Should there be a limit on free requests?

[iLucas]

Should there be a limit as to how much someone can request? For instance, we have people coming and requesting 35 GB's and 150 GB's bandwidth, and it's completely absurd, and we're almost guaranteed both, the host and user, will be back complaining later.

We should set the limit at something like ~3 GB's webspace and 50 GB's bandwidth.

The requests are getting out of hand, and it's turning FWS.net into a laughing stock.

- Lucas

[Dan]

I agree with you 100% Lucas.
I also feel that requests for large amounts of hosting resources with "No ads, link back or anything" should be locked or something. It's rediculous.

[TSO]

I will add a third voice to this!

[ChangAdam]

Yeah, I Agree also.

[allanh]

I have a suggestion:

=========================
If a user request for over a certain amount of specs. e.g. 200mb of space/ 5 gig of bandwidth , then he/she would have to provide a screenshot of Webstat of his/her existing website to backup his/her request.

If he/she can, then I would have no problem with people requesting for whatever amount of space/bandwidth they are asking for.

Of course, it's another thing whether the hosts are willing to provide that much. But my main problem is people asking for 100X more than they ever need

[TSO]

^^ Now that's a good idea. It definitely makes sense, and doesn't ban users from making requests for things they might actually really need.

[Richard]

But Peo would never agree to something like this.

No offence Peo or Jan, and I know this post is going to get deleted and I’m going to get another infraction and be banned, but it just has to be said...

This place has been losing allot of members lately, even the old timers are packing their bags and leaving, hosting requests have dropped like a stone, and the amount of posts this place gets per day is also falling greatly.

Allot of traffic to this site, is for these so called "absurd" packages, and I'm sure Peo would not stop them, as it would mean FWS would drop even more into the pits of hell.

[websolutions]

Powerful post there, hosting-shack. I agree that the posts have been significantly decreased than before. Even the members are deciding to turn and get off the site. (i'm not one of the people or at least now)

[Kwek]

I totally agree with hosting-shack and everyone else.

The free requests are chasing many decent people away... and soon all that's left will just be the ridiculous free requests and offers.

The so-called 'increasing' traffic is actually just the increasing number of ridiculous free requests, which I don't think are welcomed here.

I hope that Peo will be able to set some rules so as to reduce the amount of ridiculous free requests. I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Regards,
Kwek

[scribby]

Most of the time the requests are uneducated requests, they don't understand what overselling is or how much space/bandwidth they really need for there site.

So I don't think they should be locked/banned etc... There should be more sticky posts educating users as to what space and bandwidth they really need.

[Kwek]

Most of the time the requests are uneducated requests, they don't understand what overselling is or how much space/bandwidth they really need for there site.

So I don't think they should be locked/banned etc... There should be more sticky posts educating users as to what space and bandwidth they really need.
The main problem lies in the fact that most people don't bother about those sticky posts, even if they read it they just ignore it.

[Jan]

Most of the time the requests are uneducated requests, they don't understand what overselling is or how much space/bandwidth they really need for there site.
Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters.

[Paul]

Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters.

I said the same thing 6 months ago and my post was deleted

[Kwek]

Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters.
How about educating both?

[Jan]

I said the same thing 6 months ago and my post was deleted
I've been through all your posts for a year and can't see where anything even remotely connected was deleted :S

[Eclouds]

I can't help but agree with Richard. There hasn't been dedicated server requests in the longest time. Most of the requests are for VPS. I did notice a lot of old timers leaving which is really unfortunate.

[Jan]

There hasn't been dedicated server requests in the longest time.
Define long time :rolleyes:

http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185155
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185232
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185091
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185161

Some useless facts for you. We are getting less asking for free hosting than we did 5 years ago. We have more requesting/offering paid hosting/VPS/dedicated hosting than we did 5 years ago. Our membership has quadrupled in that time. And I am sure Peo can dig up some comparison stats :idea:

[Galaxy-Hosts.com]

Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters. I agree with that. Unfortunately many hosts, free and paid, have no clue how allocate their resources so they have a profitable long term business. As long as someone is willing to give them the insanely large packages, they will keep asking for them.

