Use Popup Maker™ to Add a Banner to the Top of Your WordPress Site

May 27, 2020

What You’ll Need: A Pair WordPress Hosting Account The Free Popup Maker Plugin (Learn How to Install Popups Here) Optional: Pair Site Staging Enabled to Test Site Changes (Learn How Here) Procedure Overview: We’ll use Popup Maker, a free, easy-to-use WordPress plugin, to add a banner without needing to code. We’ll simply edit the text, choose a few settings, and deploy the new banner. Why a Banner? A banner is less intrusive than an overlay popup or a slide-in style popup. It can be used to display time-sensitive information like: Sales or promotions Important site changes Direct people to specific…

Web Hosting

ICYMI: Pair Webinars — The Pair Malware Scanning Tool

May 22, 2020

Want to learn more about the free Malware Scanning Tool offered by Pair? Check out a replay of our recent webinar hosted by Pair security experts Charlie and Jaime! You’ll learn about:-How to find and activate the free scanning tool in the ACC-How the malware scanning tool searches all of your sites for suspicious files-What to do if suspicious files are found Check it out here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/malware-scanning-tool

Design & Development, Email, How To, Tutorials

All About SPF Records

February 13, 2019

If you have email, you’re familiar with spam. It seems that no matter how many protocols, filters, and walls we implement, spam always seems to be finding a way through. Not only that, but sometimes spam uses our emails to seemingly send spam. This is called spoofing. Spoofing is when a spammer changes the from address to a different, legitimate email. So while we’re not actually sending the email, it will look like the email has been sent from our email. To help combat spoofing, you can use an SPF record. What is an SPF record? SPF stands for “sender…

Design & Development, Security, SEO

How Dedicated, Shared, and Parked Domains Relate to IP Addresses

February 6, 2019

What are IP Addresses? IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses are used to identify different computers and devices on the internet. It’s like an home address – the internet uses IP addresses to locate and transfer data to and from places. IP addresses are usually a bunch of letters and periods, like 216.83.241.113. While this is easy for a computer to understand and compute, we humans have a much harder time remembering a jumble of numbers. That’s why we’ve tied domain names to IP addresses. It’s much easier to remember website.com than it is to remember 216.83.241.113. That’s one of the reasons…

Design & Development, Security, Tutorials

Back that Site Up: A Backup Guide through the ACC

January 31, 2019

It’s important to ensure that you always have copies of your files and to understand how to generate your own backups to avoid losing potentially valuable information. Backups can be useful to recover files in the case of accidental deletion, to revert a site to a previous version if changes don’t work out as planned, or to restore a site after data loss. A Backup Guide for Your Site While pair Networks does keep backups of each server’s hard drive, they are only for restoration of an entire server after a drive failure. They cannot be used to restore individual…

Design & Development, SEO, WordPress

SEO for WordPress

January 30, 2019

Your new WordPress blog looks dazzling. The content is intriguing. It’s lights, camera, action! Now all you need is an audience. But where to find them? How do you draw visitors in? SEO for WordPress SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, is an important strategy used to connect your site with the right audience. A first-page result for the right search on Google will direct much more traffic to your site. The higher the ranking, the more competitive it is, with the top three search results for popular searches being the ultimate prize. So how do you start edging…

Design & Development, Web Hosting

Shared, VPS, & Dedicated Hosting Platforms – What’s the Difference?

January 23, 2019

Web servers are the foundation for websites. However, not all servers are the same. Not only are there differences in hardware, but there are different server types that offer different amounts of security. These differences, combined with the hardware, can make up drastically different hosting packages. We’ll go over three of these popular hosting types and lay out some common characteristics of each of them. Shared Hosting Shared web hosting accounts share the resources (like memory and RAM) of a single server with other shared web hosting accounts. You can think of shared hosting like owning a single unit in…

Design & Development, Security, WordPress

Lock it Down: How to Keep Your Site Secure

January 16, 2019

In an era where websites are compromised by malicious software all the time, one of the most common security questions is ‘How do I help protect my site from hackers?’ Although it can seem daunting, there are plenty of steps you can take to help keep your site secure. How to Keep Your Site Secure Keep it Fresh Always keep your platforms (like WordPress, Drupal, etc.) and their associated plugins up to date with the latest versions. Having outdated software is one of the easiest ways for malware to break into your site. Think of an old version of WordPress…

Web Hosting

What is Web Hosting and How is it Different from a Domain Name?

January 9, 2019

If you’re looking into making a website, you have probably seen a lot of information about web hosting. But if you are not familiar with it, it can be overwhelming. In this article, we will go over the basics of web hosting: what is it and how to use it. We’ll also talk about domains, which are often mentioned in the same vein as web hosting. We will walk you through what they are, as well as how they work. So, by the time you are finished, you’ll have a firm understanding of the basics of how websites are born…

Design & Development, Drupal, Joomla, WordPress

Content Management Systems: Joomla, Drupal, & WordPress

January 2, 2019

If you are looking to build a dynamic website without having to worry about the coding and technical aspects of it; WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal have established themselves as the leaders for online content management systems. Comparing Content Management Systems No one CMS is better than another. It largely depends on your situation, site goals, and skill level. WordPress, Joomla, & Drupal What is a Content Management System? Otherwise known as a CMS, it is a system used to manage the content of a website. It allows the account holder who may not be familiar with coding, to manage the…

Design & Development, Web Hosting

How to Choose a Web Host

May 16, 2018

Updated: May 16, 2018 Ideally, you’ll choose the right web host the first time around so you don’t have to move your site later. Often, people realize their first host doesn’t meet expectations and they end up paying someone to move their site. In order to help you get to your second host the first time around, here’s a comprehensive guide with everything you need to know as you choose a web host.

