<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Best Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[Articles]]></description><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright Best Web Hosting]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Color Generators]]></title><description><![CDATA[    Color Calculator     
Color calculator, with saturation and lightness adjustment  
     ColorCombos.com     
Web color combinations.  
     ColorMixers     
This one ROCKS!   
    ColorBlender.com     
Free online tool for color palette design and matching  
    Color Palette Generator     
Generate a color palette based on an image   
    HTML Color Code Combination Chooser     
Choose the best HTML color combinations.  
     I Like Your Colors!     
  Extract the colors from the HTML and CSS of any web site.   
    Technicolor     
  Automatic color palette generator with realtime preview and CSS generator   
    Color Palette Generator     
Enter the URL of an image to get a color palette that matches the image  
    Color Scheme Generator 2     
Color scheme generator for webpages and coding  
      Color Schemer     
Create matching color schemes  
    EasyRGB     
Color harmonies, color themes and color complements.  
     Gradient Image Maker     
Web-based tool that makes a linear gradient image between any two colors  ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:58:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/color-generators/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/color-generators/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[SingleHop Dedicated Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      


      SingleHop   specializes in only managed and unmanaged dedicated hosting for either Windows or Linux. Their managed services  you can get &agrave; la carte, which sets   SingleHop   apart from their competition. They are magnificently adept at the management of dedicated hosting because they don&rsquo;t have &ldquo;management packages&rdquo; filled with stuff you don&rsquo;t need and don&rsquo;t need to pay for. The have recommendations, but it&rsquo;s up to you. This makes their offerings very flexible &mdash; you can pick only the services that your specific organization needs. They don&rsquo;t have a one size fits all or some cookie cutter package.   
  They have a gorgeous site that is highly organized, a live chat, and phone numbers that are answered by a human! Please call them and pick their brains. And let them know that WebHostingAvatar.com sent you, pretty please.  
  Since dedicated server requirements are customized, it&rsquo;s best to keep this review short and sweet. You will not be disappointed with   SingleHop&rsquo;s dedicated server solutions.     
    Visit Site     
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:13:37 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/dedicated-server-web-hosting/singlehop-dedicated-hosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/dedicated-server-web-hosting/singlehop-dedicated-hosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[DreamHost Earth Friendly Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      


  Social and Environmental Commitment  
    DreamHost   is not only a worker owned cooperative, it&rsquo;s also carbon neutral, which means that they tallied up all their &ldquo;soul-sucking residue&rdquo; (as they put it) and made a very progressive move towards environmentally responsible practices by completely offsetting their energy usage with Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) certified by a neutral third party: Green-e. The proceeds from these credits are used to fund emission reducing and renewable energy technologies, such as wind farms and other forms of alternative energy. This green energy is fed in to the grid. In addition, they purchased Carbon Credits from The Gold Standard. These credits come directly from reductions that meet Kyoto Protocol established standards. Likewise, in the past couple of years, they&rsquo;ve been using more and more servers with the extremely power efficient AMD processors.   Visit DreamHost    
  Cost (COUPON CODE:   hostingavatar50   - save $50.00!)   
  All hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service.    DreamHost       is month to month - 10 years! The list below shows how much you will pay up front. Use the coupon:   hostingavatar50    to save the max discount $50.00 on any plan.   
  
    Pay Monthly @ $10.95/mo + $49.95 setup = $60.90 minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   = $10.90 out of pocket! SWEET!   
    
      Three months will be $82.80 minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   = $32.80   
    
    Pay Yearly @ $9.95/mo: 9% off + no setup = $119.40 - minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   = $69.40  
    Pay for 2 Years @ $8.95/mo: 18% off + no setup = $214.80 minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   =   
      Pay for 3 Years @ $7.95/mo: 27% off + no setup = $286.20 minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   =   
    Pay for 5 Years @ $6.95/mo: 36% off + no setup = $417.00 minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   =   
    Pay for 10 Years @ $5.95/mo: 45% off + no setup = $714.00 -     minus $50.00 coupon   hostingavatar50   =   
  




  Satisfaction  
    DreamHost       has the industry&rsquo;s longest guarantee: a 97 days refund. If you sign up for a plan and you think it stinks, you can get your full purchase price. You&rsquo;ll even get the set up fee refunded if you signed up for a month-to-month plan. Their support is only available through their webpanel, no phone number. But they do respond very fast to their tickets. Being employee owned makes everyone responsible there.   Visit DreamHost    
  If you sign up for a long term plan with nearly all web hosts on the internet (except for a rare few), you will not get a pro-rated refund, if you cancel after their trial period. This is common and it&rsquo;s not fair. DreamHost is still a very excellent host, one of the best and most consistent with good attitudes. However, the safest thing to do is to    save $50.00 when you use coupon/promo code: hostingavatar50   and there is no extra cost if you sign up for the month to month plan since the set up fee is $49.95, which you save if you use the coupon. Your out-of-pocket expense is $10.90. That is a deal and there is no risk. This is the only host that has such awesome coupons!!!  
  
    On Sun, 17 Feb. 2008, you wrote:  
    
      &gt; If a person were to sign up for 5-10 years and after 1 year or 2 years &mdash; or  
      &gt; somewhere under the the plan signed up for &mdash; and that person end the hosting  
      &gt; with you, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?  
    
    There would be no refund as they would be outside of the 97 day money  
    back guarantee and as agreed in the terms of service, there will be no  
    provided refund for prepaid amounts.  Please let me know though if you  
    have any other questions! :)  
    Thanks,  
    Mike P.  
  
    So what do you do?   Well you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can get the lowest term on the plan, which is month to month. With a 97 days trial period, you can usually tell how the service is and   DreamHost       has very good reputation and with the $50.00 off coupon &mdash;&nbsp;  hostingavatar50   &mdash; (the max coupon), then you can give it a shot for very little risk ($10.90 to get hosting right away).   DreamHost   has a lot of features not offered anywhere else. They are desirable in many respects.  
  SSH   
  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with   DreamHost           hosting. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their web site. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available.     
  Getting a Web Site Up  
    DreamHost   has  auto installers of about 12-15 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These are impressive scripts. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a couple clicks. And for low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates available through their respective web sites or through other users.   Visit DreamHost     
    If you need a host that provides you with a professional site builder, so you can create your own small web site site without technical skills, check out:   WebHostingPad  ,   HostPapa  , and   HostGator  .    
  

      
  

      
  


  
  Unlimited Domains in one Account  
  With   DreamHost   you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and many hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They come in handy for web developers and just business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company.   Visit DreamHost    
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    DreamHost&rsquo;s   plan is  packed with features and comes with lots of space and bandwidth.   DreamHost   offers 500 GB of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. The space increases by weekly by 2 GB, so by the time you've been with   DreamHost   a year, you have 104GB more than you started with. They also offer 5,000 GB of bandwidth (or transfer). They also increase the bandwidth by 40 GB per week, which allows you to grow significantly. By the end of your first year, you&rsquo;ll have 2,080 GB more. Bandwidth, sometimes referred to as &ldquo;transfer&rdquo; is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site and how large your pages are, how many page views, and other considerations. The majority of sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1 GB - 1.5 GB of bandwidth a month.   Learn more about bandwidth here  .    Visit DreamHost    
  Not a cPanel Host   
    DreamHost   is not a cPanel host, but they have their own webpanel which is easy to figure out once you get the hang of it. Most stuff is just read the screen and fill in the info. No biggie. Many people enjoy this feature and swear by   DreamHost    
  Datacenter Location   
    DreamHost       DataCenter &mdash;&nbsp;Same geographical, but not the same building as     InMotion      
  Los Angeles, CA   
    Visit DreamHost     
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:36:30 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/dreamhost-best-green-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/dreamhost-best-green-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[VistaPages Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      


  Getting a Web Site Up  
  You don&rsquo;t need to know html to use   VistaPages&rsquo;s  web site builder.   This builder comes with a variety of okay looking templates.   Take a look at a couple screen shots.   It&rsquo;s not the greatest, but will do in a pinch. It&rsquo;s a lot easier to use than many other systems.  
  
           
           
  
    VistaPages   also has  auto installers of about 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These impressive scripts are supported through their respective user bases. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. And for low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates available through their respective web sites or through other users.   Visit VistaPages     
    If you need a host that provides you with a professional site builder, so you can create your own small web site site without technical skills, check out:   WebHostingPad  ,   HostPapa  .    
  Satisfaction  
    VistaPages   has a 30 day money back guarantee. They are among the vast majority of other hosts (except for   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  ) &mdash; who  do not pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 30 days. However,   VistaPages   does make exceptions and appears to be really decent about it, read the following email we got back posted below. (So please do send them an email, perhaps with more detailed questions,   before   you engage with hosting with them, or any other host.)  
  
