If You Need Hosting - Please Read

[Robert]

Hello,

FreeWebSpace.Net is very fortunate to have so many hosts that visit these forums that can offer their services to the end user.

And if you are looking for paid hosting, you've come to the right place! However, to make the process quick and to prevent confusion, please include the following in your posts when asking for recommendations, suggestions and offers:

1. The Amount of Space Needed - It is very important you list the amount of space you need. While some will not be able to tell us, a rough idea will help. There's always a chance to upgrade the space. A typical request for space is between 100mb to 500mb. Be reasonable but keep the idea that you can upgrade in the future. And remember, unlimited space doesn't exist.

2. Transfer / Bandwidth - Space and transfer go hand in hand. It is very rare to see a host offer very limited space with large transfer per month. A 100MB request may come with around 5-10GB of transfer. Again, be reasonable in the amount you ask for. If you know you won't need 20GB, don't ask for 20GB. Start with 5-10GB and see how that takes you. And remember, unlimited bandwidth doesn't exist.

3. Domain Information - Please include whether you have a domain name, want to purchase a domain name or wish to use a sub-domain. Some hosts can sell you a domain name at the same time of signing up, while others can provide you with a free one at certain times of the year. It is suggested that you never purchase a domain through the host, because if you decide to leave, they may keep it hostage.

4. Contents of Website - It's important you include what you will be using the space for. Just because it's not illegal, doesn't mean a host allows it on their servers. By them knowing what you plan on using the space, they can determine whether it's allowed on their servers or not, and can prevent future problems.

5. Extra Features & Requirements - Every host is different. Some offer certain products while others done. Tell them what requirements you need, some requirements you may want to include are:

- Unix/Linux or Windows Based Hosts.
- In business for at least 1 year.
- Location of servers (ie. USA, Europe).
- cPanel, Plesk, Ensim or any Control panel.
- MySQL and php supported.

Be as detailed as possible. Don't assume the host supports it because every host you've seen or had does.

6. Budget - This is the most important part. Include what your monthly and or yearly budget is. Be reasonable. You will not get the world for $5/mo. but you can start with that and slowly move. Be cautious with hosts that are $1/mo. with tons of features.

7. Preferred Payment Method - Not everyone wants to pay with a credit card, and if you don't, let the hosts know. Ask the hosts what methods they accept for payment and tell them what you would like to use. For example, some people may prefer to pay with a check or with paypal.


What has been listed above will allow hosts to reply to your request correctly and as quickly as possible.

And Remeber, If it's Too Good to be True, It Probably Is!

[notnamed]

Good post Robert I'd ask for a sticky, but then nobody'd read it

[Trel]

Robert, just surrender eh?

I tried to do something similiar with the free side and mindless people just didn't get it soo.. just give up and silently surrender.

[striker]

yeah I too have tried on several occasions in the freewebhosting section. At least in here its a lot better because people who are willing to pay for hosting usually are intelligent enough to include that info.

Nowadays every time someone posts a free hosting request, they are hiding something i.e. they want to hotlink pics, host warez, put an empty message board up, have a chinese site etc.

Very good post. I hope people will actually read it

[Vegs]

Originally posted by striker
yeah I too have tried on several occasions in the freewebhosting section. At least in here its a lot better because people who are willing to pay for hosting usually are intelligent enough to include that info.

Nowadays every time someone posts a free hosting request, they are hiding something i.e. they want to hotlink pics, host warez, put an empty message board up, have a chinese site etc.

Very good post. I hope people will actually read it

what's wrong with having a chinese site? We have hundreds of customers from asia and most of their site is in chinese.

[Jan]

With all due respect Robert, not everyone is "hosting" savvy. If I had read that when I was first looking for hosting, I would have thought "what is that dude smoking" Just because you know all the ins and outs of the hosting world doesn't mean that your average Joe Blow does.

If I was to come here and not know anything, but want to pay for my hosting, your spiel would only confuse me more. I was with one host for a year and didn't even know I had a control panel until I wanted to cancel my account. (I had to ask where it was ) My site worked, so why did I need all the fluff?

[Robert]

Originally posted by Jan
With all due respect Robert, not everyone is "hosting" savvy. If I had read that when I was first looking for hosting, I would have thought "what is that dude smoking" Just because you know all the ins and outs of the hosting world doesn't mean that your average Joe Blow does.

If I was to come here and not know anything, but want to pay for my hosting, your spiel would only confuse me more. I was with one host for a year and didn't even know I had a control panel until I wanted to cancel my account. (I had to ask where it was ) My site worked, so why did I need all the fluff?

Very good point. But the basics should be know (space, budget, extra requirements). Even if someone didn't know, they could reply with:

Hey,

I need a website to host a gallery with about 100 pictures. I can only afford $20/mo. and I don't have a domain. The gallery is php and from what I read on their website, requires GD, netpbm and/ or imagemagick ( though I don't know what those are ). I don't know what bandwidth is. Can anyone help me?

See? Detailed. We know what they want to do, 100 pictures. We could either offer them a plan with 300mb of space and 8GB of transfer, or ask them if they know how much space each picture takes.

But point well taken.

<~ can't believe I just used that

[Jan]

The gallery is php and from what I read on their website, requires GD, netpbm and/ or imagemagick ( though I don't know what those are )

Wouldn't you first explain what these were, if they didn't know? Again, not everyone knows all. So what is GD and netpbm? I don't know and as far as I know have never heard of them.

