planetphillip Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 I think it's fair to say that blogging is huge. I know a number of TCH customers use blogging software and there seems to be a trend for hosts to target this potentially huge market. With that in mind I would like to suggest that Bill et all consider starting: THE TCH BLOGSHERE. A range of hosting packages aimed at bloggers. Of course you would need to install and support the popular packages (WordPress, MT TextPattern etc) but with TCH customer service I think you could clean up. I visit the WP forums regularly and often find new users asking for recommendations. Perhaps if you feel it's worth it you could make a deal with WP and have some kind of cash-back feature. Every new hosting package purchased at TCH means WP gets a small percentage. In fact there must be many ways of promoting the packages. And remember the best advertising is word of mouth and that's essentially what blogging is! To give you some idea of the packages available, I found this via the WP forums today: $9.95 a month gets you: 250Mb Storage 10Gb transfer 10 MySQL dbs Cpanel 250 email addresses plus multiple domain names domain address include (Proper domain name of your choice). Anyway, I could go on all night but you get the idea. Phillip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Guru Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Phil, Thanks for the input. TCH is currently very blog friendly. In fact, we were recently voted the #2 most popular blog friendly host by a popular MT site. Maybe one of the mods could dig up the link for the review. As far as growth look at these numbers. In 2004 we have added well over 12,000 domains to our family. That combined with a attrition rate of We will look at your suggestion's and put them to good use. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Thomas Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 This one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaJill Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 I think you have some excellent suggestions, however I have to say I am a bit confused. You quoted a package that is 10$ per month yet has the same bandwidth, less storage and far more limitations (email addresses and databses) than our cheapest package at 4$ per month. Are you suggesting we charge more, for less - but the offset is that there are a range of scripts pre-installed? Thank you for clarifying. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWD Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 I seriously considered the host that was rated above TCH as they host a number of blogs that I frequent and admire. However, their prices and corresponding disk space and bandwidth are not even close that which TCH offers. In my definition of blog-friendly, cost is a significant friendliness factor. Taking everything into consideration: TCH is the #1 most blog friendly host !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planetphillip Posted November 16, 2004 Author Share Posted November 16, 2004 Head Guru Posted: Nov 15 2004, 11:38 AM Phil, Thanks for the input. TCH is currently very blog friendly. There's no doubt about that but I believe that you need to do more to ensure potential bloggers know it! Many hosting companies specifically target bloggers and that is what I was trying to suggest. See this link:*ttp://wordpress.livingdot.com/ (I'll understand if the mods remove it) Why not have a link on the TCH homepage that says something like: "Blog Hosting - Why choose TCH?" Although I'm not suggesting setting up specific blog hosting packages just target the users. TCH-Lisa Posted: Nov 15 2004, 12:51 PM Are you suggesting we charge more, for less - but the offset is that there are a range of scripts pre-installed? NO, I was just giving you guys an idea of the type of packages that are specifically aimed at bloggers. The current range of TCH plans beat ANY that I have seen (Except for my $5 a year 10Mb plan that I have - but that's another thread!) I truly believe that a lot of new bloggers will join hosts make it very clear that WordPress or MT (Or whatever software) is preinstalled. They are often the lest tech-literate of new users. They don't want to install software and configure it, they just want to blog. My main point is this - TCH should present the information so that it attracts new bloggers. I'm not suggesting that the TCH site is confusing or complicated but the presentation of information should match the users viewing it. The link displays the different packages available as well as what a blog is and the different type of software available, whilst you may not think that a host's job if I was completely new to blogging I would probably join the other company, not because the services are better but because I know the package is suitable for blogging because it says so. TCH doesn't say it specifically I have to look and the specs. I hope I don't sound too negative because I really beieve TCH is absolutely amazing but too often there's not enough empathy between techies and newbies. Phillip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charle97 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 tch does well in attracting bloggers just through word of mouth. that's how i came here a year ago. david raynes, the mt plugin guru, is hosted here and that was enough to get me interested in tch. after doing some research and looking at other blogs hosted here at tch, i was sold. plus lisa and arvind are hosted here too. ee users will be attracted to tch because lisa uses ee and arvind, with his movalog clout, has the mt users covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaJill Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Yes, we are a pretty diverse and eclectic group, aren't we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desConcierto Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 In my definition of blog-friendly, cost is a significant friendliness factor.[/color] It's maybe the most important factor for many people like us. We are very happy with TCH in comparison with our old hosting. This is the heaven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgquest Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 I am tryiing to educate myself about blogging but have not yet found an answer to my question. Here goes: I own a domain (www.sophiasystems.com) and just discovered that someone I don't know has a blog going on at (www.sophiasystems.blogspot.com) Is this legal? did they hijack my domain name and I need to learn more about security issues for my site? or is it just another legit way for blogs to exist? Thanks, Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaJill Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Blogspot is a free host that people can use to host their Blogger powered weblogs. It's paid for by advertising. Most of the sites that use it are subdomain.blogspot.com. It is legit. If you think that you came first and that you have a legal right to the trademark name, "Sophia Systems" and that the only reason she's using that is to infringe on your rights - then you can bring a lawsuit. Note, I'm not a lawyer and the above gibberish that I just spewed may not be entirely accurate. But you could check with a lawyer for the "real deal". