Have been looking at using Affordablehost. I understand that they don't provide a control panel to manage your site. Changes whatever are done via their helpdesk. How important is this feature? Service by this company seems excellent but as they grow maybe this won't be as possible.

Graham

I would say it is very important. My last host (Media 3.net) lacked a control panel and most of my problems with them were because of the lack of it. I had to go through tech support for anything I needed that I couldn't do myself.

Here's an example of the problems you can have based on my actual experiences. When I first set up with them, I gave them a list of all my customers e-mail adddresses a few days before I transferred the domains over. They took close to 2 weeks to set up the e-mail addresses, which cost one of my customers about a $1,000 in lost sales. Fortunately, they were friends and they have done very well with the site I created for them, so I retained them as customers, though I would have understood if they left.

Media 3's work was sloppy and I learned to check up on them for anything I requested.

After my recent experiences with the worst host I've had, AIT (aitcom.net) I had to move rapidly else I would have kept on looking. Media 3 wasn't terrible, and they were accommodating in other respects, but I would never put myself at the mercy of a tech support department again for all basic functions. Now that I have my own server and know how fast and easy it is to set up accounts, including e-mail addresses, it makes their slow reponse time look even worse.

I picked up a new customer this past Friday (referral from another customer) and his account was set up while we were on the phone, that's how fast it can be.

There are plenty of good companies out there that let you administer most or all basic functions without relying on someone to do it for you. I would suggest you consider one of them as long as you have time to look for a proper host.

Those of us who have our servers at DI have a control panel that doesn't presently allow end users to set up their own POP3 accounts, though they can do their own forwarding and autoresponders. However, any time I've had a customer request more POP accounts, it has been done within a few minutes. It's an easy thing to do and takes hardly any time at all. There is just no excuse for anyone putting it off.

I prefer a host with a control panel as well.
Ive had hosting accounts before where no panel was offered.
The control panel makes it VERY easy for the client to maintain and control almost all aspects of their account.
In our business our control panel has to be the MAIN thing our clients appreciate more so than anything else. Its that easy!
Good Luck

I agree...A Control Panel is highly necessary. I also agree that AIT (aitcom.net) is one of the worst experiences I have had with a hosting company.

Keep looking and you will find that most hosting companies do offer some sort of control panel.

I use a company with an awsome control panel but I don't want anyone here to be peaved about me 'plugging' a company here.

Ebidder, what is it in your opinion that makes this company's control panel so awesome?

No problem if you posted that company's name here. Others could then comment and focus on the FACT in better light.

Learner

[Edited by Learner on 09-10-2000 at 08:02 PM]

ebidder,

You don't have to worry too much about quoting names here. It's a webhost forum after all and it's very on-topic to discuss hosting companies. One person's opinion counts for little, but if others can see the host someone is talking about and have relevant comments of their own then a general opinion is built and everyone is the better for it. About the only thing (and I'm sure you've seen it mentioned elsewhere) is SELF promotion. In context even it's ok here, with the general rule of thumb being if the person actually asks for people to respond that way then it's fine.

All in all it's just a case of good judgement. Just pretend you're with friends and follow those rules of convention. Be polite, don't yell, and don't repeat yourself over and over till everyone gets sick of the sight of you *lol*. After all people are always proud of their own business so sometimes it'll creep into conversation. If they have any sense of interacting with other people however they'll notice it before anyone else will.

If this forum is here long enough and stays of the quality it is now, then the people who enjoy it's use should be able to gain a lot of knowledge from it and together become a more professional, quality collection of businesses. Networking is a pretty powerful thing to have on your side after all :)

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

gthorley,

When I picked my first web host, a well-designed control panel was near the top of my priority list. While any company can put good-looking numbers together to form a hosting plan, creating and/or implementing an effective control panel actually requires some skill on their part. As a result, a host's control panel can be a very useful indicator.

To the average user, web hosting can be very confusing and intimidating. A hosting company should go out of its way to make the entire process easier for its customers. Those hosts with control panels have at least attempted to do so.

Also, having a fast, clean interface is important. I have seen many ugly, slow and inefficient control panels that have left me begging for a command prompt.

Lastly, the control panel should be able to perform basic functions. If you can't add or remove e-mail accounts, but you can change your web page's background color, your host is clearly missing the point.

That's not to say that if a company has a control panel, it will be the perfect host - it may be the worst one you've ever seen. However, I would say that having a working control panel is a much better sign than not having one at all.

Aaron Greenspan
Think Computer Corporation

http://www.thinkcomputer.com

Thanks for the input.

I guess that after dealing with a few hosting companies that when I found Xeran I was finally satisfied.

One of the great things is their Control Panel. It allows me to do almost anything that I want without having to rely on someone else to do it for me.

Xeran = unlimited bandwidth $18.95/mo??!!??

Originally posted by ebidder
I guess that after dealing with a few hosting companies that when I found Xeran I was finally satisfied.

