splash7 Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 (edited) Hi, I'm looking for the best web host for my site and have several questions. Your answers will be very much appreciated. 1. Is there a limit to the number of autoresponders I can use? 2. Can I use unlimited sequential autoresponders for follow-ups? 3. I've read that OS commerce is difficult to use and Agora is ugly (I agree with that). I have no clue about carts or programming and I don't like ugly, so: (A) Can I use OS commerce FAST with no programming headaches? ( Is there a better cart that would be fast, simple, AND attractive - preferably one that I can customize to match my web site? 4. Can I run a forum and a blog? 5. I understand you host adult sites. I've read that, for practical reasons, it's not a good idea to share server space with them. Can I choose not to be on such a server? 6. What follows is a major concern for any website business. I'd like your views on this post from findmyhosting.com regarding Total Choice: Customer Comment : Date : 6/17/2005 11:29:00 AM I basically have to figure out everything by myself. When you tryto user their "live" support they have NEVER resolved the issue and they just cut off from the IM session. So you sit there waiting for responses. There is no telephone tech line so everything takes email and days to fix and/or get an answer on. Their Tech Support is basically a lack of support. Their tutorial section is great and that is where I get most of my help, but sometimes you need a live body to deal with and they fail miserably; I HAVE NEVER HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH THEIR TECH SUPPORT PEOPLE!!! My sister and brother are both looking to stand up business sites and there is no way I could reccommend this site becuase of the failure of tech support to non-tech people. I know you can't please everyone, but this guy sounds as though he really felt let down by TC in a big way. Here's my main concern; can I confidently expect better support from TC than our frustrated friend above? From all the hosting sites I've seen - TC looks streets ahead. I hope we can make a deal. Thanks for your help. Best Regards, Michael M. Edited June 18, 2005 by splash7 Quote
TCH-Andy Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 Hi Michael, Welcome to the forums. 1. Is there a limit to the number of autoresponders I can use?No, it's unlimited 2. Can I use unlimited sequential autoresponders for follow-ups? Yes. If you are expecting a lot of email - and a lot of use of your suto-responders, then you might start triggering some of our anti-spam alarms. Hence you may want to open a ticket at our help desk (link at the top of the page) and talk directly about your requirements. 3. I've read that OS commerce is difficult to use and Agora is ugly (I agree with that). I have no clue about carts or programming and I don't like ugly, so: (A) Can I use OS commerce FAST with no programming headaches? (cool.gif Is there a better cart that would be fast, simple, AND attractive - preferably one that I can customize to match my web site? I always find carts a very personnel issue depending on your exact requirements. If you specify them, you can certainly get a view from fellow users here. The ones installable from cpanel are a very easy install - you then just need to add your products and prices. 4. Can I run a forum and a blog? Yes 5. I understand you host adult sites. I've read that, for practical reasons, it's not a good idea to share server space with them. Can choose not to be on such a server?We allow adult sites, but none of our server IP's are blocked because of adult sites, spam etc. Hence you should not have a problem on any server. We balance loads on all our servers - so generally you do not get to choose which server you are on. 6. What follows is a major concern for any website business. I'd like your views on this post from findmyhosting.com under Total Choice: As you rightly say, you can not please all of the people all of the time. I am not going to make an analysis of that individual, other than to say there are two sides to every argument. I suggest you have a look round the forums here, and the rest of the comments on findmyhosting.com. You can also try us out, using IM (Instant messenging), live chat, or our help desk. You will see that the bulk of the comments we get are positive - but there will always be beople who dont like our service (for example people found to be spamming whos accounts we terminate). Quote
splash7 Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 Thanks Andy. I was still editing my post when I you replied. You can't beat that for fast response. Regards, Michael M. Quote
splash7 Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 Again - Thanks Andy, You answered all my questions and I agree with your comments about dissatisfied customers. Are you referring only to OSCommerce and Agora when you say, "installable from cpanel" or are there others? Also, is there a way to customize the appearance of OSCommerce to match the web site? I'd welcome all ideas about shopping carts, thanks. Regards, Michael M. Quote