    We normally do not offer refunds past the 30-day mark, but if you&rsquo;re unsatisfied with the service after 1 year, we&rsquo;ll pro-rate the refund and provide it to you. You can keep this e-mail as reference to it.  
    Peter Wakefield  
    Customer Service Manager  
      VistaPages, Inc.     
    Ticket Details  
    ===================  
    Ticket ID: KFP-399945  
  
  Uptime &amp; Support  
   Their uptime is 99.68% &mdash; independently verified.      Support is available online 24/7 through their support panel and the live chat. They don&rsquo;t have phone tech support &mdash; bummer. They got back fast during off hours via email.   Visit VistaPages    
  Plans and Prices   
     Budget / Shared Hosting Plan  
				       
				         650 GB Space/  
6000 GB Bandwidth  :             
                         
                            6 Months 	$8.95/mo  = $53.70  
                           12 Months 	$7.95/mo  = $95.40  
                           
                           24 Months 	$5.95/mo  = $142.80  
                           
                           36 Months 	$4.95/mo = $178.20  
                         
                         
    
					  
  
					
					  
                      Virtual Private Hosting (VPS)   
                      More memory and other resources may be just the ticket for your hosting needs:    
                      
                          PH-100 &mdash;   
  50 GB Space/  
3000 GB Bandwidth  :       
                            
                              $49.95/mo  
                            
                        
                          PH-200 &mdash;   
  100 GB Space/  
4000 GB Bandwidth  :       
                            
                            
                              $89.95/mo  
                            
                        
                          PH-300 &mdash;   
  150 GB Space/  
5000 GB Bandwidth  :       
                            
                              $129.95/mo  
                        
                            
                        
                        
										  
					  
					
  
                      Dedicated Hosting   
    Fully managed, dedicated hosting starts at $174.00/mo - 439.00/mo and have a variety of configurations to fit your needs. Check out their   site   to learn more.  
    Reseller Hosting   
      VistaPages       has a variety of cool reseller hosting plans that will help you start a hosting business of your own and earn, semi passive income. Check out the details on their   site      .    
    
  

					
																				  



  SSH   
  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with    VistaPages           plans. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their web site. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available. Plus with cPanel, you can also load files through the File Manager &mdash; super easy.     
  Unlimited Domains in one Account  
  With   VistaPages   you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and many hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They come in handy for web developers and just business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company.  
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    VistaPages&rsquo;s   budget plan (the shared hosting plan) is  packed with features and comes with plenty of space and bandwidth for small business sites.   VistaPages   offers 650 GB of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. They also offer 6,000 GB of bandwidth, which is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site and how large your pages are, how many page views, and other considerations. The majority of business sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1-1.5 GB of bandwidth a month. Therefore, 6,000 GB is certainly very generous and more than enough for the majority of users. Their other plans have different configurations, please check out their site for details about all their hosting plans:   VPS, dedicated, and reseller  .   Learn more about bandwidth here  .   Visit VistaPages    
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    VistaPages       has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, CubeCart and AgoraCart.   VistaPages       provides a shared SSL certificate. A dedicated IP address is 39.00   a year   as of this writing.  
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting    
  Datacenter Location   
  VistaPages DataCenter &mdash;&nbsp;Same as     HostPapa      
  Toronto, Ontario  
    Visit VistaPages        

]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:35:46 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/vistapages-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/vistapages-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[WebHostingBuzz Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      


  Getting a Web Site Up  
  You don&rsquo;t need to know html to use   WebHostingBuzz&rsquo;s Pro web site builder.   This builder comes with a little over 400 of good looking templates.   Take a look at some of those templates.   With a site builder, you can pick a template, fill in your information, load pictures, and publish to your web site. It&rsquo;s a great, free way for do-it-yourselfers to get a web site going.  
  
           
           
  
    WebHostingBuzz   also has  auto installers of about 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These impressive scripts are supported through their respective user base. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. And for low, or no cost, many of these scripts have themes/skins/templates available through their respective web sites or through other users.   Visit WebHostingBuzz     
  Unlimited Domains in one Account   
  With   WebHostingBuzz   you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and many hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. Addon domains come in handy for web developers and  business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company. They also offer   Reseller Hosting.    
  Environmental Responsibility   
    WebHostingBuzz   offsets their carbon emissions by investing in tree plantation projects with the International Tree Foundation.  
  Support   
    WebHostingBuzz   has a wide range of hosting plans for budget, business (semi-dedicated hosting), dedicated hosting, and reseller hosting. They have a 30 day, no questions asked, guarantee and they have a very good uptime of 99.996% (which is verified independently.)   
  Their support is available by phone during business hours and online during the weekend and after hours. Call first thing in the AM to get through faster. The ticket system is fast during weekday business hours, on the weekend it can take a while. Hopefully they will improve this otherwise good system.   
  Plans and Prices   
  Most hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service.   WebHostingBuzz       is 1 - 2 years and month to month on the semi-dedicated and dedicated plans. The list below shows how much you will pay up front. As you guessed, each plan has different configurations, please check with the site to see the details. The storage space and bandwidth information is noted.   Learn more about bandwidth here  .  
  Budget Plans  
				       
				           Silver Plan &mdash;   375 GB Space / 2500 GB Bandwidth  :   	                   
				           
				             1 year - $4.95/mo  = $59.40  
				             2 years - $3.95/mo  = $94.80  
			               
				         
                           Gold Plan &mdash;   750 GB Space / 5000 GB Bandwidth  :   
                           
                             1 year - $6.95   = $83.40  
                             2 years - $5.95   = $142.80  
                           
                         
                           Special Offer &mdash;   1125 GB Space / 7500 GB Bandwidth  :             
                           
                             1 year - $9.95   = $119.40  
                             2 years - $8.95   = $214.80  
                           
                         
                      


   Business Plans (Semi-Dedicated Hosting)
  
                      Limit to 50 users per server, rather than hundreds sharing resources. Very stable.   
                      
                          B Lite &mdash;   100 GB Space/1000 GB Bandwidth  :   $35/mo  
                          B Buzz &mdash;   300 GB Space/3000 GB Bandwidth  :   $55/mo  
                          B Enterprize &mdash;   900 GB Space/9000 GB Bandwidth  :   $75/mo  
                        
  
					
                      Dedicated Hosting   
    Fully managed, dedicated hosting starts at $150.00/mo - 399.00/mo. They frequently go out of stock on the lower priced systems. Be sure to check with them on their   site  .   
                        Reseller Hosting     
                        WHB   has a variety of cool reseller hosting plans that will help you start a hosting business of your own and earn, semi passive income. Check out the details on their   site  .  Some of the cool features are Anonymous name servers (private label is optional).   
                      

					


                                                                                  Satisfaction  
                                                                                  Like most other hosts, you won&rsquo;t get a pro-rated refund if you cancel   past   the 30 day trial period. Usually 30 days is a decent amount of time to decide if the host is right for you. Another idea if you&rsquo;re really keen to sign up with   WHB   is to write them a nice email indicating that you want to sign up with them, but you would like to know if they would offer you a pro-rated refund should you cancel past the 30 days. Ask them if they are willing to do it. You never know, it worked with   VistaPages  . The best thing to do, is to get the lowest term plan, even if you pay 1 dollar more a month for it. Their budget plans are really good deals for what you get. Their Semi-dedicated month to month plans are super. The semi-dedicated plans, reseller plans, and other plans are also fantastic deals.   
                                                                                  This transcript is only applicable on their budget plans which you pay 1-2 years in advance for:  
                                                                                  
                                                                                    Vladimir K.: Hello, how can I help you today?  
                                                                                    WHA: If I sign up for 2 years and after 1 year I decide to leave, or some other circumstance ends my hosting with you, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?
                                                                                      
                                                                                    Vladimir K.: Only during the period of 30 days after sign up procedure you can get a refund.  
  
                                                                                    So what do you do?   If you are going for the budget plans, you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can lessen your risk and get the lowest term on the plan, in this case 12 months. The semi-dedicated plans are month to month.   
                                                                                  SSH   
                                                                                  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with   WebHostingBuzz               plans. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their web site. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available. Plus with cPanel, you can also load files through the File Manager &mdash; super easy.     
                                                                                  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
                                                                                    WebHostingBuzz       has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, CubeCart and AgoraCart.   WebHostingBuzz   does not have a SSL certificate, you would need to get one through DomainAvatar, GoDaddy, or a variety of other sources. A dedicated IP address is 30.00   a year   as of this writing.   
                                                                                    Please read more about e-commerce hosting.    
                                                                                  Datacenter Location   
    WebHostingBuzz   has datacenters in the following locations:  
  
     FortressITX, Clifton, NJ  
    
    SoftLayer, Dallas, TX  
    
    AtlantaNAP, Atlanta, GA  
  

  
  Summary  
        WebHostingBuzz   semi-dedicated plans are very excellent. They limit the server to 50 accounts, which makes for much smoother sailing if you have RAM intensive applications or need more juice than the shared hosting environment. WHB&rsquo;s budget plans are such good deals and their web site builder is really easy.   
  