[Vegs]

Originally posted by Jan
With all due respect Robert, not everyone is "hosting" savvy. If I had read that when I was first looking for hosting, I would have thought "what is that dude smoking" Just because you know all the ins and outs of the hosting world doesn't mean that your average Joe Blow does.

If I was to come here and not know anything, but want to pay for my hosting, your spiel would only confuse me more. I was with one host for a year and didn't even know I had a control panel until I wanted to cancel my account. (I had to ask where it was ) My site worked, so why did I need all the fluff?

You are right, all these control panels are just spices to hosting and most people dont have the time to learn all those.

[Robert]

Originally posted by Jan
Wouldn't you first explain what these were, if they didn't know? Again, not everyone knows all. So what is GD and netpbm? I don't know and as far as I know have never heard of them.

I have only seen 1 person on these forums ask for paid hosting and had 0 idea what they wanted to do. Obivously if I saw more people coming here having no clue, I'd make it towards them. But from What I've seen since I've been here for the past 3 years is that people who go paid hosting here know what they want because they just got tired of their free hosting provider.

[CareBear]

It also depends on their state of mind, most people who are new to webhosting have an idea in their head of what they want and either have no clue on how to get it off the ground or have heard/read something vague somewhere.
The way someone phrases their request will give you an idea of their knowledge and I think it's more the question on whether you are ready (or capable) of offering them the kind of support they'll be expecting.
From your example, they picked up some terms that don't mean anything to them but they've been told that's what they need. Once they sign up with you their first email might be: "so what do I do now with all the GD and netpbm stuff?" or "so how do I get everything from my computer onto my site? I can't find an upload button on your site anywhere".
If they're new you can't expect them to know what they're going to be needing and it will take time and effort to talk to them back/forth to figure it out. So either you can decide the effort isn't worth their $5/month or give them an hosting offer knowing they'll be mailing support whenever something goes wrong or leave if you're not there to hold their hand every step of the way.

I have only seen 1 person on these forums ask for paid hosting and had 0 idea what they wanted to do. Obivously if I saw more people coming here having no clue, I'd make it towards them. But from What I've seen since I've been here for the past 3 years is that people who go paid hosting here know what they want because they just got tired of their free hosting provider.

Last week there was a post on my host's forum from a client who had had his account for a couple of months but just had been using it for email. Since they just came back from vacation he wanted to have their vacation pictures on it to share with the rest of his family and he asked if there was a better way to do it then to just make a seperate HTML page for every picture. Someone from support answered saying: "you need gallery" and from then on it was a painful step by step of everything he needed to do to get it working.
It happens

[Robert]

Originally posted by CareBear
It also depends on their state of mind, most people who are new to webhosting have an idea in their head of what they want and either have no clue on how to get it off the ground or have heard/read something vague somewhere.
The way someone phrases their request will give you an idea of their knowledge and I think it's more the question on whether you are ready (or capable) of offering them the kind of support they'll be expecting.
From your example, they picked up some terms that don't mean anything to them but they've been told that's what they need. Once they sign up with you their first email might be: "so what do I do now with all the GD and netpbm stuff?" or "so how do I get everything from my computer onto my site? I can't find an upload button on your site anywhere".
If they're new you can't expect them to know what they're going to be needing and it will take time and effort to talk to them back/forth to figure it out. So either you can decide the effort isn't worth their $5/month or give them an hosting offer knowing they'll be mailing support whenever something goes wrong or leave if you're not there to hold their hand every step of the way.

Last week there was a post on my host's forum from a client who had had his account for a couple of months but just had been using it for email. Since they just came back from vacation he wanted to have their vacation pictures on it to share with the rest of his family and he asked if there was a better way to do it then to just make a seperate HTML page for every picture. Someone from support answered saying: "you need gallery" and from then on it was a painful step by step of everything he needed to do to get it working.
It happens

But we aren't talking about another forum, we're talking about this one. I have yet to see someone post in the paid area with something like

"I'm new, I have no idea how to do anything, i want a site. thank you bye"

Most people who post on these forums are computer savvy as well as Internet savvy. They know how to upload (even if that means to use cPanel's File Manager).

[Canuckkev]

I'd have to agree with Robert. The users of this forum are somewhat savvy. But not all. It will be hard not to bloat your post into an unreadable length, but making it a little more noob friendly would be a good idea.

[Vegs]

Originally posted by Canuckkev
I'd have to agree with Robert. The users of this forum are somewhat savvy. But not all. It will be hard not to bloat your post into an unreadable length, but making it a little more noob friendly would be a good idea.

Users from this forum may know more about hosting but most of those who requested hosting are new users.

[striker]

If your so new to hosting that you dont know whats what and who is who or even what to do, then I dont think you would put any money into it just like that. Im sure most (<-- being the keyword) people are wanting to upgrade from free hosting. Also, if your putting any money into something, you tend to learn about it first, whatever it is, whether it be watching a commercial for The New Taco Supreme, Reading reviews and tutorials about software or Learning the basics of webhosting, you dont really spend money on something you know absolutely nothing about.

P.S. Vegs I was talkin about chinese FREE hosting, which some FREE HOSTING companies don't allow.