Results 1 to 11 of 11
  1. #1

    Question Anyone here using Sitepad from Softaculous?

    We are losing a lot of customers to website builders like wix, squarespace, etc..

    We'd like to have our own site building software for our customers.

    What do you think of Sitepad? It's by the people who make Softaculous, which is already on our servers.

    Do you think Sitepad is good? Is the pricing ok? Most importantly, is the website builder very easy and simple for customers like the wix/squarespace type of builders?

    Thanks!
    We are eNom PLATINUM PLUS resellers!
    Sign up today for an eNom.com reseller account with lowest possible pricing.
    * We provide support and service to over 4275 happy eNom domain name and SSL certificate resellers!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    here, there, where?
    Posts
    4,101
    I have used it on a couple sites and the block design does help keep with current design practices. However, I prefer site.pro's site builder as it seems you have more control over the page design then you do in sitepad. For example, in sitepad if you changed the background image, the default theme image will still load as well as the custom image. (Though maybe that was just a cache) There were other items but I do not recall the specifics.
    -Steven | Cooini, LLC
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" -Aristotle

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    localhost
    Posts
    5,473
    Quote Originally Posted by mrzippy View Post
    We are losing a lot of customers to website builders like wix, squarespace, etc..

    We'd like to have our own site building software for our customers.

    What do you think of Sitepad? It's by the people who make Softaculous, which is already on our servers.

    Do you think Sitepad is good? Is the pricing ok? Most importantly, is the website builder very easy and simple for customers like the wix/squarespace type of builders?

    Thanks!
    You should look into to weebly because they provide a reseller/integration options.
    Respectfully,
    Mr. Terrence

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    398
    Quote Originally Posted by steven99 View Post
    However, I prefer site.pro's site builder as it seems you have more control over the page design then you do in sitepad.
    I am considering Site.pro as well but I am wrestling with a different concern. In a way, as a hosting provider, I feel I would be investing the customer's time in this specific product as there is no way (AFAIK) to simply export a Site.pro site and use it outside a Site.pro server. So we are kind of locking the customer and ourselves into Site.pro. What if they raise prices, get bought (Oakley anyone?), close shop etc. If for whatever reason we can no longer offer Site.pro to the customer, they'd be losing the time they have invested in developing their sites. Probably I'm splitting hairs, isn't it?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    here, there, where?
    Posts
    4,101
    I have gone through that scenario of the site builder closing up shop, so I know your concerns with that. The same concern can be said for any site builder, however, with site.pro or sitepad the builders upload to the account's FTP space. With sitepad, IIRC, it uploads pure html files that are properly named. With site.pro, it uploads php files, however, the actual pages are also uploaded but are not clearly named. The layout of the files isn't as simple but all the PHP files are open and can be edited and the page content are in separate php files. So while the builder would not be available, at least the content could be extracted after a fashion. The client wont be able to import that in to a different builder though but that again is pretty standard unless the builder has an import site option like site.pro does.

    Of course the best defense against such a situation is to develop your own site builder so that the number of dependents in your operation is lowered. If you want to be a host like weebly, wix, squarespace, etc then that really is the best option as you can control all aspects of the builder .
    -Steven | Cooini, LLC
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" -Aristotle

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    2,308
    Web hosting clients generally don't sign up to use a site builder, 90% of the time they already have a web site or know what they want to do.

    The 10% that have no clue generally fizzle out and go with a SAAS provider for web sites.

    The problem with these site builder addon is that the pricing don't make sense for a web host. The pricing of sitepad does offer a compelling reason to equip your server with it. However, being in the industry for so long has taught me that customers generally don't use more than half (or more) of the features inside the control panel.