    Visit WebHostingBuzz   
  

]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:34:12 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/webhostingbuzz-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/webhostingbuzz-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[E-commerce Hosting Information]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Each host providing   e-commerce hosting   has an auto installer that easily installs one or more of the most supported, most popular e-commerce packages on your hosted account. Those shopping carts are: OsCommerce, ZenCart,  CubeCart, and AgoraCart. All of these e-commerce solutions have a variety of skins, templates, or themes available for low cost or no cost.  
  Generally, to accept credit cards, you can  use PayPal instead of getting a merchant account with your bank or through an online merchant account provider. This can save you gateway fees and a lot of other costs, as well as a lot of time. If you don&rsquo;t want to use PayPal to accept cards, you can use another payment gateway, but you will usually need two other elements to complete the package: a dedicated IP address and a SSL certificate &mdash; or a shared certificate.   
  For an additional, monthly fee, or a low yearly fee (usually $24 - $40 a year), most hosts will provide you with a dedicated IP address. You will also need, should you decide not to use PayPal, a SSL (secure socket layer) certificate to protect your customers&rsquo; financial information. Many hosts offer a shared certificate, but some do not. The cost for a SSL certificate ranges from about $20.00 to hundreds of dollars per year. Your host might have deals through their providers, or they may offer a shared certificate, free.  
  Since all hosts are somewhat different with respect to their plans and packages, it&rsquo;s vital to ask  questions before you commit with a host. Here&rsquo;s some questions to add to your own:  
  
    What solutions do you offer for e-commerce?   
    Do you have a shared SSL certificate?  
    If no, can you recommend a low cost certificate provider?   
    Does my account have a dedicated IP address, if not, what is the cost for a dedicated IP address?  
    Do you have any partnerships with ecommerce related services? What are they?   
    Can you provide links to shops you currently host?      
    If my store gets really popular, what is the cost of additional bandwidth per GB per month?   
  

]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:44:31 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/ecommerce-web-hosting/ecommerce-hosting-information/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/ecommerce-web-hosting/ecommerce-hosting-information/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cheap Redundancy and The Data Center]]></title><description><![CDATA[  This is a really quick note that will eventually become an article with more detail.  
  The premise is this: No shared hosting plan is perfect. Even dedicated hosting plans have glitches once in a while. Google has problems and so does Amazon once in a while. Computers screw up. When you depend on your web site to generate your income, it&rsquo;s important that if the server is screwed temporariliy, that your customers don&rsquo;t get a 404 error. Right?  
  The solution is cheap redundancy by doing the the following:  
    Two different hosting plans    Two different data centers (some hosts out there are just resellers of other hosts)    Set up your site on one host    Copy it (database, everything)    Put it on another host    
  Enter the DNS of the first host in your registrar's DNS fields  
  NS1.nameofFIRSThost.com  
  NS2.nameofFIRSThost.com  
  NS1.nameofSECONDhost.com  
NS2.nameofSECONDhost.com  
  For forums, blogs, and online stores where there needs to be a synch of the databases (for posts and new products), that&rsquo;s a complicated issue. But at least with the second host you can put a &ldquo;Web Maintenance&rdquo; message up with your logo and email and other contact info (your phone number). It&rsquo;s worse to have a 404 error or just a spinning nothing.  
  The next thing you need is a monitoring service like   SiteUpTime  . There's an add on feature to their ultra low cost plans that  can check if a certain phrase is on the page, it's called "Web Page Content".  If your first host is down, have a certain phrase that it checks against. Then, when the second host kicks in, don't have the phrase on the home page. This service will email you.   Check it out.     
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:16:16 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/cheap-redundancy-and-the-data-center/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/cheap-redundancy-and-the-data-center/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[WebHostingPad Cheap, High Quality Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Why? Excellent site builder with lots of useful components, 24/7 phone support, unlimited domain hosting, 17,000 GB bandwidth, 1700 GB space, easy installation of 52+ popular scripts for blogs, galleries, forums, etc., short 6 month plan available.   
  
  
    
      

    Beginners, developers, and designers, and your wallet will simply dig   WebHostingPad!   They have one, dynamic,   powerful, feature rich plan at a super low price.   WebHostingPad&rsquo;s   plan is only $4.95 a month when you sign up for 2 years, $5.95 a month for 1 year, and $7.95 a month for 6 months &ndash; making this the lowest cost, most powerful, web hosting solution on the net &mdash;&nbsp;no kidding. When you sign up for   WebHostingPad&rsquo;s   plan, you also get $25  advertising credit with Yahoo Search and $30 credit with Google.   Visit WebHostingPad    
  Getting a Web Site Up  
  You don&rsquo;t need to know html to use   WebHostingPad&rsquo;s Pro web site builder.   This builder comes with tons of professional templates.   Take a look some of the awesome templates.     
  The site builder is generally used for creating informational, brochure based sites but it also has several extras components and other super powerful features:   
    WebHostingPad   Site Builder Key Features:  
  
     Royalty free web site templates  
    3 color schemes and 2 image styles for each template  
    New web site templates on monthly basis  
    Two tone color, Illustrate, flash web site template style  
    Switchable navigator among 22 navigator styles  
    HTML layout template  
    XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliance  
    Free icon and buttons in Image Library  
    Free banner in image Library  
  
    WebHostingPad   Site Builder Extra Components:   
  
     Photo album  
    Online Form  
    Online counter  
    Custom page title  
    Custom META tag; META keywords, META description  
    Guest book   
  
    WebHostingPad   also has  auto installers of about 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These are impressive scripts. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. And for low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates available through their respective web sites or through other users. These scripts are not part of the site builder.   Visit WebHostingPad     
  Satisfaction  
    WebHostingPad       has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Their support is available 24/7 via phone or online. They also have 99.99%  uptime, which is independently verified.  
  On February 17th, 2008 we emailed them about whether or not they offer a pro-rated refund.  
  
     Question: If I sign up for 2 years and after 1 year I decide to leave, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?  

    We do not offer pro rated refunds after a 30 day period. Our money back is only 30 day.  
      
    Thank You,  
    Arnold Ahmed  
    Tech support  
    Ticket Details  
    ===================  
  Ticket ID: DZI-745429   
  
    So what do you do?   Well you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can get the lowest term on the plan &mdash; 6 months, which is what we recommend, especially if you like the their cool web site builder.   
          Visit WebHostingPad    
  Cost   
  All hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service,    WebHostingPad       is 6 months - 2 years. This much easier on your wallet. The list below shows how much you will pay up front.   
  
    6 Months - $7.95/mo + FREE Setup
    =
    $47.70
      
        12 Months - $5.95/mo + FREE Setup = $71.40  
        24 Months - $4.95/mo + FREE Setup = $118.80  
      
    
  
  

      
  

      
  


  
  Unlimited Domains in one Account   
  With   WebHostingPad   you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and many hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They come in handy for web developers and just business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company.   Visit WebHostingPad    
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    WebHostingPad&rsquo;s   plan is  packed with features and comes with plenty of space and bandwidth.   WebHostingPad   offers 1,700 GB (that&rsquo;s huge!) of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. They also offer 17,000 GB of bandwidth, which is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site and how large your pages are, how many page views, and other considerations. Most    sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1GB - 1.5GB of bandwidth a month.   Learn more about bandwidth here  . Therefore, 17,000 GB is certainly very generous and more than enough for the majority of users.   Visit WebHostingPad    
  
  Summary  
        WebHostingPad   is a great choice for beginners and advanced users. Their site builder has loads of templates and is really easy to use to make your own web site &mdash; without spending any additional money.   WebHostingPad&rsquo;s    cPanel control panel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email without an IT degree. They offer so many features that it&rsquo;s easy to get lost.   
  
