I have heard many good things about Ventures Online support and service but their website and Cpanel designs are inadequate. I would choose them as a host if not for this fact.

I have tried navigating through the drop down menus at the top of the screen but they are TOO SMALL. I'm using IE 6.0 and it takes quit a while to find the link using my mouse from the drop down menus (very frustrating).

Their control panel design looks very unprofessional. There have been some great Cpanel designs (Aletia Hosting comes to mind). Ventures Online why not invest in better web and control panel design? I invite others to view their website and post comments and suggestions here.


Link Locations:

www.venturesonline.com
www.aletiahosting.com

I am not sure why you wouldn't go with a host because of the site design of THEIR website. VO has excellent reviews, when i first started hosting, they were the company that our reseller had a dedicated server with. Their CPANEL is the standard, and I would say 70% of the CPANEL's on the market look exactly like it. They have the same functionality and same look...

i know venturesonline will be releasing their new design for their website soon, and a close friend has already had a sneak peak and from what she told me it's fabulous. i think Pat from venturesonline has also been working on a new design for their cpanel, which should look just as nice.

aletia has a great site and cpanel too.

aside from design, both companies have a history of excellent support, which in my opinion outweighs what their websites/control panels look like.

my 2 cents :D

Look at below10host.com
The website is not all that but the service is probably the best.

As mentioned above VO are rolling out a new web site soon. As well, the CPanel is just the default version. If you are a reseller you have the option to design your own, for a fee. Also, CPanel will soon be replaced with NOCsoft, so there really isnt much point to redesigning the CPanel.
Im bothered by the fact that you would base your opinions on the look however. Has knowone ever told you not to judge a book by its cover? You should look beond the design, and consider the functionality, etc..

Obviously, I look at more than design when choosing any online company. I have mentioned that many have said Ventures Online offers great support and service.

Consumers look at many things when choosing a web host. Design and layout are very important. Marketing strategies for top online companies have always involved professional design and layout because consumers demand it.

The navigation bar as I mentioned is difficult/frustrating and the Cpanel design literally hurts my eyes when I look at it for too long.

Originally posted by labzone
[B]
I have tried navigating through the drop down menus at the top of the screen but they are TOO SMALL. I'm using IE 6.0 and it takes quit a while to find the link using my mouse from the drop down menus (very frustrating).




Just thought I would mention here....the problem you are experiencing is probably due to the fact IE/ with that nav bar script.....Some of those nav bar menus just wont function with certain browsers. They seem to work okay in IE5, but I found several that wouldnt work with IE6......the links become VERY HARD to click on with your mouse.

Yes, Martie i agree with you, it can become very fustrating. I have seen a few designs when you move your mouse over a link in the menu the menu would move away..

Ughh so fustrating :confused: :confused:

Originally posted by Martie



Just thought I would mention here....the problem you are experiencing is probably due to the fact IE/ with that nav bar script.....Some of those nav bar menus just wont function with certain browsers. They seem to work okay in IE5, but I found several that wouldnt work with IE6......the links become VERY HARD to click on with your mouse.

lol

Never had problems with their site before - and urm... they are a fantastic host to boot :)

--James

Originally posted by Martie



Just thought I would mention here....the problem you are experiencing is probably due to the fact IE/ with that nav bar script.....Some of those nav bar menus just wont function with certain browsers. They seem to work okay in IE5, but I found several that wouldnt work with IE6......the links become VERY HARD to click on with your mouse.


Yes, this was a problem with the javascript menu using IE 6.0. I tried the menu in IE 5.5 and it worked fine. I'm sure Ventures Online will continue to lose customers until they resolve this issue.

Thanks for the helpful response Martie.

If you don't mind, the design you don't go to use it.
I'll recommend to go with them.
Their service is awesome also their support.
You can go wrong with VO.

Originally posted by Jedito
If you don't mind, the design you don't go to use it.
I'll recommend to go with them.
Their service is awesome also their support.
You can go wrong with VO.

Its probably a typo, but you are contradicting your self?!?

Originally posted by labzone



Yes, this was a problem with the javascript menu using IE 6.0. I tried the menu in IE 5.5 and it worked fine. I'm sure Ventures Online will continue to lose customers until they resolve this issue.




Well I am sorry you think this way but we are not loosing customers over it :) Just because you picked not to host with us over a website look dose not mean all our customers judge a host by the look of there website.

As said we are a few weeks away from going live with our new site we took the current design from and old site of ours and put into use and started on a new one right away but we have been very busy taking care of our many customers that the web site took a back burner until IE 6.0 was released and there was a problem with the JavaScript.

I would think that customer care is what makes people happy not website designs.

