No one likes to wait for a web page to load - if a site is taking too long to load, the visitor is more likely to close it and move on. This is especially true for blogs, which are meant to be seen and read. Today, we will share with you several tips on how you can speed up a blog running on WordPress.

1. Eliminate unnecessary plugins

Don't use too many plugins - they will noticeably slow down your website. Imagine them as too many apps running at the same time - they will affect the overall performance of the blog. Keep the number of the plugins low - let's say from 5 to 10, but don't go over 20.

2. Optimize your Database

All the information for your blog posts and comments is stored in a database. So, to speed up the loading speed, you can optimize this database. There are two ways to do that - with the WP-Optimize plugin, or manually. The plugin is the easier way, but always remember point 1 of this article. If you want to do things manually, follow these instructions:

1. Inside your web hosting Control Panel, locate and open PHPMyAdmin- you can find it in the Database Manager section.
2. Once logged in the PHPMyAdmin, select your database.
3. Click "Check All" at the bottom of the page.
4. Choose "Optimize table" in the drop-down list next to it.
5. Done!

3. Cache your Database

Another way to speed up the work of your database is to cache it. This way, you will reduce the number of queries made to the database each time a user visits your blog. You can cache your database with the DB Cache Reloaded plugin.

4. Disable Post Revisions

Post Revisions exist since WordPress 2.6 and they are useful when there are several writers working on the same blog, or if you make constant changes to your blog posts. If left enabled, this feature will create multiple entries for a blog post in your database, effectively slowing it down.

5. Use a Cache Plugin

You can also create static versions of the most visited web pages. This way, you will reduce the queries made to the database. And static HTML pages load much faster. There are a lot of cache plugins, but be careful with their configuration - if they are left untended and not properly configured, they tend to use too much CPU power.

6. Optimize your images

Have your images optimized - you can use Photoshop's "Save for Web" function, which will save the image with a good balance between size and quality. Here is a list of other image optimization tools:

Online Tools:

• PunyPNG
• Smush.it
• Online Image Optimizer

Desktop Tools:

• Shrink O'Matic
• PNGGauntlet

7. Optimize your CSS and JavaScript files

Another way to speed up your website is to optimize the CSS and JavaScript files - this way you will reduce the size of the files and save some disk space and decrease the server load. There are several tools you can use to do that.

To compress the CSS files, you can use several tools:

• WP CSS plugin
• CSS Optimizer
• CSS Compressor

To optimize your JavaScript files, use:

• JavaScript Compressor

We are writing to give you some information on the service interruptions some of you may have experienced lately. For the past 17 hours, our Australian server - supremecenter300.com, has been undergoing an urgent maintenance due to a major outage of an important international backbone.

The main reason for the extensive downtime is an incidental problem with the server RAID configuration, which is now being sorted out.

We would like to assure you that our administrators are working round the clock to resolve the issue and get the server back online as soon as possible. We are in constant communication with the Data Center staff and have been informed this issue will be resolved within 10-12 hours.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this totally unpredictable event, and the disruption of service to our customers accounts on this server. As soon as we have further information about this issue we will update you. Thank you for your understanding regarding this matter.

When you are building your own website, sooner or later you run into the question - how to handle duplicate content? What do I mean by that? Imagine that you have a highly visited web page, which receives most of the daily visits. You are planning to re-design the website, and give this web page a new URL and a fresh new look, but don’t want to lose all that traffic from that old page. And you can’t keep both of them online, since they will have most likely the same content text-wise - something, which is often penalized by search engines. How do you proceed from there?

The best practice is to do a 301 redirect. The 301 message on the Internet is handled by the search engine as: moved permanently. Here is how you can make a 301 redirect for your web page:

With PHP:

The code needs to be placed in the Header section of the website, so that the search engine can read it first.

Header( “HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently” );
Header( “Location: http://www.new-url.com” );

With .htaccess:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^old\.php$ http://www.domain.com/new.php [R=permanent,L]

The code above will direct all the traffic from the old.php to the new.php page.

With the rel=”canonical” directive:

If you run an online store and want to sell a custom made handbag, which is available in several colors, and decide to dedicate a separate page on your site for each color, then you have about 3 or 4 identical pages. You can use the rel=”canonical” element to direct all traffic to the page with the most popular color.

This will lead a search engine to point all the traffic from the similar pages to the page you have specified. This code needs to be placed in the header section of all the web pages you wish to lead somewhere else.

With the URL Redirection Manager in the Web Hosting Control Panel:

If you don’t like to meddle with code, or with new file creation, or anything like that, you can use the handy URL Redirection Manager available with all our shared web hosting plans, where a simple web interface will allow you to choose which pages to be redirected and what redirection code to be used.

We have recently been informed by both eNom and Instra, the domain name registrars we are working with, that they are no longer accepting registration requests for the .CN TLD, as well as for its derivatives - .COM.CN, .NET.CN and .ORG.CN. The reason for this is a new policy for the provision of WHOIS details enforced by the CNNIC. The explanation from CNNIC states that they want to enhance the authenticity, accuracy and integrity of the domain name information provided for new domain name registrations.

For the moment, this affects only new domain owners – all renewals of .CN domain names will go without problems.

There is no information as for how long this suspension will continue. As soon as we have new information on the subject, we will let you know.

We don't really have to say how much website security is important - nobody would like to wake up one morning and see his home page offering cheap Viagra or Cialis, for example. There are a lot of ways to prevent this, and today we will share with you some tips on how to better secure your site.

Use the latest software versions. While this may sound like something, which everybody knows and does, it's not uncommon to find a very old version of a script running on a certain site. The words "it was working okay, so why update it" can sound like a reasonable excuse, right until the moment your site is hacked. Newer software versions often include security patches for exploits found in previous versions. This is very important if you are using a CMS script like Joomla or WordPress.

Check for common vulnerabilities. Cross-site scripting and SQL injections are the usual suspects - there are a lot of tools, which can help you check if your site is secure. Such vulnerabilities are most commonly found in custom developed websites - the popular CMS scripts are usually well protected against such attacks.

Check your log files. The log files may seem like just gibberish and non-sense technical data, but they are actually important - they can show you information about who tried to access your site, what errors were caused, etc. It's always surprising what you can find in your logs. A check a week or so will not hurt your free time, but will be good for your site's security.

Check your files' permissions. On a Linux sever, the file permissions will determine who can access and modify your files. Select your permissions so that only you can edit them, and avoid using 777 permissions - a file with such permissions can be edited and executed by anybody, which is dangerous.

Use secure passwords. The simplest type of attack is a brute force attack - a script will try to guess your password, using random letters and numbers. The more complex the password is, the harder it will be to break it down. Passwords, such as "mypass", are much easier to break. A combination of lower and upper case letters plus numbers will make the password much more secure - mYp43s. If possible, you can also add symbols to make your password even more secure. However, have in mind to keep your passwords easy to remember - you wouldn't want to forget your password and not be able to log into your mail, for example.

We are happy to inform our customers that new unique software tool is available in the Web Hosting Control Panel's Domain Manager, Subdomain Manager and File manager sections as of today. The new tool is named Elefante Toolbar and has fully automated functionality allowing one-click installation of any chosen PHP script from the Elefante Installer package (nearly 40 scripts currently available).

And that's not even slightly exaggerated. Using the new tool, customers need to only choose a desired script, pick a host location to install the script and simply hit the 'Install' button! Now that's exceptionally easy, isn't it?

This handy functionality is for everyone who desire quick and easy installation of their scripts, without any complicated additional configurations, such as choosing a database, path, password, username, etc. The Elefante Toolbar generates all this information itself and installs the script in the main directory of the chosen host. For customers who wish, however, to specify all these configuration settings themselves, the Elefante Toolbar provides a quick shortcut - Advanced Installation link - to the main interface of the Elefante Installer control panel section where all parameters can be "hand" filled in.

One important issue needing your attention is that, if you try to install a chosen script in a folder where there exists a currently installed script, the Elefante Toolbar will give you two opportunities to choose from - 'Overwrite' of the currently installed in the folder script, or 'Advanced' installation. The 'Overwrite' option will install your chosen script in the folder, but will overwrite all existing files with duplicate names. The 'Advanced' installation option will allow you to specify a different folder path for the script installation, while most of the other settings will remain automatically filled in.

With compliments, from our web hosting team

New service is available in our customers' Web Hosing Control Panel - URL Redirection, as of today! It allows customers to set up a redirection of any desired URL hosted on our servers to another URL - hosted with us or on a remote server. The new functionality has been incorporated in the former 'Password Protected Areas' section of the Control Panel, presently named - URL Protect & Redirect.

Both beginners and advanced users can take advantage of the new functionality. The 'URL Redirect' tool has a regular redirection option and a more advanced one (allowing redirection of chosen items only - from a given URL - matching defined criteria).

