Regardless of application, any efforts to maintain HIPAA compliance are directed at the same core concern – safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information (ePHI). The technological setup will vary considerably based on the size and complexity of the organization.
How To Choose A Domain Name That Builds Trust
Guest Author: Rodney Brazil
While businesses use many online channels to engage customers, the company website is the most important of all. It serves as the home base for all online resources created by a brand. While business directories, social media, and interactive maps get a lot of attention these days, these important traffic sources all lead back to one place: your website.
While there are many factors to consider when structuring and maintaining a business website, one decision must be made early: the domain name.
Top 10 Considerations for a HIPAA-Compliant Website
Many organizations are unsure if they need to follow the rules in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). You need a compliant site if you are handling electronic protected health information (ePHI), which is personally identifiable data collected during the course of the provision of healthcare.
When you need a HIPAA-compliant website, here are key concerns that should guide your efforts:
The Need for WordPress Migration Plugins
In the 21st century – the Age of Information – most processes, products, and methods today are built to make technology intuitive for users. Modern hardware and software require minimal user intervention. However, somehow, even after 14 years, WordPress has resisted certain intuitive, user-friendly changes. WordPress migrations, in particular, have faced this criticism.
How to make your WordPress site HIPAA-Compliant
To deliver HIPAA compliance within WordPress, the first step is to understand the basics of HIPAA-compliant IT and hosting. Relative to the specific deployment, perform a risk analysis and then build a HIPAA-compliant website in WordPress with five basic concerns in mind.
HIPAA compliance in IT – the basics
Why is this form of compliance needed? Organizations in healthcare and their service providers want to avoid federal fines but also want to generally prevent compromise. Healthcare data breaches increased 40% from 2015 to 2016, so now it is even more critical to pay attention to defenses for your protected health information (PHI) – particularly the electronic protected health information (ePHI) safeguarded within data environments.
Must-Have Plugins for WordPress Developers
WordPress is by far the most popular content management system worldwide. Let’s take a look at some of the most important plugins for developers.
- Popularity of WordPress
- Most Important Developer Plugins
- One-Click WP Hosting
The growth of WordPress since its inception is mind-boggling, with a skyrocketing rise that rivaled the upward trajectory of Google or Apple or Facebook at their tipping points. WordPress is everywhere in part because there are so many useful plugins to easily expand functionality. However, the search for plugins can be a bit daunting and disorganized since there are tens of thousands of them – 42,945 official ones in the WP catalog at press time.
Let’s review the CMS’s incredible prevalence as well as the plugins that are the most helpful for developers.
How to Install October CMS on CentOS 7.2
Verified and Tested 12/31/15
Introduction
We will be installing October CMS on CentOS 7.2 in this how-to guide. October CMS is a content management system that uses the Laravel web application framework. It is a free and open source and has been widely adopted by the developer community.
Prerequisites
This guide requires a CentOS 7.2 server running LAMP. You can follow our guide on installing LAMP if you have not already done so.
Installing October CMS on CentOS 7.2
Before installing October CMS, it is important to check that your system updated by running the following command:
yum update
If you have a minimum installation, You will need to install wget and unzip with the following command:
sudo yum install unzip wget
Setting up the MySQL Database in CentOS 7.2
October CMS requires a database. To create a new MySQL database run the following commands:
sudo mysql -u root -p
After entering the above command, you will be prompted to enter your MySQL root password. Typically you would have set that password when installing MySQL
Enter the following MySQL commands:
create database octobercms character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;
Set a secure password for the database user octobercmsuser by replacing [insert-password-here] with a password of your choice.
grant all privileges on octobercms.* to [email protected] identified by "[insert-password-here]";
flush privileges;
exit
Download the October CMS Installer on CentOS 7.2
After creating the October CMS database, we can download the October CMS installer with the following command:
sudo wget http://octobercms.com/download
The above command will download a file called download, and we need to rename it to download.zip with the following command:
sudo mv download download.zip
Now CentOS has a file format that it understands, unzip it with the following command:
sudo unzip download.zip
We can now move the unzipped files to the apache web directory with the following command:
sudo cp -r ~/install-master/* /var/www/html
Adding the PHP Extensions and Libraries that October CMS Requires on CentOS 7.2
October CMS requires the following PHP extensions and libraries installed: PDO, cURL, OpenSLL, MCrypt, Mbstring, ZipArchive, and GD. Most of these get installed when installing PHP on CentOS via yum. We can install the rest of the packages that need installing with the following commands:
sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install php-mcrypt php-mbstring php-gd
For the PHP extensions and libraries to work, we need to restart Apache with the following command:
sudo systemctl restart httpd.service
Setting File Permissions for October CMS
October CMS requires permission to write to the web directories and files. Run the following commands to give the Apache user writing privileges:
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/
Using The October CMS Web Installation to Finish the Installation
To finish the installation, go to the October CMS web installation page by opening your browser and going to http://yourhostname-or-ipaddress/install.php
Note: If you do not know your IP address, you can run the following command:
ip addr show eth0An example of ip addr show eth0 getting 192.168.100.10 as the IP address.
