When I first started self-hosting, ok, maybe not really self-hosting since I don’t have my own servers, I’m happily using DreamHost. The naysayers may say otherwise but with a wide variety of services that DreamHost provides, I am happy with it. I’m using the Shared Hosting because I don’t see the need to have dedicated hosting unless I have high traffic aside from bots trying to login to this site.
Now, if your site is running WordPress and depending heavily on WordPress, use DreamPress. This is meant to support your site even better. DreamHost has been encouraging me and I am highly tempted to use this hosting. Let me check my bank account.
When I launched the site a second time, I checked out some of the ways to help reduce the attacks especially on the htaccess part. That is the first thing the bots have been doing. Hence, my site kept going down. So, I did some searching on preventive maintenance.
First, was to protect my htaccess in a way. Here is another link on protecting htaccess. Next, I started looking for plugins. The best parts of WordPress is the ease of use for the plugins. It is no longer easy for me to read the codes since I have stopped looking at codes for far too many years. I discovered WordFence. Here is a list of them for you to pick and choose.
Since, I’m still struggling to pay, I opted for the free Wordfence version. The premium version offers more views on the things that it is blocking the bad guys out. Just like how I like DreamHost providing SSL certificates for free.
Considering the amount of payment for DreamHost, I find it reasonable that they are providing SSL for free. Now, in order for my site to be running smoothly, I have vastly reduced the number of plugins from the initial days. Totally forgot what I have installed among the mass. However, I have the important ones to block spam comments, Akismet, you can get Akismet for free when you create an account with WordPress.
These are just some of the basic things I’m using just to make sure my site stays up. I will be adding more protection along the way. Now, if you can’t afford for the above, they do provide the free versions.