The service is very easy to set up. Customers need to choose first the type of redirection: regular - Redirect Directive, or defined - RedirectMatch Directive, then select a domain or a sub domain hosted with us from the dropdown available and enter the correct directory path (URL) of the web folder that is to be redirected. Very important part of the service is choosing a HTTP Status code - more information about the different codes follows below and is also included in the 'Help' section. After the customer has selected the desired URL path to be redirected and its HTTP status code, he/or she needs to type in the URL which the web folder will be redirected to and submit the form. If the customer has chosen to use the 'RedirectMatch' service, he/or she will need to fill in one more field - 'Regular Expression'. This is exactly the place where the customer will have to define the specific conditions that must be matched for the redirection to be performed - the so called 'regular expressions'. For example, the customer can specify that only files with .gif extension from the selected URL (web folder) should be redirected to the new URL. More details on how to enter the specifications can be found in the attached tooltip.

To the attention of all our present and prospective customers! The SiteStudio website design tool, included as a FREE bonus in all our web hosting packages, has been updated to its latest version released - SiteStudio 1.8. The update will come into effect on all our servers in the next two days. The transit to the new version for all our existing customers, using this site building software, will be hassle-free, preserving all their current settings. Updates to customer websites, created with SiteStudio, will be possible by switching to any of the new 80 website templates available in SiteStudio v.1.8.

The basic set of features in SiteStudio v.1.8 includes the following:

• Easy to use: You do not need to know anything about web design or programming, or how to cope with programs such as FTP or Telnet.
• Content and Layout Files - Stored Separately: Very flexible feature! The content is stored separately from the web design files. This way, you can change whenever you want any detail of your layout, without having to re-enter any part of the content.
• Customizable color schemes: You have a number of beautiful ready-to-use color themes available. However, if you feel like having a more personally customized layout, you can change all colors up to your preferences using a point-and-click color picker or typing in the colors as hex numbers.
• Layout templates: SiteStudio currently offers to the users 21 personal website templates and 69 Small Business website templates.
• On-the-fly image generation: Now you can have also professional-looking graphics! Each time you decide to change some color combination, the necessary image is automatically created. No need to bother any more with complex programs, such as Photoshop.
• Uploading Images: With the Image Uploader included in SiteStudio, you can upload images from your online account without ever having to leave your browser. Create now online photo albums, insert images into the page logo, or incorporate images anywhere in the page content or layout!
• A variety of different pages: In a simple step-by-step process you can develop a variety of template-driven pages.
• One-click Publishing Button: You can publish your website with one easy mouse-click! Later on, after making any updates to the website, again one easy click on the 'Publish' button will make all your website changes go live again.
• Saving of Information: All your information is saved the moment you enter it. You can log out whenever you need, then come back again later on to continue your work on the website and start from the point where you left previously.
• Flexible setup: SiteStudio can be easily configured to operate with all your current software programs. You can set it up also to utilize user information from your current user base.
• Advanced control: For advanced users, SiteStudio allows changing of the buttons on the website.
• Advanced full screen text/HTML Rich Editor: Windows users only - rich browser-based text editor for Internet Explorer included. You can easily use formatting, styles, tables, bullets and more in your work on the website, and/or copy and paste the most complex tables from a web browser or from any Office application.
• Easy integration of e-shops: For a personal website - you can incorporate an Amazon.com web store. For a business website - you can easily integrate a shopping cart functionality that includes everything - from secure payment gateway to a merchant account issued by One-Stop Merchant Services.
• SiteStudio Admin Panel: SiteStudio comes with its own admin control panel.

SiteStudio is also provided now with a new address (URL), which changes the login procedure for all existing users. To log in SiteStudio, customers will need to go to the 'SiteStudio' section in their Web Hosting Control Panels.

We hope that many clients of ours, who want to create websites themselves, but do not possess the necessary technical skills, will take advantage of our FREE newly updated user-friendly site building software- SiteStudio v.1.8.

With Best Regards,
From our web hosting company

To the attention of all our present and prospective customers,

Our Elefante One-Click Scripts Installer tool included in all our web hosting packages has been newly updated to the latest stable releases of the following open-source PHP scripts:

We hope that these script versions will provide for our customers better opportunities for developing interactive websites, featuring rich content and utilities such as: galleries, photo albums, blogs, forums, e-shops, and more.

To slightly uplift the curtain for our future projects - our developers team is currently working also on the integration of several other popular PHP scripts in the Free Elefante One-Click Installer package. Also under development is the future incorporation of the package in the Domain Manager and the File Manager of your web hosting control panels, which will reveal new possibilities for scripts administration and quick and easy script installation into your web hosting accounts.

With best regards, from our web hosting company!

We are happy to inform all our customers that the File Manager software tool available in your Web Hosting Control Panels has been generally updated. The new version 2.01 contains more features and improved functionality. Since the very launch of the File Manager version 2.0, we've been carefully reading the feedback and comments you've been sending us, and since it is our own in-house developed product, we again put all our efforts to respond to all your requirements and suggestions.

The new update includes the following functionalities:

1. On the tooltips that you can open clicking on a file name/or a folder type icon, the 'Download option is featuring separately. (So far it was offered together with the 'Open' one - Open/Download).

2. 'Download' action is available for selection also from the up and down Actions toolbars. The new buttons enable you to select multiple files for download. The chosen items are automatically generated in a .ZIP archive and downloaded to your PC.

3. Folders are also possible for download. The feature will be working on the same principle as the multiple files download.

4. Archive/ZIP option is also available for folders from now on. It creates a .ZIP file from a chosen directory, and saves the archive on the server.

5. Each file/folder information field is featuring a new type icon now. It gives access to the permissions set for each directory location, and allows changes to be made by simply clicking on it.

6. 'Enter Custom Path' - this new field allows users to enter the name of a directory that they wish to open. This option is especially useful for often visited host destinations, the name of which you know well. It saves you the time-consuming process of browsing through files and folders along to the desired directory path.

7. 'Quick Links Path' - if the name of the current directory is not fully displayed in this field, you need to only mouse over the name and a tooltip will appear showing the full directory path of the current host location.

8. This function will be also available for the file/folder names not fully displayed in the information fields of the File Listing Panel -mousing over a file/folder you can view in the tooltip appearing its full name.

9. Another new option has been added to the File Listing Panel's functionality, giving you the possibility to view your files listed by Name and Size. NOTE: By Name can be sorted all files and directories, while the Size option will be available only for the files list.

10. Most substantially upgraded is the Plain text editor of the File Manager. Many fixes have been performed to be improved its functioning. Few new features have been added, as well:

• 'Go to line' field - this is a new input field where users can enter a number of a line and then, by pressing the 'Enter' key, move directly to the desired line in the document. This option is especially useful in cases when you need to edit something in a particular line, e.g. "syntax/fatal error on line 54".
• The Save and Close functions have been slightly altered, as well. Up until now, there was one button - 'Save', that was performing the whole action of saving the last changes and closing the window. With this update, a new button was added - 'Apply Changes', which will perform only the saving/applying the last changes function, while another one - 'Save And Close', will be confirming the saving process and closing the window.
• Saving with Ctrl+S key combination is also possible in the new File Manager version.
• Support for syntax check of the PHP code has been added, as well.

We are really looking forward to hear your comments and suggestions. We hope that the new 2.01 File Manager version will meet your expectations and facilitate your account administration and file management through our Web Hosting Control Panel.

With compliments, from our web hosting company

To further facilitate our customers in the management of their web hosting accounts we run regular updates to the customers' Web Hosting Control Panel. The newest update we've made concerns the Domain Manager, and in particular - the display field of the domains' status. This section will now contain up-to-date information about the current status of each domain name, as well as extended administration options.

Four new domain statuses have been added and will be displayed accordingly when a particular domain name has reached the respective status. The statuses will be notified with type icons, opening tooltips with detailed explanation about each of them. From the Expiration/Renewal column of the Domain Manager our customers will be also able to open other tooltips providing options for according domain action.

Domain statuses overview:

Redemption period - a period of up to 30 days after a domain name's expiration. During this period the domain name owner can retrieve the domain name from deletion and renew it against a small redemption fee. Automatic renewal option will be displayed in the Domain Manager in such cases. The redemption fee will be added to the renewal price of the domain name. The customer needs to open a tooltip from the Expiration/Renewal column of the domain name in RGP (Redemption Grace Period). There he/or she will be given the option to retrieve the domain name and renew it.

Extended redemption period - a grace period of another 7 - 30 days when the domain name can be retrieved from deletion and renewed. The renewal however cannot be automatic in this period and the domain name owner needs to contact our supports team with renewal request. 'Open support ticket' option will be displayed in the domain tooltip opened from the Expiration/Renewal column of the Domain Manager.

Pending delete period - this is rather informative than requiring any action, since during this period the domain name can be neither retrieved, nor renewed. It only shows that the domain has been blocked by its Registry and will be returned in 3 - 5 days back into the public pool of domain names.

