Bluehost Error

[waterworks2]

Webhosting: Bluehost

 

I installed Prestashop using their super easy feature called Mojo Marketplace (Used to be called Simple Scripts). Everything went fine. But when I logged into the CP for Prestashop, I noticed the following 3 warnings:

• To use Memcached, you must install the Memcache PECL extension on your server. http://www.php.net/manual/en/memcache.installation.php
  
• To use APC, you must install the APC PECL extension on your server. http://php.net/manual/en/apc.installation.php
  
• To use Xcache, you must install the Xcache extension on your server. http://xcache.lighttpd.net
  

So I called Bluehost. I must have gotten some newb, because he sounded young and his respond didn't seem like he knew what he was talkinga bout. After putting me on hold, he told me they don't support those extensions. I asked why on earth would they push Prestashop auto-install through their Mojo Marketplace feature of their CP and of course he didn't have answer. Bummer.

 

So I did some research on installing extensions myself on my Bluehost account and it is allowed. First I enabled SSH on my Bluehost account. Instructions here: https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/180

 

Then I downloaded PuTTy, a small SSH program for accessing. I made a connection to my account at Bluehost and logged in. I used the instructions here: https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/534 to see what extensions are installed on my server already.

 

I can see the following:

 

Package Version State

imagick 3.0.1 stable

mailparse 2.1.6 stable

memcache 2.2.7 stable

oauth 1.2.3 stable

oci8 1.4.9 stable

pecl_http 1.7.4 stable

 

Ok, so now what? How do I enable memcache, and how do I install the other two missing extensions? There are some installation instructions here: https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/534 which I am going to try to follow, after downloading them. But then how do I turn the extensions on or activate them after they are installed?

Edited July 8, 2013 by waterworks2 (see edit history)

[El Patron]

for apc read this:

http://www.prestashop.com/forums/topic/259799-tutorial-on-using-apc-to-speed-up-your-shop/

 

prestashop will allow you to pick 'one' of these

 

back office-->advanced parameters-->scroll down

 

http://screencast.com/t/WkdOCmpGc4C

[Dh42]

You should ssh into your hosting account and see if apc is installed. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what that actually does in the back office, apc is one of those things that if it is installed it is being used.

[waterworks2]

Ok, so I only need one of these extensions. Thanks.

 

I called Bluehost and here's what I found:

 

1. Memcache PECL extension is installed on the server. However, the strange thing is that it is not enabled for customer use. So I guess it's only for their internal use? Doesn't make sense but OK, I can't use it.

 

2. For APC, you need to have root access to install that, which isn't provided on a standard account. But you can install it on a VPS: http://bluehost.com/vps. So basically I need to upgrade my account to VPS which cost roughly 3x as much as a regular account.

 

Bummer. The VPS hosting seems viable if we were a big company but we're never going to have more than 40 products in our entire store and boss doesn't want to pay 3x the cost for web-hosting. Bummer. :/

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. Seems like the basic account package from Bluehost is not a good fit for Prestashop. Hope this helps others choose what to do for web-hosting.

 

In the meantime, I don't know if I should go for VPS account at Bluehost, or try to convince the boss to change webhost companies? I like what I've seen in Prestashop and it came down between this CMS and Magento. But Magento was a beast to manage for non-super program savvy people, so I thought Prestashop would be a better solution for our small store.

Edited July 9, 2013 by waterworks2 (see edit history)

[El Patron]

you can use the built in file cache....if you site isn't that slow maybe just build your shop up and see where that leads you.

 

note on file cache...if you say try to install or uninstall a module and it won't...then turn off file cache...it can be a bit wacky

[waterworks2]

Thanks El Patron. I guess I'll have to try the basic cache first and see how that goes. If the site is to slow, then I will consider going the VPS route. Thanks for your help guys.

[maio]

with a little workaround it' possible to get APC on a bluehost shared account

(a considerable difference in speed...).

 

-------

I created this tutorial to explain how,

 

http://maiolab.net/apc-alternative-php-cache-on-your-shared-hosting/

 

 

check it out and let me know

Edited November 7, 2013 by maio (see edit history)