Blue Host

[MistyMeanor]

So as most of you know, I have kind of struggled a lot to get off and running smoothly, and most of my issues were related to other things going on, add ons, upgrades, conflicts in general, getting hacked twice... but I have noticed my forum today, and has done this many other times before (even back to when I had vB), frequently runs sluggish and/or will stall out.

Now I know I have shared hosting... but I have also run forums (about 10 years ago) that were MUCH larger on shared hosting, and didn't have as much down time. Today, intermittently all day, it will start to run slow and then end up showing "server cannot be reached" or something like that just pulling a blank page. It's been happening to all members.

Problem is, I paid for this hosting in advance, so am already out... and have heard VPS is way expensive on the month. I don't want to get trigger-happy and then just end up with the same problems due to it maybe just being the nature of the beast kind of thing.

Any advice?? Anyone else with Blue Host that have the same problems or no problems?

 

[Deepmartini]

I really think you should look for another host. I heard Blue Host is Mormon owned and they censor websites, even for ridiculous things like people who may use swear words in your comments area on a blog, etc. I would never want to use a service that censors legal FREE speech. And these weren't even "adult" sites. Blue host just didn't like what someone wrote in a comments section on a person's blog (and it wasn't even about blue host!) it was about an ordinary topic. Now that's a level of "spying" and censorship the NSA would be proud of!

 

[Deepmartini]

These are real concerns:

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http://www.andysrant.com/2011/10/bluehost-censorship.html

http://www.autostraddle.com/?attachment_id=8158

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/bluehost-censor-blogs-and-other-content

I don't know if they changed their policies since then, but you may want to investigate. Would be shame for you to build your business on a service that could literally pull the plug on your website on a whim and with little notice, just because god gave them a vision that your members are bad people for using swear words on your site.

 

[Amaury]

Albeit we're on vBulletin at KH-Flare, but we're pretty happy with Bluehost.

We have some downtime sometimes -- either unexpectedly or because Bluehost is performing maintenance -- but it's not too frequent.

 

[Deepmartini]

Here are Bluehost's terms: http://www.bluehost.com/terms

Of course they limit the usual stuff:

"Prohibited Offerings. No Subscriber may utilize the Services to provide, sell or offer to sell the following: controlled substances; illegal drugs and drug contraband; weapons; pirated materials; instructions on making, assembling or obtaining illegal goods or weapons to attack others; information used to violate the copyright(s) of, violate the trademark(s) of or to destroy others' intellectual property or information; information used to illegally harm any people or animals; pornography, nudity, sexual products, programs or services; escort services or other content deemed adult related."

If you site has any area or special forum which even talks about sex or sexual-stuff, they could deem that "adult related" and you could be banned and your site gone in an instant. Poof!

Then they have a separate specific section which covers bad words and no swearing allowed:

"Profanity. Profanity or profane subject matter in the site content and in the domain name are prohibited."

If anyone from Bluehost wants to clarify this, please do so.

Running a forum is more than just the software, it's also the hardware and the other businesses that are behind you. They should be SUPPORTING you. Not be against you!

I always tell people to investigate fully before deciding on a host. It's NOT always the cheap option which is best. Pay a little more somewhere else and have peace of mind.

 

[MistyMeanor]

Interesting, never heard this before at all... I have both sexuality related special forums, a forum for gay members as well... Maybe I should just outright ask them about these claims you are making?

I would just probably give up if I get hit with one more issue... so the best thing to do I suppose is ask them directly if I am at risk for being shut down, and if so... guess I will be forced to move. But if that is the case, move where?

 

[Mike Edge]

Problem is, I paid for this hosting in advance, so am already out... and have heard VPS is way expensive on the month. I don't want to get trigger-happy and then just end up with the same problems due to it maybe just being the nature of the beast kind of thing.

Any advice?? Anyone else with Blue Host that have the same problems or no problems?

See if nothing else, if you can receive a refund for your unused months. If they refuse to refund you... If you paid with paypal, and it was in the last 45 days, you could try disputing the charge. If by credit card, discuss it with your bank.

Your site should be fine on shared hosting and not require a VPS. we host sites with millions of posts and 1k-1500 online at any given time with out any issues what so ever. The you need to upgrade to vps or dedi card is nothing more then a scam to make more money off you. Not sure what is going on with BlueHost as of late, but in the last few weeks, we have received around a dozen clients that came from them. Know for sure it was too as we did cPanel transfers. Just like Site5, Blue Host use to be pretty decent, but as of late, both got pretty bad.

 

[Amaury]

Here are Bluehost's terms: http://www.bluehost.com/terms

Of course they limit the usual stuff:

"Prohibited Offerings. No Subscriber may utilize the Services to provide, sell or offer to sell the following: controlled substances; illegal drugs and drug contraband; weapons; pirated materials; instructions on making, assembling or obtaining illegal goods or weapons to attack others; information used to violate the copyright(s) of, violate the trademark(s) of or to destroy others' intellectual property or information; information used to illegally harm any people or animals; pornography, nudity, sexual products, programs or services; escort services or other content deemed adult related."

If you site has any area or special forum which even talks about sex or sexual-stuff, they could deem that "adult related" and you could be banned and your site gone in an instant. Poof!

Then they have a separate specific section which covers bad words and no swearing allowed:

"Profanity. Profanity or profane subject matter in the site content and in the domain name are prohibited."

If anyone from Bluehost wants to clarify this, please do so.

