WordPress MU

I think we are out of the topic of this post (im the first). We are doing a discussion "Dreamhost, yes or no", and the topic is "can anyone recommend a host?" ;), So, recommend a host, and no disccus about Dreamhost ;)

I have over 130 clients that have either come to me from Dreamhost or used them in the past. Between that and their pro spam policies and non existant responces on complaints about spammers, I stand by my statements. If you want to deal with a con offering you more than they or anyone else can deliver, feel free. :)

But as Badlagar states, we're getting off topic and any more posts about Dreamhost will be deleted.

drmike, what is your hosting company? You admit wildcards? :D

Due to certain legal reasons, I'm not stating my hosting company. I learned a long time ago to keep certain things seperate. That way nothing comes back to haunt me. :)

Screw it. :)

I'm going to start offering WPMU installs within my offsite space. I can't put you on my own servers as there would be a conflict with the company I use for first level support (ie I would have to pay them for each and every client on your own site) so I'll just drop you in along side my own sites.

Includes WPMU install and upgrading. Updates will be on my own schedule and I usually wait a day or two to see if any issues get posted in the forums.

Also included will be bbpress, widgets, a selection of widgets, video and audio support, and stats.

I will also unzip the theme package from wpmudev.org but will not activate any of theme. I'm doing this to allow you the chance to go in and make any changes that you want yourself. I have my own list of what I change if you want to use it. (I think I've posted it once or twice.)

Sitewide tags will be included in a day or two. (I have to upgrade to 2.0.5 and, while doing it, I'll write the walkthru for here on how to do it)

Support will be through the daria.be forums and via the support system at daria.be

Please note that I will not handhold but will get you up and running. (Which seems to be the major issue around here) The 30 minute support response I use for my other clients will not be in effect here as I will not be dropping you into our main support system (ie again, I would have to pay for each and every client that you host)

Installation of additional plugins will be on a case by case basis. (ie you can ask and if I can, I will)

Preferred method of installation will be using subdomains but I'll do the subdirectories upon request. (I prefer subdomains)

Payment via Paypal. Let's say $7.95 a month with no setup. 1 gig of space and 25 gigs of bandwidth per month. The box is CPanel just for reference. You have to provide a domain name yourself.

I am not currently offering to do installs elsewhere.

Contact me at theapparatus ( at ) gmail ( dot ) com if you're interested.

Donncha, if you feel that this is spam, please go ahead and delete it. :)

Thanks,
-drmike

I use ezzi.net and I'm happy with them.

But when it comes to host, I'd like to add a simple recommendation, generally speaking: Just go for a dedicated server. Seriously. If you're gonna use MU for your own blog and a friend or two, then do use any of those shared hosting services. But if your MU will have dozens and dozens of users with popular blogs, ie. your setting up MU as a public service, then put up the about $80/month for a dedicated server. It's worth it, performance wise etc.

Gotta agree. (And before anyone asks, I don't have any available)

Of course then, the issue about knowing what you're doing and not for user new to hosting and the net is even more important.

I had my mu site running fine on dreamhost, but ended up moving to a liquidweb vps because of dreamhost's unreliability. Liquid Web is excellent. Tech support is amazing and fast.

We have tested several diffrent hosts, and our still deciding if we are going to build and colocate our own server.

We had several issues with godaddy regarding speeds and mod_rewrite capabilities, currently have our site with servage.net, which was a seemless setup, but again, you get what you pay for your hosting and the speeds aren't up to par with what we are hoping.

You can check us out at http://wordpresshost.org

Hoping to launch live early January.

I own my domain; thus I use my frineds server. I do suggest you check him out. the best part about useing a small business is that he will give you only what you need and chrage you based on that. so you dont get charged for more then you use.

dustin-williams.com
that is his website leave him a comment.
or email him at me@dustin-williams.com,seriouslydustin@gmail.com

if you have trouble contacting him email me: designdroide@gmail.com

Hey Dr. Mike!

I sent you an email on monday about getting some hosting and installation setup. I haven't heard back.

I need to get this going so if you are serious with your post about the hosting and installation then let's get on with it.

Thanks,
Robert :)

Ya know, the really irritating thing about finding this post is that WORDPRESS LINKS TO DREAMHOST

http://wordpress.org/hosting/

It's very irritating. I have a community site (http://transadvocate.com) and I make very little money (blogads on my blog only, that totals less than 50 dollars in a year) that doesn't even begin to cover the cost that I put into the site. I LOVE doing what I do for my community. That being said, I don't love spending money on a host that is suggested AT WORDPRESS' main site, only to find out that the people that develop wordpress wouldn't suggest it.