Released from registry - this status shows that the domain name is now publicly available for registration. An option will be provided in the respective Expiration/Renewal Domain Manager field with registration of the domain name preserving its old WHOIS information. The previous domain name owner can take advantage of this opportunity and newly register the domain name. If the domain name has been already taken, an option with new domain name registration will be offered.

We hope that this update will be useful for our clients and will help them to better and easier manage their domain names.

Our Marketing Department has the pleasure to inform you that a new bonus feature has been added to the web hosting services order page of our company's website. Elefante PHP script FREE automatic installation is now included in the packages! This means that, with each web hosting plan you order through our website's order form, you can have one Elefante PHP script of your choice professionally configured and fully automatically installed for you on your website absolutely free of charge.

NOTE: Once you have purchased your web hosting account, you can download and install any of the rest of over 30 PHP scripts available for free installation through our Elefante Installer from your Web Hosting Control Panel (as it's been so far), more advanced computer configuration skills however might be required from you during the installation process.

Take now the exceptional opportunity to easily run any of the open-source Elefante PHP scripts available (Blog, Forum, CMS, Gallery, etc.) with the free PHP script installation you get with any newly ordered web hosting account.

Dear present and prospective customers! The Software Developers Department of our web hosting company is happy to announce that a new File Manager version has been developed and launched online! This advanced software tool was created by our professionals to suit our clients' highest demands in terms of facilitation, easy administration, better navigation and advanced functionality, all bundled within an exceptionally user-friendly interface!

The following features and functions are comprised:

Create New File/Folder - In this field you can create new empty files and folders. You can choose either option by selecting the corresponding radio button.

Disk Usage - This field provides for you up-to-date graphic and numerical information of how much disk space you have utilized and how much remains free.

Quick Links Path - In the previous File Manager version, the history path name, displayed above the panel with your listed files, was static. Here, it is replaced by a dynamic 'quick links' path name, providing for you easy access to each sub-level of your current directory. The 'Quick Links Path' field actually displays the name of the current directory, you have selected by browsing through the folders in the File Listing Panel, in the form of dynamic history path name links.

Quick Host Shortcuts - This dropdown enables you to directly select a host from a list containing all your hosted domains and sub domains.

File Listing Panel:

• Check boxes - Using the check boxes in the first column of the File Manager's File Listing Panel, you can select multiple files/folders in order to perform certain actions (Copy, Delete, etc.).
• Type Icons - By means of type icons, this column gives you easy orientation and quick information about the type (folder/file - text, image, archive etc.) of the documents related to the icons.
• File/Folder names - Our new File Manager introduces a new approach to the management of your files and folders in the form of intelligent tooltips, providing you with an easy access to all actions that can be performed per selected file/folder.


• File tooltip - is activated upon left-click of the mouse on the name of the file. It opens an Info panel containing details about the file's name, type and size, and two dropdowns. The Permissions dropdown allows you to reset the permissions for the selected file. The Actions dropdown lists all actions (Edit, Copy, Delete, Open in web, View image, Open in WYSIWYG Editor, etc.) that can be performed per selected file.
• Folder Tooltip - is activated upon left-click of the mouse on the type icon of the folder and opens an Info panel containing details about the name of the folder, and two dropdowns. The Permissions dropdown allows you to reset the permissions for the selected folder. The Actions dropdown lists all actions (edit, copy, delete, download folder as Zip archive, etc.) that can be performed per selected folder. *Note that, if you click on the name of the folder, instead of the folder type icon, the folder file content will be listed.


• Actions icons - next to the file/folder names are displayed all action icons available per file/folder - for quick selection of a desired action to be performed for the corresponding file/folder. Each button opens a smart tooltip, showing details about the action that is going to be performed.
• File Size - presents information of the size of each file.
• Permissions - presents information of the current permissions set for each file/folder.
• Last Accessed/Last Changed dropdown menu - allows you to switch between both options - 'Last Accessed' and 'Last Changed', upon your desire or need to view the corresponding class of information displayed in the last column of the File Manager's File Listing Panel.

Actions Toolbar - The actions toolbar contains a convenient set of tools for multiple files/folders editing. You can select a number of files/folders and press any of the buttons available - Move, Copy, Delete, Change Permissions, to perform the according action for the selected files. If you use the option 'Select All' files/folders, the changes you make will be applicable to all files/folders in the current directory. With the newly added 'Reload' button you can reload the File Manager's File Listing Panel without needing to refresh the whole web page.

File Upload Field - With the new File Manager you can upload an unlimited number of files, without exceeding however a total size of 20 MB at once. For your convenience, the file upload boxes have been organized to appear in a cohesive order - right after you have filled in an upload box, a new one will show up. The new file upload functionality also supports an option to upload .ZIP, .RAR, .TAR.GZ and .GZ archives with automatic unpack of the files/folders in the current directory. In order to upload archived files/folders, you have to browse and select a desired archive, then check the box that will appear - 'Unpack archive after upload'.

Key basis for the development of this File Manager version was the need to provide for our customers better navigation, time-saving and visualization tools. We sincerely hope that your file management work will be much easier now and pleasurable to do. We will ardently continue to put efforts in the improvement and development of an advanced web hosting environment and a handy administration system for our clients' Web Hosting Control Panel.

Dear clients,

It us our pleasure to inform you that, as of today, support of PHP v6 is available on all servers in our web hosting network.

This is a brand new version of PHP that still needs to be stabilized online. Therefore, the version is still recommended utterly for test purposes and experimental use. We are introducing the new version in our system earlier in advance, as there are already lots of users interested in developing and maintaining dynamic web sites through PHP v6 enabled software. We would like to advice you, however, to restrain from relying fully only on this version until PHP v6 is officially confirmed as a stable release.

Considering the global software world's trend of moving towards language and cultural sensitivity, the most outstanding feature in PHP v6 - the Unicode support - comes as a timely response! For all of you interested in implementing the new PHP support, please, switch to the new version from the 'PHP settings' section in your Web Hosting Control Panel, or simply by running your files with the extension of ".php6".

With compliments, from our company

Dear customers,

As we recently announced, our company is becoming VAT registered. We would like to inform you now that the official date of our VAT registration, previously scheduled for March 1st, has just been confirmed to be April 2nd, 2008.

The re-scheduling of the dates and the hence extended preceding period of time provide us with the enormous advantage to have opportunity to introduce the new VAT invoices earlier in advance, to take time to monitor the performance of the system and to guarantee, in result, an ultimate stability, fluency and trouble-free transition to the new VAT scheme on April 2nd.

Our Management Department has decided to introduce the new VAT type-a invoices into our system in the period between 4-6 March, 2008. The VAT field on the invoices will be featuring with a 0.00 value (in the currency you have chosen) until April 2nd, as no VAT will be charged during that time.

Should you have any questions regarding the new VAT scheme, please, refer to the Detailed VAT Overview in our news section or contact our Supports Department. Should you have any comments or recommendations regarding the new VAT invoices, please, do not hesitate to feedback us.

To the attention of all our clients! We are glad to inform you of the latest updates to our Elefante Installer scripts package that are currently in progress and will take effect within 24 hours.

Thoroughly renewed Joomla and phpBB scripts are being incorporated. To the current Joomla 1.0.12 (updated to version 1.1.15) new Joomla 1.5.1 is added. To the current phpBB 2.0.22 (updated to version 2.0.23) new phpBB 3.0.0 is added. The new versions will not replace the older ones, but both versions of each script will be available for you to choose from, according to your individual needs and requirements.

Hereby follows a list of several scripts that will be updated to support newer versions:

• Joomla 1.0.12 - version to be supported 1.1.15
• phpBB2 2.0.22 - version to be supported 2.0.23
• phpWebSite 1.1.0 - version to be supported 1.4.0
• Drupal 5.1 - version to be supported 6.0
• Wordpress 2.2.1 - version to be supported 2.3.3
• Coppermine 1.4.10 - version to be supported 1.4.16

All system failures or any other problems you might have been facing when working with PHPTickets, Maian Events, phpWebSite, b2evolution or OsCommerce are to be removed! All these scripts are expected to show highest-level performance afterwards.

The XML response error in Internet Explorer, caused by "`" or "-" symbols present, is to be fixed. The Phpformgenerator will be modified not to generate invalid forms.

We hope that the new adjustments will contribute to the fluent integration of the Elefante Installer scripts within our system and guarantee satisfactory performance of the package to our most demanding users.

All updates are to take effect in your control panels within 24 hours. Should you encounter any further problems, while working with our scripts package, please do not hesitate to immediately report them to our Support Department.

To the attention of all our present and prospective clients! We are happy to inform you that an important implementation is soon to come - bright new File Manager will be integrated in our system! The innovative and thoroughly updated version will have many new facilitative functions, some of them probably expected, and some of them complete surprise.

