hey! what about Hostway?

3130 Views 20 Replies 6 Participants Last post by lousentdreem, Sep 30, 2006

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · Sep 24, 2006

I've reading through these pages and haven't seen Hostway come up in conversation. I've had a Yahoo store a few years ago and the advantage was
alot of things were done for you or already built-in. You had a basic set of tools to construct the site but after that you must be familar with RTML (static HTML) or pay some guru $ 300 for on of his pre-designed templates, that weren't so great.

Hostway is a bit pricey but, seems nice and stable. The links they have to site s they host had four not-overly impressive candidates. I wish I knew more about how there site building program works. Of course I want something
99% customisable while I do not know much about HTML, I insist on my shopping cart coming with my ecommerce host, and I want a ton of options.

Who knows what I am looking for?

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

Vtec44

· #2 · Sep 24, 2006

My sites WERE with Hostway a few years back. They were great in 2001-2004, but then changed their policy to provide more bandwidth and space. Boy, it went downhill after that. My sites were offline constantly, for hours at a time. Support would get back to you 12 hours later and tell me that everything is fine... well no sh*t 12 hours later. The support staff were clueless, seems like they were reading from a script. It's a total crap. I switched to Pair.com late 2004 and couldn't be happier. There are cheaper places than Pair, but as I computer tech I prefer them over others becaus it seems like their staff are more knowledgeable and VERY responsive. I mean emergency ticket requests are answered within 15 minutes, and they know exactly what they're talking about.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 24, 2006

Since I can be describe as "not really familar with HTML" do they offer that site building customisable templates and the like or, do I need to create something from dreamweaver or some such program?

Rodney

· #4 · Sep 25, 2006

do they offer that site building customisable templates and the like or, do I need to create something from dreamweaver or some such program?

I don't think pair offers any site building templates, but I also recommend them as a good host.

If you don't know HTML (and have no desire to learn), it might be a good idea to outsource the design of your website so that you can be sure to put a professional first impression to your web customers.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 26, 2006

doesn't dreamweaver allow you to create what you want visually and convert it into HTML for you?

T-BOT

· #6 · Sep 26, 2006

lousentdreem said:
doesn't dreamweaver allow you to create what you want visually and convert it into HTML for you?

I think Vtech44 and Rodney are in the know.

also, http://www.editpadpro.com/ is real good for diy html (its not as hard as it sounds).

Rodney

· #7 · Sep 26, 2006

doesn't dreamweaver allow you to create what you want visually and convert it into HTML for you?

Yep. I use dreamweaver a lot

Dreamweaver can also FTP (transfer your HTML files) to your webhost for you.

Vtec44

· #8 · Sep 26, 2006

I'm an old fashioned NotePad user

Hostway is pretty much do-it-yourself kind of a host, so you need to know what you're doing. They get my vote for reliability.

Twinge

· #9 · Sep 27, 2006

Vtec44 said:
I'm an old fashioned NotePad user :O

Me too, for the most part =) I generally use NoteTab (basically a more advanced NotePad; has tabs, sorting, and a few other neat features), but even doing php and such I'm still mostly using a basic text editor. I'll use Dreamweaver if I want to make a complicated table or such though, since it can do it so much faster.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 28, 2006

so are there any other noteworthy sites that offer that yahoo-like customising tools?

Jasonda

· #11 · Sep 28, 2006

lousentdreem said:
so are there any other noteworthy sites that offer that yahoo-like customising tools?

If you are looking for something that lets you edit code without actually knowing HTML, try googling for "WYSIWYG html editor" (without quotes).

Here's one I ran across not too long ago:

http://www.nvu.com/index.php

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 28, 2006

thank you Jasonda that looks like a go. I'm gonna experiment with it.

BUT, I'm nervous about screwing things up especially if I'm using it for a ecommerce. I might be at least initially leaning toward something like a yahoo
store and may go off on my own once im sure I wont harm anything.

Jasonda

· #13 · Sep 28, 2006

lousentdreem said:
thank you Jasonda that looks like a go. I'm gonna experiment with it.

BUT, I'm nervous about screwing things up especially if I'm using it for a ecommerce. I might be at least initially leaning toward something like a yahoo
store and may go off on my own once im sure I wont harm anything.

Even if you were using Yahoo or another service, there could still be problems of this nature. Keep your site "offline" or unavailable to the public until you are done building it. Then do extensive testing. Make sure that it works on all browsers, and that it is secure while ordering, and you shouldn't have any problems in the future. If you are really concerned, you can always have a web designer look it over once you are finished.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #14 · Sep 28, 2006

I'm wanna do something easy and stable- I dont really care for yahoo but, if I cant find a competitor with close to the same tools I may just have to suck it up and go back. I'd rather have a stable money-making site than a really cool
one that gives me problems.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 28, 2006

also with yahoo I can restrict access with a password and test it until I'm ready to go public. for $50 a month

Rodney

· #16 · Sep 28, 2006

also with yahoo I can restrict access with a password and test it until I'm ready to go public.

You can do that with just about any web host. It doesn't have to cost $50 per month.

Another ecommerce solution that you might want to look into is:
http://www.monstercommerce.com/

I've heard some good things about them (Although they seem to be more expensive).

Vtec44

· #17 · Sep 28, 2006

If it's a Linux host, you can use .htaccess to pasword-protect your directories. For $50 a month, you can get a lot of web hosting if you learn how to do it yourself.

T-BOT

· #18 · Sep 28, 2006

Vtec44 said:
If it's a Linux host, you can use .htaccess to pasword-protect your directories.

It is worth it to be able to have control of such functions.

Most hosting these days comes with easy to use type of control panels that does all the .htaccess and other stuff, no-need to know how to code.

... i just like code, its fun.

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · #19 · Sep 28, 2006

Im checking out monster commerce now. The first things I saw that were a little disheartening was that one store that they offer as a website to view
has a shopping cart that doesnt work and the second down is a dead link.
If that is what they offer up as an example of their clients it scares me a bit.

but I'm still looking through.

Rodney

· #20 · Sep 30, 2006

Hi Jacob, I just ran across another forum member's t-shirt store that's powered by BigCartel: http://bigcartel.com/home

Looks very promising. Low monthly fee (free for up to 5 products), customers pay you by paypal directly, looks easy to customize, search engine friendly urls, already in use by other clothing companies.

The only thing I don't see is the ability to use coupon codes. But other than that, it definitely looks worth a look. You can try it for free to see if it will work for your needs.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

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