GoDaddy

My Site Is Broken. Now What?

It was late Friday afternoon and I had tweaked and tinkered long enough to break the WordPress site I was building. “Error message 500 – Internal server error. There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.”

Lesson number 1: I knew I should have taken that one incredibly valuable Providence Word Camp session on fixing a broken site. “Expletive me!”

Lesson number 2: Learning from experience, and having my own site broken and down for over a month, I immediately emailed my client and told her the unfortunate news.

“I did something I should not have done. Please phone GoDaddy right away (her host) and tell them the following:

I went to Settings > Permalinks
Tried to change the “Common Settings” from “Default” to a “Custom Structure”
I clicked on the Custom Structure radio button and typed in /%category%/%postname%/

Everything went down: 500 – Internal Server error.”

Fortunately my client understands the challenges of technology, which is why she hired me to do the dirty work. To our surprise, the person she spoke to at GoDaddy told her that GoDaddy does not offer support on WordPress sites. They only offer a one-click WordPress install because so many of their customers have requested WordPress sites. I was now beginning to appreciate my former hosting company, aSmallOrange. At least they finally fixed my site after a customer service rep unsuccessfully talked me through moving my site from a subdomain folder to my main domain folder. ASmallOrange head tech even gave me his direct e-mail for further questions. Ah, it’s like missing an old boyfriend on a Saturday night…but it was only Friday night and I was still feeling a little hopeful.

Lesson number 3: Before signing up for hosting a WordPress site, ask your web host if one of their techs will help you get your site back up and running if/when you break it.

Unwilling to throw in the towel just yet, I checked the WordPress Codex for how to fix 500 Internal server errors, which prompted another phone call to my client. “Can you please give me your FTP information?”

“Oh, my husband has that, and he’s out of town on a business trip.”

Lesson number 4: If you design a WordPress website for someone else, do not begin their site without this information which they would have received from their web host when they first signed up:
• Renewal due date (Yes, I learned the hard way on that one, too! = Lesson number 5)
• Login Username and Password
• Server Information: Server Name, Server IP, Nameserver 1, Nameserver 2
• Temporary FTP Hostname
• FTP Hostname
• Webpage URL
• Pop3 Email settings
• SMTP Email settings

Lesson number 6?

Fortunately I also own a copy of ServerPress which allows me to build a WordPress site on my desktop. Unfortunately my client can’t see what it looks like until it’s uploaded to a hosting company’s server, or in a subdirectory of my own website, but for now, I can quickly re-create the site I spent the last week building. This time, however, if I tweak to disaster I can fix what’s been broken because all the site files reside on my desktop; not on some server far, far away, who’s customer service person responds with, “Oh, we don’t do that.”

Time to tell Bluehost (or any host) you’re in business

by Nancy Fields Leave a Comment

Part 2 of a 2 part series: Your very first steps to a 1-Click WordPress Install

The first steps to setting up a WordPress website can be a little intimidating. If you purchased a domain name from GoDaddy and want to move it to Bluehost (or any host), last week you learned how to point your nameservers to Bluehost – which is the very first step toward getting your WordPress website installed. Now that the 36 hour verification process has passed, you’re ready to move onto step 2, and complete the domain name transfer.

Follow the instructions below, or, if you’re easily overwhelmed with the technical side of things, don’t hesitate to phone Bluehost customer service and ask them for help.

The important thing is to get your WordPress website up and running so you can attract your perfect customer, and increase your sales.

Before you begin you’ll need to have this information at your fingertips

BlueHost cPanel login (emailed from BlueHost when you first signed up)
Domain Name and Authorization Code (email together, from GoDaddy, after you pointed your name servers to BlueHost
Verification Code (sent in a separate email from GoDaddy, after pointing your name servers to BlueHost)

HOW to transfer a domain name purchased from GoDaddy, to Bluehost

go to Bluehost: http://www.bluehost.com/
click on the Control Panel Login in the upper right corner and log into your account
Make sure you are on the cPanel tab
Scroll down to the “Domain Management” category and click on “Transfer Domain”
Enter the Domain name you would like to transfer and click Continue
NOTE: this is your GoDaddy domain name which will become your website URL
Enter the Authorization Code (EPP Code) and click Continue
NOTE this code is alphanumeric and case sensitive
Enter the Admin Contact Verification confirmation and click Continue
If you have followed all the steps from the previous lesson on pointing your nameservers to BlueHost, your Domains Transfer page should look like this:

You can choose to keep “Autorenew” checked
“Contact information” can be edited
“Domain Privacy” can be checked to help prevent theft and spam, or you can use WordPress anti spam plugins to help prevent theft and spam
“Terms of Service” check this and then click Add to Cart

Congratulations! You can now move onto your WordPress 1-click Install on Bluehost.

About Nancy Fields

Nancy Fields is a graphic designer who specializes in print and WordPress. Nancy is dedicated to empowering all her clients with great graphic design, and teaching them how to use and update the WordPress web sites she builds for them. Her weekly e-zine features How To articles on WordPress, design, and marketing.

GoDaddy domain name transfer to Bluehost got you stuck at square one?

by Nancy Fields Leave a Comment

This is what you need to do first, before you can do a 1-Click WordPress Install

If you’re starting a new business, choosing and buying a domain name can feel like your dream is finally becoming a reality. If you’re like many entrepreneurs, you made a smart business decision and purchased a low cost domain name from GoDaddy, and chose a website hosting plan from a company like Bluehost, that offers a 1-Click WordPress Install.

And then the problems began. You didn’t realize you had to jump through so many technical hoops to get your WordPress website installed… And so you didn’t.

This “How To” article is designed to help you overcome the fear of the very first steps that can feel ‘too techy’ and somewhat confusing: confusing because (1) GoDaddy does not make it easy to find the information you need and (2) BlueHost and GoDaddy often use different words to describe the same thing.

It’s also designed it to help you get this done — one baby step at time — so you can start to live your dream.

First things first: get your nameservers

The nameservers for Bluehost are:

ns1.bluehost.com

ns2.bluehost.com

If you’re using another host like A Small Orange, HostGator, InMotion, Synthesis, or any of the other hosts who offer a 1-Click WordPress Install, they will provide you with their nameservers.

You would have received your host’s nameserver via email when you signed up with your host. If you can’t find your New Account Information email, do an Internet search for “what are the nameservers for hostgator?” (or: a small orange, hostgator, inMotion, etc.)

Jot down the information. Now you’re ready to begin.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6WaffYT5FY&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]

That’s a wrap

Logout of your GoDaddy account

Check your email.

The 2 emails you’ll receive from GoDaddy will include (1) Domain Name plus Authorization code (2) Admin Contact Verification Code (EPP). You’ll need this information to complete your domain name transfer.

Please note that it can take up to 36 hours for Bluehost to process the request. Stay tuned for next week’s e-zine in which I’ll show you how to complete the transfer to Bluehost (or any host).

About Nancy Fields