The new File Manager was developed by our professionals to suit the utmost requirements for ease, convenience and user-friendly interface. Key basis for its creation was the need for better navigation, facilitation, time-saving and visualization tools. Enormous emphasize was laid on some significantly important aspects regarding its upload functionality and editing system tools. Basically for the first time you will have an opportunity to upload ZIP/RAR files with Auto-Unzip in the pre-selected folder, and to visually keep track of the uploading process by means of displayed status bars. Also unprecedented is the function, to be included in the advantageous tooltip interconnections menu, to edit your files with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor and to view them directly on the web.

The new version of the File Manager is scheduled to be officially released within a month. Let's go now through a short review of the complete pack of functions that are to be expected, in case you would like to feedback us in advance:

• All parts of the history path name will be links (e.g. www/mydomain.com/myfolder/) - providing fast access to each level of the directory path of your files;
• A new Fast Access section will be placed on the right - by means of a drop-down menu will be ensured fast navigation through all folders of your current vhost (virtual host), and also fast access to all your main domains and subdomains;
• All file names will be links, opening smart tooltips displaying the full range of actions that can be performed. The smart tooltip will automatically recognize whether the file is editable or not, and will accordingly display the Editing option with WYSIWYG editor or in plain text. The option to view your file directly on the web will be included, as well;
• The file info field will be better organized and will display the 'name', 'size', 'permissions' and 'modified' records again, together with Edit/Move/Delete buttons added at the right end of the field;
• The upload file boxes will have new intelligent structure, as well. The permitted size of the files will remain the same, but new option will be provided for ZIP/RAR folders upload, with automatic unzip. After the uploading has started, visual graphic display of the uploading process will be provided for you to keep you informed of the stages;
• The multi-selection buttons will be at your disposal again;
• 'Disk Usage' field will graphically display up-to-date information of how much disk space you have utilized, and how much remains unused.

With the implementation of the new File Manager, we aim at setting new high criteria for intelligent interconnections and user-friendly interface. As you are already aware, this has always been our purpose, and we shall continue to work in this direction in the future, as well.

It is our pleasure to announce that the Web Hosting Control Panel now supports Chinese language, in particular Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. This is our present for the Chinese-speaking clients from around the world on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.

You can set the language of your Control panel to Chinese (Traditional or Simplified) from the Customize Control Panel section that is available in the My Account menu, or through the drop down menu at the top of the Control panel's main page.

To the attention of all our clients! As we announced recently, after mid-February our company is becoming VAT registered! The official VAT registration, and respectively the date from which the new VAT tax will be charged, has been scheduled for 1 March 2008. However, it will be our duty to confirm the date well in advance.

We would like to present to your attention now more detailed information about the new VAT scheme that will come into force from the beginning of March. Hereby we shall explicate all clauses in our future billing and invoicing policy. And most importantly, we shall differentiate the cases that will reflect the VAT changes, and those (that is the bigger part) that will remain the same.

To bring here once again clarity upon the VAT classification groups, all clients are to be referred to as Businesses or Individuals. Thus:

1. UK VAT at 17.5% is applicable to: Businesses (no VAT/VAT registered) and Individuals from the United Kingdom; and Individuals from the European Union.
2. Clients where VAT is applicable but WILL NOT affect the service pricing (i.e. equals to NIL): Businesses from the European Union.
3. Clients outside the scope of VAT: non-EU clients (Businesses and Individuals).

IMPORTANT for clients defined as VAT applicable, according to the above clarified classification: After 1 March 2008, UK VAT at 17.5 % will be applicable to all service prices in your future money-related actions, and you will be served by new VAT Order Forms, adequate to the new VAT financial relations.

To give here visual examples of the price calculations that will be displayed in the new VAT Order Forms, a $100.00 USD value will be used in all cases to explain the purchasing of a web hosting account:

• Individual Client from the UK (in accordance with item 1 of the 'VAT Classification Groups'):
  
  Amount Due: $100.00 USD
  VAT 17.5%: $17.50 USD
  Total: $117.50 USD


• Business Client from the UK (in accordance with item 1 of the 'VAT Classification Groups'):
  
  Amount Due: $100.00 USD
  VAT 17.5%: $17.50 USD
  Total: $117.50 USD


• Individual Client from an EU country, but not from the UK (in accordance with item 1 of the 'VAT Classification Groups'):
  
  Amount Due: $100.00 USD
  VAT 17.5%: $17.50 USD
  Total: $117.50 USD


• Business Client from an EU country, but not from the UK (in accordance with item 2 of the 'VAT Classification Groups'):
  
  Amount Due: $100.00 USD
  VAT 17.5%: $0.00 USD
  Total: $100.00 USD

IMPORTANT for all clients remaining outside the scope of VAT, according to the above clarified classification: Service prices will remain VAT unaffected and you will continue to be served by Regular non-VAT Order Forms.

Upon each purchase all clients will continue to receive a type-a invoice. The new type-a invoices will reflect the VAT changes when the client is VAT applicable.

As we have already prepared for launching all VAT system updates in terms of billing (pricing, order forms) and invoicing, our Technical Department has decided to activate some of them ONLINE earlier in advance, so as to have plenty of time to collect your feedback and to monitor the operating of the system. For that purpose, AS OF TODAY, in all Order Forms the VAT price field will be featuring with $0.00 value, simply informatively, as no VAT is to be charged until 1 March 2008.

As you hopefully see, we tried to adapt our system to the new VAT clauses with a minimum of new introductions and updates. We will do our best to make the VAT integration process fluent and easy for all parties. Please, follow our news section for up-to-date information and should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Dear customers,

We would like to inform you of slight changes in the pricing of .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .US and .INFO TLDs (top-level domain names) that might be expected in result of the new pricing policy of their registries. On Sunday, October 14th, 2007, VeriSign, Afilias, Neulevel and Public Interest Registry registries increased the prices of the top-level domain names that they are offering (the aforementioned TLDs). We tried to preserve our pricing unchanged for as long as possible, and though now, after a few months, small changes in our prices for domain registrations/transfers will inevitably have to be made, we shall do our best, as always, to stay true to our policy of offering reasonably affordable costs.

Please, refer to any slight changes you may notice in our domain names registrations/transfers pricing list of COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .US and .INFO TLDs as an unavoidable consequence of the registries' official policy. Thank you very much for your understanding, please do not hesitate to feedback us, as soon as you have any comments or suggestions in regards!

Our Technical Department is happy to inform you that the pre-upgrade maintenance of SupCenter10.co.uk, scheduled for today, passed without any complications, and with a very short downtime. Now, after the first stage is successfully completed, the server is ready for the next step of its essential hardware upgrade - the installing of the new HDDs (Hard Disk Drives). The upgrade is scheduled for next week and, as soon as we receive information from our Data Center, we shall announce the exact date and time.

Thank you very much for your understanding! Please, remember that we are performing all these upgrade procedures to ensure highest quality web hosting services and technical support.

Our Technical Department would like to inform you that an urgent data transfer maintenance is going to be carried out on SupCenter55.com server on January 24th, 2008, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM GMT (4:00 AM to 10:00 AM EST). Downtime of about 2 hours is to be expected for all web hosting services.

As you have probably noticed, due to an unknown hardware problem, the machine has been suffering occasional timeouts. Our technical team will resolute the problem shortly. However, as our purpose has always been to ensure highest quality web hosting services and technical support, we shall comply with our policy in such cases and take immediate corrective actions. The decision of our Technical Department, in order to secure excellent web hosting environment for all SupCenter55.com users, is to transfer all their account data to a new machine - SupCenter100.com, which will not simply take over the operational responsibility for all their web hosting services, but will also guarantee optimal level of working performance and reliability due to the better hardware parameters of the server itself.

During the procedure all the data, that is to be transferred to the new server, will remain absolutely undamaged. All account login details of the users will also remain unchanged. We would like to offer an apology for any inconvenience you might encounter during the downtime.

Our Technical Department would like to inform you that a pre-upgrade maintenance is going to be performed on SupCenter10.co.uk. The maintenance is scheduled for 9:00 AM GMT (4:00 AM EST) on January 24th, 2008, with around 2 hours expected downtime.

The re-arrangement of the server partitions, that is going to be carried out, will prepare the server for next week's entire replacement of its HDDs (hard disk drives) with new better and faster ones. In result, the working performance of the server will be uplifted enormously and the occasional timeouts you might have been facing once in a while will be totally eliminated.

The installing of the new hard disk drives is planned for next week, and we shall let you know about it well in advance. We give our guarantees that the information stored on the server will not be affected in any way and would like to apologize for any inconvenience you might suffer during the downtime.