    Visit WebHostingPad     
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:44:04 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/webhostingpad-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/webhostingpad-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bandwidth Explained]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Bandwidth, as it applies to   web hosting  , is the amount of traffic (people visiting your site, reading your pages, looking at photos, downloading files [like music], etc.) that is permitted to take place between your site and the rest of the world visiting your pages.  
  Below are are some very liberal and more realistic bandwidth calculations so you can see that the   top rated web hosting plans   listed here at Web Hosting Avatar will more than take care of the requirements of most web sites.  
  Let&rsquo;s get some page sizes to work with:  
  
    Yahoo home page size:  41 kb (recommended)  
    Apple home page: 220 kb  
    CNN home page: 642 kb (Huge, but they gzip and compress their files)  
    Average web page size: 150 kb   
  
    When we figure in page size we sum the html, css, scripts, and all the images on a page.    
  Now, lets say your site has web page sizes of about 300 kb each (huge and not normal) and you get 10,000 visitors a day (you&rsquo;re really popular) and they visit 100 pages each, your total bandwidth will be: 572 GB per month. Nearly all the plans in the quality hosting category offer 15,000 GB a month, at least.   
  Now, let&rsquo;s do something more realistic: Your site has page sizes around 150 kb each and you get about 200 visitors a day and those visitors view all 15 pages of your site, you need 1&nbsp;GB of transfer (bandwidth) per month.   
  Here&rsquo;s another scenario: Your site has pages around 2500 kb (you have music files) and you get about 1000 visitors a day and they view  50 pages of your site, you need 238 GB of transfer (bandwidth) per month.   
  Now how did we come up with these amounts?   
  Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size x 31 x Fudge Factor  
  The average site will not require more than 1-2 GBs a month.  
    Please learn more about our top rated web, quality web hosts.     

]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:32:25 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/bandwidth-explained/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/bandwidth-explained/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Finding the right web host for your needs]]></title><description><![CDATA[   Shared Hosting / Budget Hosting and Quality Hosts   
  Shared hosting is what the vast majority of the web sites are using and that is the type of hosting found here (except for the   dedicated   and   VPS   plans). If you&rsquo;re a small business or need hosting for your blog or photo gallery, all of best web hosts in the   quality hosting   category will fulfill your basic need of web hosting. The   cheap hosting   category will cover personal and most small business hosting needs quite well too. Please read the reviews, they are filled with useful information about web site builders, whether or not you&rsquo;ll get a pro-rated refund should you sign up for a long plan, and other useful information that we hope will save you some grief and some money.   
  The prices are low because it is shared hosting. This means that one server is used for a number of different web site accounts. Every account on that server shares the resources, which brings down the cost (a dedicated server is about $175.00 - $400.00 a month). Now, should there be an account that is hogging the resources &mdash; which occasionally happens &mdash;&nbsp;then your site will be affected with slow downs and other issues. Hosting companies keep track of this and, once made aware &mdash; either by the affected site owners or by their own internal monitoring, they shut off the the user monopolizing the resources. However, there are bumps for you when this happens. Some hosts, like   Inmotion  , load balance their servers, and they and don&rsquo;t attract the type of user who is likely to monopolize the resources on the server.    HostPapa   does not load balance, but they watch their servers all day and night for and manually keep all the servers a peak performance. This is an occasional situation, but you should know this stuff anyway.   
  So how do you choose a web host that is right for your needs? This is where reading the reviews comes in handy and then visiting the sites of the hosts we recommend. We recommend contacting them with all your questions BEFORE you purchase. Many hosts have Live Chat, so you should be able to get your questions answered right away. Also look at their FAQ section, that helps.   
  Some shared hosting plans are better than others depending on your specific needs. For example,   HostPapa  ,   HostGator  ,   WebHostingPad  , and   Inmotion   offer excellent web site builders. With these builders, DIYers &mdash; without html knowledge &mdash; can can build their own web site and maintain it.     HostGator   is the best and easiest so far.     
     BlueHost  , and   HostGator  ,   WebHostingPad  , and   InMotion   have phone support 24/7.   HostPapa   has support by phone during business hours, but email support the rest of the time.   HostPapa   is also carbon neutral, green friendly.   DreamHost   is also green web hosting. All of the hosts have online support 24/7. Some hosts just don&rsquo;t offer any phone support at all, and only use email or their ticketing system. It&rsquo;s nice to talk with human when you run into difficulties, but some web users are experienced enough not to need phone support.  
  We&rsquo;ve evaluated a lot of hosts and are adding more to the list, but so far we&rsquo;ve only found two who pro-rate their refund if you cancel past the trial period. They are listed as the 2nd and 3rd host in our    quality, shared hosting provider list.   However,   HostGator   has a very low month-to-month plan, so that helps lessen the risk, even if they don&rsquo;t, like so many others, pro-rate their refunds.   InMotion   does not oversell their servers and is the top rated host we recommend.   
  All of the hosts have web administration panels, either cPanel or their own home grown web panel. This allows you to easily set up email accounts and manage your hosting services.  
  Most of the hosts have Fantastico script installation, or some other type of easy script installation, which means you can install, with a click of a few buttons, some seriously awesome scripts for blogging, e-commerce, news, photo galleries, and content based data based driven web sites. You can literally open up an online store, get a blog going, start an online community, and get your photo gallery up without knowing the ins and outs of setting up a database, php scripting, and configuring your server.   Explore our quality, shared hosting providers.     
  E-commerce Online Business Hosting   
  The web hosts reviewed on this site each have auto installer that give you with the ability to install  leading shopping cart/store management scripts. These scripts have support through their user bases, on their respective forums and in their respective manuals. All of the scripts provided have a variety of skins, templates, or themes available for low cost or no cost (it depends on how picky you are). To accept credit cards, you can usually use PayPal instead of getting a merchant account with your bank or through an online merchant account provider. If you don&rsquo;t want to use PayPal, you can use another payment gateway but you will need two things: a dedicated IP address and a SSL certificate. For a low monthly fee, the hosts reviewed by us will provide you with a dedicated IP address for your e-commerce needs, you only need this should you accept cards through a payment gateway other than PayPal. You will also need, should you decide not to use PayPal, a SSL (secure socket layer) certificate to get your site encrypted and protect your customer&rsquo;s financial information. Some hosts provide a shared certificate, others do not. Read more about   e-commerce hosting here   (there&rsquo;s an article below the chart). See our   e-commerce hosting providers.     
  SSH Hosting  
  Secure Shell (SSH) access enables to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer your web site. You can compress/decompress files easily, automate backups and other tasks (cron), change file permissions for complete directory structures, and more.   Check out our top SSH hosting providers.    
  Virtual Private Server Hosting (VPS)  
  For hosting standard web sites and blogs, shared hosting is generally a good fit. Virtual Private Server hosting (VPS hosting) will bring you about 50% up to the flexibility of a dedicated server, but at a much, much, much lower price!   Check out our top VPS hosts.     
  Dedicated Server Web Hosting   
  A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting is where the client leases an entire server and it is not shared with anyone. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as you have full control over the server. Server administration is usually  provided by the hosting company. For large e-commerce stores, large online communities, and the ability to have lots of control, a dedicated server is the way to go.     See our  dedicated hosting providers.    
  
  &nbsp;   

]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:57:26 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/finding-the-right-web-host-for-your-needs/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/finding-the-right-web-host-for-your-needs/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[HostPapa Best Quality Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      


  Getting a Web Site Up  
  You don&rsquo;t need to know html to use   HostPapa&rsquo;s Pro web site builder.   This builder comes with 100s of professional templates.   Take a look at what some people have done without templates.   All of the designs in this sample were created by non-techies (though artistic talent has to be there).   Visit HostPapa     
  
           
           
           
           
  
    HostPapa   also has  auto installers of about 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These are impressive scripts are supported through their respective user base. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. And for low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates available through their respective web sites or through other users.   Visit HostPapa     
  Unlimited Domains in one Account   
  With   HostPapa   you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and many hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They come in handy for web developers and just business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company.  
  Environmental Responsibility   
    HostPapa   offsets their entire operation with Green Energy credits. Essentially, two outside auditors evaluate their energy consumption and then HostPapa purchases the equivelent in green tags which support wind and solar energy and offset the bad energy with the good. This renewable energy is fed back into the grid. It&rsquo;s very cool.   Visit HostPapa to read more about this.     
  Cost  
    HostPapa   has just one, powerful, well researched,  feature rich plan at a very low price. When you sign up, you also get $50 in marketing credit with Yahoo Search, MSN AdCenter and Promo People Products. That&rsquo;s a total of $150.00 in marketing money. All hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service,    HostPapa       is 1-3 years. The list below shows how much you will pay up front.  
  