Let's just hope he doesn't come running back to us if Xeran suddenly does a disappearing act.... :)

BC: what do you think about Xeran? good host?

Originally posted by BC
Let's just hope he doesn't come running back to us if Xeran suddenly does a disappearing act.... :)

Jim,

I actually made that last comment partly in jest....

In all seriousness however, this is what their FAQ says in regards to 'Unlimited transfer' :


We do not monitor the traffic of a website on an individual basis. We do however pay close attention to 'spikes' in traffic. This is when a graph showing traffic on a regular pattern suddenly shows an extreme peak. We then monitor that IP for a while to determine what program would best suit the client and then contact them to make suggestions to avoid any disruptions. It takes quit a bit of traffic to 'spike' the graph. We have many clients receiving hundreds of thousands of hits that do not show up on the graphs.

Rather vague and no limits. Usually not a good sign (as you may be aware from the forum's previous discussions). No direct link to a TOS or AUP which may specify bandwidth quotas of any sort either. Hmmmm...

I haven't had any direct experience with them, so I can't truthfully comment on them. The unlimited transfer bit however makes a rather negative impression. Surprisingly enough there aren't any reviews at HostSearch or other customer review sites despite having started operations in 1997 - I find it interesting that a 'well-established' company would have zilch reviews in 3 years. You would think that if someone found their service favourable or filthy, then they would have posted some sort of a review.

I dunno.... They seem to be fairly solid, but that unlimited transfer section bugs me quite a bit...

<<Admin edit : Tina, unfortunately your explanation broke forum rules (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/index.php?action=forum-rules). Please feel free to e-mail the user directly if you so desire.>>

[Edited by BC on 03-13-2001 at 06:29 PM]

.

[Edited by Nicholas Brown on 03-18-2001 at 03:57 PM]

Six Webhosts... lots of experiences... positive and negative.

I agree with Duster, a Control Panel is essential. I also have relied upon companies' tech support to take care of settings for me, and either they were never done, they were done after a long wait, or once they were done, they didn't work as I had hoped.

And how many times have we all set up something on our accounts only to realize we were not getting the intended effect, so needed to go back and "tweak" our efforts? Well, tweaking isn't much of an option when you don't have a control panel. :)

The panel I get with my web host may be viewed here:
http://demov:demo@demo.vosn.net/cpanel

I love this panel :) I can control everything... POP accounts... forwarders... mail filters... mySQL and PHP... MIME types... I mean you name it. (My host is Ventures Online, http://www.venturesonline.com )

Of course no panel is perfect and they are all a work in progress, but I've been without, and I've worked with some real dogs, and this has been the best I've come across yet.

Just my $.02

:D Bailey

Would you even consider your self in the least bit a control freak? I am guessing yes, everyone in the world wants a little control here or there. I know I do! So, a control panel is very important to us freaks. I can't imagine having to email a host everytime I needed a email address changed!



A little humor(very little),
Zach
ICUServices

<<Admin edit : Tina, unfortunately your explanation broke forum rules. Please feel free to e-mail the user directly if you so desire.>>
BC, I think you were wrong to delete all of Tina's post. gthorley is thinking of hosting with her company and states that they don't have a control panel. Tina's message responded that yes, they do. By deleting her post in its entirety, you are leaving the impression that Affordablehost does not offer a control panel, when in fact they do, at least for qmail (http://affordablehost.com/mail.html).

Well, there may be no point (as he was looking into them about 6 months ago - notice the dates on the posts), but we generally allow hosts to clarify incorrect information. I didn't see what she put but will get with BC...

Originally posted by Chicken
Well, there may be no point (as he was looking into them about 6 months ago - notice the dates on the posts), but we generally allow hosts to clarify incorrect information. I didn't see what she put but will get with BC...


Yes, HE was looking 6 months ago. However, the post is still being read by people.

The only way I even knew it was there is because somone emailed me and said "I was just about to sign with you but I heard that you don't have a control panel - should I be concerned?"

Seriously, if there's going to be incorrect information posted in a public forum that effects my business (even slightly) - I should have the right to correct it.

My original reply to the poster was very brief, to the point and I tried not to come across as spamming. I just wanted the correct information known.

Thank you! :-)

--Tina

Originally posted by Deb Suran
<<Admin edit : Tina, unfortunately your explanation broke forum rules. Please feel free to e-mail the user directly if you so desire.>>
BC, I think you were wrong to delete all of Tina's post. gthorley is thinking of hosting with her company and states that they don't have a control panel. Tina's message responded that yes, they do. By deleting her post in its entirety, you are leaving the impression that Affordablehost does not offer a control panel, when in fact they do, at least for qmail (http://affordablehost.com/mail.html).

Apologies to Tina for deleting the post in the first place. I had neglected to check the dates and the direction the thread was in. Chicken is correct.

Tina, please feel free to restore your post to its full entirety.

Deb + Chicken, thank you for pointing out the error.

<Personal reminder> : I need my 5 shots of coffee before I even think about entering the forum.