Doreo Web Hosting: Why I like them : Webhost Review

admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:28:05 +0000

First of all, my main blog the Wardman Wire is hosted on Doreo. I started using them when the site had developed to a point where the previous Dreamhost service was becoming too slow, especially when editing posts. I’d still recommend Dreamhost, however, as a service to start out with or to use for experimental websites. I still have an account, which I use for a large number of small websites. I’m happy with the service, hence this review.

I selected Doreo, as I had seen the service recommended by bloggers I respect, and in particular because I had seen one Technorati Top 100 blogger perambulate around several different services over a period of time, and end up at Doreo.

Why Doreo?

For me, there have been 6 key points:

1 - The Doreo service is fast. My contributors have reported a significant increase in the performance of the Wordpress installation when editing posts. When you need it, Doreo can cope with a sudden influx of traffic. This occurs if - for example - your post happens to be listed on the front page of a popular social bookmarking site.

2 - The Doreo service is reliable. An inaccessible site will lose readers and search engine attention.

3. The service is responsive. I have not had many problems, but when I have there has been a rapid response from a human being.

4 - The Doreo service give me sufficient space and bandwidth. Recently Doreo increased their bandwidth allowances fivefold. That brought the figures to a level where the blog has enough headroom to grow for at least a year.

5 - The service is quite tightly locked down. For example, you do not get Command Line access to your account. In other circumstances that would be a disadvantage, but for the Wardman Wire I need a service that just works; I do my playing around on Dreamhost.

6 - The service is not hosted in the UK, which - combined with a .com domain hosted outside the UK - means that people can find my web pages without needing to go through any UK supplier. That puts me beyond the immediate reach of pre-emptive threats made without proof using the English defamation laws, which is always a consideration for UK-based political bloggers.

The Service

The basic plan starts at $6.99 per month, and gives 2Gb of disk space, and 60Gb of monthly data transfer. I use the next level plan, which gives 5Gb of disk space and 120Gb of transfer for $11.99. There is a higher plan giving 10Gb and 180Gb respectively or $16.99.

The Wardman Wire currently uses approximately 2Gb of diskspace and around 30-40 Gb of data transfer per month.

Free month and a money-back guarantee

You can cancel in first 90 days and request your money back.

Equally Doreo have supplied a discount code DBT (*) that allows you to get your first month of service for free - you will not be invoiced for the first period on any monthly plan if you enter the discount code.

So, there is a benefit whether you cancel, or not. If you like it you get a free month - if you don’t like it, your only cost has been your time. I liked it and stayed.

There you have it - I recommend Doreo.

(*) The code DBT was organised by Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips, a site that is a good source of “how to blog” advice. You can subscribe to the DBT RSS Feed here.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this article.

Web Banners for “Christians on the Internet” (COIN)

admin — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:31:00 +0000

I said that I would whisk up a few buttons for COIN in 125×125, traditional 468×60 banner and 160×600 skyscraper formats. Here they are.

Background

The word or initials “COIN” on a website perhaps don’t make clear what COIN is about (a reminder that the church is after your money, perhaps?); of itself the word or acronym “COIN” means nothing to people who do not know us already. Since it is the various activities (especially the lists) that are the heart of COIN, I have used “Christians on the Internet” or “COIN ” to give extra information.

These are the designs I have come up with, using a “stained glass” theme. I’d like some extra modern images in there, but there’s room for others to do their own versions (the more the merrier imho) - I’ll make the templates available of course. All photos are Creative Commons Licenses.

125×125 Buttons

COIN as a whole 1 - One of the “montage” windows from the Chapel of Industry in Coventry Cathedral.

COIN as a whole 2 - Baptistery Window at Coventry Cathedral.

COIN as a whole 3 - “Conversational” Last Supper.

COIN Music List - “Simon Rattle”-like angel playing a fiddle.

COIN Cofe 2020 List - Thoughtful looking owl.

COIN Technical List - Jesus working at carpentry (obviously).

COIN General List - Same last supper as above.

COIN Youthwork List - Jesus in the Temple ticking his parents off for worrying.

COIN Preaching List - A splendid temperance preacher with a bow-tie preaching in a pub (perhaps needs something more ecclesiastical as an alternative).

COIN Liturgy List - Prayer book (I struggled with this one - have a good photo with Latin in the book, but it needs a sanity check on the translation.

Skyscrapers

For both COIN as a whole, and also for the General List: Last Supper looking along the table. This is a window in Nottingham RC Cathedral.

Copyright Acknowledgement

All of the photographs used in these buttons are from Flickr, and are posted there under Creative Commons licences. They are being used for a non-commercial purpose. This is a list of the web addresses within Flickr from where the photos have been sourced, and I’m delighted to acknowledge the source. There are some extras here, since I used a selection of photos from a larger group.

They are all good photos worth a look, so I post all addresses here. These will become links and formal (as opposed to informal) acknowledgements when this article is finalised.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathangill/2390911682/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjapoodles/490545713/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pikaluk/1464525560/ (Coverntry 2)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathangill/2391876948/ (Coventry 3)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonlooks/2361745872/ (Angel Fiddle)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22463640@N06/2374340696/sizes/l/in/set-72157604121891978/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingleites/118235925/ (Stained glass)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sint-katelijne-waver/1775965336/sizes/l/ (Bible)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/e3000/2413197951/sizes/l/ (Prayer Book)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7603557@N08/454608625/ (Preaching)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/1239864018/sizes/l/ (Owl)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjapoodles/490545713/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingleites/174007624/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjapoodles/490545713/sizes/l/ (Jacksonville)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carino-na/2205923346/sizes/o/ (Coventry 1)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdf3530/2172586939/sizes/l/ (Christ the King)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/878752228/ (Last Supper 01)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/2248594023/ (Last Supper 02)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/2348016316/ (Last Supper 03)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sint-katelijne-waver/1775965336/sizes/l/ (Garden of Eden)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/889008436/ (Lost Jesus)

Wrapping-Up

What do you think?

It Makes Sense Sometimes