[iLucas]

Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters.

We can do the same with them? If they can't provide proof of having what they're offering, lock/delete the thread.

If we start a movement, it'll clean this place of bad requesters/offerers within 90 days, I guarantee it.

[JohnN]

a better idea would be to template everything, so the user follows a form and a request gets generated on their behalf, so it takes into account things like its current traffic, its subject, whether it hosts files/images/songs, features needed ect...


like on sitepoint when you create a sale:)


I'm sure some members would be willing to code something like this!

[iLucas]

It doesn't necessarily have to be a formal template, but even a copy and pasted form from a stickied thread.

- Lucas

[JohnN]

true. i was thinking more like a questionare so.

is your website new? yes/no
if they select no then it can ask how much traffic they get:

0<x<100 uniques a month
100<x<500
500<x<2500
2500<x<10000
10000<x<50000
50000<x<100000
100000<x

will you be using your site for mp3/video files? yes/no

what other features do you need?
PHP
MySql
fantastico
cpanel

and from this it generates a request

[Galaxy-Hosts.com]

All free hosters can have this be part of their sign up process on their sites, or they can ask the questions in the request thread. But I still say as long as someone is offering it they will flock here to request it. If all the hosts had reasonable offers, it would really cut down on the insane requests. Then the people who did make these insane requests would usually end up lookinng stupin and modifying the request to be reasonable.

[JohnN]

you won't though, because hosts can get away with offering as much as they want, and hosts just keep up on-upping each other. a system that determines how much space/band the user is actually going to NEED is the way forward.

[midwesthosting]

I agree with that. Unfortunately many hosts, free and paid, have no clue how allocate their resources so they have a profitable long term business. As long as someone is willing to give them the insanely large packages, they will keep asking for them.
You Said It,Fact is 90% Of these host are resellers that are getting These same Prices from there host.Gotta start at the Top and work down The Line.They have Been told there getting 80 Gb Space And 4 Tbit Bw :))


I Gotta Idea Why Not Fix this Problem Instead Of Talking About It?Jan You Can Limit this Cant You?
Atleast Say 1 Gb Space 10 Gb Transfer Max

Alot Of Paid host Will Leave Because There Are hardly ever Request Any More.

[Paul]

How about a market place area like site point?

@Jan

I could of thought of it but never posted it.....

[Darknight]

Yes I have noticed latley this forums has gone to downhill to the point of me resigning up to WHT :lol:

Alot of people that allways had half a brain have left
Now us smart people are at 5% - and the n00b people are at 95%

[Jan]

to the point of me resigning up to WHT
Resigning up?

[allanh]

haha... another observation is 90% of requesters aren't requesting in English :P

[Jan]

I don't view all the requests, but I do see at least 50% and they are all in English, or English as best as they can write it. If these things annoy you all so much why do you spend so much time in there?

If any are in a foreign language, report them.

[allanh]

Jan, I am not annoyed by them. They simply amuse me with their ridiculous requests (and good for entertainment value).

As to the English part, I was referring to it because most often the non-English speaking requests are the ones that have no clue about what is a reasonable and what is not. :)

p.s. by none-English, I mean the ones that are hard to understand :)

[Paul]

I don't even bother going into the free section any more, more the less even the paid. I just cant offer 1tb of bandwidth for $.80 a month via paypal. - the fees.

[stuffradio]

I don't think so....

too hard to moderate how many things someone requests

[themoose]

Yet when makes a very reasonable request (50MB space and 300MB bandwidth), someone in this very thread offered him 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth. Again, educate the offerers, not the requesters.

I mean look at this one:
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185109

One of the first replies is 5GB/50GB. Crazy!

