Once again, Combell has proven its ability to monitor the evolution of technology and to offer new products to its customers as soon as they are available. On 6 December 2018, version 7.3.0 of the scripting language PHP was released, and you could activate it on your Linux hosting the same day. But let us have a quick look at the new features...

What is new in PHP 7.3?

PHP forms the basis of many content management systems, including WordPress and Magento, the world's most widely used framework for developing online stores.

WordPress names its various versions after jazz musicians, and version 5.0 was named Bebo, in tribute to Cuban jazz pianist Bebo Valdés. But this is definitely not the only new development. Version 5.0 of the WordPress CMS is mainly characterised by its drastically revamped editor, Gutenberg, which is based on content blocks. Let us give you a brief summary and some useful tips. 

The key feature in WordPress 5.0 is the new Gutenberg editor

The biggest change in this version is the Gutenberg editor, which was the subject of our detailed article: “Discover the new Gutenberg WordPress editor”.

Combell Group announces that it has acquired the Swiss hosting company Switchplus from the SWITCH Foundation. With this strategic acquisition, Combell Group enters the hosting market in Switzerland with strong ambitions to expand its position in the country.

First steps into Switzerland with strong ambitions

By acquiring Switchplus, Combell Group starts it first endeavours in Switzerland. As it is in the company’s DNA, Combell Group has the ambition to further build a strong reputation and presence in the local market and empower local entrepreneurs and small businesses with the best possible tools for their digital existence.

Comodo's SSL certificates are being rebranded as Sectigo. What exactly does this mean for your Comodo certificate?

Why are Comodo certificates given a new name?

In November 2018, Comodo sold its certification department to Francisco Partners, which now sells certificates under the brand name Comodo Certification Authority. And Comodo itself continued to sell its other security products under the brand name Comodo Cyber Security. This situation led to confusion. And that is why the decision was made to rename the certification department Sectigo.

Which SSL certificates are concerned?

Combell offers you a free Let's Encrypt certificate with your hosting package, and nothing is going to change about this.

Test-Achats recently found that some Belgian web stores leave the door open for intruders. We at Combell consider Internet security a top priority and therefore offer various features that you can very easily enable to protect your web store. In this article, we will give you an insight into how you can use them.

Web store security: good news and bad news

Last month, Test-Achats investigated the security of web stores. The consumer organisation also wanted to see if the situation had improved since an earlier study conducted in 2015. Both tests examined 100 popular web stores.

This year, Combell has once again been nominated for the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, which features Belgium’s fifty fastest-growing technology companies. Participants in the Fast 50 are evaluated based on their percentage of growth in turnover, innovation and developed technology. The Technology Fast 50 award goes to the fastest-growing technology company in Belgium in terms of the percentage of growth in turnover achieved over the past four years.

Check out the list of all nominees

Combell Group is number 3 player in Europe

In 2017, Combell Group (which includes Combell) achieved a consolidated turnover of 72 million euros.

Chances are you have already seen Thijs Feryn, our tech evangelist, on stage at a conference you attended in the past. He often speaks at meetings, conferences and industry events and has been doing this for 10 years, both at home and abroad. Recently, Thijs could proudly announce that he had given his 200th presentation at a PHP congress in Las Vegas.

2d ago I delivered my 200th presentation at @zendcon.

10y ago, I never thought I would be speaking internationally. Now I have spoken in 15 different countries. I've spoken in front of 1000 people, I've spoken in front of 5 people.

When DrupalCamp holds its annual community meeting in Ghent, Combell has to sponsor the event. But what can you expect from the sessions that it will offer? And what about the fun factor?

DrupalCamp Ghent will feature a busy programme

On Friday 23 and Saturday 24 November 2018, Drupal community members will once again get together for their annual gathering at DrupalCamp. Two days full of inspiring presentations, in which developers will talk about their experiences and how they succeeded in solving the problems they encountered. After all, that is the great advantage of real communities like those of Drupal and PHP: their members like to share their knowledge with you, so that we can all continue to develop code together.

The DNS security extension DNSSEC can, among other things, prevent cybercriminals from redirecting your visitors to fake websites without being noticed, and it also allows your website to achieve a higher score with certain quality labels. This protection can now be enabled quite easily in your control panel. Here is a brief explanation…

DNSSEC, your digital signature

The Domain Name System (DNS) no longer needs any introduction: it is the big database that converts domain names into the associated IP addresses. The DNS itself does not include any security protocol, which is why an extension, called DNS Security Extensions or DNSSEC, was created, in order to add a digital signature.

Let us introduce you to the online event called “Dag van de Webshop” (Flemish Web store Day), an initiative that has now developed into a 3-day event that aims to put Belgian web stores in the spotlight. Manager Jeroen De Clerck explains why the flexibility of Combell hosting is so important to him.

Dag van de Webshop: e-commerce in the spotlight

In 2010, Jeroen De Clerck, manager of the digital marketing agency Generation Shop, came up with the idea of promoting web stores. His company indeed specialised in e-commerce, and more specifically in the development and marketing of web stores.

Whether online or via social networks, we are getting increasingly close to our favourite brands. Big names, from AS Adventure to ZEB, trust Stratics to transform this huge flow of digital customer data into information that can be easily used for marketing and communication purposes. Combell guarantees secure data storage, compliant with the GDPR, as well as considerable computing power for the processing of such a large amount of personal data.

Customer contact digitally screened

Stratics captures moments when the customer gets close to the brand in order to gain insights into what is happening.

Thijs Feryn explains why caching can make your websites faster, how that happens and which tools are available. 

Which factors influence the speed of your website?

Fast websites are a necessity, because Internet users are becoming increasingly impatient and abandon a website at the slightest delay, which is obviously good for competitors. But Google also takes this factor into account by rewarding fast websites with a higher ranking in search results.

However, creating a fast website is not as easy as it might seem. Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Yet, caching can provide a solution and ensure optimal performance of your website.