In our example, we would put
http://192.168.100.10/install.phpinto our browser’s address bar.
This is an October CMS system check page with all green check marks
Verify that you have green check marks next to each item. If all is green, you can scroll down to accept the license agreement and click “Agree & Continue.”
After reading the details, click “Agree & Continue.”
On the next page, we are going to enter the database information that was set up earlier. Click the “Administrator >” button in the lower right, after entering your database information.
Enter in the database information that you set up earlier
On the Administrator page, fill out the forms using your personal information that October CMS requires. Once done click “Continue.”
Enter your personal information that October CMS requires
Your October CMS installation is now complete, it now gives you a few options on how you want your site to look like.
You can choose “Start from Scratch”, “Start from a theme” or “Use a project ID.”
Congratulations! You have just installed October CMS on a CentOS 7.2 server. We hope you have enjoyed this guide, please check back here for more updates, or read the related guide below. Atlantic.Net also offers popular one-click application installations like October cloud hosting, as well as HIPAA WordPress Hosting.
How to Install Joomla on CentOS 7 with Apache
Verified and Tested 12/16/15
Introduction
In this How-To, we will walk you through the install and configuration of Joomla on CentOS 7 with Apache. Joomla, one of the most popular content management systems nowadays, is used by many web developers for new websites. It is a powerful but yet simple system that requires little technical experience to work with.
Prerequisites
– You need a CentOS 7 server that is configured with a static IP address.
– You will also need to have a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack platform if you don’t already have it.
Installing Joomla on CentOS 7 with Apache
To get started, log into your CentOS 7 server via SSH or Console. If you are using the Atlantic.Net cloud service, note that they are setup with minimal installations to avoid having unnecessary packages from being installed and never used. If some software packages that you’re used to using aren’t installed by default, feel free to install them as needed.
Let’s download tar to decompress the installation file and some dependencies that we will need to simplify this tutorial.
sudo yum install wget unzip
Make sure that your server is fully up-to-date so we can complete the preparation.
sudo yum update
Creating a Database and User for Joomla on CentOS 7
For Joomla to function correctly, we must create a database. This tutorial uses MariaDB, so let’s access MariaDB with the following command:
mysql -u root -p
Now, we must first begin creating the database that Joomla will use. This can be accomplished with the following command replacing yourdbname with your database name:
CREATE DATABASE yourdbname;
With the database created we must now create a user so it can access the database. This can be accomplished with the following command replacing yourjoomlauser with your desired username and replace yourjoomlapassword with your desired password.
CREATE USER [email protected] IDENTIFIED BY 'yourjoomlapassword';
Next, we grant database access to your recently created user with the following command:
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON yourdbname.* TO [email protected];
Finally, we must refresh MariaDB so the system can flush the newly added privileges and for the changes to take effect, then exit your session. This can be accomplished with the following commands:
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit
Installing Joomla on CentOS 7
Download the most recent stable Joomla release. For this tutorial, that’s version 3.4.5. You can check here to find the most recent release.
wget https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/releases/download/3.4.5/Joomla_3.4.5-Stable-Full_Package.zip
After we have downloaded the package, we must move the zip file to the html directory. This can be accomplished with the following command:
mv Joomla_3.4.5-Stable-Full_Package.zip /var/www/html
Now, change to that directory and unzip the to get ready for the installation:
cd /var/www/html
Finally, we can continue with the Joomla installation by unzipping the installation file with the following command:
unzip Joomla_3.4.5-Stable-Full_Package.zip
Furthermore, with the following command, we can apply the appropriate permissions for the Joomla directory that was just created.
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html chmod -R 755 /var/www/html
Joomla’s Web Configuration on CentOS 7
Your server is now configured correctly to run the web-based installation by going to the following:
http://server_domain_or_IP or http://your.server.IP.address/joomla
You will see the initial Joomla installation page, similar to the one below. Insert your site details and then click “Next.”
Insert your site details and then click “Next.”
Now we need to insert your MariaDB database information within the forms. It should look similar to the image below. Once done click “Next.”
Insert your database information that was set up at the beginning of this guide. Once done click “Next.”
Take a look at the overview and make sure your information is correct. Once satisfied click “Install.”
