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Kinsta Hosting for Voxel Websites

Kinsta is my preferred vendor for hosting Voxel websites, and this guide will show you to quickly set up your account and recommended settings.

The saying “You get what you pay for” rings true when it comes to Kinsta and how they compare the other hosting options.

Those that use Kinsta will not only see an instant performance gain, but they will also find their environments simplified in terms of the number of optimization solutions (CDN, server settings, plugins, etc.).

Tech Stack: Kinsta is part of the tech stack that powers all my businesses.

Kinsta Hosting

Discounted Enterprise Level 3 Power

Kinsta Setup

NOTE:

Don't want to mess with any of this? I don't blame you. Sign up for Voxel Website Care, and I will take care of everything for you so you can focus on your business.

The instructions in this section assume you are building a brand new website and not migrating a website to Kinsta.

Server

  1. Sign up directly with Kinsta or join the Club’s Kinsta plan and get a deep discount.
  2. Click ‘Add Service’.
  3. Choose ‘ WordPress Site’.
  4. Choose ‘Install WordPress’.
  5. Site Name > Input as desired. (Note: This is simply cosmetic and only used within Kinsta to help identify your website.).
  6. Data Center Location > Choose the data center closest to most of your customers.
  7. Click ‘Continue’.

Website

  1. WordPress Site Title > Input as desired. (Note: This is the name that WordPress will use for your site. It can be changed at any time.).
  2. WordPress Admin Username > Input as desired.
  3. WordPress Admin Password> Input as desired. (Note: Make sure you document this before continuing.).
  4. WordPress Admin Email> Input as desired. 
  5. Select Language > Input as desired.
  6. Install the additional options (Multisite, WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, etc.) as desired. (Note: Instead of Yoast SEO, I highly recommend SEOPress.).
  7. Click ‘Continue’.
  8. After your website finishes spinning up, click ‘Manage Domains’.
  9. Click ‘Add Domain’.
  10. Domain > Enter your production domain name. (e.g., thevoxeltheme.club).
  11. Click ‘Add Domain’.

DNS

NOTE:

I highly recommend you pause what you're doing and begin the process of hosting your website's DNS with Cloudflare. It's FREE to do so and offers the fastest DNS service on the market. Once you're done, come back and pick up where you left off.

NOTE:

Kinsta offers DNS services, but regardless of whether you are the Kinsta account holder or on the Club's Kinsta plan, I do not recommend using Kinsta's DNS. You simply don't need it and instead should use Cloudflare.

  1. Take the TXT record information that Kinsta gives you and add that record to wherever you manage your DNS (hopefully Cloudflare by this point). 
  2. Click ‘OK, I’ve Done It’.
  3. Click the vertical dots next to your production domain name and choose ‘Make Primary Domain’.
  4. Check the ‘Run search and replace’ option and click ‘Make Primary’.

After your Primary Domain is set and the search/replace completes (Kinsta will tell you when it does), wait for the next set of instructions to appear in the ‘Domains’ tab of your Kinsta dashboard or wait for the confirmation email to arrive.

  1. Click ‘Verify Domain’.
  2. Take the two Text records Kinsta gives you and add that record to wherever you manage your DNS.
  3. Click ‘OK, I’ve Done It’.

Wait for the next instructions to appear in the ‘Domains’ tab of your Kinsta dashboard, or wait for the confirmation email to arrive.

  1. Click ‘Point Domain’.
  2. Take the DNS records Kinsta gives you and add them to wherever you manage your DNS.

Account Owner Security

Let’s take care of some security-related tasks to wrap up the initial Kinsta setup.

  1. Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > Force HTTPS > Click ‘Enable’.
  2. Choose ‘Force all traffic to the primary domain’.
  3. Click ‘Force HTTPS’.
  4. Kinsta Dashboard > Click the dropdown next to your username in the top menu.
  5. Click ‘User Settings’.
  6. Two-Factor Authentication > Click ‘Enable’ and complete the process for securing your account.
IMPORTANT:

I recommend enabling 2FA (Two-Factory Authentication) for every online account you have. Try your best to require 2FA for any users accessing your online account as well..

