What kind of web hosting do translators want?

Discussion in 'Tech Discussion' started by insyder1201, Feb 23, 2018.

?

What features do you actually care about for a web host?

  1. SSD

    18.8%
  2. Email help

    6.3%
  3. Wordpress hosting

    62.5%
  4. SFTP

    6.3%
  5. ZPanel

    6.3%
  6. Email addresses

    43.8%
  7. Per-directory configuration (Apache2 .htaccess)

    25.0%
  8. PHP 7

    18.8%
  9. PHP 5

    6.3%
  10. CGI

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  11. Tons of bandwidth

    37.5%
  12. Tons of disk space

    31.3%
  13. MariaDB

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  14. MySQL

    12.5%
  15. HTTPS

    12.5%
  16. Automatic backups

    6.3%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I recommend applying this advice to images.
    http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/why-you-should-never-upload-a-video-to-wordpress/
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2018
  2. Jeebus

    Jeebus Well-Known Member

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    To expand on what I said in my previous post:
    Most users have no clue what is required to run a website. They don't understand that they need a webserver. They don't understand that they need PHP to run WordPress. They don't understand that they need a database to store the content of their site. They don't understand why HTTPS or automatic site backup are so important. And they shouldn't need to understand or care if their only objective is to share translated novel chapters. It's another story if they want to get their hands dirty, but most people don't. That's why SquareSpace is so popular.

    Your question is like asking people who want to buy pizza what nutrients are important to them in their pizza. Does the average pizza buyer care that the crust is fortified with iron and folic acid? It's your job, as the purveyor of hosting, to turn all that technical talk into something your customer cares about.
    Worried about site security? We've got you covered with automatic backup and HTTPS. So you never have to worry about losing data.
    Scared of making your first website? We've got you there, too. Automatic site creation using WordPress takes just two mouse clicks and five minutes of setup.

    EDIT:
    Another thing you should include is WHOIS proxy service. Since it's technically illegal to provide false information for WHOIS, and the WHOIS database is publically available, it's important that you enlist the services of a proxy to hold that info unless you think your customers want to get random phone calls, emails, and physical mail for services that they don't want or need.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2018
    Wujigege likes this.
  3. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    In my opinion:
    1) Storage: 5GB is more than enough for a text-only translation website. Most translators won't use more than this for all their content. The only question is how much space their platform (such as wordpress, mambo) hogs, which may make 5GB not enough. However, you can give them the option of increasing this limit if one day they decide this 5GB is not enough.
    2) Bandwidth: For starters, 30mbps is more than enough for any translator. You only need more if you run videos, video ads, weird macros, strange flash and stuff like that. If it's just text, 30mbps is plenty.
    3) Monthly Data Transfer Limit: I believe this is what you meant with bandwidth above, but 1GB is really not enough. You will exceed this around half a month, maybe earlier. You also have to take into account that bots continuously scrape your content, which means you'd like to put spider traps on it, which depends on how you program it, may eat up more of your monthly data limit.
    4) RAM: Most hosting provider keep this a secret, since this means that a bunch of people gets to use the same resources, which is common in shared hosting. But letting people know how much RAM they get also helps them to keep in mind that their resources is limited. Giving people dedicated RAM may be more expensive on your part, since you can't give other users the unused RAM, but personally, I think it will be cheaper to maintain on your part. I think the most basic package should be 1GB shared among half a dozen people, but this won't be enough for many people, so maybe 2GB will be better. Higher dedicated RAM may mean higher overhead on your part, so you need to balance service and budget.
    5) CPU: I don't think you should give translators the CPU of a gaming rig. Shared dual-core 2GHz CPU should be more than enough for half a dozen translator sites. It's not like they're going play games on it.
    6) Wordpress: Skip the installer that wordpress give for free. Because it would mean you need to help them build each of their sites, including their database, probably for free. Not a very fun job, there's only one of you after all. If you like doing that kind of job, more power to you, then.
    7) Cpanel: Instead, invest in a cpanel with softaculous. Softaculous does include wordpress installer and they handle everything for the user. You may still need to tweak some stuff, but at least it's not as troublesome as having to fix every individual website on your own.
    8) Site-associated email: Not necessary. Keep the price low. Translators will most likely use their google mail for communication after all.
    9) Programming language: It is crucial that the site supports common programming languages such as CGI, PHP, Perl and Python. Some wordpress themes won't work if the necessary programming language is not supported.
    10) E-commerce features: While it's not necessary, some translators may wish to sell stuff to fund their translating hobby. So maybe provide a couple of open-source e-commerce platform for free. Softaculous include these stuff in their package.
    11) Backups: I can't stress enough that daily backups are necessary. Don't skimp on expenses, go RAID10, please.
    12) Domain Name: Keep it simple. Instead of giving each of them their own top level domain names, give them your subdomain. This means they don't have to spend a dime on domain names, which helps keep their and your overhead low. You also don't have to go through the hassle of having to handle everything about domain name transfer on your own. It's a really annoying job. You don't want that. Maybe use something like www.novels.com (example) or something as your top level domain. Dot com is cheap. As for your users, they'll get something like www.novels.com/insyder

    That's all I can think about for now. All the best. At this much, you can potentially charge them only like $1-$2 a month.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2018
  4. noisypixy

    noisypixy Sacatunn que pen, que summum que tun.

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    Bandwidth and storage would be mostly for those who like to bloat their website with images (sometimes in the middle of their translations and not even relevant to the series (!)).

    People don't usually care for the rest (except probably email), and for the amount of traffic a typical novel hosting would generate I think you'd be able to get away even with the USD $5/month or $10/month plans from mainstream VPS providers like Digital Ocean or OVH.
     
  5. insyder1201

    insyder1201 Well-Known Member

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    I was going to go with OVH anyway. I used to rent a dedi for about $150 per month. 64GB of RAM with 24 cores and 48 threads...
    The rainbow tables were beautiful