Dreamhost's offerings are great. The performance though, is spotty, especially with anything database driven.

*cries*

So, I'm stuck. I used to be with Powweb, before they sold off to a company that buys hosting services and stuffs them all in overworked boxes. I left them for dreamhost (because I looked at all the hosting suggested at the main wordpress site).

I don't really know how I can manage to cover the cost of a dedicated server.

You really should remove Dreamhost from the hosting page or at LEAST note that they aren't good for MU.

If anyone on the forums knows of a good, affordable hosting service, please let me know. marti.abernathey@gmail.com

Thanks.

If your site is going to be big shared hosting is a complete waste of time not to mention a headache/heartache.

"If your site is going to be big shared hosting is a complete waste of time not to mention a headache/heartache."

Right now, I only have 3 or 4 main bloggers and they get about 200 unique visits a day (per blog) with each visit getting roughly 2 or 3 pages deep. But my bloggers are getting pretty well known in my community and I know it's just a matter of time before there's an onslaught.

I'm up for any ideas, shared space or not.

Yep, the suggested hosts are for the stand-alone version of WP, *not* WPMU.

Currently I'm at futurehosting.biz on a VPS. Excellent so far. yes, I am spending $40-$50 a month on a non-profit site. I do take donations though, which so far have covered it.

I recently got kicked off shared hosting. Not a fun time. It's not the bandwidth or space that is going to be the issue - it's the processing. Even low traffic blogs use up a fair amount of processing from all the db requests etc.

"Yep, the suggested hosts are for the stand-alone version of WP, *not* WPMU."

The biggest irritant about that is that there isn't anything on Mu.wordpress.org about hosting and in the forums it's SO awash with opinions, it's hard to tell who is good and who is bad.

Well, two questions to ask any host BEFORE signing on:
- are wildcard subdomains allowed
- how much RAM is available per account

If you get a no to the first one and something vague to the next one, move on to the next host.

And it probably wouldn't hurt to ask specifically is MU is allowed to be on the server, although on a VPS or dedicated that would be moot because you're in control.

I'm curious which plan you have with futurehosting.biz. Their website isn't very clear about what the differences are.

What I'm looking for my wpmu would be as simple as 3.99 per month, economy hosting that allows me to mess around with the htaccess, httpdconf, set a wildcard for dns, attractive amount of space, no setup fee, free email, 2 months min subscription, 10 ftp users, huge bandwidth and built in antivirus and excellent support.. any recommendation?

For 3 bucks a month?

You'll get kicked off if you try to use MU.

You do realize it is SERVER level software, right?

You will never find a host for $4/month that lets you anywhere NEAR the httpd.conf file. Sheesh.

Thats why I got so pissed off with godaddy recently because even their premium webhosting cant support wpmu subdomains options, tho the subfolders options works perfectly fine even in deluxe hosting account. So Im waiting till my premium webhosting expires then move to virtual dedicated. But I might as well give godaddy another shot, I love the free stuff.

Just for reference, this is a *PORTION* of a typical wpmu install. It costs a little more than 4 bucks a month:

http://barry.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/additional-capacity/

aside: I'd take a picture of my two racks but, being on a very secure floor (ie there are bank servers on my floor) I'm not allowed a camera in there.

andrea_r, about "- how much RAM is available per account"...

What do you think is good? I don´t know how much difference can 256Mb do on VPS... i know it´s hard to tell, since too many factors to take in count, but with a regular install, what can you expect for 256mb in VPS?

xytra.net is another.

Just for reference, xytra.net appears to be unable to support wpmu.

Hi everyone,

I'm reading this post and see that a few people from about a year ago really liked Site5 for MU hosting.

Is that still the case? Have you been happy with Site5? If not who else would you recommend at this point?

Thanks for any responses!

Kevin

Nope, go for a VPS.

I was using godaddy and they were not help at all. Less than no help. I switched to Hostgator, copy-pasted the setup instructions (DNS and htaccess part) from the wordpress mu readme into a support ticket and they handled the rest. They even helped me fix an email problem that was completely my fault. Best hosting support I have ever experienced (been doing this for 8 years). Highly Recommended!!!!

fyi, hostmonster.com does not allow wildcard dns, but I am running my site with subdirectories. Just started so let's see how it fares.. keep you posted.