How I got this blog running

First things first, how to get an ExpressionEngine (EE) blog running on Yahoo! web hosting:

My reasons for using expression engine instead of Wordpress or Movable Type available via Yahoo! web hosting:

1. I\'m already familiar with ExpressionEngine.

2. Being a skilled programmer (even if I do say so myself), I quite enjoy the flexibility ExpressionEngine offers me to muck around with my templates etc.

3. I had already worked on integrating Google Ads into my EE blog during the last lull in my project (which was in Sept 2007, yikes!) + I have not tried WordExpress or Movable Type to see how I could serve ads alongside my blogs on those platforms.

So if you have some valid reasons to host your blog on Yahoo! using ExpressionEngine, these instructions should be helpful to you. The more interesting set of instructions (on how to set up expression engine or how I integrated google ads with Expression Engine) are soon to come.

1. Sign up for Yahoo! web hosting at http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/

2. Once setup and logged in, click on \"Design your site\" and then \"Using your own tools\". This should show you all the ftp information you need.

3. Using FTP connection settings from above and an FTP client, upload Expression Engine installation files to the Yahoo! web server.

4. Go to Yahoo! Web Hosting Control Panel, then click on the \"Manage\" tab and click on \"File Manager\". Confirm that you see your uploaded files here.

5. Update file permission if necessary as per the tutorial on http://expressionengine.com/tutorials/lesson/installing_expressionengine/

6. Create a MySQl database that EE can use

a. On the Yahoo! \"Web Hosting Control Panel\" click on the \"Manage\" tab and then \"File Manager\". On the left, you should see \"MySQL database\". Click on \"Open Database Utilities\" link.

b. Click on Database Administrator. The first time, this will prompt you to create a database (db) admin. Enter a username and password (and note them down in a safe place as the db admin info :))

c. Click on \"Install admin tool\" and go through the wizard

d. Click on the admin tool URL at the end of the installation (<your site>/phpMyAdmin). Enter username and password from step 6b.

e. Create a new database and give it a name.

f. Now you\'re ready to install Expression Engine armed with all the necessary info.

7. Go to <your site (example: http://www.lightupyourlifecoach.com/pricklypair)>/install.php

8. Run through the wizard as per the tutorial at http://expressionengine.com/tutorials/lesson/installing_expressionengine/. The step to watch out for is where you enter the database information. Here you will need to the following information:

a. DB hostname: mysql (where it says this should usually be \"localhost\"

b. username and password are again the ones from step 6b.

9. Voila! At the end of the installation you should get the links to view your website as well as the URL for your ExpressionEngine Control Panel.