Not Recommended: Web.com.

davemackey — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:12:35 +0000

A number of years ago I began registering domains with web.com. Wow, it was wonderful. A slick interface, low prices ($8.95/yr.), and no hassle. Then Web.com was acquired by Interland – a massive internet company – and everything went downhill. Word of advice: don’t use web.com.

Web.come received an interface upgrade (err…downgrade) when it was acquired, and the interface has stumbled along ever since. Besides being painfully slow basic features are simply missing and the help consists of PDF files thrown together in a haphazard manner.

Web.com became the new public face for Interland – a hosting company – and apparently they forgot about their domain customers…unless you consider nearly trebling the price in one jump remembering. Yes, that’s right, I pay nearly $25/yr. now for a domain – crazy rates that only the most archaic domain registrars still charge (e.g. Network Solutions).

Why this rant right now? Well, at the moment I am finally attempting to get my domains out of this mire…to move them over to Bluehost. But can I find anywhere the option to generate an EPP key? No. Can I find any help to generate an EPP key? No.

Interland/Web.com – its time for a facelift. Hire one or two of those nifty web 2.0 designers and give them two or three weeks. Otherwise you might as well enter TechCrunch‘s Deadpool.

UPDATE 8/22/08 – So, I submitted a ticket requesting the EPP key for three domains I currently have registered with Web.com. The next morning I called to check in on the status. Unfortunately, their tech. representatives don’t have permission to process these EPP keys, so you have to rely upon email only support from higher level techs. I received EPP keys for two of the three domains – the third I never received. I just called back again and they are again escalating the request. Meanwhile, the two domains I have given the EPP code to Bluehost for are marked as in transfer progress. Web.com is telling me they have released the domains, but Bluehost‘s CP says that the registrar still must release the domains…and notes that generally one receives a confirmation email from the losing registrar confirming this transfer should take place (that hasn’t occurred, but apparently this whole process can take seven business days – industry standard – [we'll talk about that craziness another time, but right now we are just talking about web.com]). For those who think I’m just a whiner visit this link Web.com just sent me to access my account in their most recent emails. Ohh, you get a big, fat, ugly 404 Not Found page? So do I.

UPDATE 8/24/08: My domains have transferred to Bluehost. I believe I am now completely done with Web.com.

I’m going to go read Jeff Stibel’s blog over at Harvard Business Online…See if maybe I can discuss this fiasco with him (Jeff is president of web.com).

BlueHost – Simple, Effective Web Hosting.

davemackey — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:44:28 +0000

Its not uncommon for me to get asked, “What web host would you recommend for me to use when building a new website?” I figured now would be as good a time as any

Image via CrunchBase

to post about one of the hosts I utilize. This host is great for beginners and advanced users alike. That said, I’ll also note right at the beginning that the instigator of this post was actually a server outage on Bluehost‘s part. Yesterday I was writing a review of the movie Amazing Grace (don’t worry, I’ll rewrite it soon) when the Bluehost server went down. But no host is perfect and this is one of only a few times I have experienced any performance problems from Bluehost‘s service.

First, lets talk about Bluehost from a beginner’s perspective. If you are looking to create a website or start a blog there are a few easy ways to get started. One is to hire someone to assist you in doing so (you can always hire me). Another is to utilize any of a number of free services that allow you to create sites/blogs easily – for example in the blogging arena one can get free accounts from blogger and wordpress. The third option, and the one I personally prefer, is utilizing a shared host. This scenario gives you the most flexibility. When determining what sort of host you should utilize ask yourself these questions:

Do I enjoy technology? (If no, hire someone).
Do I want to learn more about web-based technologies? (If yes, utilize a shared host).
Do I have time to expend on learning new technologies? (If no, hire someone or utilize a free account).
Do I want a professional presence? (If yes, either hire someone or use a shared host and expect to spend a significant amount of time learning and experimenting).

Should you decide to go with a shared host you face one additional large question: Do I want a Windows or a Linux environment? If you are new to technology generally, I recommend Linux. In fact, unless you already utilize web-based technologies that are Windows specific I recommend Linux. Why? Because its built around a nice word – free. There is one exception. If you want to do custom product development rather than just building a straight-up site, you may want to consider using Windows for your development environment. Microsoft’s Visual Studio is pretty kick-butt. I really enjoy ASP.NET and think it is great for developing applications in.

Okay…So we’ve decided to go with a Linux host. In that case, open an account with Bluehost. Here’s the main factors I consider killer about Bluehost:

$6.95/mo. What? Yes. $6.95/mo. We eat that at McDonald’s in one lunch! That includes a free domain name (e.g. yourname.com), which is pretty huge since these usually cost around $10 in and of themselves.
Unlimited Hosting/File Transfer. You can store as much data as you want on their servers (okay, there are some exceptions, but generally…you’ll never run out of space) and you can also transfer as much information to and from the server as you want (again, some exceptions…but mainly apply to people who are trying to abuse the service).
Free MySQL Databases. MySQL Databases (or PostgreSQL) are the backbone of most modern web applications. They store data in a way that makes it extremely easy and quick to retrieve.
SimpleScripts. Allows you to within two minutes deploy popular web applications including WordPress (blogging), Joomla (cms), Drupal (cms), phpBB (forums), Zenphoto (photo gallery), Roundcube (webmail), and WikkaWiki (wiki) amongst many others. Seriously – two minutes.
Bluehost includes lots of other standard features like FTP, email, free advertising credits (Google, Yahoo, Miva), and automatic backups.

So what are you waiting for? There are no contracts. Even if you just want to familiarize yourself with some web-based technologies – open an account, use it for a few months, and then cancel. Its a great learning tool. No, it won’t run the next Google, but once you grow big enough and learn enough you can move to a larger host (we’ll talk about them in another post) who can handle your highest demands.

Dave Enjoys » Domain name

Not Recommended: Web.com.

BlueHost – Simple, Effective Web Hosting.