    12 Months - $7.95/mo + FREE Setup
    =
    $95.40
      
        24 Months - $6.95/mo + FREE Setup = $166.80  
        36 Months - $5.95/mo + FREE Setup = $214.20   
      
    
  
  Satisfaction   
   Beginners, developers,  designers, and earth lovers love   HostPapa!   Located in Niagara Falls in New York and in Toronto Canada,   HostPapa   offers has one, low priced, feature rich plan. Their uptime is 99.99% &mdash; independently verified.   HostPapa   has a 30 day money back guarantee. Super friendly support is just a phone call away during standard business hours and 24/7 online (the Live Chat works best). Certain times of day are busier than others, but the Live Chat is terrific for getting through.   Visit HostPapa    
  HostPapa has only one drawback in an otherwise steller review &mdash; and they are among the vast majority of other hosts &mdash;   they do not pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 30 days.   Read the following transcript of our live chat.   
  Transcript on February 17, 2008:  
  
    Marc: Welcome to HostPapa, how can I help you today?  
    WHA: If I sign up for 3 years and after 1 year I decide to leave or some other circumstance ends my hosting with you, what is the refund? Is difference pro-rated?  
    Marc: No, in this case it would be better you sign up for one year   
  
    So what do you do?   Well you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can get the lowest term on the plan, that is the only option.   HostPapa   has a lot of features, but they are identical (except for the cool web builder they have and the green engery) with   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . If you are really keen on using them due to their environmental policies or their site builder, try a little charm and ask them to make an exception so you can feel better in trusting them. Write   HostPapa   an email like this:  
  
    Dear   HostPapa  ,  
    I really want to use you as my host because I love your environmental practices (or whatever). I&rsquo;m a small busines person and this is internet stuff is new to me. I&rsquo;m worried because you don&rsquo;t pro-rate your hosting refunds. I read that if I signed up for 2 or 3 years and canceled after 1 year, I would not get a refund of the difference (less any set up fees). Please let me know if you can make an exception in my case.  
    Sincerely,  
    Your Name   
  
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    HostPapa&rsquo;s   plan is  packed with features and comes with plenty of space and bandwidth.   HostPapa   offers 1,500 GB (that&rsquo;s huge!) of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. They also offer 15,000 GB of bandwidth, which is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site and how large your pages are, how many page views, and other considerations. The majority of business sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1-1.5 GB of bandwidth a month. Therefore, 15,000 GB is certainly very generous and more than enough for the majority of users.   Learn more about bandwidth here  .   Visit HostPapa    
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    HostPapa       has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, and CubeCart.   HostPapa   does not have a SSL certificate, you would need to get one through DomainAvatar, GoDaddy, or a variety of other sources. A dedicated IP address is 36.00   a year   as of this writing.  
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting.    
  Datacenter Location   
  HostPapa DataCenter &mdash;&nbsp;Same as     VistaPages      
Toronto, Ontario  
  
  Summary  
        HostPapa   is a great choice for  businesses, especially those who are looking to maintain an earth friendly lifestyle without breaking their budget.   HostPapa&rsquo;s    cPanel control panel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email without an IT degree. It&rsquo;s the perfect host for beginner and intermediate hosting customers.    HostPapa&rsquo;s   web site builder delivers professional results for informational, brochure like sites, without hiring a web developer (at least in the beginning). The fantastico installer allows you to easily install blogging, calendar, gallery, and and other cool applications to get a dynamic, database driven site, without spending a fortune. It&rsquo;s the perfect host for intermediate and advanced hosting customers who are not quite ready or have the budget for   dedicated hosting  . Their lack of a pro-rated refund, like   BlueHost   and   HostMonster   is a drawback but they have a decent reputation.   
  
    Visit HostPapa   
  

]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:55:20 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostpapa-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostpapa-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Inmotion Cheap Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  
  
    
      



  

Inmotion&rsquo;s   entry level plans come with all of their fantastic support, but the plans are not as feature rich as the   business class plans   (which are only about 1-2 bucks more a month). But if you just need to host a blog or a personal web site, these are fantastic deals. The basic   Starter   is very slim on features, it is not recommended at all because you can&rsquo;t use the web builder, the installer scripts, get email with it, or use a database. The other two entry level plans, the   Basic   and the   Max  , are much better. However, most people get the the   business plans   (even personal web site owners like them better) and they are only a couple bucks more a month.  
    Inmotion   has a  30 day satisfaction guarantee with the personal plans (the business plans have a 90 day guarantee) and   extremely   reliable service and support.  
  Money, Honey   
    All hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service, fortunately   Inmotion   is only 2 years. The list below shows how much you will pay up front. Beware! Like most other hosts (except two we&rsquo;ve found so far), they do not offer a pro-rated refund if you cancel after the trial period. Read more about pro-rated refunds (or lack of) on the   business plans   page.   
    Do not get any of these plans if you are running a business site, check out the   Inmotion business plans  .     
  
    Starter 		24 Months - $3.00/mo + FREE Setup = $72.00   
    
    Basic 		24 Months - $4.00/mo + FREE Setup = $96.00   
    
    Max 		24 Months - $5.00/mo + FREE Setup = $120.00  
    
  
    If you cancel after the trial period, you do not get a refund of the the difference (pro-rated).     
  Getting a Web Site Up  
  If need a web site up and running fast,   Inmotion&rsquo;s   personal   Basic   and   Max   plans have a web site builder (the builder does not come with the   Starter   plan). The site builder will help you build a site online and get it up and running quickly. Without any &quot;techie&quot; skills, you can produce web sites that look really nice.  
    Inmotion&rsquo;s   personal   Basic   and   Max   plans have FREE auto installers of the most powerful open source applications out there (the installers do not come with the   Starter   plan). These scripts  truly rival their commercial counterparts and sometimes exceed them. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop (but don&rsquo;t start an ecommerce store with an entry level hosting plan, that would not work for you), you can literally install these scripts in a few clicks. You can really get a blog up and going in a few minutes (after you write some stuff).   Visit Inmotion    
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
      The entry level plans give just what you need for personal hosting, which will work for most personal needs. In the   Starter   plan you get 100GB of space and 1000 GB of bandwidth transfer, with the   Basic   plan you get 150GB of space and 1500 GB of bandwidth transfer, with the   Max   plan you get 200GB of space and 2000 GB of bandwidth transfer. However, with both the   Basic   and   Max   plans, you get a ton more features which you will definitely need. They are covered above. However, like we stated earlier: most people get  the   business plans   (even personal web site owners like them better) and they are only a couple bucks more a month.   Read more about bandwidth here, if you're interested.     Visit Inmotion    
  
  Summary  
        Inmotion   is the ideal choice for the individual who  wants to pay the cheapest amount possible, and yet deal with a top rated web host. They load balance their servers, have top notch support, and generally kick butt over all. The features on their entry level plans are okay for individuals, but it&rsquo;s better to get the low cost   business plans   because you get more growth, more speed, more everything, and the   business plans   are inexpensive too.       
  


    Visit Site    ]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:49:50 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/cheap-web-hosting/inmotion-cheap-web-hosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/cheap-web-hosting/inmotion-cheap-web-hosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[BlueHost Best Quality  Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Why? Respected, reliable host for 12 years, pro-rated refunds (rare), host unlimited domains, 15,000 GB transfer, 1500 GB space, 24/7 phone support, easy cPanel, low prices, 52 awesome scripts for blogging, online stores, galleries, and more.  
  
  
    
      



      BlueHost   has been around for a century in Internet time, or 12 years in reality. They are known for providing toll free, person-to-person support, lots of features, and smooth, reliable hosting. They offer just one, powerful,  feature rich plan at a very affordable price. When you sign up for   BlueHost&rsquo;s   plan, you also get a total of $100 in marketing credit     with Yahoo and Google ($50.00 each). And they have a lot of partnerships with cool companies so you can get a variety of goodies.   Visit BlueHost and try out their cPanel demo.     
    BlueHost   is the same company as   HostMonster.   And this is nearly the same review.   
  Satisfaction  
    BlueHost   has a 30 day money back guarantee, but they do something     very rare     for a hosting company:   they pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 30 days   (but read further for details)  .   This is a   very, very rare policy among hosts    and it generated a lot of trust for us. Nearly all hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service (some 10 years!),   BlueHost   is 1-2 years. It&rsquo;s good to know that if after the 30 day trial period, say a year down the road,  if you decide to change hosts, you can do so without loosing all the money you pre-paid. Most hosts keep this money. As you can see from the Live Chat transcript, our question didn&rsquo;t go into depth. To make sure that this awesome policy (which has been part of their policy for for years now) is still in effect,    visit BlueHost   and click on their Live Chat.   Always see for yourself.    
  On February 17, 2008 at 12:36 PM we asked the follow question through   BlueHost&rsquo;s   Live Chat:  
  
    Light M. [[11:28:50 AM]: Hello how are you today? Please give me a moment while I review your question.  
    WHA [11:28:50 AM]: If I sign up for 2 years and after 1 year I decide to leave, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?  
    Light M. [11:28:58 AM]: It is pro-rated  
  
  Cost  
    BlueHost   has one feature rich plan suitable for nearly all business situations and ecommerce. Their plan comes with 15,000 GB of transfer (bandwidth) and 1500GB of space to store the files that make up your website. Nearly all hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying certain lengths of time. The reason why   BlueHost   is one of our top two picks, besides the fact that their package is awesome, is because they provide a pro-rated refund if you cancel past the 30 day trial period*. This is a rare thing as we mentioned earlier. Below is a breakdown of your total upfront costs. There are no additional, hidden fees.   
    12 Months - $7.95/mo + FREE Setup = $95.40  
    24 Months - $6.95/mo + FREE Setup = $166.80  
  