Running a forum is more than just the software, it's also the hardware and the other businesses that are behind you. They should be SUPPORTING you. Not be against you!

I always tell people to investigate fully before deciding on a host. It's NOT always the cheap option which is best. Pay a little more somewhere else and have peace of mind.

I think you're kind of taking this out of proportion.

We have an adult section and swear all the time without issues.

 

[Deepmartini]

@MistyMeanor Your site looks like it's coming along well and is growing!

I noticed you have a section called Let's Talk About Sex Baby! and Whichever Way You Swing and that's probably enough to deem it an "adult" site. Seems silly but there is a real business risk there for you to consider.

I have used hostgator before and been happy with it. They are about as cheap as BlueHost.

 

[MistyMeanor]

I, personally, wouldn't even consider moving if it was not for my team heavily complaining about down time. It's tough when your own team is throwing fits over it and then treat you like you aren't doing anything to take care of it. We are coming off the back-end of getting hacked, and due to the sensitive topics in my forum... people are becoming leery and uptight about everything... not a good way to start off a launch for sure.

 

[Deepmartini]

I think you're kind of taking this out of proportion.

We have an adult section and swear all the time without issues.

@Amaury Read the example links I posted. You may be shut down. You may not. Maybe they haven't been on your site recently. But when they see it, if they ever catch it, there is a real risk they could shut your site down. It's in their terms and conditions, in black and white, clear as day. And it's been done before to other sites, for even so much as a swear word in the comments section of a blog.

 

[Mike Edge]

I have used hostgator before and been happy with it. They are about as cheap as BlueHost.

Just remember.. cheap hosting is cheap for a reason. Any business is out to make a profit, other wise why be in business? The cheaper you sell something the more your servers are oversold. In the web hosting industry, the rule.. You get what you pay for is a good one to remember.

 

[MistyMeanor]

I have always been the adopter of the saying, "you get what you pay for." However, I have also run much larger forums on shared servers ... forums back in the day of the old vB's which were a hot mess of data and queries running all the time, on "cheap" servers and never had many problems. I am going to hit up Blue Host's chat right now and ask them about these claims. @Mike Edge ... I would love to move over to your hosting, but I just simply cannot afford the price... especially if one day I decide, or have to move from BH and they don't allow for some of my $$ back. I will be investigating all of this though.

 

[Amaury]

@Amaury Read the example links I posted. You may be shut down. You may not. Maybe they haven't been on your site recently. But when they see it, if they ever catch it, there is a real risk they could shut your site down. It's in their terms and conditions, in black and white, clear as day. And it's been done before to other sites, for even so much as a swear word in the comments section of a blog.

Rules are usually always vague in areas. Additionally, I know of a site that has some pretty strict rules, but they aren't enforced unless things really get out of control.

 

[Mike Edge]

@Mike Edge ... I would love to move over to your hosting, but I just simply cannot afford the price... especially if one day I decide, or have to move from BH and they don't allow for some of my $$ back. I will be investigating all of this though.

You know, I really love forums that dedicate to helping folks dealing with disabilities or diseases (besides you being an ex-Apple staff and me being a hardcore mac evangelist and owned a large Mac centric ISP back in the golden PPC days), if you decide to make the leap.. PC me your monthly budget and I'm sure we can work something out

 

[TPerry]

Your site should be fine on shared hosting and not require a VPS. we host sites with millions of posts and 1k-1500 online at any given time with out any issues what so ever.

For clarification - you should be fine and not require a VPS as LONG AS the hosting provider is not over-selling that node.
It's easy enough for them to do nowdays.

 

[MistyMeanor]

You know, I really love forums that dedicate to helping folks dealing with disabilities or diseases (besides you being an ex-Apple staff and me being a hardcore mac evangelist and owned a large Mac centric ISP back in the golden PPC days), if you decide to make the leap.. PC me your monthly budget and I'm sure we can work something out

Ahem! CURRENT Apple staff. I am on medical leave right now and go back to work on the 21st of this month.

I can't see your packages right now... err... that sounded horrible! But, once you get something back up I can see specs, I will take a closer look and PC you.

 

[TPerry]

I have always been the adopter of the saying, "you get what you pay for." However, I have also run much larger forums on shared servers ... forums back in the day of the old vB's which were a hot mess of data and queries running all the time, on "cheap" servers and never had many problems. I am going to hit up Blue Host's chat right now and ask them about these claims. @Mike Edge ... I would love to move over to your hosting, but I just simply cannot afford the price... especially if one day I decide, or have to move from BH and they don't allow for some of my $$ back. I will be investigating all of this though.

@MistyMeanor, if they do give you the run-around about a refund (and you are continuing to have problems) hit me up. I've got a dedicated server sitting out there that I'm not really using right now (it's on a 100mb pipe). It has NO RAID set up on it yet (single 1TB hard drive), but I could get you up and running on it. You won't have cPanel access nor shell access as I use keys for most of my stuff and it's not really set up for multiple users to log into (security settings).
You could use it until you get to a point where you are ready to get another hosting provider.
I can get phpMyAdmin set up so that you can access/work on your database also.

 

[jasetaro]

(snip)


Any advice?? Anyone else with Blue Host that have the same problems or no problems?

FWIW, one of my clients hosts their site with Bluehost, they up and down all day today... Their site was either unreachable or dead slow for big chunks of the day.

 

[Dan]

FWIW, one of my clients hosts their site with Bluehost, they up and down all day today... Their site was either unreachable or dead slow for big chunks of the day.

Same here. Just moved one of it early this week.