Web Hosting, WordPress

Getting Started with WordPress

May 5, 2017

What is WordPress? WordPress is the World’s most popular blogging software. WordPress software is free and open-source, features lots of themes, plugins, a visual editor, and an active and supportive user and developer community.

Email, Web Hosting

Should I Use IMAP or POP For Email?

April 4, 2017

If you’re used to free third party services, you might not have considered the question of IMAP vs. POP email before. One of the most common questions we get is which email protocol to use. Most of the time, the answer is simple: use IMAP. Why then does POP exist and when should you use it? What advantages does it have over IMAP? In-Depth Comparison IMAP, the “Internet Message Access Protocol” has its main advantage right in its name: IMAP is all about access. Email is stored on a central server, and access is granted to all of your devices….

Security, SEO, Web Hosting

All About SSL Certificates

February 15, 2016

What is An SSL Certificate? At pair Networks, we are often asked, “what is an SSL Certificate and why do I need one?” An SSL, or Secure Socket Layer, Certificate encrypts information moving between your web server and internet browser. You can think of it like this –

Geek Out, Security, Web Hosting

Top 5 Most Infamous Hackers of All Time

February 1, 2016

Who are these Infamous Hackers? And what do they want? When you think of a hacker, most people imagine a lonesome figure aglow by a single computer screen, frantically typing some matrix-like script in an anonymous subterranean basement. But Hackers and their motives are as varied and broad as ‘hacking’ itself.

Security, WordPress

Don’t Panic! What to do if WordPress is Hacked

January 18, 2016

Realizing that your WordPress Site has been hacked can be very upsetting. Your site was working well and then all of a sudden it disappeared. During this distressing time it’s important to keep in mind that hacks rarely equal a total loss.

Security, Web Hosting

Know Your MalWare: Your Field Guide to Malicious Software

January 4, 2016

Help prevent malware from messing with your computer by understanding how different types work. What is MalWare? “Malicious” + “Software” = Malware You can think of Malware much like a human virus. Malware is an umbrella term for hostile or intrusive software that a computer can catch from an outside source.

Geek Out

Happy Holidays from our Galaxy to Yours

December 17, 2015

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (if far, far away is in Pittsburgh and long time ago is 1996), new Internets arrived. One rebellious company thought using the Internets should be seamless. That company was pair…

Design & Development, Web Hosting

Ubuntu vs FreeBSD Hosting: Is There A Difference?

December 17, 2015

Choosing an Operating System for your account can feel a bit daunting. When first setting up a Hosting Account, many worry which OS is right for their needs. What’s the difference between FreeBSD and Ubuntu? Which one is right for me?

Design & Development, Security

ICANN Domain Verification Policy

December 14, 2015

The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the board that oversees all domain name registrars and sets policies that registrars must follow. ICANN has always required accurate contact information for domain names, but the requirement was rarely enforced.

Geek Out, pair Spotlight

Spotlight: The Fred Rogers Company

December 8, 2015

pair: The Power Behind The Fred Rogers Company Fred Rogers dedicated his life to educating children, addressing social issues, and providing a reliable presence on television. Today, pair Networks is proud to power The Fred Rogers Company, a non-profit production studio that is expanding the potential of educational programming.

Security, WordPress

Securing WordPress Sites

September 29, 2015

When performing a self-installation of WordPress, there are easy steps that can be taken to help protect against an attack. Many of the cases our Abuse Department deals with on a daily basis are the result of malicious WordPress attacks. Securing WordPress will make it much harder for malware to gain access.

Quizzes

Quiz: Which Type of Web Hosting Is Right for You?

September 25, 2015

Updated: May 3, 2018 If you’re not sure what type of web hosting you need, take our quiz! With a few simple questions, we can help you decide among Shared, WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated hosting. Get started here:

Design & Development, Tutorials, WordPress

5 Easy Steps to Speed Up WordPress Sites

September 19, 2015

Did you know that according to Amazon, every extra 1/10th of a second in loading time caused sales to decrease by 1%? A fast site is one of the best ways to increase Search Engine Rankings and the amount of visitors to your site.

Cloud Hosting, Web Hosting

What is Cloud Hosting?

September 16, 2015

We’ve all heard about “The Cloud”, but what it means exactly can still cause some confusion. Is it hosting based in the sky? Run on servers made of white fluff? More importantly, is it right for you?

Behind the Screen, Geek Out

Behind the Screen: Miniature Wargaming

September 7, 2015

Ever wonder who’s pulling the strings around here and making things work? While keeping your website up and running is our primary goal while we’re in the office (and hey, when we’re not too), it’s what happens in our spare time that makes us an interesting bunch.

Geek Out, pair Spotlight

Spotlight: Insight Designs

September 7, 2015

Can a Web hosting company help you scale mountains? As the hosting provider for Insight Designs Web Solutions, that’s exactly what pair Networks does. When Insight Designs wires a remote camera into a mountain-climber’s hat, pair is right there, providing the Web support that streams that breathtaking mountaintop shot.