Kinsta Hosting for MyListing Websites

Kinsta is my preferred vendor for hosting MyListing websites, and this guide will show you how 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 who 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.).

Kinsta Setup

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 to get a deep discount and enterprise-level features.
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 your audience.
7. Click ‘Continue’.

Website

8. 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.).
9. WordPress Admin Username > Input as desired.
10. WordPress Admin Password> Input as desired. (Note: Make sure you document this before continuing.).
11. WordPress Admin Email> Input as desired. 
12. Select Language > Input as desired.
13. Install the additional options (Multisite, WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, etc.) as desired. (Note: I recommend SEOPress instead of Yoast SEO.)
14. Click ‘Continue’.
15. After your website finishes spinning up, click ‘Manage Domains.’
16. Click ‘Add Domain’.
17. Domain > Enter your production domain name. (e.g., mylisting.club).
18. Click ‘Add Domain’.

DNS

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. Instead, you should use Cloudflare to host your website DNS.

Cloudflare is FREE and offers the fastest DNS service on the market. Once you’re done setting up DNS at Cloudflare, come back and pick up where you left off.

19. Take the TXT record information that Kinsta gives you and add that record to wherever you manage your DNS (hopefully Cloudflare by this point). 
20. Click ‘OK, I’ve Done It’.
21. Click the vertical dots next to your production domain name and choose ‘Make Primary Domain’.
22. 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.

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

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

26. Click ‘Point Domain’.
27. 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.

28. Kinsta Dashboard > Tools > Force HTTPS > Click ‘Enable.’
29. Choose ‘Force all traffic to the primary domain.’
30. Click ‘Force HTTPS’.
31. Kinsta Dashboard > Click the dropdown next to your username in the top menu.
32. Click ‘User Settings’.
33. Two-Factor Authentication > Click ‘Enable’ and complete the process for securing your account.

Important: I recommend enabling 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) for every online account you have. Also, try to require 2FA for any users accessing your online account.

Tools

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 shows.

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

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 unless you’re going to enable it within Cloudflare.

Note: If you have your website added to a Cloudflare account and configured the various settings, be sure you are not enabling settings 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.

Caching

Edge Caching

Kinsta Dashboard > Caching > Edge Caching

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

CDN

Kinsta Dashboard > Caching > CDN

1. Enable
2. Image Optimization > Settings > Enable ‘Lossy’.
3. Optional – If you use Cloudflare (recommended), configure the remaining settings within your Cloudflare account.

Server Caching

Kinsta Dashboard > Caching > Server Caching

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 MyListing websites are, I recommend leaving the default setting and adjusting only when/if needed.

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 (Free) is what I use and recommend for managing websites via SFTP.

1. Download FileZilla.
2. Kinsta Dashboard > Info > SFTP/SSH (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.
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.’
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.

Create Your Staging Website

Staging is extremely important. It’s where you should test new plugins, give access to external users (e.g., vendor support, website professionals, etc.) to troubleshoot issues, and more.

Note: Nothing, including software and people, should touch your production environment until it has been thoroughly vetted within your staging environment.

1. At the top of your MyKinsta dashboard, click ‘Live’ next to your website name.
2. Choose ‘Create New Environment’.
3. Create New Environment > Choose ‘Standard Environment.’
4. Create Standard Environment > Choose ‘Clone Existing Environment.’
5. Environment Name > Enter ‘Staging.’
6. Environment to Clone > Choose ‘Live.’
7. Click ‘Continue’.

Note: 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.

Account Access Roles

Kinsta Dashboard > User Management

When inviting or modifying a user, the first choice you’ll need to make is whether 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. Require anyone with company-level roles to use 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication). Only give company administrator access to users you trust and require them to use.

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

Site Developer: Site developers have access to a site’s staging environment. They have full control over the staging environment only and can perform any actions apart from removing it 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. Other than that, it is exactly the same as the Company Administrator role. It’s 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 or page, the cache will automatically clear. Depending on the TTL (Time to Live) values set by the CDN, the server, etc., it may be immediate or take some time.

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’.

Walkthrough Video