For us, 2007 was an intensive year, fulfilled with new entries, brilliant ideas and fruitful collaboration between you and us. Throughout these 12 months of hard work we were completely devoted in our efforts to keep higher and competitive the level of our web hosting system, and to provide better and more interesting opportunities for you - our clients. Eyeing back on the year, we are happy to acknowledge that all our efforts had been worth making, in terms of numerous innovations implemented, as well as upgrades performed. Big part of those were inspired by the valuable feedback you were sending us, together with your highly appreciated recommendations. Let's preserve this rate of supportive work and collaboration also throughout the new year and cast an eye back now at some of our most important 2007 events.

Most radically reformed was the Domain Manager. It now provides opportunity for full control of your hosted domains through centralized management of all features (multi-year registration and renewal, transfer, hosting, DNS, parking, Lock/Unlock, WHOIS, ID Protection, EPP).

The recently updated Custom DNS Records section also supports now extended functionality. You are able to set CNAME, AAAA and TXT records, as well as additional NS, MX and A records.

Substantially renewed is the Upgrade section of the WHCP (Web Hosting Control Panel). The Add Services range of features has been enhanced. The interface of the Upgrade Plan and Renew Plan functionality fields is now much friendlier.

A new section was introduced - Set up New Account, enabling you, upon need, to immediately purchase a new web hosting account.

Special attention was paid to our Elefante (Free Scripts) Installer. It was upgraded to a new version, containing better features and more user-friendly interface.

An Administration Tools section was differentiated, with its latest implementation - the .htaccess generator, supplying you with an advanced tool for generating .htaccess files.

Two new languages - Dutch and Romanian - were introduced to the language family of the WHCP. A new link - Visit Store, was added, as well, providing a direct connection to our dynamic up-to-date service offerings.

The Round Cube webmail software was added to the Web Mail tools currently in use for web-based e-mail management.

Great number of TLD extensions (top-level domain names) was added to the list of domains available for registration/transfer in your WHCP, together with WHOIS / ID Protect Service activated and multiple domain registrations/renewals for multiple years.

Throughout the past year our network administrators invested a great amount of efforts in improving the performance of our servers - the "backbone" of our web hosting system. Together with the adding of new servers, a few hardware and software (php 5 and MySQLv5 library) upgrades were carried out.

Special attention was focused on the rejuvenation of our billing system, aimed at substantial tightening of its efficiency regarding the payment verifications and order processings. The switching to multi-currency billing and the PayPal Pro payments solution now guarantee you increased stability and higher level of security in the processing of your incoming payments through our Web Store or through your Web Hosting Control Panel.

For us, 2007 had been a fruitful year, fulfilled with benefits. And bringing to mind the rich array of projects and ideas already scheduled to be performed, we dare say that, even from this early time-point of view, 2008 already outlines as an incredibly interesting year, packed with events. Let us slightly "uplift the curtains" for those of you who most impatiently await:


UPCOMING:

• New Improved Web Hosting Platform - we have firmly headed upon the track of a Cluster System - to be entirely implemented by the end of the year. The stable architecture and design of the new Cluster System will enable us to successfully step on the next level - Load-Balancing System, hopefully shortly afterwards.
• Intelligent Website Builder - a new WYSIWUG software is being developed by our professionals. It will suit your utmost requirements of an intelligent and intuitive tool for creating websites.
• Recurring Billing - the new facilitative option will be implemented soon in your Web Hosting Control Panel, to enable automatic renewals of your active account services - time-savingly and effortlessly for you.
• Essential update of the Email Manager is to be performed - the new Email Manager will be supplied with cleverer interconnections, auto webmail logins, visual display of all settings of an email account, intelligent tooltips and much friendlier interface.
• Essential update of the File Manager - a bright new File Manager will be integrated in our system. The new File Manager is developed by our professionals to suit the utmost requirements for ease, convenience and user-friendly interface. Key basis for its creation was the need for better navigation, facilitation, time-saving and visualization tools. Enormous accent was put on some significantly important aspects regarding its upload functionality and editing system tools.
• Completely new version of the Web Hosting Control Panel - you will have at your disposal several interfaces to choose from (graphic, text and mixed). Full customizability will be enabled, together with improved interconnections, smart tooltips and much user-friendlier functional approach.

To the attention of all our clients from the European Union! We would like to inform you that from the first half of February our company is to be VAT registered.

Due to our fast development and increased operation on the European market, this procedure has become a necessary step on the track of a solid course and confirmation of our company reputation. New renommee label will be stitched to our name, to speak volumes about our stability, reliability and guaranteed quality business environment.

To bring here clarity upon the VAT classification groups, clients will be referred to as Businesses or Individuals, to differentiate the following cases:

• UK VAT at 17.5% is applicable to: all Businesses (no VAT/VAT registered) and Individuals from the United Kingdom; all Individuals from the European Union,
• Clients where VAT is applicable, but WILL NOT affect the service pricing (i.e. equals to NIL): Businesses from the European Union,
• Clients outside the scope of VAT: non EU clients (Businesses and Individuals).

Very detailed information will be presented to you, shortly. Please, follow our news section, and do not hesitate to feedback us, as soon as you have any comments in regards to the forthcoming VAT registration.

We are happy to inform you that, as of today, all our present and prospective customers are offered a much wider list of TLD (top-level domain) extensions to choose from, when signing up for a new web hosting account with us.

The sign up page has been updated and, to the former list of six TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us), all TLDs that were previously available for registration only as an upgrade procedure (.co.uk, .de, .eu, .name, .cn, etc.) have been added.
Now, with the ordering of a new web hosting plan, all clients are able to register a domain name with any of the country TLDs available, or any other TLD they find attractive or suitable for their online appearance. Thus, the new functionality provides not only an enhanced range of options for the pre-selection of your plan features, but also a possibility for far more precise and strategic choice of your web representation.

Happy New Year and Best Wishes from our Team!

We are happy to announce that the Custom DNS Records section has been updated!
The new much improved version has wider functionality and offers for the first time the opportunity for CNAME, AAAA and TXT records to be configured within your DNS settings, as well as the possibility to add extra NS, MX or A records. Clients are able to choose themselves the number and the type of custom records they'd like to set to each host. The TTL value field is available for editing as well, in case there is such need.

For more information about the management and the configuration of your DNS settings, please, refer to the Help Section in the Show/Hide menu in the Custom DNS section of the Web Hosting Control Panel, or contact our Support Department for assistance.

We are pleased to inform you that on Thursday, December 06th, the following upgrades will be made:

• PHP v4 and v5, available at present on our servers, will be upgraded to support MySQL v5 library. This procedure was recently performed on two of our SupCenters. After being positively evaluated by our administrators, the upgrade will now be applied to all our servers.
• Support of mysqli (MySQL Improved Extension) and PDO_MYSQL will be added, as well.

We would like to inform you that the Round Cube webmail software has been added to the Horde and Supreme Web Mail tools that are currently used for web-based e-mail management. Round Cube is pretty simple and reliable software that maintains the basic e-mail functions in combination with user-friendly interface. You will see the Round Cube on the webmail selection page that is accessible through the web hosting Control Panel -> E-Mail Options -> Webmail.
If you experience any difficulties while using the new webmail software, please send us your feedback using the Open New Ticket link in the Help Center of the Control Panel.

We would like to inform you that the substantial hardware upgrade of SC301.com, that had been recently cancelled, has now been re-scheduled and is to be performed on Wednesday 28th, from 01:00 PM to 07:00 PM (08:00 AM to 02:00 PM EST). The expected downtime is 2 hours during which all webhosting services will be unavailable. We would like to apologize in advance for the inconvenience that this may cause and to reassure you that all the data stored on the server will not be affected in any way!

We would like to announce that on Friday, November 23, between 09:00 and 12:00 AM GMT (04:00 - 07:00 AM EST) support of MySQL v5 library will be added to the PHP v4 and v5 available at present on our servers. Although we are not expecting this upgrade to result in any problems, our system administrators will first perform this procedure only on SupremeCenter7 and SupremeCenter47 servers and will then take a final decision as to whether the upgrade could be applied to all our servers. All web hosting services (websites, e-mails, Control Panel, etc.) are to suffer a downtime of about 1 hour. Please, accept our apologies!

We would like to inform you that, due to problems with the chassis needed for the addition of the new hard-disk drives, the upgrade of SC301, scheduled for November 20, was not completed. Currently the server is working without any problems and we will re-schedule the activities as soon as the necessary parts are delivered. Thank you for your patience regarding this matter!

The .DE TLD has been made available for registration and management in the Control Panel. This is the TLD for Germany and we believe that its implementation will meet the needs of our customer from Germany. It is worth mentioning that the registry of this domain, DENIC, has a few special requirements for the registration and management of .DE domain names and here you can learn about them.