  *There may be a set up fee that you will be required to pay if you cancel before 12 months (since 12 months is their min. plan) and if you got a domain registration through them, that would not be refunded (this is normal). Always confirm in writing before you sign up with any host.   
  Support   
    BlueHost   has a 99.99% uptime at the time of this writing, this is independently verified.   They do not have and uptime guarantee,   which is no big deal   &mdash; the companies who offer an uptime guarantee make you go through hoops to collect.     An uptime guarantee really is a useless thing and   BlueHost   knows it.   Good support  is available 24/7/365 by phone or online. This support is done here in the USA. In our experience they are always courteous and follow through. Certain times of day are busier than others, but the Live Chat is terrific for getting through fast!   Visit BlueHost    
  SSH  
  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with the   BlueHost       plan, but you have to activate it with proof of who you are. This is very important so that they trust you. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their web site. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available. Plus with cPanel, you can also load files through the File Manager &mdash; super easy.     
  Getting a Web Site Up  
  Site builders are good for &ldquo;do-it-yourselfers&rdquo; who want a brochure based site that they can update and set up themselves. Not everyone needs this service, especially if you have web designer or are moving your current site because your previous host sucks. Some hosts come out better than others with respect to their site builders.   BlueHost&rsquo;s    site builder leaves much to be desired &mdash; to put it frankly. To get a decent web site up and going fast, you&rsquo;ll need to get a web designer/developer to create a site for you or you can use   BlueHost&rsquo;s   Fantastico auto installer for many types of sites. For example, with this installer you get 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. For low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates so that they look really clean and professional.   Visit BlueHost    
    If you need a host that provides you with a professional site builder, so you can create your own small web site site without technical skills, check out:   WebHostingPad  ,   HostPapa  , and   HostGator  .      
  Unlimited Domains in one Account   
  With   BlueHost       you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and a number of hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They are extremely handy for web developers and business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company. They also allow unlimited sub domains too, like &ldquo;sales.yourdomain.com&rdquo;. You also get unlimited MySQL databases too, so if you have a lot of blogs or different stores, you can also feel free to add databases as you need them.   
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    BlueHost&rsquo;s   plan is  packed with features and comes with plenty of space and bandwidth.   BlueHost   offers 1,500 GB (that&rsquo;s huge!) of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. They also offer 15,000 GB of bandwidth, which is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site: how large your pages are, how many page views, etcetera.   Read more about bandwidth here, if you're interested.    
  Most  sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1-2 GB of bandwidth a month (usually less).    Visit BlueHost    
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    BlueHost   has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, CubeCart and AgoraCart.   BlueHost   provides a shared SSL certificate. A dedicated IP address is 39.00   a year   as of this writing.  
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting.    
  Datacenter Location  
  BlueHost Datacenter &mdash;&nbsp;same as     BlueHost      
Orem, Utah  
  
  Summary  
        BlueHost   is a great choice for small businesses. They&rsquo;ve been around for ages (actually 1996) and have a solid, consistent track record for excellent support and reliability. They pro-rate their refunds, which is very rare and shows that they are not going to make money on you if you are gone (most other hosts do not pro-rate refunds). The   BlueHost   plan has loads of features and benefits that anyone can use, for example:    BlueHost&rsquo;s    cPanel control panel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email without an IT degree.  
  
    Visit BlueHost     
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:04:01 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/bluehost-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/bluehost-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[HostGator Quality Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Why? Month to month plans, 45 day satisfaction guarantee, really excellent site builder with clean web templates, 4,500 html templates, 24/7 phone support, lots of storage and space, unlimited domains on most plans, shared SSL certificate, lots of fantastic software for blogs, stores, and more.   
  
  
    
      





  Cool features not found elsewhere!  
       HostGator&rsquo;s   slogan is &ldquo;We Eat Up the Competition&rdquo; and they have a good reason for stating that: they have a mother load of features in their three plans:   Hatchling,     Baby  , and   Swamp  . Some of those cool features are the   4,500 free web templates   (and they are really polished) and their   awesome site builder.   There&rsquo;s some samples and more details below. Unlike other hosts,   HostGator   makes moving from your old host easy. They will handle the complete site transfer (including the scripts and databases) from another cPanel host, free. In addition, they have a month to month plan, and there is no set up fee at all.  
  Satisfaction  
    HostGator   has a generous 45 day satisfaction guarantee and month to month plans with no set up fees!   HostGator   support is available 24/7 via phone or online. They get back to fast on Live Chat, we didn&rsquo;t try the phone. They also have 99.99%  uptime, which is independently verified.        Visit HostGator    
      HostGator has only one drawback in an otherwise excellent review &mdash; and they are among the vast majority of other hosts &mdash;   they do not pro-rate your refund   if you cancel after the 45 days. However, with their month to month plans and no set up fee,   they&rsquo;re hardly a risk in this respect  . Read the following transcript of our live chat.   
  Transcript on February 17, 2008:  
  
    Nasser: Welcome to HostGator, how may I assist you?  
    WHA: If I sign up for 3 years and after 1 year I decide to leave or some other circumstance ends my hosting with you, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?  
    Nasser: Well there isnt a refund after 45 days under our money back guarantee.  
    Nasser: But if you cancel   within   the 45 days  
    Nasser: We give you your 3 years back as theres no contract.  
  
    So what do you do?   Well you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can get the lowest term on the plan. Since   HostGator   is a rare host with month to month plans with NO SET UP FEE, there is no major risk here. Plus they have all the awesome templates and a really rocking site builder!   
  All hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service,    HostGator       is 1 month - 3 years. The list below shows how much you will pay up front for each of their plans. This stuff is hard to find on their site (only if you mouse over the plan price). Since we don&rsquo;t like to be surprised, we&rsquo;ve listed them below, lowest up front cost to highest.   
  Prices and Plans   
     Hatchling Plan   
				       For personal or small business hosting.  
				       
                        Monthly - $8.95/mo  = $8.95   
                        1 year - $6.95/mo  = $83.40  
                        2 years - $5.95/mo  = $142.80  
                        3 years - $4.95/mo = $178.20  
                      
					  
  
					
					  
                      Baby Plan  
                      For business, blogs, most everything, ecommerce too &mdash; most popular  
                      
                        Monthly - $9.95/mo  = $9.95  
                        2 years - $8.95/mo  = $214.80  
                        3 years - $7.95/mo  = $286.20  
                        
                      
										  
					  
					
					  
                      Swamp Plan   
                      More space and bandwidth.  
                      
                        Monthly - $14.95/mo  = $14.95  
                        2 years - $13.95/mo  = $334.80  
                        3 years - $12.95/mo  = $466.20  
                      
															  
					  

					
																				  
																				  Dedicated and Reseller Hosting   
                                                                                  Please vist   HostGator           to learn more about their dedicated and reseller hosting plans.        
                                                                                  SSH   
                                                                                  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with    HostGator           plans. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their website. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available. Pluse with cPanel, you can also load files through the File Manager &mdash; super easy.     
                                                                                  Getting a Web Site Up  
                                                                                        You don&rsquo;t need to know html to use   HostGator&rsquo;s Pro web site builder.   This builder comes with tons of professional templates. 
  Take a look at the templates that come with HostGator&rsquo;s site builder.    

  

      
      
      

  


  

  In addition,   HostGator   has 4,500 professional web templates to choose from. When you use their hosting, you can use their templates. That is a sweet deal.   Take a look some of the awesome templates.   Now these templates are separate from the site builder templates. They are for people who know html and photoshop (to edit or change the photos). Another way to use them is to provide the template to an html freelancer and have them update it with your content.   

  

        
      
      
      

  
  

          HostGator   also has  auto installers of about 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! These are impressive scripts. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. And for low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates available through their respective web sites or through other users. These scripts are not part of the site builder or part of the templates they have, just so you don't get confused. We say this because   HostGator   offers so many things, that it&rsquo;s easy to get lost.   Visit HostGator     

  Unlimited Domains in one Account  
   (on the Baby and Swamp Plans)   
  With   HostGator   you can host unlimited domains under one account with their   Baby   and   Swamp   plans. The Hatchling plan comes with only one domain hosted and some other limiting features. That&rsquo;s why the   Baby   and   Swamp   plans are so much better. Plus, you can pay month to month, which rocks! When you have the ability to host more than one domain in one account, they are called addon domains. A lot hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them &mdash; or they don&rsquo;t offer them at all. Addon domains come in handy for web developers and just business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company.   Visit HostGator    
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    HostGator&rsquo;s   plans are  packed with features and come with plenty of space and bandwidth (transfer). Since there are three different plans, there are three different configurations of bandwidth and storage. Here&rsquo;s a break down:  

                      Hatchling Plan   
                      
                        350 GB Disk Space / 3,000 GB Bandwidth  
                          Get this plan only for personal web hosting of one domain     
                      

                      Baby Plan   
                      
                        600 GB Disk Space / 6,000 GB Bandwidth					  
                          Get this plan for $9.95 per month. Pay month to month!     
                      
