Hosting is the always-on computer that stores your website and serves it to students. It is the one part of your stack you rent, and the one beginners most often get wrong: either overpaying, or buying a plan that falls over on exam day.
The requirements checklist
| Requirement | Minimum | Why |
|---|---|---|
| PHP | 8.1 or newer | Required by Turgor Exam Engine |
| WordPress | 6.7 or newer | Required by Turgor Exam Engine |
| SSL / https | Free certificate included | Logins and payments must be encrypted |
| Database | MySQL or MariaDB (standard) | Stores questions, attempts and results |
| Backups | Daily, with easy restore | The cheapest insurance you will buy |
| Resources | See next section | Exam-day traffic bursts |
Exam traffic comes in bursts
A blog gets visitors spread over the day. An exam site gets hundreds of students pressing Start in the same minute because the paper opens at 6 pm. Each attempt then saves answers as it goes. That is a very different load from browsing.
Three things make it harder than ordinary traffic:
- Pages cannot be served from a cache, because every student’s exam page is different.
- Answers are written to the database all the time, not just read from it.
- A slow site during a timed test makes students angry and can invalidate results.
Rules of thumb. These are not guarantees, so always test before a big paid exam:
- A few dozen students at a time: a decent shared WordPress plan usually copes.
- Hundreds at once: choose managed WordPress, cloud or a VPS with dedicated resources.
- Thousands at once: use a scalable cloud setup with caching and a properly sized database.
- Cheapest fix of all: stagger start times into batches. It costs nothing.
How to test your hosting before exam day
- Create a free test quiz with 20-30 questions.
- Ask 20-50 friends, staff or students to open it at the same minute.
- Watch your host’s resource graph (CPU and memory) while they take it.
- For bigger exams, also run a free load-testing tool to simulate more users than you can gather.
- If usage touches the limit, move up a plan or split the batch before the real exam.
Check answers are saved as students go
A dropped connection should not lose an attempt. Test it yourself: start a test, answer a few questions, switch off Wi-Fi, switch it back on and carry on.
Plan for the bad day
Keep a backup contact at your host, a copy of your database from the night before, and a message ready for students in case of delay.
Hosting types in plain English
| Type | What it is | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Shared | Many sites share one server | Starting out, small groups |
| Managed WordPress | The host handles updates, security and speed | Beginners who want fewer worries |
| VPS / cloud | Your own dedicated slice of a server | Growing institutes, big exam days |
| Dedicated | A whole server to yourself | Very large platforms |
What to compare when you shop
- PHP 8.1 or newer selectable in the control panel
- One-click WordPress install
- Free SSL
- Daily backups you can restore yourself
- Enough PHP workers and memory: ask how many requests can run at once
- A database cache such as Redis
- A staging site, so you can test updates away from your live exams
- A clear upgrade path to a bigger plan
- Support in your time zone, by chat or phone
- Server location near your students
- The renewal price, not just the first-year price
Keep videos off your web server
Large lesson videos use a lot of bandwidth. Host them on a video CDN and keep your hosting plan for the site itself. Turgor Exam Engine Pro supports signed, expiring links on Bunny CDN to keep paid videos private.
Beginner FAQs
Can I use free hosting?
Not for an exam site. It is slow, limited and often runs an old PHP version.
Can I host on my own computer?
No. Your site must be online around the clock.
Which company should I pick?
Any reputable WordPress host that meets the checklist works. The plugin is not tied to a provider.
Can I switch hosts later?
Yes. WordPress sites can be moved. Ask your new host for a free migration.
What next?
Once hosting is ready, follow the complete beginner guide from Step 4, then build your first quiz.