    They really should just drop their pricing by half and make the cost fall in line with Softaculous licensing. That way they'll get mass volume and just become the defacto site builder in the industry.
    VimHost >> 30 Days Backup | cPanel + LiteSpeed + JetBackup | DMCA FREE!
    20 Years in business ~ Premium Hosting in Toronto, Canada ~ 151 Front Street (Canadian owned and operated)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    398
    Quote Originally Posted by steven99 View Post
    With site.pro, it uploads php files, however, the actual pages are also uploaded but are not clearly named. The layout of the files isn't as simple but all the PHP files are open and can be edited and the page content are in separate php files. So while the builder would not be available, at least the content could be extracted after a fashion.

    Of course the best defense against such a situation is to develop your own site builder so that the number of dependents in your operation is lowered. If you want to be a host like weebly, wix, squarespace, etc then that really is the best option as you can control all aspects of the builder .
    I have taken a short look at such a site.pro site and I was unable to determine how to make it work outside site.pro. Unfortunately building an in-house site builder is not a realistic approach for small businesses.

    Quote Originally Posted by OpenInternet-Vince View Post
    The problem with these site builder addon is that the pricing don't make sense for a web host...They really should just drop their pricing by half and make the cost fall in line with Softaculous licensing.
    Indeed, site.pro seems rather expensive. I mean initially I was thinking to promote it as cheap alternative to SquareSpace alongside our hosting services but with such a per account pricing I would not be eager at all to promote it because the more people that use it, the more it costs us.

    Also, locking the hoster and the customers inside a closed system feels extremely uncomfortable. What if they abruptly increase their pricing or their software becomes vulnerable? We should ditch it and then the customers that have invested time into using it will be all over us. Such concerns, in addition to the pricing, have really kept us from using it. According to their narrative, this locking, actually is meant to protect us from customers ditching us but it more feels like protective custody than a real protection. Unless they develop a true export (to a standalone site) functionality I don't see how we can use their software. If they truly want to protect the hoster's interests they can build the export functionality and let it to the hoster to decide how they use it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    here, there, where?
    Posts
    4,101
    Quote Originally Posted by AndyB78 View Post
    I have taken a short look at such a site.pro site and I was unable to determine how to make it work outside site.pro.
    Do you mean the final published site? If so, look at the sitepro folder within the FTP and you will see all the PHP files. In those group of files will be ones like 1.php, 5.php, 200.php and those are the pages . If you open one of those files, you will see plain HTML. A bit more php digging could probably lead to how they match up the file names to a URL and a exporter could be scripted to regenerate the pages as plain HTML in their proper places with proper file names.

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyB78 View Post
    Indeed, site.pro seems rather expensive. I mean initially I was thinking to promote it as cheap alternative to SquareSpace alongside our hosting services but with such a per account pricing I would not be eager at all to promote it because the more people that use it, the more it costs us.
    Currently it is $47 / month for 200 sites -- which IIRC can be on any server and not a single server or at least that is how it is for the on-premises license. That comes out to be $0.25 per site -- for just the builder license at least. With weebly, wix, squarespace etc charging, in some cases, more than a cheap "unlimited" shared hosting account, I think there is some room for profits. Sure if your average client has dozens of domains that use it, then that could be an issue but that is when you limit the number of sites.

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyB78 View Post
    Also, locking the hoster and the customers inside a closed system feels extremely uncomfortable. What if they abruptly increase their pricing or their software becomes vulnerable? We should ditch it and then the customers that have invested time into using it will be all over us. Such concerns, in addition to the pricing, have really kept us from using it. According to their narrative, this locking, actually is meant to protect us from customers ditching us but it more feels like protective custody than a real protection. Unless they develop a true export (to a standalone site) functionality I don't see how we can use their software. If they truly want to protect the hoster's interests they can build the export functionality and let it to the hoster to decide how they use it.
    I completely agree with an export option but honestly unless the new builder imports html files or a live site, it wont do any good for the average client that uses a builder as they wont know HTML to edit it raw. Now sure they will have their site, pages, etc, but the same can be said for site.pro as it likely will work or can be made to work in the case of a call home or other verification.
    -Steven | Cooini, LLC
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" -Aristotle

  9. #9
    I tried SitePad and other site builders but never liked them myself. I prefer WordPress + Elementor.

