For example, here is the new dashboard for another website of mine Firefox Facts:

If you need to quickly view basic statistics, this is the best place to go.  You can also customize it with more widgets – to give you access to more data.

As you browse through the rest of the interface – you will se much of the same information is there – things are just organized in a much better way.  The use of drop down menus on the sidebar also helps to better focur yourself on seeing the data you need to see on and about your website too:

The last new feature that really impressed me was the drop down menu at the top that lets you switch between websites you run very quickly.  It includes a search option too – for those of us managing multiple domains this is even better.  Simply type the first few letters of the domain and you can quickly pull up a Google Anyaltics profile for it.

If you want to play around with this new version of Google Analytics yourself, simple log into your Google Analytics account and click on the red "New Version" link at the top.   Overall, I would say a great tool just got even greater.

Domain Names Made Simple

Hover is looking to make the domain name registration and management woes we all go through a lot easier. You get all the important basics like domain forwarding, email forwarding and even custom URLs. The prices are also very simple and easy to understand too.

Create Your Own Short Links

The best feature of Hover is the ability to create your own short URLs with your own custom domain, using the Hover tools. All you need to do is install the Hover This! bookmarlet, and then you can create your own list of shared links with your own domain name.  So, you no longer have to use somebody else’s domain name in your shortened links.

Great Domain Name Support

Hover’s support and tutorials are also top notch too.  They are very simply written, so you can easily understand all the steps and how to do this, that and the other.  You can check out the help resources yourself by visiting help.hover.com.

Overall, Hover gets two thumbs up from me.  I might even start moving my own domain registrations over from GoDaddy so that I can manage my own domains in a much easier to understand straight-forward interface.

I have been a big fan off keeping files backup off site for a while now and the best tool I have found to get that job done is Carbonite.  Out of all the other solutions, Carbonite does the best job at making backing up automated so I don’t have to worry about it.  For the webmasters out there, it is also a great way to store your website backups too.

Once installed, Carbonite just starts to automatically backup your files.  Now, you can go in and customize which files you need it to back up – and it will do so, with perfection.  Just in case your PC goes caput, recovering your data from Carbonite’s servers it hassle-free. You can restore all the files in your backup (just in case you get a new PC) or recover any accidentally deleted files from the Carbonite desktop client.

Now, how would you use Carbonite to backup your website?

First, you would  need to log into your control panel and generate the backups needed.  You want to make sure you grab all the files stored on the server via FTP and all your database files you need for your installed scripts too.  Once you have those files downloaded, put them in a folder – and name that folder by the date of the backup – such as:

Web Hosting Show Nov 15 Backup

Now you have one local copy of your website backed up.  To get Carbonite to back it up – just right-click on the folder, and then Select Carbonite > Back this up.  It is that easy.  Now, you will have two backups of your website.  You have the local version of the backup saved to your PC and the off site backup saved to the Carbonite servers.

How much does Carbonite cost?  It is only $54.95 a year, which is around/about $5 per month.  That is equivalent to your average shared web hosting plan price. You can also try Carbonite for free for 15 days before you decide if you want to pay for it or not too.  If you are looking for a great off site backup option for your websites, Carbonite is a great and cheap way to get the job done.

It might be easy to find a free photo gallery script you can get up and running on your website.  However, not all scripts are created equal.  Sometimes you might want a simple page dedicated to photos, and other times you might need an entire domain dedicated to the idea of showcasing your images.  I have searched the Web high and low to bring you the best free image gallery tools for big projects, medium sized projects and lightweight projects.

Here are the three best free image gallery scripts, depending on the job you need them for.

An Advanced Free Image Gallery Script

Zenphoto is a great gallery tool that also comes with some CMS (content management system) options to make it a great tool to use to run your entire website.  It doesn’t try to do too much though, when it comes to features.  it keeps things simple by just delivering one of the best web media gallery management tools out there.  Once installed, the administrator interface is pretty easy to pick up and with the online template system they have – you can create a beautiful website in no time at all. Zenphoto can also handle audio and video too – which makes it an all in one multimedia gallery tool too.