TCH-Don Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 Welcome to the forum Michael OSCommerce and Agora can be installed from cpanel. But several of our family members have installed Zen Cart and like it. If you try it, you can always ask for help from your family here. The help desk is for server issues and can't possibly support the thousands of scripts that are out there. Some customers do not understand this and get upset when the help desk can't answer their questions about a certain script they are trying out. But our family member here on the forum can usually help. Please let us know if you have more questions. Quote
splash7 Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 Hi Don, Thanks for your help. I looked briefly at Zen Cart but I don't really know how to compare one cart to another. Again, the main things I'm looking for are: 1. Ease of installation 2. Ease of use for customer 3. Easy management (for me) 4. Ability to customize appearance I'm sure there are lots of other imortant things I need to know and - as I said - I welcome all suggestions. Regards, Michael D. Quote
stevevan Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 Welcome to the forums. While i personally haven't used any of the carts, hopefully one of the many users of this program will chime in with their $.02. Anything else you need or want to know, just ask! Quote
GroovyFish Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 (edited) Hi Michael, Just a couple comments on your cart questions. First OSCommerce can be installed from Cpanel. Literally one click and it is installed. Zen-Cart you would have to install manually, but it's really not very difficult. You can customize either program to look any way you want. How difficult that is depends on your experience level and how customized you want it to look. I prefer Zen-Cart, it currently has more built-in features. OSC has tons of contributions that you can add, but those require modifying the core code and some contributions don't play nicely with others. What you may want to do is decide what features you want, as well as what kind of payment process you are going to use and check each cart out to see which is a better fit. As far as what the findmyhosting.com comment, well, like the others said, you cannot please everyone. The 100's of great comments there definately out weigh the few negative ones. I am a happy customer that has been here for about 2 years....I'll also mention that the forum moderators are also customers. Edited June 18, 2005 by GroovyFish Quote
Head Guru Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 I think the responses here alone indicate the level of support we provide to our clientele. Do we fail sometimes? Of course we do. However, with that said we excel and exceeding customer expections every day. Just so you know, this reviewer is being contacted directly by our management team to attempt to resolve any outstanding issues. All it ever takes to get help from some one is a e-mail to our support team or grab one of us on live chat. I spend many hours a day personally on AOL AIM and live chat. Feel free to contact me at any time. Even the GEICO lizard cant have a 100% Customer Approval Rating. We currently have a 96.3% Customer Approval Rating from findmyhosting.com. The thing is this is based on thousands of reviewers. Unlike the other hosts on there with 10 reviews and 98% rating levels. Good luck in your search for a new host. Quote
splash7 Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 (edited) Thanks Steve, David, Bill & GroovyFish, I found TC yesterday and within about three minutes I told my wife we'd found our web host. Just to make sure, I combed the forum - a forum on a web hosting site? What a brilliant idea. There on the forum I learned about findmyhosting.com and consider that another great find. If that wasn't convincing enough, everyone's response to this post surely is. Thanks for your replies, they're very encouraging. Again, thanks GroovyFish, I very much appreciate your comments about OSC and Zen Cart - that's very helpful. If I decided on Zen Cart, how would I go about learning how to install it? Also, is there any way to try them out to compare them? Michael M. Edited June 18, 2005 by splash7 Quote
TCH-Don Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Michael, when you get your account, you can install the ones in cpanel and also download zen cart and follow the install instructions in the download (let us know if you get stuck) Here is a post that may help. thanks to GroovyFish then you can play with them all to see which one you like. Quote
GroovyFish Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Hi Michael! As far as how to install zen-cart, there are install instructions in the download file. Basically upload the files, create the database in Cpanel, change permissions on a few files and folders and run the install. Yes, there is a way to compare them! www.opensourcecms.com has demos for both programs. If you need just basic features, I think either cart will fit your needs. You might also go to both OSC and Zen-Carts site and look at the showcases to see what others have done with their sites. Welcome to the family! Don't hesitate to ask if you get stuck with your cart. Quote
splash7 Posted June 19, 2005 Author Posted June 19, 2005 (edited) Hi Don & GroovyFish, Thanks very much for those helpful suggestions, I'll follow-up on them. I thought of another question but maybe it's best to make another post - after I search the site for answers. Best Regards, Michael M. Edited June 19, 2005 by splash7 Quote
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