WHOIS / Contact Information:In order to approve a registration request, the registry has set a requirement for street address or P.O. Box within Germany in the administrative contact section. To fulfill this requirement, an additional step has been added after the WHOIS information Please note that the .DE registry, DENIC may not approve the registration if the address is not correct.
Registration Period:The registration period varies between 1 to 10 years. Renewals for multiple years are possible as well.
Domain Renewal:.DE domain name can be renewed successfully up to 10 days before the expiration date. When less than 10 days are left to the domain's expiration date, it gets a "Transit" status and the registry attempts to contact the registrant. If, after 4 weeks, there is no response, the domain is transferred to DENICdirect for further management and the registrant must contact then, in order to renew the domain name.
WHOIS / ID Protection:This service is not applicable for .DE domain names.
Registrar Change / Transfer:It is not possible to change the registrar of .DE domain names.

We believe that the information that we have provided would be sufficient to clarify the situation with the .DE domain names. In the Register / Transfer tab of the Domain Manager, there is a TLD Info page where one can find a detailed review of all TLDs on offer.

In the next three days SupremeCenter7.com will undergo maintenance for the purpose of adding new HDDs (hard disk drives) and the performing of other activities, which is expected to cause two or three downtimes of about one hour to all web hosting services. Please, accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

We would like to bring to your attention that maintenance of the SC301.com server will be performed on Tuesday, November 20. The maintenance is scheduled to start at 13:00 GMT and last no more than 6 hours (from 08:00 to 14:00 EST). The estimated downtime is not expected to exceed 2 hours for all services (websites, e-mails, FTP, control panel, etc.). The reason for the maintenance is the need of urgent hardware upgrade. The activity is not expected to affect the data stored on the server.

We are glad to inform you that the .COM.MX domain extension has just been made available in the Domain Manager of the web hosting Control Panel. As you probably know, the .MX TLD is for Mexico but, unlike the most of the country domain names, there are no restrictions for nationality or residence in this country and anyone can order and use such domain names. However, there is a special requirement set by the nicMX registry that imposed an additional step to be added to the domain registration process. Here comes some more information regarding the features of the new extension:

Registration Period: .COM.MX domain names can be registered only for a 2-year period.
Domain Renewal: Domain renewal is possible for 1 year and must be ordered before the expiration date. If a domain name expires, it is removed from our account with our registrar, and becomes available for registration at least 16 days after the date of expiration.
Pre-Configuration: The step that follows the WHOIS information form requires the registrant to agree with the aforementioned domain renewal requirement.
WHOIS Management: Once a .COM.MX domain is registered, the registrant can modify the WHOIS only with a trouble ticket opened from the Help Center that is available in the Control Panel. The support team will forward the request to the attention of the domain registrar for approval and will inform the registrant whenever there is a resolution for approval or rejection, sent by the nicMX registry.
WHOIS / ID Protection: This service in not available for .COM.MX domain names.
Registrar Change / Transfer: It is possible only to transfer .COM.MX domain names away to another registrar, while transfers to us is not supported by our registrar.

The .DE top-level domain (TLD) will also be made available for registration and management soon. We will let you know as soon as this is done.

The .EU top-level domain (TLD) has been added for registration and management in the Control Panel of the web hosting accounts. We believe that our customers from Europe will take advantage of this TLD when searching for appropriate domain names for their websites.

The .EU TLD is for the European Union and, thus, can be registered by any person or organization established within the European Union. Hereby follows some information about the management of .EU domain names:

Registrant Location: There is a requirement for the registrant (person or organization) to be established within the European Union.
Registration Period: The registration period for .EU domain names is 1 year, which applies also for their renewal.
Domain Renewal: Renewal requests will be accepted by the date of expiration (e.g. September 14th, 2008) or by the 20th of the month of expiration, in cases when the date of expiration is after that date (e.g. September 25th, 2008).
Example: If the name expires on Sept 14th, 2008, then a renewal request must be received by Sept 14th, 2008. If a name expires on September 25th, 2008, the renewal request must be received prior to September 20th, 2008.
Pre-Configuration: As there are requirements for the registrant's location or origins, the domain registration interface will prompt the registrant to enter a valid address within the European Union. The .EU registry EURid will check the information and the registration request will be approved or rejected. Of course, the registrant will be notified via a trouble ticket in case there are any problems.
WHOIS Management: Once the domain has been registered with certain WHOIS information, the information can not be edited. However, minimal corrections are possible as an exception. Such requests must be sent to our support team via the ticketing system available in the Help Center of the web hosting Control Panel. One should have in mind that the registrant's personal or company name can not be modified because such changes are considered as 'formal transfer'. In order to execute transfer of the domain ownership, the registrant must contact directly the EURid registry using the information on their webpage.
WHOIS / ID Protection: This service in not available for .EU domain names.
Registrar Change / Transfer: It is not possible to change the registrar of an .EU domain name.

In addition to .EU domain names, in the next couple of days the .DE TLD will be added to the domain extensions' list as well. We will let you know as soon as it is done.

We are glad to inform you that the new TLD .ME.UK has been released and is now available for registration through the Web Hosting Control Panel. The management policy of the .ME.UK top-level domain is relevant to the rest of the .UK TLDs that we offer for registration and comes with the same special features, the most important of which are:
- 2-year registration period
- renewal available again for a 2-year period
- renewal requests processed only during the 5-month period before the expiration date
- the WHOIS information cannot be altered directly from the Control Panel - the UK registry, Nominet, must be contacted by the domain name owner for WHOIS changes.

To learn more about the specific .UK domain features, please refer to the previous news that concerns the CO.UK and .ORG.UK domains' release.

New TLDs coming soon - .EU and .DE!
The .EU and .DE top-level domains are to be available shortly, as well. They have the following specifications:

.EU - The .EU TLD is the unique TLD set for the European Union and, thus, can be registered by any person or organization established within the European Community. Registration of .EU domain names is possible for 1-year period only, and renewal must be ordered before the expiration date for the same period. Typically for the most of the TLDs (country code domain names), WHOIS / ID Protection is not supported.

.DE - This is the TLD for Germany - probably the chociest country TLD lately. However, there is a special requirement set by the registry of this domain, DENIC, referring to the registrant's address information that needs to be presented at the time of registration. According to that requirement, it is obligatory, when entering the administrative contact information, a street address or P.O. Box within Germany to be presented, in order to gain approval of the registration. There is no WHOIS /ID Protection service available for .DE domain names and it is possible to choose a registration period from 1 to 10 years.

We are pleased to inform you that today we have made available for registration through the Web Hosting Control Panel the .UK and .CA domain extensions (top-level-domains or TLDs). We know how desired they are and hope that these extensions will satisfy the needs of our clients from the United Kingdom and Canada.

Let's present the new TLDs and have a look at their special requirements now.

.UK (.CO.UK and .ORG.UK) Domain Names
The .UK TLD stands for the United Kingdom. We've made available the .CO.UK and .ORG.UK SLDs (second-level-domains), which can be used for registration or transfer purposes. The domain names registered with these SLDs possess some special features that make their management different from that of .com, .net, etc. TLDs. The differences concern the registration period, the renewal policy and the WHOIS info management.
Registration period: The registration period for the .UK domains is 2 years.
Renewal policy: Domain renewals are possible for a 2-year period only. What's more, renewal is only possible in cases when 5 months, or less, are left until the expiration date.
WHOIS management: Modification of the WHOIS info is not possible through the Control Panel. The UK registry Nominet must be contacted directly by the domain owner when the WHOIS info must be changed. The reason for this restriction is that there are certain fees that must be paid to Nominet and that such changes are considered as formal transfer.

.CA Domain Names
The Canadian registrar CIRA has some special requirements for the registrants and for the management of the WHOIS information.
Registrant requirements: .CA domain names can be registered by Canadian citizens, individuals having permanent residency in Canada and companies under the laws of Canada. Because of this requirement, additional contact details are required during the registration procedure itself and that is why we have made a separate page as a step of the domain registration process. This page allows you to choose the correct attribute from the list of options.
WHOIS management: The registrant cannot change the WHOIS in order to transfer ownership from one person or organization to another, but can change registrant's address, phone number and other contact details. However, in order to modify this info, you will have to submit a trouble ticket to the Customer Support staff from the Help Center section in the Web Hosting Control Panel.

It should be noted that both domains are transferable between different registrars and that no EPP authorization key is needed for that. Unfortunately, both of the registries do not support WHOIS / ID Protection for their domain names, which is characteristic for most of the "country domains".

What should you expect after these TLDs?
We are now working on the implementation of .DE and .EU domain names. Our developers will do their best to complete these TLDs by the end of November.

We would like to inform you that our server SupremeCenter44 is scheduled to undergo maintenance on Wednesday, October 31. The action will be performed between 12.00 to 20.00 GMT (08:00 to 16:00 EST) and is expected to cause about 2-hour downtime to all services. The goal of the maintenance is to optimize the server performance and improve its data storing capabilities.
We apologize for the inconvenience that the maintenance will cause to you or your business!

