Choices « Herb Thiel

I really enjoy getting comments, even those that someone could possibly construe as patronizing and condescending. I had thought about doing a whole entry about the topic, but the time that I have to write is limited so I will just reiterate what most people who know me already know:

I know and understand HTML and CSS and have written a number of websites. I do use a program called "EasyHTML" from Toni Arts which is handy for making redundant keystrokes and lets you see "real time" what your page looks like. No matter what the experience level you are, this is a great little program. Besides, Most of the hosting sites I have seen have at least as many templates available as good old Blogdrive.

I am a business owner and have been for several years. The idea of using Zazzle (had anyone been paying attention) is kind of silly for me when I have all the equipment to make and produce the t-shirts, mugs, hats, etc. Why settle for 10% - 17% profit when I can get a lot more?

Prestige? It's rather more like, "Why wouldn't I? I can get so much more, so much more reliably, for a similar price." Besides, (Warning: broad generalization coming) isn't blogging kind of a self-centered activity? Don't many bloggers have something to say they want everyone to hear? Anyway, I will show you all some samples of what I have been looking at directly.

I haven't made any definite decisions, but here are a few of the choices:

Currently I pay $4.95 and get 50 MB disk space, 1GB/Month bandwidth, and up to 5 customized template saves. I also have an unlimited photo gallery, but there is nothing that is HTML editable and for a while the owner of Blogdrive was pushing photobucket as the preferred source for photo hosting.

A few of the hosting sites that I have looked at are (I was going to post all the things each one offers, but figured that you could go there yourselves and see everything they offer):

Godaddy

Squarespace (This is the one that FTS used before he discovered life beyond cyberspace and started living his dream.)

EZ Webhosting, with the interesting feature of rollover bandwidth

http://www.siteground.com/

ix webhosting which is located in Hopkinsville, KY a town with some good friends in it and on top of that, I've always liked Kentuckians.

http://startlogic.com/special_promo.html

http://onewebhosting.com/Plan_A_Hosting.php

And Wordpress which is what Monique over at Accidental Thinker uses. I have respect for her opinion since she must have something on the ball to get promoted to VP (congratulations) and is a good, family-type person. Many of these others offer the Wordpress software for blogging.

Also, among other things, many of them also offer live, 24/7 phone support. Hmm...Talk to a live person instead of being abused by a volunteer in a forum? Actually, most of the volunteers here at the Blogdrive forums are not all mean or all condescending and patronizing and they do the bulk of helping people out.

I will not just up and leave you guys and will not make it difficult to get to me. I plan to keep all of my favorites and stay in touch with you all. I know some of you have me linked on your sidebar (which I appreciate SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! To me it is an honor and a privilege that you not only come here, but also link to me. Thank you so much.) and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience this might cause.

Yes, Marty, I also love the KJV. There is no more scholarly work on the planet today. Those scholars, working under a mandate from the king, feared making even the slightest error and Ecclesiastes has been one of my favorite books (and is one of the most misunderstood, you have to read it beginning to end, like a sermon) for a long time.

Remember, the Good Book says: "For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."

Posted at 1/26/2007 4:35:20 am by logansackett


	Monique February 5, 2007 11:20 AM PST Hi Herb. Sorry it's been a while since I've been over here, but have had much going on related to house hunting. I'll have a post about it on my blog VERY soon. Some recommendations: I believe it is better to purchase your domain name through someone other than your webhost. That way if you are unhappy with your webhost, it's easier to move. All you have to do is set your domain name to point to your new host. If the webhost you are leaving controls the domain name, they could make it difficult on you. I have my domains through Namecheap.com. $8.88/year per domain, but you can get it even cheaper. Just Google "namecheap coupons." For each domain you purchase through them, you also get a free year of WhoIs registration, which makes private the ownership information (your name and address) of your domain. This is normally public info that anyone can access. As for webhost, I was with LivingDot.com, but am in the process of transferring to HostGator.com. More space and bandwidth for $1 less per month. I have transferred my other websites over, but not my blog yet. I am on the $9.95/month plan, with 100 GB of disk space and 1000 GB of bandwidth. They have live chat support and live 24-hour phone support. I have so far not needed to use either. Any webhost that has cPanel and Fantastico makes it easy to install Wordpress. And there are loads of Wordpress templates available out there. Most you can find here: http://themes.wordpress.net/ It's how I found the current theme for my blog. And lots of plug-ins to customize your Wordpress installation here: http://wp-plugins.net/ I know I'm a little late, but I hope this is useful info!


	Skunkfeathers57 February 2, 2007 08:04 AM PST Condescending comments? What, you have liberals trying to "help" you? ;-)


	Nancze January 30, 2007 05:26 PM PST Hi Herb, Thanks for your visits. I appreciate you letting me know you stop by. I think it's awesome you know so much. I use Christian Web Hosting and have since I got my own domain. They are reasonable. 500 whatever for 8.95 a month and I pay yearly. The domain is 19.99 a year. I host all my own stuff, blog etc on their server and though I have someone set it up, as I'm not that tech savy, I have learned to maintain it. I've used greymatter, MT and now WP for my blog. They all are fine in my book. Like I said I'm just not to tech savy. I admire anyone who is. I do hope you'll let me know if you change. I enjoy reading what you have to say and visiting. God Bless.


	AbbyNormal January 29, 2007 04:53 PM PST Of course I visit here regularly. I don't have anything condescending or patronizing to say at the moment, though.


	Penny January 29, 2007 09:17 AM PST Speaking of FTS, have you heard from him? We kept in touch for a while after he moved but I haven't heard from him in quite a while! Has anybody heard from him, or did he get lost in the wilds of Colorado?


	Gull January 27, 2007 03:18 PM PST Let us know which service you choose.... I use GoDaddy and Ipower for the sites I develop, but am open to other options. When my blogdrive acct expires (this year), I'll also choose another blog server and redirect to a dotcom. Not that I have anything relevant to say -- but I have so much personal "stuff" to store -- especially my Vietnam journal. I currently place most of my photos on my personal site .... not that it matters -- but I can access them whenever I choose without the hassle sometimes found on freebie servers.

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