And rofl
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2185233
Specifically
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showpost.php?p=844237&postcount=4

[Jovial]

agree with you
but why 50gb band?
make it 25
becoz they dont know what to do with it
thats why they are asking too much

[Jan]

agree with you
but why 50gb band?
make it 25
becoz they dont know what to do with it
thats why they are asking too much
Cos he was only asking for 250 mb space 500 mb/month bandwidth :S

[krakjoe]

I don't think so....

too hard to moderate how many things someone requests

The FWS team would not have to moderate these requests, maybe the replies would need moderating, but if FWS invested some cash in a VB mod to generate a sensible set of options in the shape of a form, then even the people replying to requests would only be replying to reasonable ones ..... and it would keep all the people ( left ) here that offer hosting a lot happier, remembering that without anyone replying to requests - which will happen - fws is just gonna be a load of unreasonable posts made by mostly children.

[Peo]

A vB mod to use a special form to submit requests is not a bad idea.

But as you mention we would still not solve the problem with replies. We would also have to allow a form field where they would describe their site content or other requirements and that could easily be abused to write for instance "I want unlimited space". So, I'm not completely convinced that it would solve any problems in the end. But maybe the idea can be worked on as it's a good idea.

One other thing to think about is that this place would not be as much of a discussion forum anymore if we regulate the discussions too much. And some people might get annoyed by that.

[Jan]

and it would keep all the people ( left ) here that offer hosting a lot happier,
No, because most offer huge amounts, so we would have to start warning them if they respond to reasonable offers, which we do at times, eventually they will be banned. We have had a few in the last few days who haven't asked for much, but the hosts you want to protect, offer them in excess of 100GB b/w.

Just the normal forum noises pirate2

[krakjoe]

A vB mod to use a special form to submit requests is not a bad idea.


Finally, thank you.



But as you mention we would still not solve the problem with replies. We would also have to allow a form field where they would describe their site content or other requirements and that could easily be abused to write for instance "I want unlimited space". So, I'm not completely convinced that it would solve any problems in the end. But maybe the idea can be worked on as it's a good idea.


Any term, indeed any number/thing you deem unecissary can be blocked the same as you can block content from these forums. I'm sure there are problems with it, but then I don't run a hosting forum with thousands of members so I'm not aware of them - however, I am a good problem solver :angel:



One other thing to think about is that this place would not be as much of a discussion forum anymore if we regulate the discussions too much. And some people might get annoyed by that.


While that is true, I think the amount of members that will get exactly what they need - along with what you might even call professional advice for free while making that decision - will far outweigh the rapidshare freeks that are annoyed because they have no home anymore.

[Peo]

It comes down to setting the limits again (with or without a form). If we say you could only request and offer 1 gb space and 10 gb bandwidth, then some host will come along complaining that they can offer more. And if we have a form specifying those limits everbody would request the maximum limit... I don't see how that would help the hosts.

Then we'd be forced to explain that you get less replies if you ask for too much and we are back to square one again. I think it's a good idea but it's very likely that it will bring us back to the same problem again.

[krakjoe]

Stay with me ..... Instead of presenting the user with a form filled with all the options that are available, you could present the process in the form of a questionaire about the site or idea, then using your knowledge of free hosting you could suggest to them one or more plans which they can choose from.

I dont think you'll be able to stop people saying I can offer more than that, only I don't see it as a problem, if the process that has decided what the user should request is a reasonable one, and users are happy with the suggestions they are getting, then what the host thinks on the other end is, well, void.

People would come to know how to "abuse" the system, but then if the maximum anyone can ever ask for is a reasonable amount ( remembering this is free hosting, and providers that offer the world last months at most ) then even the largest requests won't be an issue, will they ?

I suspect there will always be a few people that don't agree with the process, but then there will be far more that are grateful of the help, and all the hosts here would never be able to complain again that free hosting requests are ridiculous, the formula that you suggest plans with could be revisable, it wouldn't have to be a restriction in the real sense of the word, more of a feature of FWS to better inform users about how to get the most out of the hosters that hang about here, and in the process eradicate ridiculous and unreasonable requests.

I think maybe if you made a post outlining the idea from both a hostee's and a hosts perspective, and held a simple "do it or not" poll, you'll soon have a pretty good idea about wether it will work in the long term, from your users perspective at least.

[JohnN]

It comes down to setting the limits again (with or without a form). If we say you could only request and offer 1 gb space and 10 gb bandwidth, then some host will come along complaining that they can offer more. And if we have a form specifying those limits everbody would request the maximum limit... I don't see how that would help the hosts.