Our Technical Department would like to bring to your attention that several servers are scheduled to undergo maintenances during the next week. The reason that provoked the need of the maintenances is the replacement of obsolete hardware.
All maintenances will be performed between 10.00 to 14.00 AM GMT (05.00 to 09.00 AM EST) on October 22, 23 and 24, as follows:

On Monday, October 22 - SupremeCenter servers 10, 13 and 14 with downtime as follows:
- about 1 hour for SupremeCenter10
- about 4 hours for SupremeCenter13 and SupremeCenter14, including 60 minutes downtime of the websites and MySQL servers, and about 4 hours downtime of the Control Panel, FTP and mailing services.

On Tuesday, October 23 - SupremeCenter servers 15, 16 and 17 with downtime as follows:
- about 2 hours for SupremeCenter15
- about 4 hours for SupremeCenter16 and SupremeCenter17, including 60 minutes downtime of the websites and MySQL servers, and about 4 hours downtime of the Control Panel, FTP and mailing services.

On Wednesday, October 24 - SupremeCenter servers 18 and 19 with downtime as follows:
- about 1 hour for SupremeCenter18
- about 4 hours for SupremeCenter19, including 30 minutes downtime of the websites and MySQL servers, and about 4 hours downtime of the Control Panel, FTP and mailing services.

The activities that will be performed will not affect the data that is stored on the servers.

An emergency maintenance was performed by our data center AlphaRed. Their Technical Department informed us that a whole rack, with all its servers, must be moved urgently to a new data center. The maintenance started at 06.00 AM GMT (01.00 AM EST) and was supposed to take no more than 10 hours. The downtime that each one of the following servers has experienced was 4 hours.
SupremeCenter41
SupremeCenter44
SupremeCenter45
Please, accept our sincere apologies regarding this matter!

P.S. We understand the inconvenience that the entire action has caused to you, and it is obvious that we will have to remove some failings that are common for our and AlphaRed's business models, especially in the "emergency" part.

We would like to inform you that on Tuesday, October 9, between 10.00 to 14.00AM GMT (05.00 to 09.00AM EST), maintenances of SupremeCenter8 and SupremeCenter27 will be performed with expected downtime as follows: about 30 minutes for SupremeCenter27 and about 4 hours for SupremeCenter8. The maintenance of SupremeCenter8 will cause about 30-mininute downtime of the websites and the MySQL servers, and about 4-hour downtime of the Control Panel, FTP and the mailing services.

We'd like to let you know that scheduled maintenance of two of ours network's servers, SupremeCenter10 and SupremeCenter11, will be executed on Wednesday, September 26th, and on Thursday, September 27th, respectively. The actions will take place between 10.00 AM to 14.00 PM GMT (05.00 AM to 09.00 AM EST) both days and will be aimed at increasing the performance quality of the servers' hardware.

The maintenance procedures are planned to move the data on SupremeCenter10 and SupremeCenter11 to a brand new server, so that both servers could rely on a much more advanced hardware infrastructure. The migration time completion is expected to be around 4 hours as the following services will not be accessible within that period - Control Panel, email service, Front Page Server Extensions, Site Studio and FTP. The overall downtime for users' websites is expected to be around 30 minutes.

We'd like to apologize in advance for any possible inconvenience that the maintenance procedures might cause to your online presence. However, we trust you understand our efforts to ensure the reliability and up-to-dateness of our network system.

Maintenances of SupremeCenter6.com and SupremeCenter27.com will be performed on Monday, September 24, between 10.00 to 14.00 AM GMT (05.00 - 09.00 AM EST). These activities will not affect the web content of the servers and the expected downtime will be as follows: about 30 minutes for SupremeCenter27.com and about 4 hours for SupremeCenter6.com, including 4-hour downtime of the Control Panel, FTP and the mailing services, and about 30 minutes inactivity of the websites and the MySQL servers. The maintenance of the servers is provoked by the need of obsolete hardware replacement.

We are happy to announce that new software, called .htaccess Generator, has been made available in the Web Hosting Control Panel. Its purpose is to allow you to create many widely used .htaccess file features.

Where is the .htaccess Generator?
You can find the .htaccess Generator in the new Elefante Administration Tools section in the Web Tools menu. The new section includes also the Hotlink Protection and IP Blocking tools that have been taken from the Elefante Marketing Tools section. If you want to create .htaccess files you can also go to the desired location using the Control panel's File Manager and click the .htaccess button that is available there.

Where is the .htaccess Generator located?
We have developed this tool taking into account your need to create .htaccess files and the fact that these files are sometimes not functioning properly due to incorrect parameters. The new generator will create the files properly so that there will be no need for you to contact our Technical Support team with regard to problems of such kind. Of course, we are always ready to help if problems with malfunctioning .htaccess files hosted on our servers appear.

What features have been made available in the .htaccess Generator?
The features have been grouped in the following six sections depending on their purpose:

How can you apply the generated .htaccess code?
As soon as the form has been completed and submitted, the .htaccess code is generated. For your convenience, the code is being displayed in a text box so that you may choose whether to add it to an existing .htaccess file, or to have the file created in the selected location.

We trust you will like the new tool, as we are always happy to make our services easier for you to use.

It is our pleasure to announce that the Web Hosting Control Panel supports Romanian language now. We believe that this will make the web hosting services that we are providing more pleasant for our customers from Romania.
You can set the language of your Control panel to Romanian from the Customize Control Panel section that is available in the My Account menu, or through the Customize Control Panel icon at the bottom of the Control panel's main page.

A new feature has been made available in the Control panel. It enables you to sign up quickly for a completely new hosting account when the current hosting account has insufficient resources or in case a new project is about to be started. That's not all - a new interface has been developed for the signup process. It has the features of a Shopping Cart with its main advantage - allows management of the items that are being ordered without losing sight of them.

Let's choose the Setup New Account link in the web hosting control panel and take a short tour through the steps of the signup process using the new interface.

Step 1: Select a hosting plan In the first step of the wizard you will get acquainted with the hosting plans that are currently on offer. To review the plan features and compare the hosting plans that are available for purchase, choose the Compare plans tab. To proceed to the next step, click the Order button that corresponds to the plan that suits your needs. Note that in the Cart table you can use the Change plan link to switch to another hosting plan at any time during the signup process.

Step 2: Select domain In this step you must choose the domain name that you want to host in the new hosting account. You can register a domain name, or transfer an existing one, registered with another registrar. There is an option also to host your existing domain name without transferring it. Once you enter a domain name for registration / transfer and click the Add domain for hosting button, you must add to cart the domain that you've chosen in the results' list. Of course, you can use the Change domain link to change the domain name whenever you want.

Step 3: Account info Here we come to the place where you must submit the information needed in order to create the new hosting account. It is very important to enter the username of the new Hosting account and make sure that the contact e-mail address is correct because the new account information will be sent there. The same information will appear in the WHOIS of the domain that is ordered for registration or transfer.

Step 4: Select payment Finally, we come to the last step of the wizard where you must select the preferred payment method (credit card or PayPal). Make your final decision whether you would like to have the web hosting account created and, if everything is in order, use the Next button to complete the signup process and submit the payment.

We aim at making our services a real pleasure for you. Our desire is to enable you to do more with fewer efforts. After the several Control panel upgrades that we have made recently, we are presenting to your attention now the new version of the Elefante FREE Scripts installer.

Considering your feedback, we've tried to improve this useful tool and the result is a more intuitive and less time-consuming scripts installer, which now offers you more scripts. We hope that you will like it. We'll give you an idea of what you should expect to see:

New Interface The new interface will allow having all the scripts displayed at once. One look at the Control Panel will be sufficient to see the various categories and the corresponding scripts.

More information Why going to each script's page to see what its purpose is? Placing the mouse on the script's name will show you a short description, which will give you an idea whether this is the software that you are looking for. If it isn't - no problem, you will have some other scripts in the list to choose from.

One click for complete management A single click on the chosen script will give you the complete information needed for its management: software name, version and description, the option of installing the given script as well as the current number of the installations with the corresponding administrator URL.

Script administration The new administration panel is available in the Installed Applications section. A single click on the link in the Admin URL column will give you full information about the script - date of the installation, the database that was used, as well as the administrative login information.

Script versions We will do our best to keep the versions of the scripts that will be available in the Elefante FREE Scripts installer up-to-date. Every time there is a newer version, we will make it available for installation. You should bear in mind also the following: It is your obligation to install new software versions and updates of the versions that you have already installed. Some programs don't have updates and thus they may cause security issues. We are not responsible for any security issues that may arise as a result of non-updated versions of the scripts. We do not provide support for these scripts. Contact the development companies or check the support forums in case you experience any problems with the installed applications.

Thank you for being with us and for helping us improve our Hosting services.