For the control panel design we had nothing to do with the design of it, we had thoughts of doing our own skin but why when nocsoft is coming out and who knows if all the hard work you put into a new skin will even be any good at that point.
There again I had rather spend that time doing customer care until the new release is done.

Here here Paul.

Keep up the ace work - btw NeoMail is still fluffed up (noone can log into the webmail area - just loops around) - do u know if Nocsoft are gonna ditch NeoMail and use a better system?

--James

Not sure whats going on with nocsoft Daniel and Eric keep up with that so this would be a good question for them, just put in a help desk ticket and they can tell you all they know. Do the same for the neomail problem and I will follow up and see what can be done about it.

If this guy was not gonna go with VO because of a design of a website, then he just missed out. VO is a VERY good host with VERY good support and GREAT people to deal with.

You lose, dude!

Originally posted by labzone

Their control panel design looks very unprofessional.
I personally resent that comment, as I designed that skin, what is that you see so "unprofessional" on it ?, people like you should be given the original CPanel skin.

And for VO, as far as I know they are an excellent company, and not worthy of the kind of comments you posting here.

Furthermore, how good a host looks is no indication of their professionalism and/or ability to provide you with a good service.

(PS - we have no affiliation with VO)

Originally posted by labzone
The navigation bar as I mentioned is difficult/frustrating

This is a Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 problem, NOT a VO problem. The new browser has a bug that messes with the javascript on the site.:wavey:

I am agree with you guys 100%.

Originally posted by Haze


Its probably a typo, but you are contradicting your self?!?
LoL!
It was a typo :)
What I want to say was: you can't go wrong with them

i do not even know where to start:

1) carlos's skin is very well liked by 99% of all of our clients !!!! as there is NOTHING unprofessional about it *laughs*

2) the issues you are having with a drop-down menu is likely a browser based NOT a VO issue

3) i personally have experience with a few people that work at VO and have found them to be exceptional

4) i would rather my dedicated provider spend most of their time on support & service & NOT ON MARKETING their site.

the fact that labzone has blinders on with respect to this issue is likely representative of that fact that he is a 'Newbie'

just my 2 cents....

note: stormwire.com is NOT affiliated with VO in any way!!!!

Hey guys, I just came across this awesome looking site and it works in IE6.0. I think I'm going to recommend this company to everyone I know because of how awesome their site looks. Take a look, I personally recommend them, cause jeez, look at that site:

http://*****.com

:D

Sorry for the sarcasm, but it's ridiculous to only judge the quality of a host by how much you like their website or not! And especially since the site doesn't seem to work with a freshly released browser that we all know is full of bugs :)

Take a look at this also
http://venturesonline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=778&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

Anyway they have a very good support & do not have any real drawbacks in their service but again simple things like this wont do any good for them also.

My advice to newbies is to research as much as possible on your own when it comes to making decisions without relying wholly on the comments you get from others. That is what I follow to the maximum & so far never produced any bad for me.

Originally posted by tabernack
Hey guys, I just came across this awesome looking site and it works in IE6.0. I think I'm going to recommend this company to everyone I know because of how awesome their site looks. Take a look, I personally recommend them, cause jeez, look at that site:

http://*****.com

:D


*laughs* --> hope he does not take that seriously *laughs*

This will be my final post on this issue as I'm not going to engage in a debate about different design styles. I brought up the comment regarding web design to address the issue of menu navigation as I was unable to use the Ventures Online javascript menu. Whether it's a problem with Microsoft or Ventures Online the issue needs to be addressed and resolved. Ventures Online will lose potential customers if visitors cannot click on a menu link to sign up with their hosting services when using IE 6.0.

I have chosen Hostmatters as my new host. They have offered clear and concise answers to all of my questions. Some of the people who responded here should learn to read posts more clearly before commenting. Your responses have been at times laughable. Do not take constructive criticism so personally next time.

P.S. I really like Hostmatters "professional" control panel design too. LOL.

Aletia and VO have the same panel :)
Its just that Aletia have a skin for it.

I am glad you found a new host and your happy. BTW Whats your website? I am sure quite a few people here will be glad to give you a free review. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Paul L.
. . . . BTW Whats your website? I am sure quite a few people here will be glad to give you a free review. :rolleyes: LOL :D

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
LOL :D

It looks that labzone has upsetted VO too much :D

Let me jam here. :D

No doubt about it. Vo is the most supportive hosting I have come across. 2 Thumbs Up!

Well Well... I come to think what the different between a constructor and a businessman. If a constructor wore a suit on a daily basis, I would doubt what he will do with my house. :)

just my 6 cents

Originally posted by labzone
This will be my final post on this issue as I'm not going to engage in a debate about different design styles. I brought up the comment regarding web design to address the issue of menu navigation as I was unable to use the Ventures Online javascript menu. Whether it's a problem with Microsoft or Ventures Online the issue needs to be addressed and resolved. Ventures Online will lose potential customers if visitors cannot click on a menu link to sign up with their hosting services when using IE 6.0.

They are, as already mentioned..

[i]I have chosen Hostmatters as my new host. They have offered clear and concise answers to all of my questions. Some of the people who responded here should learn to read posts more clearly before commenting. Your responses have been at times laughable. Do not take constructive criticism so personally next time.

See above.

It really isnt ridiculous to judge a host somewhat by the outward appearance that they put fourth to the outside world. It shouldnt affect your decision more than say first hand accounts of the company.

If you know nothing about a company and all you have to go on is what you see, a companys website can often give you a good indicator of what kind of company they are. If a site has broken links or looks like it was thrown together in a few hours, theres a good chance thats the attitude they take with alot of things related to their business. It may not apply to VO, im not a customer of theirs, but it definatly is a valid concern when shopping for a host.

If i was choosing a host I wouldnt choose one that didnt look like they cared about their business, and expect them to care about mine.

-Brendan

Yes, I agree Brendon. It's simply a fact that company shd have its best in the web site if it going to do good with it's service. Like labzone already said SOME posts are simply laughble. VO is very good at it's service but not very professional as I already mentioned abt their reusing of name server IPs of resellers ( See my first post in this tread)

One point I want to make here is that VO itself started as a Web Developing company ( See their About Us page (http://venturesonline.com/About_Us/about_us.html)) Then why dont they have a very good site for themselves? :D

They have used NetObjects Fusion as this html code suggests
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="NetObjects Fusion 5.0.2 for Windows">

The response Paul has posted here after seeing labzone going with another host is not also very professional. I dont think this attitude will help VO either.

"I am sure quite a few people here will be glad to give you a free review"

The whois info in venturesonline.com & vosn.net ( what they use for reselling accounts) are almost identical. They shd have used annonymous info for vosn.net. Definitely not the same info as their main site.

Whois info for, venturesonline.com:
Registrant:
Ventures Online
10824 SE Oak Street
#245
Milwaukie, OR 97222
US

Domain Name: VENTURESONLINE.COM

Administrative Contact:
Burns, John john@venturesonline.com
10824 SE Oak Street
#245
Milwaukie, OR 97222
US
503-659-2955


Whois info for, vosn.net:
Registrant:
VOSN.net
10824 SE Oak Street
Suite 245
Milwaukie, OR 97222
US

Domain Name: VOSN.NET

Administrative Contact:
Burns, John john@vosn.net
10824 SE Oak Street
Suite 245
Milwaukie, OR 97222
US
503-659-2955

I dont think any reseller like this to happen ( The cpanel demo they provide for resellers clearly includes vosn.net) :mad: :mad:

My advice again is to research as much as you can before you decide & do according to what you see & feel.

I agree with you here also Brendan
"If i was choosing a host I wouldnt choose one that didnt look like they cared about their business, and expect them to care about mine"

Thanks for making this tread not a laughing factory atleast by one post.

Their web site is not the most beautiful site of a host, but believe me: when I was a reseller I used some of the hosts which can be found on this board (and other) and made several "interesting" experiences.
There are only two hosts I personally used which I would recommend, one is JaguarPC (wasn't very long with them) and one is Ventures Online. They really care about customers!

Been using them coming up for 1 year.

0 complaints now or ever, the only webhost I've ever used that I can say this about in all my hosting experiences.

I sometimes think they'd email you to say they caught a fly almost getting into the datacenter sometimes :D

NIRMANI and the rest who say VO is not professional...have you used them? Have you experienced their level of support? Have you had sites hosted with them? Have you had deicated servers with them? If the answer to ANY of the above is NO, then you have no idea what the hell you are talking about!

VO is held VERY high on these and any other boards that you may find. You will be hard pressed to find another company with the level of expertise and customer service that VO has. The support is phenominal, the customer service is EXCELLENT and the speed and reliability of the servers that they have is the best I have ever seen.

YES, I am a customer...YES, I had a site hosted with VO...YES, I resold for them...YES, I now have TWO dedicated servers through VO that I run my web hosting company on and soon to be a third! Sure, I could find dedicated servers cheaper, but I know where the support is when I need it! I know that I can submit a ticket to VO and within minutes, my problem is solved. I know this, because I have experience with them...if you don't have experience with them, then you have no right to criticize!

:D
I have my rights coz my answer is YES for few questions you asked. Please read my post & provide facts to disprove my arguments. There is no problem with VO's support or service. They have one of the best support I also expereinced. But professionalism & good support is not the same. I do not have any grudge or do not want to worship VO; I'm posting what I see & understand for the benifit of others; Thats very simple if you have a clear mind.