internet

Part One: The Past

Once upon a time…

I’ve been dealing with websites since short after the dawning of internet, fascinated by that then-new marvelous technology that allowed anyone endowed with a modicum of computer skills to reach everywhere in the world almost instantly – and for peanuts.
At the very beginning merely static webpages painstakingly assembled in naked HTML, my works quickly evolved into more sophisticated websites made with Dreamweaver and Flash, then inexorably into complex dynamic sites and online shops developed in Perl. Eventually, out of convenience, I landed on widespread WordPress, a comfortable web-development platform that I still keep using today in its classic mode without cumbersome blocks.

The first hosts

Yet a website is nothing but a jumble of bits unless it is placed on a server connected to the internet, and a server is provided and maintained by a host, the indispensable interface between a company and the World Wide Web. As you may easily guess, over those years I’ve seen all sorts: I’ve changed so many hosts that I’ve lost count of them. From some I run away scared, disgusted or fuming after less than an hour, by others I stayed for several years.

There are so many memories… the fondest one is about the CEO of a host whose name is now lost in the fogs of time, who kept an ante-litteram blog, “from my desk…” until he sold the company, that soon thereafter became bleakly impersonal.

An ominous experience…

Then there was another host that here I’ll call MaphYeah (not their real name), by which I lived the most sinister and at the same time most amusing experience of my web-designer career.
One day I found within my WordPress website hosted by MaphYeah the parasitic clandestine site of a Chinese company selling fake branded clothing – for which I would have been legally accountable. At my outraged complaint (I was paying an extra specifically for “security”) they demanded an additional hefty sum to cleanse my share of the server, implying subtly that, should I leave, the issue would follow me.

…but a nice discovery

Of course I flew the coop at once by cloning my website onto a different host and (better safe than sorry) added there as many anti-malware WP plugins as I could find on the web.
One and only one of them identified immediately a backdoor (who might have put it in there?) that I removed easily. Like this I found out what plugins boasted protection without providing any, and which one really worked – a most important discovery that took me a lot of toil and anger.

Since then my partner and I customarily add the “good” anti-malware plugin to the websites we design, as part of a new comprehensive security package of ours (inclusive of regular backups and much more) we offer to our customers.

Most web developers agree to take care also of SEO and diffusion, but nearly all of them neglect the ‘security’ part, which is growing increasingly essential as the web-ruthlessness expands uncontrolled.
No mere words: we thwarted successfully a considerable number of attacks to our customers’ sites (as well as to our own ones) and thus we know all too well what it means to swim among sharks and pirañas.

And what about that infamous host? For all I know “MaphYeah” is still alive and kicking, so beware! Before opening an account by an unknown host ask all relevant questions. If they ignore or evade them, run away as fast as you can.

Part Two: The Present

Almost satisfactory but… 🙁

Until a few weeks ago my host was A2Hosting, once considered to be among the best ones. For several years it really was, and I was quite happy with them: WordPress-optimized servers, satisfactory speed, friendly fast competent efficient customer service.
Nothing is perfect though, and even at their best they had two significant flaws:

– While the contract boasted infinite server memory (quite an ambitious goal, actually), in fact as I exceeded a 50 GB threshold they started bombarding me with emails saying that they were insured up to 50 GB and beyond that there was no backup, thus I’d better reduce the memory use. Not so nice indeed, they should have made it clear at the outset.
– After the first promotional year their annual fee grew really huge. But after all my image-intensive webpages loaded very fast and their service was reliable, not necessarily a given in my experience. So I stayed with them.

A2Hosting beheaded to Hosting

But alas, all good things come to an end: not long ago ‘A2Hosting’ became just ‘Hosting’, the company grew larger and the real troubles promptly began.
I had by them quite a number of interlinked websites, all with excellent internet visibility, and I could count on a considerable constant visitor flow.
Until one day a few weeks ago I noticed that on one of my sites all the pages showed up regularly – but without the images! Sort of annoying when it affects a site designed to sell images, right?
I opened a ticket – no reply, not even the usual boring automatic one. Pretty fishy.
Long story short, after one day they got in touch with me and soon the issue was solved. But as I asked for a technical explanation of what really happened, who tampered with my websites without my permission and why, they turned cagey talking vaguely about an unspecified “setting” and promised it won’t happen again. Not a hint of an apology.

Other people, other mood, other way to treat a customer. Downsizing? Greediness? Too many customers? I don’t know and I don’t care, As a (dearly) paying customer and a professional I expect clear explanations, not fogbanks. And many sad experiences suggested that once such an attitude creeps in, it stays.
Fortunately my annual contract with them would expire in a few weeks, about the time needed to find a better host and safely migrate 6 websites. A stroke of luck indeed: I canceled my contract and started looking for a more decent host.

Not an easy job indeed: they all use to promise the moon and stars, but very few of them deliver. However sometimes a long suffered experience comes in handy, at least by allowing me to read between the lines rather than only on them.

A new hope

So I eventually decided on BoostedHost: plenty of positive feedback, same quality as A2Hosting when they still worked OK, competitive cost even after the first year for the same performances.
And from the outset I’ve been pleasantly surprised by their kindness and availability, their competent advice, their prompt help in optimizing my sites’ cache by them to my full satisfaction.
All in all a great sigh of relief!
Another – if more subjective – positive point is the feeling that the team here is enthusiastic about their job and happy to provide help and solve the possible problems – something you don’t find around every corner.

All in all BoostedHost seem to have all the assets needed to grow into a really big hosting company, thus most likely they will. Will they also be able to retain their enthusiasm, their friendliness and their competence along and after the growth? I really hope so, and wish them so: that would finally put an end to my way too long and troubled odyssey in search of a most decent host 🙂

Part Three: The Future

While talking with other artists and photographers I get the feeling that most of them would be tempted to try and set up a website of their own but hesitate due to the lack of specific know-how.

Will AI provide the solution?

A few days ago I got an email from BoostedHost telling me that by them is now available for free (the magic words!) an AI-based system called ‘Orbit’ that should greatly help in the design of a website. So far I had no time to try it but I’m curious as hell: apparently all you have to do is to explain in plain words what you wish, choose pictures, themes and styles, and… voilà,
a perfectly optimized website without any hassle.
Generally speaking the popular “if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is” is a very wise guideline, but a number of amazing sessions with ChatGPT and a long successful cooperation with MidJourney convinced me that there are exceptions. So why not give it a go?

With a bit of luck I’ll find the time and report to you about it in detail next time 🙂

If you liked this post I suggest to read How to sell stock images today too.