					
                      Swamp Plan   
                      
                        1000 GB Disk Space / Unmetered - Unlimited Bandwidth  
                          Get this plan for $14.95 per month. Pay month to month!     
					  
                      


   Most sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1-1.5GB of bandwidth (or transfer) a month.   Learn more about bandwidth here  .   
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    HostGator       has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, CubeCart and AgoraCart.   HostGator       provides a shared SSL certificate. A dedicated IP address is $2.00   a month   as of this writing.  
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting.    
  Datacenter Location   
  HostGator DataCenter (  WebHostingBuzz   also uses this location for one of their three datacenters)   
Dallas, Texas  
  
  HostGator Hosting Summary  
        HostGator&rsquo;s   plans are very feature rich, but their   Hatchling   plan is not recommended for anything but personal sites. The other two plans, the   Baby   and   Swamp   plans are really hot. For do it yourself web design and loads of goodies installed on their plan, this is the one that beats all others, hands down.    HostGator&rsquo;s    cPanel control panel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email without an IT degree (no kidding). It&rsquo;s the perfect host for beginner and advanced hosting customers. They have easy month to month plans and that lessens your out of pocket expense. If you sign up for a year or more, note that they do not pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 45 day trail period. So sign up month to month is our recommendation. That they even have a month to month plan, shows that they have a high level of performance.   
  
    Visit HostGator    
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:01:23 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostgator-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostgator-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[InMotion Quality Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Why InMotion? Does not oversell server .. load balances servers ... 24/7 phone support ... extremely reliable ... cNet certified ... BBB in good standing ... nice site builder .. excellent support ... plenty of bandwidth and space ... easy install of blogging, online store (e-commerce), gallery, and other powerful scripts ... shared SSL certificate ...   
  
  
    
      


            InMotion   has earned 3 out of 3 Stars from CNET to become a CNET Certified Service Provider. They have maintained this stature since 2002 &mdash; this is a huge deal, since they&rsquo;ve been in business since 2001. They also have an A rating with BBB online. This means that they got it right from the start with respect to smooth, reliable, fast service. Their datacenter is located in downtown Los Angeles and their tech support offices are in Virgina Beach, VA. They do not outsource tech support, it stays within the company here in the United States. They do not over sell their servers.   Visit InMotion to get an overview of their plans.     
     Their support is available 24/7 via phone or online.   InMotion   has a 99.9% uptime record which is   independently monitored  .  
    InMotion   has focused on business hosting and they offer an excellent range of hosting plans at reasonable prices with superior service. They have   starter shared hosted plans strictly for personal use  , business plans (this page),   vps hosting  , and   dedicated hosting   plans.   
  Getting a Web Site Up   
  If need a web site up and running fast,   InMotion   has a choice of two web builders. Both of which will help you build a site online and get it up and running quickly. Without any &ldquo;techie&rdquo; skills, you can produce a web site that looks rather decent (depending on your artistic level). There are some really nice templates to choose from.   InMotion   also offers an   excellent design and management plan   for $299 and a monthly $49.95 management fee. For this ridiculously low amount, they will develop, launch and maintain your web site. The designs are very clean and professional. You&rsquo;re saving a lot of money with this service. The quality of the work is very professional looking and is built with clean code.  
     InMotion   also has auto installers of the most powerful open source applications out there. These scripts  truly rival their commercial counterparts and sometimes exceed them. If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can literally install these scripts in a few clicks. Many of these scripts come with templates or themes to make them look really professional. These installers are included with your account.   Visit InMotion    
  Cost  
  Many hosting  companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service,   InMotion   is 1-2 years. The list below shows how much you will pay up front for their business plans. Please visit   InMotion   to learn about their   vps hosting  , and   dedicated hosting   plans.   
  
    Launch 		12 Months - $7.95/mo + FREE Setup
    =
    $95.40
      
          Launch 24 Months - $6.95/mo + FREE Setup = $166.80   
      
    
    Power 		12 Months - $9.95/mo + FREE Setup
    =
    $119.40
      
          Power 24 Months - $8.95/mo + FREE Setup = $214.80  
          
      
    
    Pro 		12 Months - $18.95/mo + FREE Setup =
    $227.40
      
          Pro 6 Months - $19.95/mo + FREE Setup = $119.70   
        Pro 1 Month - $19.95/mo + $40 Setup = $59.95  
      
    
  
  Satisfaction  
    InMotion   has a very generous 90 day satisfaction guarantee (on their business plans) and   extremely   reliable service and support.  
      InMotion has only one drawback in an otherwise glowing review &mdash; and they are among the vast majority of other hosts &mdash; they do not pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 90 days. Read the following transcript of our live chat.   
  Transcript on February 17, 2008. The stuff added in [brackets] is our edits:   
  
    Brad: Hello, One moment please.  
    Brad: Unfortunately, after one full year we would not be able to issue a pro-rated refund. We do offer 30 [on the personal plans] and 90 day [business plans] money back guarantees on our accounts.  
    Brad: We could always change the main domain name on the account if you would like to host a different web site.  
    WHA: What about if it's after 6 months or just outside the 90 days (assuming the business plans)?  
    Brad: Each cancellation refund is on a case by case basis in which our Billling Manager will make the call. Usually if you are outside of the guarantee, no pro-rated refund is given.   
  
    So what do you do?   Well you could go with a host that offers a pro-rated refund. We&rsquo;ve only found two so far:   BlueHost   and   HostMonster  . Alternatively you  can get the lowest term on the plan. With a long 90 days trial period, you can usually tell how the service is.   InMotion   has an exceptionally good reputation. Brad indicated that they do review each case, so they&rsquo;re not jerks about it.   
  Technical Stuff   
  While a number of hosting companies offer unlimited domains hosted under one account, which is a cool feature for many people, the average business person doesn&rsquo;t need this. Therefore,   InMotion   keeps their servers nice and smooth running through load balancing and their support allocated wisely by offering only 2 sites hosted on the   Launch   plan, 6 sites hosted on the   Power   plan, and 16 sites on the   Pro   plan. They also don&rsquo;t offer unlimited databases like many other hosts, but do offer just what most  need, which is 5 to 200 depending on the the plan. Databases only come into play with database driven sites, and your plan will more than satisfy the needs of your web developer.   InMotion   is attracting a different client base and are really being smart about their offerings so they don&rsquo;t get the type of users who  monopolize the resources of their servers. This is one of the reasons why they have a superior record of uptime and support.        Visit InMotion    
           All their plans  are jam packed with features and loads of space and bandwidth.   InMotion   offers plenty of storage space and transfer (or bandwidth) for the majority of web site user needs.   Please check out their plans for details   .   Read more about bandwidth here.    
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    InMotion       has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your Power or Pro hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, and CubeCart.   InMotion       provides a shared SSL certificate. A dedicated IP address is 24.00 a year (2.00 a month) as of this writing. So far, this is the best host for Ecommerce we&rsquo;ve found.    
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting here.    
  Datacenter Location   
    InMotion   Datacenter &mdash;&nbsp;same geographical area, but not the same building as     DreamHost      
  Los Angeles, CA   

  
  Summary  
        InMotion   is a great choice for  businesses who want a very high rated host who knows how to focus their resources effectively. All the plans (except for the starter plans) are feature rich and their 90 day satisfaction guarantee is one of the longest in the industry. They don&rsquo;t have a pro-rated refund, so sign up for the lowest term limit. They have an exceptional record, however.   InMotion&rsquo;s    cPanel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email easily. And their online site builder  will help you build a  web site that you can update yourself.   You can try out the site builder on their site   before you determine if this is the right host for you. Also ask them questions in the Live Chat   before   you commit  .    
  


    Visit Site     

]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:18:00 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/inmotion-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/inmotion-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[HostMonster Quality Web Hosting]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Why? Respected, reliable host for 12 years, pro-rated refunds (rare), host unlimited domains, 15,000 GB transfer, 1500 GB space, 24/7 phone support, easy cPanel, low prices, 52 awesome scripts for blogging, online stores, galleries, and more.   