Because of unplanned technical issues on our side the maintenance planned for Monday, September 3, should be shifted to Tuesday, September 4, between 10.00 to 14.00 AM GMT (05.00 to 09.00 AM EST) During the maintenance the Webhosting Control Panel, FTP and E-mail services on SupremeCenter12 and SupremeCenter27 won't work, the web sites will continue to work properly with some minor interruptions. This activity will not influence the safety of the web content of the servers and the expected downtime is about 30 mins for SupremeCenter27 and about 4 hours for SupremeCenter12. The maintenance of the servers is provoked by the need of obsolete hardware replacement and must improve the performance of both servers.

Maintenance of SupremeCenter12.com and SupremeCenter27.com will be performed on Monday, September 3rd, between 10.00 to 14.00 AM GMT (05.00 - 09.00 AM EST). This activity will not affect the web content of the aforementioned servers and the expected downtime is as follows: about 30 minutes for SupremeCenter27.com and about 4 hours for SupremeCenter12.com. The maintenance of the servers is provoked by the need of obsolete hardware replacement.

We thank you once again for your understanding and apologize for the inconvenience that this activity may cause!

We are glad to inform you that the maintenance of SupremeCenter5 and SupremeCenter27 has been completed successfully and the servers are fully operational now.
We thank you for your patience!

A maintenance of SupremeCenter5.com and SupremeCenter27.com will be performed on Wednesday, August 29th, between 09.00 - 11.00 AM GMT (04.00 - 06.00 AM EST). This activity will not affect the web content of the aforementioned servers and the expected downtime must not exceed 2 hours. The maintenance of the servers is provoked by the need of obsolete hardware replacement and must result in better performance of both servers.
We apologize for the inconvenience this activity may cause!

New options are available in the Subdomain Manager in the webhosting Control panel. Until now, one of the features in this section was allowing to set up the ERROR 404 page for each virtual host (domain or subdomain) and the options were: to use the system Apache error page, or to set a website URL that will open in case someone mistypes the host URL.

Now, in the Subdomain Manager, besides the ERROR 404 page, there are options to manage also 400, 401 and 403 error pages. Thus you will have control on the error pages that appear when there are problems with your hosts or with the server.

Please note that the new feature is available for the hosting accounts located on the servers from SupremeCenter5.com to SupremeCenter15.com for now. If you have any questions or meet any difficulties while setting up the error pages, feel free to send your inquiry in a trouble ticket that can be opened from the Help Center section of the web hosting Control panel.

New top-level-domains (TLD) have been made available for registration and transfer through the Domain Manager of you Control panel. More TLDs give you a chance to get a domain name that will fit better to the purpose and the target-group of your website.

The new TLDs that you can order now are:
.cc  .tv  .name  .cn  .com.cn  .net.cn  .org.cn  .tw  .com.tw  .idv.tw  .org.tw

The TLDs that we have been offering for registration so far are:
.com  .net  .org  .biz  .us  .info 

To see the new TLDs, select the Register / Transfer tab in your Domain Manager, or click the Register / Transfer button in the Upgrades menu.

In the Register / Transfer page you can select the box under the domain search bar for the TLDs that you would like to be included in the search. Please note that the pricing varies for the various TLDs and you can check it in the table that is on the right hand-side in the same page.

In order to see what the features of the TLDs are, (which can have ID Protect, which you can lock, etc.) just click the TLD Info link and all the information will be displayed in a table.

NOTE: If you can't find those TLDs in the Domain Manager of your web hosting Control panel, please submit a trouble ticket to our support in order to receive instructions on how to order such domain names.

The Change Plan section in the web hosting Control panel has been re-designed. We have applied a shopping-cart interface in order to present the web hosting plans in a more informative way and let you choose easily the plan that you need.

The link to the Change Plan section is located in the Upgrades menu, on the left hand-side of your web Control panel. The purpose of this section is to allow you to upgrade your current hosting plan to a more resourceful one.

If you compare the new design with the old one, you will find out that it is only the purpose of this section that is still the same. The new shopping-cart interface allows you to change your plan in 2 steps, providing with complete information for the hosting plan features. In the section for each plan, there is a short description of the hosting plan features and the price of the upgrade. To get more detailed information for the hosting plans you must click on the name of the hosting plan.

The Compare All Plans link in each section, displays in a pop-up the complete information for the hosting plans. You just have to review the list of features and decide which plan you should upgrade to.

Once the hosting plan is selected, click the Next button to get to Step 2 where you must select the currency (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD) and the payment method (2Checkout or PayPal).

Today we are launching a new service that concerns the security of your domain names. The service is called ID Protect (also known as WHOIS / ID Protect) and is purposed to protect your personal or business information displayed in the WHOIS from spammers, fraudsters and solicitors who use the WHOIS data (e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.) illegally. In other words, once the service is activated, the registrar will display fictitious details in the WHOIS, so that the real information will stay hidden, but all the e-mails that are sent to the fictitious e-mail address will be filtered and forwarded to the actual e-mail address set in the WHOIS.

The ID Protect service can be ordered only for domain names registered with us, and has its own expiration date that is not related to the expiration date of the domain name. Another important thing is that this service is available for the .com / .net / .org / .biz / .info TLDs, but is not supported by country domain names like the .us TLD.

Let's see how to activate WHOIS protection for your domains.

ID Protect for new domain(s)
	Just start the domain registration process from the Register / Transfer tab in the Domain Manager of the web control panel. At the top of the page, where you must setup the WHOIS information and order the service, you will see the domain name(s) that you have selected with the option to choose whether you want to activate ID Protect service and for how many years. When a domain is registered and the ID Protect service is activated, a green-shield-icon will be displayed in the Domain Manager. A single click on the icon will allow you to enable or disable the service.
ID Protect for already registered domain(s)
	There are three ways to order ID Protect for domain(s) that have been registered with us. The easiest way is to get into the Domain Manager and there click the Add link in the ID Protect column for the domain that you want to protect. The other way is to use the Quick Controls option in the upper-left corner of the web Control panel. In the panel with the information for the domain that you have selected, you will find a WHOIS section with an Order ID Protect link. If you have activated the service for that domain, in place of this link there will be a Manage ID Protect link that will allow you to enable or disable the protection. The third way to order the ID Protect service is to choose the Edit WHOIS option in the Domain Manager and to choose the green Order WHOIS / ID Protection link that is available there.
Management of ID Protect service
	ID Protect service that is already active can be enabled or disabled at any time. This can be done using the Manage ID Protect link located in the Quick Controls panel of the domain names, or with a single click on the green shield for the selected domain name in the Domain Manager. It is recommendable that you disable the ID Protect service, when you are attempting to transfer a domain name away to another registrar, in order to approve the transfer request that is usually sent via e-mail.

We have news for you! We are pleased to announce that the new Domain Manager is online. It is a lot more intuitive and informative and has many new features. Plus, new shortcuts for everyday use were added to the Web Hosting Control Panel for your convenience.

The Domain Manager: What's the whole story about?
Up till now, you have been using the Domain Manager exclusively to manage WHOIS information, DNS settings, Registrar Lock status and EPP authorization key - features concerning domain registration only. Our team has developed the new Domain Manager as a joint solution for management of registered and hosted domain names from one place, thus saving your time and making it more convenient for you.

	New domain management options are now available. Domain parking is the most important option that we have implemented. It applies to domain names registered through the Domain Manager. In order to have a domain name parked, it must have a Floating" status. We have implemented two parking solutions for you. You can either set up a website template (Standard, For Sale or Under Construction) that we have developed, or set up a redirection URL.
Domain renewal for up to 5 years is possible now. This option, together with the multiple-year domain registration option, prevents you from worrying about your domains' expiration dates and considerably improves their page rank.
	The new advanced interface of the Domain Manager contains a menu comprised of 6 groups. The names given to these groups are self-explanatory for the status of the domains located inside. It is worth mentioning that those domains, which have just been registered, have a "Floating" status, and that you can choose whether to host or park them.
	The Domain Manager is more informative now. Just one click on a domain name is sufficient to provide you with the information needed to manage its WHOIS, subdomains, e-mails and web content through the File Manager. The complete domain information is accessible via the View all domain details link. Information about the domains' current Google and Alexa rankings is available as well.
	The new shortcuts in the Web Hosting Control Panel: The Quick Control shortcut, which is now available, will make the management of any chosen domain name that is currently hosted much easier. It presents the complete information about a given domain that is available in our system.
	A Visit Store link has been added to the Web Hosting Control Panel as well. Thus, you will be able to visit our webstore and stay up to date with the latest offers.

As always, additional information about functionality and the meaning of the designation is available in the Help section of the Domain Manager. Tutorials will be added as well, and the Help Center's F.A.Q. section will be updated soon.

1. Modified titles and descriptions of the main sections;
2. Quick domain registration and transfer;
3. Multi-year bulk domain registrations and transfers available in the Domain Manager;
4. Detailed Context Help in each and every main section under the Show/Hide Help link;
5. Advanced Load Stats with additional resource reports allowing you to examine the exact running processes;