Then we'd be forced to explain that you get less replies if you ask for too much and we are back to square one again. I think it's a good idea but it's very likely that it will bring us back to the same problem again.

dont offer figures, work out how much space/band they need from questons:)

[allanh]

I think rules can be enforced, if done properly.

DnForum.com ( a forum about domains) has 10x number of rules comparing to fws.net yet everyone has been following them and the posting activity is very high.

I think if the culture of obeying the rules and making sensible posts are enforced, it will not be hard for people to follow them.

[Jan]

Even they have their members who want to change human nature ;)

http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=216610

[krakjoe]

I disagree, rules can only be enforced if they are known about by those your trying to impose those rules on, and wether it's right or wrong, no-one ever reads the rules untill they break one.

The "culture" only applies to members that are part of that "culture" and it's mostly new members making outrageous requests.

[allanh]

what about an Infraction rule? people making outrageous requests /offers that they can not backup (e.g. with site stats) get Infractions.

After certain number of infractions, they get temporarily banned.

[Peo]

Instead of presenting the user with a form filled with all the options that are available, you could present the process in the form of a questionaire about the site or idea, then using your knowledge of free hosting you could suggest to them one or more plans which they can choose from.

I think that will be very difficult to do when you give it some thought. And suggesting plans is what the hosts need to do themselves. This is a discussion forum not "Peo will suggest you a host".

Another idea somewhat similar to yours is to have a text with instructions on what to include in a request above the "Start new thread" within "Free hosting request".

Then we can have requests that look like this recent one:


The hosting I would like is;

* 500MB-1GB space,
* 2GB or 3GB bandwidth,
* PHP 4.4.4 +,
* Cpanel,
* 3 or 4 email forwarders (for me, the other admin and some friends),
* 4 or 5 MYSQL databases
* uni.cc domain support (already have)


I would use this hosting for;

* Moodle (or similar) management system
* SMF forum
* Wordpress Blogs
* Other php software (at a later date)

The site I wish to set up is a small how to (tutorial) site and discussion forums. I would also use it for my personal Blog (hence the Wordpress). We intend to 'hand-make' the tutorials and have information that will hopefully benefit all site users.

In return for hosting we are willing to do the following;

* Place Ads on the forums (and if possible Moogle).
* One time forum posts

[krakjoe]

Or right on the left hand side of the actual post editor :

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/6346/postbl8.png

That would be quite easy to implement, however I'm not sure it'll stop the silly requests, unless we use some js to physically stop people typing certain words, like unlimited or terrabyte .....

[Peo]

There are options in vB to censor words but the words unlimited and terrabyte are being used for good reasons on the forum so we won't censor those words. And even if we would, people would just write 'unl.' or something.

The sad thing is that there's no way to stop silly requests completely. We have to live with that to some degree. I'm sure there are silly requests being sent directly to web hosts from their company websites too. You just have to explain what is possible and what is not to those who don't understand it. We can do that in sticky posts, in the rules, in replies to what they post, writing info next to where they post the request, by sending out warnings to abusers etc. We've done some of that already and it still gets ignored.

Another suggestion is to have a subforum where silly requests gets moved. That would keep the noise at a low level for those of you annoyed by such requests. At the same time the person requesting it will hopefully understand the situation without us having to ban and warn those members. Keeping the request reasonable will be awarded this way.

[Richard]

Another suggestion is to have a subforum where silly requests gets moved. That would keep the noise at a low level for those of you annoyed by such requests. At the same time the person requesting it will hopefully understand the situation without us having to ban and warn those members. Keeping the request reasonable will be awarded this way.

Thats not a bad idea at all. It help would educate more people, and having a sticky at the top "Why was my thread move here?".