A Middle of the Road Free Image Gallery Script

Minishowcase is another good gallery script that keeps things really simple.  With just a little PHP and JavaScript, you can put together an online gallery of photography, artwork or anything else without the need of configuring databases or customizing the code. You can literally get this script up and running in just a few minutes.  All you need to do is bring the content to showcase. If you need a gallery tool that is on the simple side (but still looks good) there is no better choice than Minishowcase.

A Very Lightweight Free Image Gallery Script

SmoothGallery is the last album script I have to share with you today. Using mootools, this fantastic JavaScript gallery and slideshow system lets you setup a simple image gallery, slideshow or showcase anywhere on your pre-existing website.  While you could not use this tool to run your entire website, it does make for a great way to showcase your work on the website you already have set up.  So if you would rather just showcase your images on one section of your page, rather than dedicating an entire website on it – SmoothGallery is a great script to use to get that job done.

There are plenty of more scripts out there, but these three of the best for the occasions you need them.  Zenphoto makes for a great tool to base your entire website off of.  Minishowcase is a nice lightweight gallery tool that could maybe be put in just one section of your website.  Then, last but not least, you have SmoothGallery.  It would let you display your images on a single page, just to quickly show them off to your website visitors.

There are thousands of free image host out there, but not many that focus on providing you a cheap or free place to host an online gallery for your photography, images or artwork.  If you do not want to upload a script and run it from day to day, you might try one of these three free image gallery hosting services to get your own portfolio hosted online.

Picasa

I had to throw one generic free service into the mix, and Picasa is the one I decided to pick.  Now run by Google, Picasa not only gives you a place to host pictures – but also comes with a very powerful desktop client to organize your collections with too.  If you have a Google account (and really, who doesn’t these days) go check it out and see if you like it.

Flickr

Flickr is another awesome and free way to upload and share your digital images online.  It might be one of the most well known photo sharing websites on my list today, and there is good reason for it.  It works, and it is where the people are right now.  You can create an account for free by logging into the Flickr website with your Yahoo info, and you’ll be ready to upload soon after that.  You can also organize your collections, share them with friends or limit who can see them too.

SmugMug

The SmugMug service is an interesting alternative to Flickr.  It seems to do everything Flickr does, and I am sure the developers of the service would say they do it better. Where SmugMug might hold the advantage is when it comes to selling your prints online.  They have a nicely integrated service that makes buying prints or merchandise with the prints on it very easy to do.  It might not have the community that Flickr does, but it is not short on features either.

So there you have it – which one of these services do you like the best? Do you have another that you love more? Send your thoughts to me in the comments – cause I would love to check out what you use for free image gallery hosting.

Now, you might think that cPanel isn’t something you really need to follow.  If you think that, you’d be wrong.  The people at cPanel have taken great leaps and bounds when it comes to adding a lot of informational and fun features to their website.  My favorite update to the cPanel website thus far is the new podcast they added, hosted by cPanel’s technical writer Lindsey White.

The show’s main premise is to provide practical instruction for improving your website.  The topics they have covered thus far include:

• How to Install WordPress using cPanel
• How SSL Certificates Make Websites More Secure

So this brings us to our highlight today, check out the latest cPanel podcast here, where you can learn more about the cPanel Automation Bootcamp conference.

The web hosting industry needs more voices and personalities, and I have to say that across these three shows I have really enjoyed Lindsey White’s work.

Take a few minutes to check that out, and be sure to stay tuned for more great cPanel podcasts on podcasts.cpanel.net.  If you have any feedback for them, feel free to leave it in the comments here and I am sure they would enjoy to hear what you have to say about their show.

Now, cPanel is by far the most popular control panel option out there these days.  Do you really know what makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd though? Here are the top 5 reasons why cPanel really rocks.