  
  
    
      



      HostMonster   has been around for a century in Internet time, or 12 years in reality. This is because they are the same company as     BlueHost    . They are known for providing toll free, person-to-person support, lots of features, and smooth, reliable hosting. They offer just one, powerful,  feature rich plan at a very affordable price. When you sign up for   HostMonster&rsquo;s   plan, you also get a total of $100 in marketing credit     with Yahoo and Google ($50.00 each). And they have a lot of partnerships with cool companies so you can get a variety of goodies.   Visit HostMonster and try out their cPanel demo.     
  Satisfaction  
    HostMonster       has a 30 day money back guarantee, but they do something     very rare     for a hosting company:   they pro-rate your refund if you cancel after the 30 days   (but read further for details)  .   This is a   very, very rare policy among hosts    and it generated a lot of trust for us. Nearly all hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying for 1-5 years of service (some 10 years!),   HostMonster       is 3 months - 2 years. It&rsquo;s good to know that if after the 30 day trial period, say a year down the road,  if you decide to change hosts, you can do so without loosing all the money you pre-paid. Most hosts keep this money. As you can see from the Live Chat transcript, our question didn&rsquo;t go into depth. To make sure that this awesome policy (which has been part of their policy for for years now) is still in effect,   visit HostMonster       and click on their Live Chat.   Always see for yourself.         
  On February 17, 2008 at 12:36 PM we asked the follow question through   HostMonster&rsquo;s   Live Chat:  
  
    Light M. [12:36:53 PM]: Hello how are you today? Please give me a moment while I review your question.  
    WHA [12:36:53 PM]: If I sign up for 2 years and after 1 year I decide to leave, what is the refund? Is the difference pro-rated?  
    Light M. [12:37:06 PM]: It is pro-rated  
  
  Cost  
    HostMonster   has one feature rich plan suitable for nearly all business situations and ecommerce. Their plan comes with 15,000 GB of transfer (bandwidth) and 1500GB of space to store the files that make up your website. Nearly all hosting companies list their lowest price per month based on pre-paying certain lengths of time. The reason why   HostMonster   is one of our top two picks, besides the fact that their package is awesome, is because they provide a pro-rated refund if you cancel past the 30 day trial period*. This is a rare thing as we mentioned earlier. Below is a breakdown of your total upfront costs. There are no additional, hidden fees.   
  

  3 Month price - $8.95/mo + $30 Setup = $56.85  
  6 Months - $8.95/mo + $30 Setup
  =
  $83.70   
  12 Months - $7.95/mo + FREE Setup = $95.40  
  24 Months - $6.95/mo + FREE Setup = $166.80  
  





  *There may be a set up fee that you will be required to pay if you cancel before 3 months (since 3 months is their min. plan) and if you got a domain registration through them, that would not be refunded (this is normal). Always confirm in writing before you sign up with any host.   
  Support   
    HostMonster   has a 99.99% uptime at the time of this writing, this is independently verified.   They do not have and uptime guarantee,   which is no big deal   &mdash; the companies who offer an uptime guarantee make you go through hoops to collect.     An uptime guarantee really is a useless thing and   HostMonster   knows it.   Good support  is available 24/7/365 by phone or online. This support is done here in the USA. In our experience they are always courteous and follow through. Certain times of day are busier than others, but the Live Chat is terrific for getting through fast!   Visit HostMonster    
  SSH  
  Secure Shell (SSH) access is standard with the   HostMonster       plan, but you have to activate it with proof of who you are. This is very important so that they trust you. SSH gives those who are technically inclined the ability to use UNIX/Linux command line instructions to administer their web site. It is a very, very handy feature.   Not to worry for those who don&rsquo;t know how to use SSH &mdash;&nbsp;FTP is available. Plus with cPanel, you can also load files through the File Manager &mdash; super easy.     
  Getting a Web Site Up  
  Site builders are good for &ldquo;do-it-yourselfers&rdquo; who want a brochure based site that they can update and set up themselves. Not everyone needs this service, especially if you have web designer or are moving your current site because your previous host sucks. Some hosts come out better than others with respect to their site builders.   HostMonster&rsquo;s    site builder leaves much to be desired &mdash; to put it frankly. To get a decent web site up and going fast, you&rsquo;ll need to get a web designer/developer to create a site for you or you can use   HostMonster&rsquo;s   Fantastico auto installer for many types of sites. For example, with this installer you get 52 of most powerful open source applications out there &mdash; all FREE! If you want to create a blog, a content managed web site, a photo gallery, a forum/bulletin board, or an online shop, you can easily install these scripts in a few clicks. For low or no cost, many of these scripts have themes, skins, or templates so that they look really clean and professional.   Visit HostMonster    
    If you need a host that provides you with a professional site builder, so you can create your own small web site site without technical skills, check out:   WebHostingPad  ,   HostPapa  , and   HostGator  .      
  Unlimited Domains in one Account   
  With   HostMonster       you can host unlimited domains under one account. These are called addon domains and a number of hosts charge 2.00 - 5.00 extra per month for them. They are extremely handy for web developers and business people with more than one domain registered. You cannot resell these add on domains due to security and a variety of other reasons, but you can host multiple blogs or have different web sites for members of your family or different areas of your company. They also allow unlimited sub domains too, like &ldquo;sales.yourdomain.com&rdquo;. You also get unlimited MySQL databases too, so if you have a lot of blogs or different stores, you can also feel free to add databases as you need them.   
  Space and Bandwidth Information  
    HostMonster&rsquo;s   plan is  packed with features and comes with plenty of space and bandwidth.   HostMonster   offers 1,500 GB (that&rsquo;s huge!) of space to store the photos, text, and other files (like flash or pdf files) that comprise your web site. They also offer 15,000 GB of bandwidth, which is based on the amount of traffic coming to your site: how large your pages are, how many page views, etcetera.   Read more about bandwidth here, if you're interested.    
  Most  sites don&rsquo;t need more than 1-2 GB of bandwidth a month (usually less).    Visit HostMonster    
  E-commerce / Online Storefront   
    BlueHost   has a nifty autoinstaller that allows you to install any of the following, popular, powerful, shopping cart packages on your hosted account: OsCommerce, ZenCart, CubeCart and AgoraCart.   BlueHost   provides a shared SSL certificate.   A dedicated IP address is 39.00 a year as of this writing.     
    Please read more about e-commerce hosting.    
  Datacenter Location  
  HostMonster Datacenter &mdash;&nbsp;same as     BlueHost      
Orem, Utah  
  
  Summary  
        HostMonster   is a great choice for small businesses. They&rsquo;ve been around for ages (actually 1996) and have a solid, consistent track record for excellent support and reliability. They pro-rate their refunds, which is very rare and shows that they are not going to make money on you if you are gone (most other hosts do not pro-rate refunds). The   HostMonster   plan has loads of features and benefits that anyone can use, for example:    HostMonster&rsquo;s    cPanel control panel makes it easy to manage your account, install a wide variety of scripts, and take care of your email without an IT degree.  
  
    Visit HostMonster     
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:17:50 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostmonster-quality-best-webhosting/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/quality-best-webhosting/hostmonster-quality-best-webhosting/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Web Basics]]></title><description><![CDATA[  There&rsquo;s only three basic things you need to get a website up:  

  

  
      Registering your domain name.   Registration is like getting your business name set up with your local government (but it&rsquo;s a thousand times easier). Registration is typically separate from web hosting as web hosting and domain registration are two different services and products, but with all the recommended web hosts here, you can get both hosting and registration done at the same time, and the registration is usually free.  Hosting itself is explained next. If you choose to use a registrar for your domain registration, there are a lot of registrars out there, some are really expensive and some are really cheap (and you don&rsquo;t get any more benefit from the more expensive ones, or less from the cheap ones, it&rsquo;s all about the same stuff in the end).   
  
      Web Hosting:   After your domain name is registered, or while it&rsquo;s in the process (note: you can get hosting and the the domain name registration at the same time at most of the hosts on this site) the next step is hosting. Most people get shared hosting because it&rsquo;s cheaper (and still perfectly fine) than dedicated hosting. Hosting is like renting your storefront. Your host has a bunch of servers located in a physical location on this planet. On one of those servers, in your own section, is where your files are stored &mdash; files that when viewed by a web browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, Camino, etc.,) will be your website.   
  
      Something to put up on your section of the server designated as your website (aka your website):   The best advice is old advice: Keep It Simple (at least in the beginning). Focus on what you&rsquo;ll be using your website for and and build on that. Is it to give advice, sell your services, act like a brochure so you can save some trees, sell your hand made soaps, blog about bunnies? See the article "For most individuals,  businesses of all sizes, non-profits, families, moms, dads, and people with something to say, a blog is easy to use and easy to set up. Even attorneys, doctors, and other professionals can benefit from a blog driven site. Nearly all of the hosts listed on this site have one click installs of the best scripts (all free) that you can use for blogging, photo galleries, ecommerce stores, and more.   
  


  Please explore our top 10 hosting reviews. We spent a lot of time and effort reviewing the best hosting providers. What hosts have the best site builders? Which hosts offer a pro-rated refund if you cancel after their trial period? You'd be surprised on what we found out.  ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:22:56 +0000</pubDate><link>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/web-basics/</link><guid>http://web-hosting-avatar.com/tips-tricks-and-news/web-basics/</guid></item></channel></rss>