Compare Aardvark Hosting

Using Aardvark Topsites PHP script is an inventive way to do rankings of different websites and blogs if you want to have a live updating list of the best sites on a certain topic. It is secure, has its own stat tracking built in, and is fairly easy to host and manage when compared to alternative PHP scripts for ranking websites.

Many. For starters, the Aardvark Topsites PHP script has not received an update since 2009. While the platform continues to be downloaded on a daily basis and has been downloaded over 600,000 times, there is a recommendation on the script’s website to try VisioSoft – a modern fork of Aardvark Topsites that has more features and better security. Security vulnerabilities are also well documented with Aardvark, in spite of the “robust anti-cheating protection”, security questions, captcha and spambot protection documented on the website following its last version update in 2009.

The first topsites script alternative anyone should suggest to you over Aardvark is its modern fork, VisioList. While it is a premium script as opposed to Aardvark, which is available under a GNU license, VisioList has many modern web features that users and webmasters have come to expect when they are managing a website. Other open source, free to use alternatives in the topsites script space include PHPfaber, Monster Top List and GB Top-Directory.

According to the homepage of the Aardvark Topsites website, installing the script is an easy 4-step process. Make sure you go to install.php/index.php in your web browser and follow the instructions. Once the installation is complete, delete the install directory. Make sure you also configure your SQL server, too.

You will likely have to know some basic HTML to use Aardvark. In the administration area, you can add custom skins to your site without customization. However, if you intend to create custom pages for your site, HTML coding knowledge will be required to create them. Since your skin will already be loaded into the site, you shouldn’t need a lot of programming knowledge, however. If you can create a P tag and know how to start and finish an OL tag and know how to make words bold with the STRONG tag, or italic with the EM tag, then you should be just fine.

According to the homepage of the Aardvark Topsites website, installing the script is an easy 4-step process. Make sure you go to install.php/index.php in your web browser and follow the instructions. Once the installation is complete, delete the install directory. Make sure you also configure your SQL server, too.

No. If you can find Aardvark out there and it is included as a 1-click installation, go ahead and use the 1-click process. The only concern you will have when using 1-click install is making sure your PHP and MySQL are up to date. When those files are not compatible with your website platform, server errors are very common.

There are only two major server requirements for hosting Aardvark Topsites. You will need to have PHP version 4.3 or higher and MySQL version 4.0 or higher. With these two requirements and Aardvark’s open source, GNU license, you should probably consider hosting it on a Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP server, also known as a “LAMP” stack.

Self-hosted websites do not require YOU to personally own a server and manage it to host your site. Instead, self-hosted simply means that hosting is not provided directly by the development team that created Aardvark. In order to use a self-hosted topsites script like Aardvark, you will need to contract a hosting provider before building your website.

Considering how simple the server requirements and the fact that it is available as a 1-click installation with many hosting providers, hosting Aardvark on a shared hosting plan shouldn’t be a difficult request. However, if you are unsure if you can host on a shared plan, consult with your hosting provider to make sure Aardvark can meet their requirements for shared hosting.

The answer to this question depends on your answer to the question “how much responsibility are you willing to accept for the maintenance of your website?” The more complex your site becomes with widgets, plugins, multiple blogs and theme changes, the greater your need will be for professionally managed website hosting. Shared hosting often comes with some managed services included. If you have a dedicated hosting solution, however, managed services are likely required as part of your agreement. To be fair to Aardvark, this is the case with any self-hosted content management system – not just Aardvark.

Aardvark is a simplified tool when compared to PHPfaber. While both are coded in PHP and run on MySQL, PHPFABER has a larger list of features and can be integrated with many applications. By comparison, Aardvark is a complete self-hosted solution with less features and more experience in HTML coding required. If you are choosing between these two scripts and are not looking to run a full site using this script, then PHPFABER may work better for you. If you need a site from the ground up using a topsites theme, then Aardvark should serve you well.

Compared to Aardvark, Monster Top List is more feature rich. With MTL, you can even create a webring of other topsite projects. Because Aardvark hasn’t received a software update since 2009, it is tough to compare it to other topsites scripts in a “fair fight”. The features available for Monster Top List are extensive and will help you provide a much better user experience than what you will find if you host an Aardvark site.

Compared to Aardvark, GB Top Directory is written in PHP without using MySQL, which makes it much quicker in its response times. GB is also much friendlier for SEO than Aardvark and provides comprehensive stats for admins. Once again, GB Top Directory is a tool that is more frequently up to date, making it a better option as a topsites script over the outdated Aardvark.