Wordpress always suggests that you backup your blog’s database before any update but, to be frank, I do not. Managing more than a dozen blogs, I simply do no have the time. I found, however, that the update to Wordpress 2.8.1 happened smoothly and without a hitch when I clicked Update Automatically.

Any customization of the Thesis theme, for example, requires manipulating code within a couple of theme files, including custom.css. If you know and are skilled with css coding there is no problem.

Solostream, on the other hand, is growing company that is pumping out an array of astonishingly appealing themes that require little or no knowledge of code. Customization of Solostream themes is done from within an intuitive, easy control panel.

I am testing Solostream’s latest offering, WP-Prolific, now on this site with virtually no time invested in customizing the look. Mind you – I have spent just a couple of minutes playing with this theme but plan to build on it over the next couple of days. I can say that it has great features built-in. Check out the Archives page, by the way.

The winner in my book? It’s easy. Solostream.

For example, AddMarx lets you choose from a variety of icons, such as Share, Email, Post or a combination of any. Additionally, AddMarx permits its share icon to be show online at the end of blog postings rather than cluttering up front pages with unnecessary icons (a problem with ShareThis).

Solostream’s new WP-Vybe 2.0 is not a radical change in appearance from the previous version but smartly adds a whole list of features, making Vybe 2.0 one of the best, easy to customize themes for Wordpress.

• Restoration of original control panel feature controls (fonts, background colors, etc.)
• Revised color schemes built into the control panel
• Integration of the “Recently Popular” plugin to replace “Popularity Contest” (too many customers were having issues with this older plugin)
• Updated FeedBurner code to allow URI instead of ID
• Updated get_the_image code in features.php and post-thumb.php (from 1.1)
• Updated archives and search pages to show excerpts regardless of theme settings
• Updated “Older Comments” and “Newer Comments” boxes to only show up when needed
• Added “If you want a picture to show with your comment, go get a Gravatar.” to comments template
• Added option to turn auto-scroll on/off for Featured Articles
• Added option to hide author bio on single post page
• Added RSS icon/link back to comments template
• Plus a bunch of bug fixes to improve overall performance

In recently weeks, Solostream has introduced a flurry of new themes … too many at one time, in my opinion. Yet, all of the new themes are packed with appealing, unique, and easy to customize features. So, who can complain? Not me!

High on my list of favorites is WP-Vybe 2.0 and the magazine-type theme, WP-Clear. And, I highly recommend them.

Hosting costs have come down because of shared IP, an online environment where all customers live in one large basket, and are impacted adversely when anyone misbehaves. For example, Web hosting providers are finding the access ports of their servers clogged for hours by individual customers who are backing up their computers.  Worst yet, there has been a rash of malicious robotic attacks – called denial of service attacks – that can have the result of bringing all blog traffic on a server to a halt for anywhere from minutes to days.

These issues are today effecting all hosting companies, without exception. Regardless of what you might pay for service, there’s a chance that your Wordpress blog could be the innocent victim of service interruptions.

What’s the solution? Some people have found it to be cost-effective to host their blog or blogs at not one but two different Web hosting companies. Then, if one company has an issue, you can simply redirect the name servers of your blog(s) over to the other company. That’s a good solution provided you have taken the time to keep the blog database up-to-date … because it contains all posts, images, content.

What are some good blog hosting companies? Lunarpages.com, Midphase.com, InMotionHosting.com, and Hostgator.com are inexpensive and good. MediaTemple.net is outstanding.

Beware of some tricky Terms of Service at a few hosting companies, should you decide to cancel. While most hosting companies offer a full refund within the first 30 days of service, others offer only a credit, which is useless if you don’t like their service.

There are people who snag domain names (URLs) and sit on them for speculation and profit. The practice is called cybersquatting. They are more than happy to sell it back for a big markup. Bummer.

Don’t wait, even if you do not have a Web site or blog. Register your name, just in case. If the dot-com version of your name is no longer available, check out dot-net, dot-us, dot-me or something else. Head over to the middle column of this site, click on Godaddy, and check it out.