Hello Friends,

Today I would like to tell you about the Elefante installer – a very popular tool among FreeHostia users. It is basically a collection of free open source PHP scripts, which you can install directly from your control panel. The tool is located under ‘Web Tools > Elefante Free Scripts’ on our web hosting control panel.

You can choose from a rich collection of scripts in the following categories: AD MANAGEMENT, BLOG, CALENDARS, CLASSIFIED ADS, CONTENT MANAGEMENT (CMS), CUSTOMER SUPPORT, DISCUSSION BOARDS, E-COMMERCE, GROUPWARE TOOLS, GUESTBOOKS, IMAGE GALLERIES, WEB HOSTING TOOLS and WIKI.

Using this tool you can easily install Joomla and setup your web site within a few hours without having any web programming or web design knowledge. The user-friendly interface of the Elefante installer makes it very easy to start your own web site, personal blog, community forum or setup a gallery to show your photos.

I have had experience with many of the scripts provided in the Elefante Installer. Even though most of them have an intuitive installation procedure there is still plenty for you to do before you get it online – you have to upload files, setup permissions, set MySQL connection settings etc. When I use the Elefante Installer I love the fact that it does all of this for me and I recommend it to everyone.

There is an online tour on our web site, which demonstrates how the Elefante Installer works. If you are interested, you can take the tour here.

I would like to tell you more about some of my favorite scripts, which you can install using the Elefante Installer:

• XOOPS (CMS) – CMS stands for Content Management System. A CMS usually offers a complete solution for your web site – it often includes the functionality of a blog, a forum and a gallery and the ability to create pages and menus all in one system, usually managed through an intuitive admin panel. XOOPS is my personal favorite CMS and one of the most popular ones. It allows you to upload themes (web design templates) for your web site to personalize the looks of it. Additional functionality could also be added by installing Modules – subsystems within your CMS, which add specific functionality, for example a forum, a gallery, a calendar etc. and they all utilize the user management of XOOPS.

• Joomla (CMS) – probably the most popular CMS out there. When it comes to open source projects, which are usually developed and maintained by volunteers the rule is “The more popular, the better the product”. This is 100% valid for Joomla – it is an amazing CMS. Also there are plenty of designs, which you can download and install and plenty of additional add-ons too. I strongly recommend this one to people, who want to create a web site from scratch and have little or no experience in web development and web design. It is very easy to use and there are any tutorials about it.

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We have a video, which shows you how you can setup a Joomla web site at FreeHostia in less than 5 minutes. You can watch the video at the bottom of this post.

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• phpBB3 (forum) – a popular and fully featured discussion board. If you already have a web site or you are looking to start a community forum, this is the perfect solution for you. phpBB3 has a very intuitive admin panel and amazing functionality.

• Wordpress (blog) – the best blog platform according to me. Wordpress is an excellent choice for people who want to have their own personal blog. In fact, we find it so good, we use it for FreeHostia’s blog and I should say that I am impressed with its functionality and usability.

To find out more about the scripts included in the Elefante Installer on the Elefante (1-Click) Installer page on our web site.

A very popular CMS, which I will be checking out is Drupal, also included in the Elefante Installer. I have never used it before but I have read some very good reviews, so maybe it will get in my favorites list after I give it a try. It’s amazing how free open source solutions created and maintained by a community rather than a business entity are often as good or even better than many of the paid ones. But I guess little by little does the trick.

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What to expect next?

My next post will be about Free hosting and the way we make it possible.

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Setting up a free Joomla web site at FreeHostia in less than 5 minutes: