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Website Host Suggestions

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Does anyone have any suggestions for a reputable website hosting company? We've been building a site with Godaddy.com for the past several weeks, but we've been encountering recurring issues with hours worth of work not saving (even after multiple saves) and slowdowns with their site builder after working for short periods of time, or the editing textbox disappearing in the middle of work. It's very frustrating. But this is our first time building a website, so we don't know where else to look or what to expect.

We're looking for something that can offer a professional package with unlimited pages (we're going to need at least 100 for the first book alone), that also offers monthly rates. I looked at Wordpress, and while they look interesting they only bill yearly.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!
 
I'm on Bluehost too. It works.

By the way, kudos for not taking the "let Wordpress host it itself" option. They have a great system for the design (available on Bluehost), but if they do the hosting too they could erase your site on a whim if they took a random dislike to you-- "free" hosting like that is called digital sharecropping.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
I'm on Bluehost too. It works.

By the way, kudos for not taking the "let Wordpress host it itself" option. They have a great system for the design (available on Bluehost), but if they do the hosting too they could erase your site on a whim if they took a random dislike to you-- "free" hosting like that is called digital sharecropping.

Yikes! That sounds extremely unpleasant. We do blog with Wordpress, but that's it. No, our site is going to be fairly monstrous in size - like I said, we're starting with at least 100 pages - so anything "free" is not an option. Affordable would be nice, but you get what you pay for, which is the lesson we're learning from Godaddy, much to my partner's frustration. :mad: We've been checking out Bluehost, and they look nice, but we couldn't find any options to build/design a site. Wordwalker, did you build yours with them?
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
Yikes! That sounds extremely unpleasant. We do blog with Wordpress, but that's it. No, our site is going to be fairly monstrous in size - like I said, we're starting with at least 100 pages - so anything "free" is not an option. Affordable would be nice, but you get what you pay for, which is the lesson we're learning from Godaddy, much to my partner's frustration. :mad: We've been checking out Bluehost, and they look nice, but we couldn't find any options to build/design a site. Wordwalker, did you build yours with them?

You already know Wordpress, why not continue to use it? Wordpress is flexible. I've also used Joomla, but that is a different monster. It's for advanced users.
 

JadedSidhe

Minstrel
After seeing this thread, I checked out Blue Host with a friend in mind. I was so impressed I may well take my website over to them. Anyway, there's a couple of options at BlueHost to check out.

Quickstart
They'll help you and advise you of what to do, offers suggestions to help set up your site up for a reasonable fee.


Mojo Marketplace
The tech at BlueHost that I talked to suggested this site for gizmos, gadgets and doo dahs (templates/themes, scripts/platforms, plugins/extensions, etc) and the like, including many things you can simply click to install. I am pretty sure I saw a website builder link.
 
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Yes, I built mine through WordPress, which Bluehost offers as part of its package. Mine isn't the best example of a really supple webpage, but WordPress is considered the great system for webs and blogging if you aren't a web designer.

And to clarify: The risk happens when you let Wordpress or similar services also provide the space (aka you aren't paying hosting fees) as well as the software. This is also true if you put all your marketing eggs into the Facebook basket, or Google +, or any other system that isn't yours; you just don't know what might happen some day.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
You already know Wordpress, why not continue to use it? Wordpress is flexible. I've also used Joomla, but that is a different monster. It's for advanced users.

That's an excellent suggestion, but saying we "know" Wordpress would be a significant overstatement. Our blog is very simple.

And, yes, Wordwalker, you're absolutely right about putting your marketing eggs in other people's baskets. Another analogy I've heard and agree with is "Don't build on rented land." We're going to do some marketing through social media, of course, but the website is the workhorse and needs to be our baby, under our control as much as possible.

ATM we're still looking at different options. Website building really is a big, wide world!
 
C

Chessie

Guest
I use Go Daddy. They are great and had a good deal at the time I signed up. The only lame thing about my website is that it wouldn't let me post my wordpress blog, but it can still do tumblr (I don't have a tumblr or blog anymore so its fine). Godaddy is also cheaper than wordpress and they advertise for a low rate. They are helpful, always available, and I have never had issues with my website.

Edit: AE, I haven't encountered those issues with Godaddy. I do save my work every few minutes when I'm making changes though.
 
