The allocation of databases within web hosting is a strange thing indeed too. Some free accounts offer unlimited amounts and yet some paying hosts not only restrict their clients to one database per account, but then also go onto charge exhorbitant amounts if a client chooses to opt for another. One I came across only this week charged £25 for each and every database over their one provided with the account.

Additionally, quite a few web hosts do not provide access to phpmyadmin, other than to provide a door to the admin interface but locking out all of the important bits – like assigning users and allowing the ability to change passwords. Likewise, some will gladly grant access to the database admin tool, but will not do so unless a written by hand request is submitted.

And another thing. Perhaps at the time of its inception the wording within the WordPress wp-config file, 99% chance you won’t need to change this value may have applied when referring to defining the name of your database host as ‘localhost’. However, if my experiences are anything to go by, this is no longer the case. Off the top of my head, a figure more along the lines of 50% would now be more appropriate.

One last little detail about databases that intrigues me. The choice of passwords by most people. So many people who ask for assistance via Install4Free have very weak usernames and password combinations with some just being amazingly simple to crack, like:

login: admin password: password and the marine website with the person’s name being Sue so guess the login and the password? Yes, you guessed it – dolphin.

We always apply something a bit stronger with a alphanumeric structure and at least 8 characters, but we know in our hearts that a strong login and password is only as good as the person who applies it in all they do.

That’s it for now, but my next sojourn into databases may be a quick tutorial for new users explaining how easy it is to change some of the simple things such as siteurl and home addresses.

One area I have always been heavily involved in is helping others set it up and use it. Much of this has happened through personal emails and via the age old system of ‘from someone who knows someone‘ etc. However, from late 2007, I have been an official team member of a service known simply as Install4Free. The weird part of all of this is I hardly know the other members, rarely ever having any personal contact with them via emails or other communication channels, and even though I commit much [as in lots and lots] of my life to helping out in this venture, overall it is a thankless and demanding scenario.

It works like this: People want to use this new buzz blogging FREE software [better known as WordPress] and they try to do it themselves. But for many different reasons it will often not work as they expected. This applies to a widerange of people, from those who do not own a domain and no web host, to people who have all the requirements and yet some minor element just seems to stop them from installing it themselves.

And the people we deal with via this free, non-paying, voluntary service? Well, like anything in life – a real mix. Rude, obnoxious, arrogant – they get the service done in just the same manner as the very grateful, thankful and polite. The big difference for me is that often these people keep coming back for help in other WordPress issues and it should not be too hard for you to work out who I choose to help and who I ignore. Karma isn’t it – what goes around comes around – that kind of thought.

We have this policy in place too where we accept no offers of payment, no linkage to our sites, no glorification for the work we do of any nature. [To be honest, I am not sure who made the policy, but it is just one of those things in life we seem to do and abide by without question]. So, we hide behind our masks and simply do installation after installation after installation with our thoughts to ourselves – and we keep on churning out the installations day after day. When I say there is a team too, that is a bit of a misnomor really, but I won’t go there for now as it may ruffle feathers .

So this little category in Erratic Souls, is for when I just want to let a bit out to do with Install4Free. Like the guy this week who argued with me in a massive email tennis rally that his password WAS correct and that it was me who must be doing something wrong if it did not work. And the password in question – yes, I can share it with you – *****. He just could not understand that it would work for him and not for me. A potential 5-minute installation that turned into a 3 hour nightmare. And in the end I completed the installation and not a simple thanks came my way.

And yet, I enjoy what I do and really appreciate those who do take the time to acknowledge our efforts.

More to come…