[Jan]

Another suggestion is to have a subforum where silly requests gets moved. That would keep the noise at a low level for those of you annoyed by such requests. At the same time the person requesting it will hopefully understand the situation without us having to ban and warn those members. Keeping the request reasonable will be awarded this way.
Can we move the silly offers there too :rolleyes:

[allanh]

Can we move the silly offers there too :rolleyes:


sounds like a plan:-)

[JohnN]

peo, if you need anyone to mod it to have a form please feel free to contact me:) I don't mind having a crack.
ooblez@hotmail.com

[Peo]

As I said, it's just a suggestion. I agree that it most likely would be a problem to moderate all of this. And yes, the problem is also on the side of hosts making silly offers, making it even bigger. Maybe this isn't possible.

[JohnN]

tie it into your current system then, allow hosts to add "packages" into their own little control panel, the packages get approved by an admin, this can be done very quickly as an admin can easily glance at a package and see if its ridiculous. then when replying allow the host to select one of their packages to offer and allow them to post a note, ask members to report posts where the note contains an offer.

[iLucas]

Well, I feel that we, as hosts, need to take a stand and make it known that a request is ridiculous. If they state they need it, then we need proof.

However, it's good to see that we're getting a response from administration. Not that you don't respond, it's just this is something that has to be done.

- Lucas

[krakjoe]

There are options in vB to censor words but the words unlimited and terrabyte are being used for good reasons on the forum so we won't censor those words. And even if we would, people would just write 'unl.' or something.

Its not a problem, you hack up vB sources to echo the <script> tag to include a javascript that physically deletes the word from the post editor only in that section of the forum, also every abbreviation would soon become apparent.



The sad thing is that there's no way to stop silly requests completely. We have to live with that to some degree. I'm sure there are silly requests being sent directly to web hosts from their company websites too. You just have to explain what is possible and what is not to those who don't understand it. We can do that in sticky posts, in the rules, in replies to what they post, writing info next to where they post the request, by sending out warnings to abusers etc. We've done some of that already and it still gets ignored.

I can't argue with those statements....giving up now ......

[stuffradio]

Well...

another solution would be to have offers and requests be posted in sort of a secret forum I guess where only MODs can see them... if the MOD thinks it's reasonable, they can have it moved to where everyone can see it.

The user who submitted the thread can see the thread they submit, and it can't be edited once moved in to a public thread, only replies would be allowed.

[JohnN]

that involves too much work, the mods need to be able to do it quickly...

[Peo]

Moderating all free requests is not a solution in my opinion. People want fast replies and don't wish to wait first for us to approve the request and then for someone to reply.

[allanh]

don't moderate all posts.

However, you can have a lot of moderators all day to delete/move posts that are deemed breaking the rules.

What about moving all ridiculous requests/offers to a new forum called "Jokers' Forum" ? :) They can talk amongst themselves in there.

[JohnN]

Moderating all free requests is not a solution in my opinion. People want fast replies and don't wish to wait first for us to approve the request and then for someone to reply.

back to my suggestion, allow hosts to add packages to their user panel, these packages get approved by the admin - crazy ones can quickly been seen and removed.
when replying to a thread the host selects a package and can make a small note:) (users can/will report hosts trying to sneak in offers in their notespirate2)

[Peo]

JohnN, I appreciate the idea, but I think that it would be too hard to moderate all packages. Hosts often update packages and also have more than one package. And many hosts offer custom packages. So, I think that would be hard to do aswell.

[Paul]

Why not put a sticky on each hosting thread making people aware of what they should look for in a host and that 500gb for free is not possible. I think most people do not have the common sence to know this. The next thing is getting people to read them

[Jan]

What's wrong with http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10737? :p

[iLucas]

What's wrong with http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10737? :p

It's too long, and people won't read it. Although I have, it was after I was here for a month already.

- Lucas

[LSComputers]

Well said on both sides of this fence, This community is growing but at the same time were loosing alot of older faces.

On page 2 I think people started saying we need to educate more people about hosting, this is a great idea :), and I am working on that :), but all in all, for people thinking requests arent there right now, wait till summer ;), there all be back lol.

[Darknight]

A guide has allready been written
http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showpost.php?p=800793&postcount=4
Alot of effot went in to it and it didnt even get added propley just added on to a sticked thread with about 5 massive posts above it
No one will read it
Hence it was a waste of everyones time making it.