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A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Chester, curiously enough the only thing we haven't had problems with is linking to the Wordpress blog - so far. We're not live yet, but it links in testing without problems. We save every single time we make changes, so that's not the problem. The problem is the saves somehow not saving - and I have no clue why that's even an issue, but it is.

While we're looking into other options we're continuing work on the Godaddy site, because we've put so much time into it already. Currently we're trying alternate browsers to see if that may be connected to the problem. We just hate losing all this work. :(
 

Lumani

Minstrel
I use Wix.com for all my web building now. :) Its a hobby of mine and its one of the best sites I've used. I'm sure it isn't useful to everyone, since tastes differ, but I find it very easy to use. I'm currently building two sites for other people using blank pages to build them. I've used many other sites, and even used to build them from scratch using html and wordpad haha. I am hoping to get my own art/writing site up here soon after I finish my other two, but I have a feeling its going to be a bigger job them I'm anticipating :/ Good luck on finding something that works for you! it is SO frustrating to loose work, its nice to not have to worry about it!
 
C

Chessie

Guest
Building a website is a crazy experience at first. It took me 5 months to finally publish mine. I wish there was a way you could switch over all your work. Perhaps its better to switch anyway, since you aren't online yet. I have a classmate who also uses fat cow and she really enjoys it. Might want to give them a look, it seems like they are a good hosting service from what she has shown me.
 

PaulineMRoss

Inkling
The problem is the saves somehow not saving - and I have no clue why that's even an issue, but it is.

I'm not quite sure how you're building your website, but it sounds as if you're using GoDaddy's own interface to update. I maintain three proper websites (ie not blogs), and for all of them I keep all the files on my computer and upload changed versions using ftp. It's fast, direct, and I've never had any problems with lost data. I have software to compose the website pages, and software to do the ftp transfer. If you have 100 pages or more, you really need industrial strength systems to keep the thing running.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
I'm not quite sure how you're building your website, but it sounds as if you're using GoDaddy's own interface to update. I maintain three proper websites (ie not blogs), and for all of them I keep all the files on my computer and upload changed versions using ftp. It's fast, direct, and I've never had any problems with lost data. I have software to compose the website pages, and software to do the ftp transfer. If you have 100 pages or more, you really need industrial strength systems to keep the thing running.

Do you use Godaddy? How do you do that? We would LOVE to not use their interface to update, as that seems to be our problem. The only files we currently have saved on the computer are the Word files that we have the actual text for the site typed to.
 
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PaulineMRoss

Inkling
Do you use Godaddy? How do you do that? We would LOVE to not use their interface to update, as that seems to be our problem. The only files we currently have saved on the computer are the Word files that we have the actual text for the site typed to.

If you use external software, then the hosting site you use is immaterial, so long as it allows you to use ftp, and mostly they do. I've done that with GoDaddy, so I'm sure you can.

If you google for 'website building software', you'll find a whole bunch of options, many of them free. You just drag and drop the various things you want on the page, and the software does the heavy lifting of creating the html. I use an obsolete version of Adobe GoLive, now replaced by Dreamweaver, but that may be overkill for what you want.

If you're handy with html, you can get free templates for your site, complete with css, from a number of sites. I got mine from Free Web Templates - Free web designs, templates and more!. Alternatively, you could get a local or online web designer to come up with a design, so you just have to add the content.

I use CuteFTP Pro to upload the files. You just have to tell it the logon details for the hosting site (GoDaddy), and it does everything else. Despite the name, it's a professional product, and very easy to use, once it's set up. Google for 'ftp software' for other options.

The disadvantage of all this is that you would basically have to start from scratch, creating your website pages all over again. It also helps to have a least a passing acquaintance with html. The advantage is that the files are under your control. If a GoDaddy apocalypse happens, you simply sign up with another hosting provider, upload your files and away you go.

It's not easy setting up a website from scratch. GoDaddy's interface is probably fine for a simple 4 page here's-my-company site, but for 100 pages or more, you probably need something better. Email me at pmross AT paulinemross.co.uk if you have questions.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Thank you all for your help and suggestions! You've given us a lot to think about and some excellent options to explore. Now, to sort through the interwebs and figure it all out! lol
 
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