1. The File Manager is easy to understand and to use.  It doesn’t limit power users by making things too simple and it doesn’t confuse new users with a lot of controls they might not understand yet.
2. It can be customized by a web host to no end.  You can quickly view a server’s PHP configuration, install Ruby Gems, setup custom error messages and more.
3. cPanel does it all when it comes to email configurations.  Right out of the box, you get support for POP, IMAP, and SMTP.  Webmail is there too, and you can get into your mail with or without SSL encryption.
4. Everything is one click away.  Now this might depend on the theme you use, but in most cases – you can get the information you need in one to two clicks.
5. With additional tools like Fantastico, installing and updating scripts is really easy to master too.  Takes a lot of boring work out of the equation and just makes playing with a lot of third-party scripts a lot easier.

There you have it.  Love it or hate it, you have to admit that its dominance in the world of web hosting has to be admired. I have a feeling cPanel will be around for many more years to come, and how dominant it is will be up to cPanel and the web hosting community at large.

If you ask just about anybody what control panel their web hosting account is using, nine times out of ten you are going to get cPanel as the response.  While cPanel has always seemed to be the proverbial, “big daddy” when it comes to controlling hosting accounts – I do have to say the company has done a great job at sort of remaking its image to seem more up to date and awesome.

It was not too long ago that people picked cPanel because it was pretty much the standard when it comes to web hosting control panels.  It might not have been the prettiest or the best, but it got the job done.  For Pete’s sake, it has been around since 1997 – so I would be willing to bet it is one of the oldest control panels out there too.

What is New with cPanel?

Over the past couple of years though, cPanel has gone beyond being the ugly old reliable control panel we have to use to the flexible and pretty control panel we want to use.  The cPanel website also offers much more when it comes to teaching you more about the company and the product.  Here are just a few of the more recent innovations you might not have seen yet:

• Webinars
  Join the technical marketing team and learn about product roadmaps, new features and topics you suggest. Hosted by David Grega and Mario Rodriguez
• Dev Blog
  Are you integrating your application with cPanel? Read tips, discussions, and how to’s related to integration, API’s, and tools by cPanel developers!
• News
  Catch the latest happening at cPanel ranging from software updates, press releases and general talk about the industry in the news section.
• Podcast
  Listen to cPanel technical writer Lindsey White as she discusses web hosting and interviews industry superstars.
• Social Media
  Follow cPanel on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or the forums and become part of the 1000′s of followers that engage in these communities.
• Events
  Find out where the cPanel team will be at next. This include various conventions, events and seminars across the globe.

So if you haven’t spent some time on the cPanel website in a while, I recommend you go check it out today.  Both the “Interact” and “Support” areas are well worth your time.

What is your favorite memory of cPanel? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Twitter makes for a pretty nice way for a web host to get it’s message out to their customers quickly.  You can send a message to everybody that is following you, or you could answer just one person, if needed.  Screenr is the way to get that job done.  You can instantly record a screencast, all with web based software – and share it anywhere.

Quick and Easy Screencast Creator

The thing that makes Screenr so twitter-tastic is that it gives you the ability to login with your Twitter account, and instantly tweet your video tutorial when you are done.  The recorder is powered by Java, so there is no extra tools to have to download either.  Just hit the record button, drag that tool over the space you want to record and your ready to go.

Here is a demo video I created with about five minutes of planning and production time:

As you can see, sometimes you can be helping one person on how to do something – and show many more in exchange.  I am sure there is a metaphor in that statement somewhere having do to with teaching that man how to fish too.  You can try Screenr for free at Screenr.com.  When you do come back and show man what you created.

For any web host out there, having video tutorials showing off your services is a nice thing to promote to your customers.  It is always better to show somebody how to do something, rather than just have them read text.  If you are looking for a low-cost way to create your own simple tutorial collection, look no further than ScreenToaster.

Once you sign up, you can use it from anywhere at any time.  It captures video on the screen with simply one click.  You can record screencasts, tutorials, demos, training and more.  Then you can turn around and embed them on blogs, web pages, or send them via e-mail.

Here is an example video to check out:

It really is a fantastic and free way to create your own video tutorials.  To give it a shot for yourself, or to learn more about how to use it, be sure to check out ScreenToaster.com.