Changes at UsingIweb | WestHost | WordPress | Twitter
Both Deepak and Robert have other projects that have removed our focus from UsingIweb. We decided to keep the this blog and perhaps, from time to time, add to it. The year has been busy. Technologies have changed, and so has our relationship with the Internet and its web.
In earlier posts I (Robert) was enthusiastic about Dreamhost. As time passed I found it sometimes very slow and occasionally not reliable. Help is available, but not as fast as I might like it. It is not expensive and I maintain it as a place for some experimental domains.
My preferred web host is now WestHost. Usually they have a special for about $10 that includes 50 GB of space and unlimited web sites and emails. In our tests we found that Westhost served content faster than the competition. This was especially true for CMS programs. It seems that all of our sites are using databases now. What really sold us on WestHost was the outstanding service. I’ve never had to wait long for a representative and these people all seem to really know how to recognize and solve problems.
WestHost claimed to offer virtual private servers (VPS) accounts. It is moving to shared hosting, so the VPS feature is no longer promoted. I was concerned that one of the reasons for speed was having a VPS, but the staff assure me that the speed will not suffer with the change. We’ll see. Apparently, if a client wants a real VPS, they offer that service through a partner, VPS.net (VPS.net is interesting and innovative, so it is worth visiting the site).
Speaking of partners, WestHost was purchased by http://www.uk2group.com/ which owns many hosting sites. At first that transfer of ownership was a big concern of mine. Over the years I’ve found great web hosts, only to find that host was bought by a big faceless giant that provided crummy service. The last episode was when Neureal.com was acquired by EMC. Actually, I’ve not found that service at WestHost has suffered. I follow the CEO of UK2 Group on Twitter, and I’m under the impression that these folks are really interested in providing good hosting services.
One piece of advice that I learned from Deepak was to separate my domain registrations from my web hosts. My rule for my registrar is that the registrar must have an office at a real address that is in the same country as me, and within a day’s driving of my home. Also, I’d like to be able to talk to the people who work there. Since I live on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, I’ve chosen BareMetal as my registrar. Why do this? Should I have a problem with a web host, I can easily upload my whole web site to a new host and then at BareMetal change the pointers to the new site. My domain, and therefore my business, cannot be held for ransom by a web host where the relationship has gone sour.
My first blog was cranked up in the summer of 2006. Now I’ve helped several people with theirs. WordPress has emerged as the best of the blogging platforms, and the software is sufficiently rich in features that it can now provide the foundation for an excellent web site (that just happens to include a blog).
My final note here is that I am amazed at the extent to which Twitter impacts my day. It has been over a decade since my family has had the cable and therefore broadcast television. We do receive a newspaper — but I never read it. I find that now most of my news arrives as a result of my RSS aggregator plus from the posting of the people I’ve chosen to follow on Twitter. I usually know about breaking stories hours and even days before the people who rely on the traditional media.
5 Responses to “Changes at UsingIweb | WestHost | WordPress | Twitter”
July 30th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Twitter is very addictive. I like Twitter more than blogging. the messages are short and straight to the point.
July 30th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Wordpress has evolved to become an excellent CMS for managing a whole web site… that happens to have a blog. The setup of the site is slightly more complicated, but the day-to-day maintenance is much easier. Many people who don’t want to bother with HTML would be more than pleased with a site that uses Wordpress as its engine.
Regarding the blog itself (than database of the list of articles in chronological order)… Google has decided that blogs have real content and are therefore worth rating highly. It seems that there is no better way to put a message out there than on an active blog.
So, I think the role of the blog is complimentary to Twitter.
I find that with RSS and Twitter, I am very well informed. I no longer need print or electronic media to stay up to date.
With twitter, it really helps to be a contributing member of the community.
February 20th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
i always update my Twitter and i love to twitter my daily activities to my friends and loved ones. i also maintain a personal blog for entries which requires more detail.
February 21st, 2010 at 6:16 am
Have been a long time Westhost client and have referred a lot of business their direction. No more.
Was very happy with them until the last six months. Then we have the last week where ALL service has been down no fewer than THREE times… in a week.
It went down early last evening and is still showing:
Affected System(s): System
Fix ETA: 8:00 a.m. MDT
Outage Information
We are experiencing sporadic issues on several servers and are working to resolve them as quickly as possible.
Needless to say we are now looking for other options for our website, bulletin board and email service. Westhost does not seem to realize that “we are working on it” is not going to make it week after week when the entire system is shut down.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:41 am
Thanks Joe. You didn’t include the URL of your site. Since this domain is registered to “Joe Abrahamson” and is also hosted by Westhost I am guessing this is your site: http://joea.com/. At the moment, it is looking ok. I will watch from time to time to see if I can view the problem.
Leave a Comment