[krakjoe]

I have one last idea, Peo mentioned having a different forum for stupid requests, but it didnt really seem valid because the mods would still have to move the post once they decided it was stupid.

So how about, instead of trying to control what people put in thier requests, you could attach a javascript to that part of the forum like I mentioned just above here, that script could detect certain works like before only this time it would change the form action of the editor - easily done onsubmit - to post requests that seem to be outrageous into the silly requests forum, no censoring and pretty soon new users would get the idea that they don't want to end up in the silly bin as no serious hosts will read requests in there, and they are just likely to be slated by everyone ...... now I'm done .....

[CJ-real]

Well... maybe if you have not got a current website, then the limit should be around 200MB unless you have proof you are going to use it.

Then... if you already have a website, then you should provide evidence that you are going to use the space you request (link to your current, stats, etc).

1 more thing... if you are requesting cPanel, THINK! Do you actually need it. As long as there is something that is good enough, you may get dozens more options.
REMEMBER! cPanel costs... a great deal (unless the free host is on a reseller, and are therefore just paying each month and are most likely to shut down).

I QUOTE HOSTING-SHACK:

But Peo would never agree to something like this.

No offence Peo or Jan, and I know this post is going to get deleted and I’m going to get another infraction and be banned, but it just has to be said...

This place has been losing allot of members lately, even the old timers are packing their bags and leaving, hosting requests have dropped like a stone, and the amount of posts this place gets per day is also falling greatly.

Allot of traffic to this site, is for these so called "absurd" packages, and I'm sure Peo would not stop them, as it would mean FWS would drop even more into the pits of hell.

AND I REPLY:
I havn't been here for long, but just getting here I see people saying:
- 99------ bandwidth
- 20GB hosting
- Unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited E-mail accoutns
- Unlimited FTP
- FREE DOMAIN
- CPANEL IS A MUST
- PHP
- UNLIMITED SQL
- PERL

Everything for a &#163;10/month hosting package... NO WAY! Shut down, lock, and delete those threads straight away. Why would you need that big and not have a site that generates revenue in order to pay for the ads?? YOU WOULDNT. SIMPLE AS.


Lastly... when requesting features such as:
- E-mail account
- PHP
- PERL
- SQL
- cPanel

Let the person know why you need it and if you EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS.

Thanks for reading my opinion,
CJ
:)

[Jan]

How about you all don't stress out over human nature? There will always be people who want the most they can get for free, whether it be online or offline. Just relax, report the uber ridiculous, don't be rude to the new (or established) members because they may just one day be your paying customer.

Oh and hosts, offer reasonable plans that you know you can sustain for the long term.

[Darknight]

free hosting requests with 2 sub forums
Normal requests < 20GB space & 2GB hdd
Stupid requests > 20GB bandwidth & 2GB hdd
Something like that
Infraction for posting request in the wrong section

[monaghan]

Why not have a "class" of host with a visible label

Premium - Legally registered company, in business over X years, been on FWS over X years
Standard - in business > 6 months
Starter - in business > 3 months
Newbie - in business > no FWS history
Unlassified - No company registration

This way you'd have some simple way of knowing whether you potential new host will be able to deliver in the future.

[Peo]

krakjoe, I will give the javascript idea some more thought. However, I am still not convinced that censoring words to move posts to a different subforum would work. The problem I see is that 'unlimited' might be used in "I don't need unlimited everything, just 100 MB space" or "I want unlimited autoresponders". What other words can be censored, give examples? Are you familiar with vBulletin and know for sure that this will be easy to implement?

Maybe we should start by just reporting and giving warnings (without infraction points) to the worst members and hosts who offer or request way too much. And put that instruction post more visible. Then possibly move on to other ideas.

monaghan, I like your idea. What do others think?

[themoose]

I'm not keen on monaghan's idea... it'd mean that new start-up hosts wouldn't get any business and close pretty much straight away.

[Jan]

monaghan, I like your idea. What do others think?
As the thread was primarily to do with free hosting requests It doesn't really apply :) As it has now evolved to encompass free/paid offers/requests, it is not a good idea for reasons that Colin gave.

