Ruby on Rails (ROR) is a web framework to the standard Ruby language. ROR uses the popular Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture pattern for development of web applications. It also offers tools for faster web site developement. I personally have never tried ROR but I have heard that is a good programming language, focused on object-oriented programming. Web server (Apache HTTPD) is required for ROR, and a module like mod_ruby or cgi interface to run ROR application. Ruby on Rails is not as popular as PHP, and because of that many web hosting providers do not offer support for it. But BlueHost do offers support for Ruby on Rails, but you need to configure your account to use it. Linux knowledge is required. In the guide here: http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/index.php/kb/article/207, it is explained in details, how to setup your Bluehost account to use ROR to run your application. Steps involve Enabling SSH access, creating files/folders and setting up rails. For first time user might be hard, but for Rails Developer should not be a problem. After you setup your account you can run your first application.
Archive for February, 2010
Bluehost Fantastico cPanel Tool
Fantastico is the most popular commercial one-click installer. It is a addon in cPanel that allows easy installation of popular open-source scripts. Fantastico only install the software to a specific directory/domain, and setup initial settings or user names. For example if you want to install wordpress, you enter administrator name, e-mail and the rest is setup by fantastico. Files are automatically copied, mysql database table is automatically with options saved. This is the easiest way to install web application, but it is not recommended. Software developers do not recommend installing via fantastico because the latest version is not always available. The following applications/scripts are available for installing: wordpress, b2evolution, drupal, joomla, phpbb, mambo, zencart, mybb, forums, galleries, shopping carts and various others popular scripts. I personally use fantastico only for installing wordpress. After wordpress is intalled I immediatelly update it to the latest version via wordpress automatic update tool. Support for the scripts is not provided. Here is a screenshot of the installer (Fantastico de luxe is the latest version):
BlueHost FTP Review
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the standard protocol for exchanging files and/or folders over the world wide web (internet). FTP works on port 21, which is different from the HTTP port 80 on which web servers work and serve websites. To use FTP and transfer files and/or folder over the internet you will need an FTP client and FTP server. Good client is FileZilla. Servers can be configured to allow anonymous transfer of files, or can be setup to require authentication of users and apply permissions to specific users or files/folders. On Bluehost FTP accounts can be configured via cPanel. cPanel allows you to even setup different permissions for directories and setup quota (how much megabytes can be stored or transferred and permissions) per user. The tool is really handy when you have more domains and you want others to upload and setup websites. When you add addon domain via cpanel there is also an option to setup FTP account for that domain, and the account will only allow operations for files of that domain only. I asked on bluehost live chat if they allow multiple FTP connections and the answer is yes. This can speed up process when downloading/uploading files. Really handy!
BlueHost phpBB hosting Review
PhpBB or PHP (HyperText Preprocessor) Bulletin Board is free web forum software for building online communities created in 2001. It is powerful, open-source licensed under GNU General Public License, written in PHP. The latest version phpbb3 offers many features including: support for most database management systems (mysql, postgresql, microsoft mssql, oracle and others) powerful admin control panel and user management system, usergroups, moderators and administrators with permissions per group or per user. These features are also included in the previous version of phpbb. Other that are worth mentioning here are the extension system (modifications), which allows to extend phpbb by adding new features, or upgrading existing ones. Many extensions are free. Templating system is also supported where you can easily change your forum look. PhpBB is very popular forum software and have large community of developers and users. Other also good forum software is MyBB. BlueHost is PHP Hosting provider, and have everything you need to run phpbb. Latest MySQL version 5 is available on Bluehost servers, so you can run phpbb with the best optimization. You can install it via fantastico one-click installer but I would not recommend you that way, because with fantastico not always the latest version is available.