Look at the overview and make sure your information is correct. Once satisfied click “Install.”
What’s Next?
Congratulations! You have just installed and configured Joomla with Apache on your CentOS 7 cloud server. Thank you for following along in this How-To and check back with us for any new updates, or learn how you can set up HIPAA-compliant WordPress hosting with Atlantic.Net.
How to Install October CMS on a Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Cloud Server
Verified and Tested 12/14/15
Introduction
This how-to will take you through installing October CMS on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. October CMS is a content management system that is free and open source. It is a relatively new content management system and is built on the Laravel web application framework.
Prerequisites
To install October CMS following this guide, you’ll need an Ubuntu 14.04 server running LAMP. Please see our how-to guide for installing LAMP.
Installing October CMS on Ubuntu 14.04
Installing October CMS is very simple if you follow these steps. Before we begin it is important to check that your system is synchronized to your package sources by running the following command:
sudo apt-get update
We also need to install wget and unzip with the following command:
sudo apt-get install unzip wget
Setting up the MySQL database in Ubuntu 14.04
October CMS requires a database. To create a new MySQL database run the following commands:
sudo mysql -u root -p
When prompted, enter your MySQL root password that you set up when installing MySQL.
In MySQL enter the following commands:
create database octobercms character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;
Set a secure password for the user octobercmsuser where it says [insert-password-here].
grant all privileges on octobercms.* to [email protected] identified by "[insert-password-here]";
flush privileges;
exit
Get the October CMS Installer on Ubuntu 14.04
Now that the database is created, we can download the October CMS installer with the following command:
sudo wget http://octobercms.com/download
This will download a file called download, to make this usable we need to rename it to download.zip with the following command:
sudo mv download download.zip
Now that it is a file format that Ubuntu understands, unzip it with the following command:
sudo unzip download.zip
Now we are going to move the unzipped files to your web directory with the following command:
sudo cp -r ~/install-master/* /var/www/html
Add the PHP Extensions and Libraries That October CMS Needs on Ubuntu 14.04
October CMS requires the following php extensions and libraries installed: PDO, cURL, OpenSLL, MCrypt, Mbstring, ZipArchive and GD. Most of these are installed when installing PHP on Ubuntu via APT. However, you can ensure you have all of them installed with the following command (it will only install the packages that aren’t already installed):
sudo apt-get install php5-curl mcrypt php5-mcrypt php5-gd
After installing mcrypt we need to enable it with the following command:
sudo php5enmod mcrypt
Restart Apache so that all changes take place with the following command:
sudo service apache2 restart
Set The File Permissions for October CMS
We need to make sure October CMS has permission to write to the web directories and files. Do so with the following commands:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/
Finish The Installation Through The October CMS Web Installation.
Now, we can go to the October CMS web installation. In your browser go to http://yourhostname-or-ipaddress/install.php
If you are unsure what your IP address is, run the following:
ifconfig
An example of ifconfig showing the IP address of 172.20.6.154
In our example, we would put http://172.20.6.154/install.php in the address bar and get the following page.
An example of the October CMS system check
Check that you have green checks next to each item. If all is green scroll down to the license agreement. Once you have read the details, go ahead and click “Agree & Continue.”
Once you have read the details, go ahead and click “Agree & Continue.”
Now we need to enter the database information that we set up in the first step. Once you’ve entered the database information, click the “Administrator >” button in the lower right.
Enter the database information that was set up earlier
In the Administrator page, fill out the forms with your personal information. Once done click “Continue.”
Enter your information that October CMS requires
Your installation is now complete, October CMS now gives you a few options on how you want your site to look like
Choose to Start from Scratch, Start from a theme or Use a project ID
Congratulations! You have just installed October CMS on Ubuntu 14.04. Thank you for following this guide, and we hope you enjoyed it. Please come back for more updates, or learn about how you can set up HIPAA WordPress Hosting with Atlantic.Net.
October CMS Review: October CMS vs. WordPress & Others
WordPress is certainly the overwhelming favorite when it comes to content management systems. However, October certainly deserves consideration, especially given its rapid rise in adoption over the past 12 months.
- Popular Options
- Skyrocketing Upstart
- Why Use It, Though?
- From Consideration to Action
Popular Options
Looking for a content management system (CMS)? WordPress is, of course, incredibly popular. As of December 2, 2015, 43% of websites in the Alexa top 10 million use a CMS, according to W3Techs. Of those that do have a CMS installed, here is the market share for the top ones:
- WordPress – 58.7% market share
- Joomla – 6.5%
- Drupal – 5.0%
- Magento – 2.9%
- Blogger – 2.7%