    You know those aren't going anywhere, and it's easy to migrate them from one server to another.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    here, there, where?
    Posts
    4,101
    Quote Originally Posted by chris2009 View Post
    I tried SitePad and other site builders but never liked them myself. I prefer WordPress + Elementor.

    You know those aren't going anywhere, and it's easy to migrate them from one server to another.
    Indeed and wordpress is great as long as it is maintained and secured to limit brute force attacks on wp-login.php from causing resource issues. Yes, there are auto-updates but unless all parts are updated and compatible, it can break a site to just do auto-updates. I have seen where a wordpress core update broke a site because a plugin or theme was not compatible with the version and no updates for the plugin or theme were available. At which point the site owner has to either rollback the wordpress update and stay on a potentially exploitable version or disable the plugin that added that one special feature they really liked. And yes, there are plugins like wordfence for security but do keep in mind it still takes resources for wordfence to do its job.

    Bottom line, want something to setup and forgot about, then use a site builder. Want to maintain yet another piece of software, ensure it is secured from brute force attacks or ensure the host protects against it, then use Wordpress.

    EDIT: also in terms of resource usages, Sitepad would be best compared to site.pro as sitepad is pure html and site.pro requires php.
    -Steven | Cooini, LLC
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" -Aristotle

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    398
    Quote Originally Posted by steven99 View Post
    With weebly, wix, squarespace etc charging, in some cases, more than a cheap "unlimited" shared hosting account, I think there is some room for profits. Sure if your average client has dozens of domains that use it, then that could be an issue but that is when you limit the number of sites.

    I completely agree with an export option but honestly unless the new builder imports html files or a live site, it wont do any good for the average client that uses a builder as they wont know HTML to edit it raw. Now sure they will have their site, pages, etc, but the same can be said for site.pro as it likely will work or can be made to work in the case of a call home or other verification.
    I can't state this as a fact but I don't think Site.pro is in the same league with SquareSpace.
    As for the export, I know that such an export would not be importable by other site builders but at the very least we'd get the customer's site (that the customer might be updating once every 5 years) working again if Site.pro would no longer be an option. This is (a little) peace of mind.

    Quote Originally Posted by chris2009 View Post
    I tried SitePad and other site builders but never liked them myself. I prefer WordPress + Elementor.
    You know those aren't going anywhere, and it's easy to migrate them from one server to another.
    WP+Elementor address to a very different audience. A site builder is usually used by the guy who wants to draw something in 30 minutes and not return for 5 years. Of course that's not a site. But good luck making them understand.

    Quote Originally Posted by steven99 View Post
    Bottom line, want something to setup and forgot about, then use a site builder. Want to maintain yet another piece of software, ensure it is secured from brute force attacks or ensure the host protects against it, then use Wordpress.
    Exactly!

    Quote Originally Posted by steven99 View Post
    EDIT: also in terms of resource usages, Sitepad would be best compared to site.pro as sitepad is pure html and site.pro requires php.
    I believe SitePad has an export option. This gives me the minimum level of trust required for me to give a site builder a try. So we'll probably go this way.

Similar Threads

  1. Anyone Here Using FDC
    By DkAir in forum Reseller Hosting
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 02-24-2003, 11:33 AM
  2. Anyone here using deahost's reseller plan?
    By octeto in forum Reseller Hosting
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 10-26-2002, 04:52 AM
  3. Anyone here using Windows2000/Dell PowerApp.web
    By AbbasJaffarali in forum Dedicated Server
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 09-11-2001, 06:33 PM
  4. anyone here using pwebtech and plesk 2?
    By techforce in forum Employment / Job Offers
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-23-2001, 10:02 PM
  5. anyone here using pwebtech and plesk 2?
    By techforce in forum Dedicated Server
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-23-2001, 06:39 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •