How about a hosting"customer review" forum............????

Since so many seem to feel that the reviews detract from their
reading pleasure

People come here for opinions and suggestions and when they get them and decide on a host based on your input.......................

It is only natural for them to want to come back and say thanks I chose my host and this has been my experience................

Then if these messages were of no interest to you , you could just skip that forum........

And one of the rules could be you must state your length of time with the host and give a url for your site (unless there was a very valid reason for not doing so)

Just a suggestion from a non webhost newbie

I believe that what the first forum is for. Web Hosting Discussion.:D

Originally posted by sparrow
. . . . . . . . .
And one of the rules could be you must state your length of time with the host and give a url for your site . . . . . . That would certainly cut down on a lot of posters that have to ask those very questions.
It amazes me the amount of positive reviews that are posted by members that have utilized a host for two weeks; sometimes more; sometimes less; sometimes not at all (only impressed with pre-sales answers, or by "what they've heard"). And they don't even have a site.

Yeh. Those couple of things would help a lot.

Well, even if they didn't post that, my personal next question would be, "What is your URL? How long have you been with them?" -before I even give weight to the recommendation. Amazingly, that isn't always something that is asked!

Same is true for just about any recommendation you get in 'real life'. If you are lookig for someone to cater a party and your friend tells you to try CaterABC, don't you ask them, "Have you used them before?"

Chicken, you are still unpacking? wow, you take alot of lugguage with you :D

Name the forum SPAM BOX!

...and if we allow web design question, we can kill off a few birds with one stone with only one forum! ;)

Re: Unpacking... the wife got tired of the suitcases in the middle of the room and took care of it. I need to get off the computer more...

Chicken,
I am sure one day somebody will give you a suggestion that there should be a forum for moderators.
LOL

Originally posted by floppy
Chicken,
I am sure one day somebody will give you a suggestion that there should be a forum for moderators.
LOL Apparently you missed the April preview of it.










err . . . not that I saw anything like that. More like I 'hear' things. Yeh. That's it.

Originally posted by Chicken
Well, even if they didn't post that, my personal next question would be, "What is your URL? How long have you been with them?" -before I even give weight to the recommendation. Amazingly, that isn't always something that is asked!


How long they have been with the host...absolutely important.

Their URL? Useful, but not something everyone is going to give out. I know I wouldn't give out the URL for most of my sites. Some have moderate traffic, but they are personal.

When I'm evaluating a comment someone made about a host, other factors are more important to me. I look at their Forum Join date a little. I look at their post count and then look at some of their other posts to see if they just spew spam. I look at how they write, though with ESL being prevalent on the net, that can be misleading. At least you know if someone says "HostPlus is the most coolest, rad host EVAH!!!!!!" you can pretty much ignore what they say. ;)

Basically I look at all the little factors, most of which should not be taken at face value, and just form a general impression of the poster.

I think the URL is most often requested more to confirm they are a client and not the owner of the site. This can be given to us confindentially however, if there's any concern about that. I've checked on many to make sure things are on the up-n-up.

"Discussions on all aspects of web hosting including past experiences (both negative and positive), choosing a host, questions and answers, and other related subjects."

The description for the Web Hosting Forum makes a clear distinction between the two (negative and positive) and I would suggest that it's probably time for a more physical distinction.

None of us (I would hope) like to read about about the misfortunes of other hosts and/or their clients. So some would probably want to sidestep the issue altogether and enhance their own WHT experience. Whereas others will actually get in and offer constructive advise and assistance to those weathering a storm (host and/or client). Others will toss some brake fluid on and sit back and watch the flames. Human nature.

"Negative experiences". "The Den of Inequity". Call it what you may...I think it would be worth considering seperating the two very different discussion groups and letting the poster/reader decide what they want to scroll through.

A "Customer Review" forum is a good idea, but it's not always going to be by a customer or an actual review that determines negative experiences. There's just a lot of them, so there's my thoughts.

Cheers

Gary

Originally posted by Chicken
I think the URL is most often requested more to confirm they are a client and not the owner of the site. This can be given to us confindentially however, if there's any concern about that. I've checked on many to make sure things are on the up-n-up. That's a good way to do it.


Of course, if some idiot host is going to fake a PattyBack post, they could also put up a fake website. Although I suppose someone too lazy to earn their reputation would also be too lazy to go through all the trouble of making fake websites. :)


Originally posted by Editor
Others will toss some brake fluid on and sit back and watch the flames. Human nature.
Brake fluid is flammable? I did not know that. Considering the heat generated down there, I'm surprised cars don't burn up more often.



I think I'm going to go post about my totally awesome, radilicious host now. It's a private site though, so I'll have to PM the geocities.com address to Chicken. :P

Originally posted by Lurker
Brake fluid is flammable?

Certailny is. I think I learnt that as a lad...something to do with the neighbours letter box and chlorine tablets... :)

Gary

neighbours letter box and chlorine tablets...

Customer review forum will make the people sick.

epinions.com is a GREAT review site.

And a great community of reviewers.

If this forum ever gets created... can we stick a TimPD post at the top :D

Originally posted by refcom
epinions.com is a GREAT review site.

And a great community of reviewers.
When it loads. Many times that I've tried to use it, pages don't load past a certain point, so the usefulness gets tossed out the window. Might just be my connection to them, but this past year-ish, I generally have had no luck using that site. Too bad as I really like it (when I can get to it).

Perhaps my loading problems aren't only local then - I thought it was just me. But, beyond that - even though I have to try getting to that site it is one that I find good for reviews of almost any product, including web hosts. The community itself also helps to ensure that posts are legit, which is nice for the moderators... Less work.

That's weird, I have no problems loading ePinions pages. Ever since two or three years ago when they started, the pages have always been slow, but they've always loaded.

For comparison, I'm on dialup around 20 Kbps. If anyone should be having problems, it's me (and I do with many sites, not ePinions though.) :)