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanV Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 I am tryiing to educate myself about blogging but have not yet found an answer to my question. Here goes:I own a domain (www.sophiasystems.com) and just discovered that someone I don't know has a blog going on at (www.sophiasystems.blogspot.com) Is this legal? did they hijack my domain name and I need to learn more about security issues for my site? or is it just another legit way for blogs to exist? Thanks, Cheryl Subdomains for a domain come before the domain name. If someone had www.something.sophiasystems.com, then you would have a problem. www.sophiasystems.blogspot.com is a subdomain under blogspot, not under your domain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgquest Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Thanks for clarifying. Still, it seems a bit cheeky to register a blog using my domain name. I checked whois just to see if it was a registered domain and it isn't. I thought that any URL (up to the dot whatever) was for all intents and purposes a registered domain that was purchased. It appears that I could just register a blogspot using any domain I feel like. For the heck of it I just checked Nike and it looks like someone did a blogspot with their name. So it doesn't look practical to register all the possible blogs to protect my name, yet doesn't it seem like some big names are not going to like this? Does anyone think this could become an issue as more and more blogs are out there? Looks like I have some catch up reading to do in the forums. Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 You cannot register subdomains only top level domains. So if you wanted to register whatever.blogspot.com wouldn't work as Blogspot owns blogspot.com. You could however register whatever.com as long as it hasn't already been taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arvind Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 david raynes, the mt plugin guru, is hosted here and that was enough to get me interested in tch. Yep david referred me here too but I believe he has moved away from TCH because he needed more power for his projects I truly believe that a lot of new bloggers will join hosts make it very clear that WordPress or MT (Or whatever software) is preinstalled. They are often the lest tech-literate of new users. WordPress is fine since it is open source however if TCH was to pre-install MT, it would cost them a fee due to recent licensing terms. From TCH's point of view, I'm not sure how worth it doing that is as setting up MT is very easy on TCH servers, I can do it under 5 minutes its just a matter of know how... I think TCH is very blog friendly, I gave it near top marks on Elise's survey (linked above). Perhaps I don't understand the plan you posted above but I don't see how it is more blog friendly (unless a software is pre-installed) than the current ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planetphillip Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 arvind Posted on Dec 4 2004, 04:03 AM WordPress is fine since it is open source however if TCH was to pre-install MT, it would cost them a fee due to recent licensing terms. I take your point about MT. arvind Posted on Dec 4 2004, 04:03 AM I can do it under 5 minutes its just a matter of know how... But what about the people who are COMPLETELY new to this kind of stuff? I'm a little worried that readers have slightly misunderstood my reason for posting. I know that TCH is blog friendly (I host a WP installation here), what I was trying to suggest was that maybe potential customer might not know that TCH is blog friendly. When you visit TCH's index page there's nothing about blogs (If there is I apologise now, but the fact I couldn’t find it maybe illustrates something). Now I know that you can’t promote to every type of potential customer but all it needs is one link under “Want more from your host?” This would link to a separate page that explains how easy it is to host your blog at TCH. I’m sure many members would happily post testimonials about the quality of service. I know I would. If I was a potential customer and had relatively little experience with the Internet and hosting I would probably sign up with one of the other companies that are targeting bloggers. I may be happy with this host but I bet I would be happier at TCH. It’s a huge market and I have so much respect for how TCH treat their customers I want to try and send a few more their way. My one line conclusion: I’m not questioning TCH’s friendliness but suggesting new ways of presenting that friendliness to match different types of customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanV Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 You cannot register subdomains only top level domains. So if you wanted to register whatever.blogspot.com wouldn't work as Blogspot owns blogspot.com. You could however register whatever.com as long as it hasn't already been taken. Exactly, although let me correct that slightly... You cannot register top level domains, only second level domains. A top level domain is the extention (com, net, org, name, etc) Once you own the domain name (a SLD, second level domain), you can create as many third-level (third.whatever.com), fourth-level (fourth.third.whatever.com), etc domains as you want (commonly called subdomains) http://music.files.webdomain.com com is the TLD webdomain is the SLD files is a subdomain (third-level domain) music is a subdomain of a subdomain (fourth-level) You couldn't register whatever.blogspot.com, but you could create it through the blogspot site. (same with any other subdomain, the site admin can create any subdomain they want) So cgquest, it's impossible to prevent others from creating ANY subdomain that has your name. For example, I could create sophiasystems.alanv.org if I wanted to, and odds are you'd never know about it (except for the fact that I'm posting here :-P) That's why companies usually don't worry about their trademarks being used in subdomains... it's impractical to track them all down and whatnot. Besides, I'm sure there are people using microsoft.domain.com as anti-MS sites and stuff And no, subdomains like that aren't restricted to blogs. You can have a subdomain be anything (a seperate website, a blog, an image gallery, a forum, etc). I use mine to split up parts of my site. Blogspot uses theirs to give users an easier URL. Sorry I'm getting off topic from the blogging issue. phillip, I see your point. You're saying that TCH is great, but they could attract more customers by having blogging-packages for people that only want to blog (like livejournal users) and don't know how to install blogging software? I'd actually tend to agree with him. When I first started blogging, I had my webhost install MT for me. That was one of the main draws of my old webhost... they could install scripts for you if you didn't know how. I'm sure there are plenty of people on these forums who would be happy to install software for new bloggers though. I mean, if no one else would, and I have some spare time, I'd be happy to get anyone going with blog software (I've only installed MT before though...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charle97 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 if people can't install their own blogging software, they shouldn't be using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaJill Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 That is absolutely not true. Just because someone doesn't have the technical proficiency to deal with an installation does not mean that they can't then learn to use the software itself. A lot of people have things that they need to get online without the time to learn the intricacies of getting the software to run and troubleshooting it. I, too, think that one-click installs for these software packages would be hugely beneficial. We'll see, though. =) Heck, I know how to do the installs and I'd still probably play with them more if they were offered with installers. *winks* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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