You have new hosts popping up daily, some may make it beyond a month, some even make it to three months. Those looking for the world for nothing mostly know they are skating on thin ice, but still take a risk. These are the ones that will eventually look for an established host if their site means anything to them.

I don't know about other requesters, but I feel moving hosts is a pain in the butt, which is why I choose carefully after lots of research. Beats me how some can just keep on moving to a *maybe better* one :S

[Richard]

Colin, most do anyway, the think they need to compete with the oversellers and offer 10GB Diskspace and 100GB bandwidth with no ad's or posts.

I think monaghan's idea is a great one.

One more idea while I'm thinking Peo, what about a Premium Member forum like WHT has? I would be willing to donate to become such premium member, and I’m sure a few more would as well. It would be a place where hosts are safe to talk without their clients watching their every words :P

[Darknight]

I dont really know I was bagging the monaghan idea but thinking about it it could be good too
soooooo im neither here or there on that idea.

[Jan]

Not to mention those who have had many accounts here merged because they closed down one hosting service (for whatever reason) and just opened another host and username here. Deceiving members isn't the way to go.

[TSO]

Why not have a "class" of host with a visible label

Premium - Legally registered company, in business over X years, been on FWS over X years
Standard - in business > 6 months
Starter - in business > 3 months
Newbie - in business > no FWS history
Unlassified - No company registration

This way you'd have some simple way of knowing whether you potential new host will be able to deliver in the future.

I like it. Even though my current free host is nearly brand-new, I am sure users would appreciate some sort of identifying system like the one above. I think it would work better than the current system.

[Darknight]

Not to mention those who have had many accounts here merged because they closed down one hosting service (for whatever reason) and just opened another host and username here. Deceiving members isn't the way to go.

good point

[Namepad]

Hi,

I have been watching this thread for some time as well as other threads and posts. I am sorry ahead of time if this sounds negative.

How about if you have less than 30 posts you have to sit in the back of the bus.
How about if you think blue is a cool color, you get a warning or if you ask for chocolate ice cream 3 times in a week, you get banned.

Seriously though, in my short time here, I have seen quite allot. Who decides now what is considered the "ridicules request/offer."
The free host that changes his/her company name when the first one did not work out. How about the paid provider who offers those same free hosts the stars and the moon.
Go look in the free hosting offers section, you will see hosts replying, lecturing, making fun of those host offers, they feel are "ridicules". Clearly against the forum rules, but hey, someone has to set them straight.

I thought the fall of the Berlin Wall was considered a good thing.

[krakjoe]

@peo, I have spent the last couple of hours going through different ways to stop people writing stupid words into thier requests, by physically stopping the form being submitted if the post contains a word you do not like ( this can be extended to phrases )

After trying many complicated ways of achieving this and them all failing because vB is more or less made of javascript to begin with, it's quite hard to edit that without it effecting something else, however, I did it, and it works.

http://krakjoe.info/mockup.html <-- I actually nicked a page from here, it's using the exact editor and posts properly if there's nothing wrong with the request.

Test with : unlimited, terrabyte, dedicated, dds, vps

I believe this to be the most viable way of controlling posts without censoring too much and still keeping everyone happy, and it's the most graphic answer I have to your questions ...... although I'm sure more will arise ....

On the issue of the word unlimited being used in requests that are reasonable, IMO it's not reasonable to ask for anything unlimited for free, furthermore I have never come across an actual reason for needing an unlimited amount of any resource, never, it'll be just as easy for the OP to change unlimited to a large but acceptable number

Balls in your court.......

EDIT : I was just messing with it, it may have seemed not to work, but it does I put it back the way it was ....

[Richard]

so a user asking for unlimited subdomains, or unlimited emails will also not be allowed to request hosting?

Subdomains cost a host nothing. So why not offer unlimited?

And anyway, it's not the unlimited requests and offers that are the issue here, it's the ones that know they cannot use unlimited, so they use 100GB diskspace and 500GB bandwidth instead.

