeck as well but I find it’s easy to use so far.

Adding a new e-mail address using vDeck

Take example of adding a new email using vDeck, here’s how you can do it in a few simple steps. First get to mail central from the login front page.

Mail central is where you can control all your email inbox configurations. Do note that there’s a catch-all email in default. To create a new email address, click on the ‘Create Mailbox’ button.

On the pop up page, keyin your desired email address as well as its quota limitation, move on when it’s done.

You’ll be directed back to the Mail Central once your mail box is created. If everything goes right, you should see your new mail box listed on the page. Whenever you feel like editing the mailbox setting or adding/deleting the mail box at your hosting, you can always come back here and click on the ‘edit’ link. It’s simple.

Well then, you have a new email address on your hosting now.