Create Your Staging Website

 Staging is extremely important, as it’s where you should be testing new plugins, giving access to external users (e.g., vendor support, website professionals, etc.) to troubleshoot issues and more.

IMPORTANT:

Nothing should touch your production environment until it has been thoroughly vetted within your staging environment. This includes software and people.

  1. At the top of your MyKinsta dashboard, click on the dropdown link next to ‘Live’.
  2. Choose ‘Create New Environment’.
  3. Choose ‘Standard Environment’.
  4. Give the environment a name. (e.g., “Staging”).
  5. Click ‘Create Environment’.
  6. Environment to Clone > Choose ‘Live’.
  7. Click ‘Create Environment’.
NOTE:

Personally, I only use staging for testing. Once I validate a solution, fix, etc., I simply replicate it in production. I do not get caught up in what to push/pull between production and staging.

Tools

Site Cache

Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > Site Cache

Cache makes your site load faster by storing site data, and Kinsta provides server-side full-page caching for all sites.

This means there is no need for typical caching plugins.

The cache is set to expire every 1 hour by default, but you can adjust this to be longer if needed. For sites that don’t often change, having a longer cache expiration can be beneficial for performance.

Given how dynamic and active Voxel websites are, I recommend leaving the default setting and adjusting only when/if needed.

Force HTTPS

Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > Force HTTPS

Redirects traffic from HTTP to HTTPS for enhanced security, performance, and SEO.

Enable this setting.

PHP Engine

Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > PHP Engine

WordPress is written in the PHP programming language, so just like any other code running on your website, you want to use the latest version of PHP available as long as it’s compatible with your theme and plugins.

Kinsta makes it super simple to update your PHP version and roll back to a previous version should you notice any issues.

NOTE:

Don't rely on others to tell you what PHP version you should or shouldn't be running. No two WordPress websites are identical, so you need to test your website and rely on what your testing is showing you.

Since this guide covers creating a brand new website, we can immediately upgrade our PHP version to the latest version. For those that have had their website running for awhile, the staging environment is where PHP upgrades can be tested first.

NOTE:

Kinsta allows you to run different versions of PHP on production and in staging.

  1. Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > PHP Engine
  2. Click ‘Modify’.
  3. Choose the latest version available.
  4. Click ‘Modify PHP Version’.

Early Hints

Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > Early Hints

Improves the loading speed of web pages and allows the browser to preload resources before serving the response from the server.

Enable this setting.

NOTE:

If you have your website added to a Cloudflare account and configured the various settings, be sure you are not enabling this setting (with the exception of 'Image Optimization') in both Kintsa and Cloudflare. I enable as much as I can on the Cloudflare side, so as much as possible is configured in one place to avoid conflicts, ease of administration, etc.

CDN

NOTE:

If you have your website added to a Cloudflare account and configured the various settings, be sure you are not enabling these settings (with the exception of 'Image Optimization') in both Kintsa and Cloudflare. I enable as much as I can on the Cloudflare side, so as much as possible is configured in one place to avoid conflicts, ease of administration, etc.

Those With a Cloudflare Account

Kinsta Dashboard > CDN

  1. Enable
  2. Image Optimization > Settings > Enable ‘Lossy’.
  3. Following my guide, configure the remaining settings within your Cloudflare account.

Those Without a Cloudflare Account

Kinsta Dashboard > CDN

  1. Enable
  2. Image Optimization > Settings > Enable ‘Lossy’.
  3. Code Minification > Settings > Enable all.

Edge Caching

Kinsta Dashboard > Edge Caching

Edge Caching saves your Kinsta site/page cache to Cloudflare’s global network of 275+ data centers. When your site visitors load your website in their browser, cached responses will be delivered from the location closest to them.