[krakjoe]

numbers can be done too, it's an example

[stonerocket]

I have an idea, not sure if it will work or not! (regarding free host owners)

Create a usergroup on the forum! Call it "Free host Owners" or whatever.

All the webhost`s deemed to have reasonable hosting packages can request to be accepted into the usergroup, Mod or admin checks them out, under some pre written guide lines.

This will take some time to take effect, But on the positive side the newer webhost`s (kids) will want to be in the group and offer less rediculous packages.

As someone said previously in this thread, "if the keep offering it, they will keep requesting it"

What do you think?

[stuffradio]

there are always ways around it though... spelling it with leet speak, capitols in random places.... not a viable solution

[krakjoe]

http://www.krakjoe.com/sensor/test.html

show me a way to write the words "virtual private server" or "dedicated server" or "unlimited" in there and still have them readable by normal people.

I admit, I haven't yet worked out the regex to extract numbers with gb / mb / tb, but I will if I have to I know it's possible, the post above was as it was named a mockup / example of how it might work, not the exact code I would use to achieve it.

It is a viable solution.

[Wojtek]

How about something like:

Each hosting request thread starts with the 0 score, and can be voted down by users. (The score doesn't have to be visible)
Once a thread reaches a certain negative number, it's automatically moved to the Silly Requests section.

[stonerocket]

How about something like:

Each hosting request thread starts with the 0 score, and can be voted down by users. (The score doesn't have to be visible)
Once a thread reaches a certain negative number, it's automatically moved to the Silly Requests section.


and would host`s be able to do it aswell ? :confused4

My idea is the best yet and nobody listening,

[Wojtek]

and would host`s be able to do it aswell ? :confused4
Why not? Everyone could vote down a hosting request thread.



All the webhost`s deemed to have reasonable hosting packages can request to be accepted into the usergroup, Mod or admin checks them out, under some pre written guide lines.

It's already been said in this thread that hosts popup/die/change plans very often. It's an ineffective method to approve everyone.
I could offer 100mb/1gb, get approved and change to 1gb/100gb within a week. I'd still be approved until someone reports me.

[JohnN]

i like wojtek's idea!
or have it like digg where a formula is used to rank hosting requests, negative = fewer points and newer = more points! below a certain threshold and the thread is hidden/moved/locked/whatever :D

[Wojtek]

Doesnt have to be too complicated with formulas and all :p
Just if below a certain score, move to silly requests.

Same thing could be done for the offers section, but in this one hosts would not be able to vote. (well their vote wouldnt count)

And how would we know who's a host and who's not?
Simply by looking if the user has started a thread in the offers section.

Voila, simple method where the community would help improve the site, and where all the burden will not be on us poor moderators :p

[Galaxy-Hosts.com]

monaghan, I like your idea. What do others think? I think this is a great idea.

[monaghan]

I'm not keen on monaghan's idea... it'd mean that new start-up hosts wouldn't get any business and close pretty much straight away.

People still go with hosts with low post counts now, why would they stop going with new hosts under the suggested system? Many start-up hosts fail by offering far too much and they can't pay their bills. I don't see this changing too much.

[Darknight]

How about something like:

Each hosting request thread starts with the 0 score, and can be voted down by users. (The score doesn't have to be visible)
Once a thread reaches a certain negative number, it's automatically moved to the Silly Requests section.
Good idea but I see it being abused like rep and people winging

[Wojtek]

I find rep is pretty representative. Sure you get a few 'false positives' but overal the system is fine.

Plus I don't think those kids that leave immature comments will bring down their own peers for having unrealistic requests, which they themselfs do.

[Paul]

Put the requests in sub forums, so requests requiring <5gb bandwidth, <20gb of bandwidth, <50 of bandwidth, <200gb of bandwith, <750gb of bandwidth, <1tb of bandwidth.

It wont stop the stupid offeres but atleast hosts know what each request is going to be around in the sub forums.

What about a new rule:
hosts are not allowed to offer any more than 20% space and bandwidth than they originally requested.

Should stop a few

[JohnN]

the way the rep system means that even if one users gives you bad rep the vast majority are sensible so you the rep you deserve overall...