Fasthosts Web Hosting comes equipped with a wide range of ready-to-go, free-to-use, one-click-install applications – allowing beginner users and experienced developers to add extra functionality to their websites. In this blog, we’ll discuss some of the most useful applications in the OneClick Installer…

1. Content management systems

Content management systems (CMSs) are the most popular applications downloaded through the OneClick Installer. Among a range of other CMS products, one-click installs are available for the big three: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. Unsure which is right for you? Here’s our quick guide:

  • WordPress is easier to use and has a wide range of add-ons, with 25% of the world’s websites already running on this CMS.
  • Joomla is better for creating more advanced sites, but it takes a bit longer to get used to.
  • Drupal is completely flexible and customisable but similarly comes with a steep learning curve.

2. Forum builder

phpBB is an application for building forums, bulletin boards and community discussion engines.

On the design and build front, the admin panel allows you to intuitively customise a range of features without having to dive into the code itself. This allows beginners to add forum functionality with very little coding knowledge. But it does also allow advanced access to code if required.

It’s easy to build on the backend, simple to design on the frontend, and just as intuitive to interact with on the user-side. Speaking of, forum users can upload files, share photos, create threads, send private messages, and search for topics and posts.

3. MODs and mods

The forum administrator can give certain users moderator privileges. Moderators can lock and merge threads, mark important threads as ‘sticky’, and even ban users. Because of its open-source model, the phpBB community also contributes plugins, extensions and modifications to improve phpBB’s functionality and design.

phpBB is available in 27 languages, and millions of people use the application every day – making it the most used open-source forum application on the internet.

4. Wiki builder

Originally created in 2002 to cater to the requirements of a then little-known website called ‘Wikipedia’, MediaWiki has scaled massively alongside Wikipedia’s rapid growth. It’s effectively a CMS for creating wikis, a website where users can collaborate to add and edit content. Crowd-sourced encyclopaedia-building, if you will.

Since its release, MediaWiki has been used to build and run thousands of online wikis – from MarioWiki (an encyclopaedia for the Super Mario universe) and Bulbapedia (an encyclopaedia for the Pokémon universe) to WikiLeaks (an encyclopaedia for… well, you know). 

Installing MediaWiki lets a user begin to build a wiki of their own, on their own website. A variety of themes are available to change the look of a wiki, and it’s easy to add multimedia features and extensions. Over 2,200 extensions and 900 configuration settings are available to completely customise the wiki to the developer’s requirements. 

Because of the collaborative nature of a wiki (and the combative nature of humanity), MediaWiki also has various moderation tools in place to prevent vandalism and spam. Different levels of permissions can be assigned to different user groups too.

MediaWiki’s widespread use is partly due to its simple syntax. The intuitive linking structure is far simpler than a more traditional CMS process of having to highlight the words, click insert link, type the link, and publish it. MediaWiki also features user profiles and discussion capabilities. 

As MediaWiki has developed alongside Wikipedia, it has had to keep up with the demands of one of the world’s most popular websites. Its performance and scalability, as well as functionality and customisability, make MediaWiki the dominant software in its category.

The Koken gallery application is built for photographers, allowing them to build websites that are optimised for images. With Koken, photos can be published to the website straight from Adobe Lightroom. There are also easy integration capabilities with Flickr, Vimeo and Instagram.

Specialist themes are designed to put the emphasis on the photos, but captions and descriptions are easy to add as well.

6. Customer relationship management

SugarCRM can be used for various areas across any business. It maps and interprets the customer journey through a website, and provides data that can be useful for targeted marketing, email campaigns and website optimisation. 

It also cuts away a lot of the administrative work. Often, businesses will store information on sales, customers and lead generation in different places. SugarCRM consolidates that all into one place. It’s little wonder that it powers operations for over one million businesses.

7. Ecommerce website builder

OneClick Installer applications are also available to help users create online stores on web hosting. Two of the most popular ecommerce apps are PrestaShop and Magento, which both power over 200,000 websites worldwide.

  • A PrestaShop website starts with a basic theme that users can add their product catalogues to. Like many of these applications, PrestaShop is open source and allows users to contribute themes and extensions. 
  • The Magento application available in the OneClick Installer is the Community Edition. To add the Enterprise Edition to your web hosting package involves a licensing fee. The community version still has useful features for building ecommerce websites, though – including integrated analytics and reporting, SEO tools and an advanced payment management process.

But if you’re looking for a reliable ecommerce shop builder, there is a closer option within reach…

Build your functional website with Fasthosts

Whether you’re looking to add a simple photo gallery to your digital portfolio or hoping to launch a new ecommerce website to take your brand global, Fasthosts has the capabilities to suit your needs.

Discover all of the above apps, and more, when you choose us as your website hosts. Still unsure? Speak to our expert team today to discover the right plan to suit your needs.