Enable this setting.

NOTE:

You do not need to enable 'Moble Cache'.

Configure SFTP Access

You may never need to concern yourself with this section. SFTP access comes into play when you need to modify theme files, gain lost access to your website, etc.

If/when the time comes, FileZilla is what I use and recommend for managing websites via SFTP.

  1. Download FileZilla.
  2. Kinsta Dashboard > Info > SFTP (Note: Keep this info up to complete the following steps.).
  3. FileZilla > File > Site Manager > New Site
  4. Name your site.
  5. Protocol > SFTP
  6. Host > Paste in the Host address that Kinsta provides. (Note: Kinsta allows you to click on and copy values for easy pasting into other websites, applications, etc.).
  7. Port > Paste in the Port that Kinsta provides.
  8. User > Paste in the Username that Kinsta provides.
  9. Password > Paste in the Password that Kinsta provides.
  10. Click Connect. (Note: This will also save your settings for you.).
  11. Check the box to Always trust this host.
  12. Click OK.

Once completed, you should be successfully connected to your Kinsta server and able to view your files.

NOTE:

SFTP access to your staging website will be identical to your production website, except that the port number will differ.

Account Access Roles

When inviting or modifying a user, the first choice you’ll need to make is to make the user company level or site level.

Site-level users only have access to specific sites you assign to them, while company users see company-level details.

NOTE:

Company-level roles only apply if you own the Kinsta account. So, company roles, as it relates to this guide, do not apply to those on the Club's Kinsta plan.

Company Level Roles

Company Administrators

Company administrators have the highest access level and complete control of all company and site data.

Only give company administrator access to users you trust and require them to use.

IMPORTANT:

Require anyone with company-level roles to use 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication).

Company Developer

A company developer has access to manage all sites (including deleting them) and can manage site-level users.

Users with this role cannot see billing details or company settings.

Company Billing

A company billing user is a special role that only sees billing details and company settings.

They can see invoices, enable automatic invoice emails, and modify company details like name and address.

Users with this role do not have access to any websites in any way.

Site Level Roles

Site Administrator

Site administrators have complete access to a site and have full control of all environments attached to that site.

The only action they cannot do is remove a site from a company’s account.

IMPORTANT:

Require anyone with this role to use 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication).

Site Developer

Site developers have access to the staging environment for a site.

They have full control over the staging environment only and can perform any actions apart from removing the staging environment and pushing it to live.

Site developers do not have access to analytics, user management, or the activity log features of Kinsta.

Company Ownership Role

This is the only role that can request an account closure. Apart from that, this role is exactly the same as the Company Administrator role.

It is possible to transfer ownership of a company to another Company Administrator.

Grant Account Access

Company Level Access

  1. Users > Invite Users.
  2. Enter the email address(es) as desired.
  3. Choose the role you wish to assign.
  4. Click Invite User.

Site Level Roles

  1. Users > Invite Users.
  2. Enter the email address(es) as desired.
  3. Using the drop-down, switch to Site Access.
  4. Choose the site(s) you wish to grant access.
  5. Using the drop-down, choose Site Administrator or Site Developer.
  6. Click Invite User.

Force Single Post/Page Cache Clearing

Once you change a post/page, the cache will automatically clear. It will either be immediate or sometimes will take a bit of time depending on TTL (Time to Live) values set by the CDN, the server, etc.

You can perform the following steps when you want to ensure the cache is cleared immediately.

  1. Visit the post/page on the front end (e.g., https://domain.com/store)
  2. Add ‘/kinsta-clear-cache’ between your domain and the post/page (e.g., https://domain.com/kinsta-clear-cache/store
  3. Refresh the page.

If the cache needs to be cleared, the cache will be cleared at all levels. If no cache needs clearing, the result will be a 404 page.

If you only want to clear the mobile version, you would use ‘/kinsta-clear-mobile-cache’.

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