Web hosting for beginner

[bluesky+]

Hello,

I'm pretty new to Joomla and I want to start doing my first own Joomla website. I am looking to do a simple personal website first to get used to Joomla etc and then maybe create another one. I am now looking for a suitable web host and have been looking for weeks already. Talking to friends, checking 'reviews' on the web reading on this forum. Especially on websites with 'reviews' i found many conflicting informations. I guess they were just marketing campaigns.

I understand there is no universal 'Best' web host and that it depends on the needs of a user. Thus, I add some info here. I'm located in Europe but a friend told me he was using bluehost and it is quite fast here as well, so I am not sure if the location of the server is a real issue or not.
I am not quite sure about all the unlimited hosting space bandwidth etc. as I probably don't need that much, i guess? In addition, I read that it would slow down the site. Did I understand that right?
The price should be as low as possible but value is more important than being cheapest.
Is there anything else apart from basics like uptime that I should consider?

I hope somebody can give me a objective view and recommendation?

Thank you for reading and hope you can help me out

[pe7er]

Welcome to Joomla forum!

You can create a local web environment on your own computer (e.g with XAMPP on windows or on Mac MAMP) and install + test Joomla locally.

Regarding hosting on a server: in the Joomla Resources Directory (JRD) you can find a lot of hosting companies that have experience with Joomla:
http://resources.joomla.org/directory/s ... sting.html

[bluesky+]

Thank you!

I have used a local web environment before to get first experience get to know Joomla. I have checked the directory. I recognise Rochen but it is a bit expensive for my needs i guess.

I am currently considering iPage, Bluehost and Hostgator. They seem to be on offer at the moment and around the same price. However, the Hostgator plan only includes one domain so when I would get another domain I'd need to up great. So, I tend to iPage followed by Bluehost. What are your experiences with those hosts?

[pe7er]

I am currently considering iPage, Bluehost and Hostgator. They seem to be on offer at the moment and around the same price. However, the Hostgator plan only includes one domain so when I would get another domain I'd need to up great. So, I tend to iPage followed by Bluehost. What are your experiences with those hosts?

Sorry, I have used a whole range of other hosting providers but I don't have any experience with those hosts.

I have good experience with Rochen and Byte.nl (a hosting provider from The Netherlands) which are both not the cheapest hosting providers. However, I think that you will get the quality that you pay for and I prefer good quality hosting so that I have less hassle.

My experience is that with a lot of cheap hosting providers I have to invest a lot of time (and annoyance) in trying to get the server optimized for my websites.

I also prefer hosting companies that offer SSH access to the server, because it saves me (and therefore my customer) even more time with setting up / maintaining a website.

[tcuttrissweb]

I can make a suggestion for you - and yes I am affiliated and get some kickback for referring, but I stand by them 100%. The only reason I am affiliated with them is because I refer so many of my clients to them I though it only fair that I get something back from them.

Host Gator has very affordable rates in their Hatchling Plan. I've connected 90% of my clients with them and have received nothing but praise in return - they LOVE them in comparison to their old host. They are there for you when you need them, they offer excellent packages with unlimited bandwidth and storage, they're seriously worth looking into.

[affiliate information has been removed]

[tcuttrissweb]

Whatever, anyways dude, if you'd like to get hostgator go ahead, they're worth it. PM me if you want the coupon code I provided. They deleted that bit because only direct links are allowed. Funny thing is I didn't even include my affiliate link. All I said was if you want to get hostgator go nuts, at least check them out, and if you want to throw me the kickback use my coupon code. Leaving the option entirely up to you. Moderators... pffft.

[Marianne_K]

You should get a shared host company that has been in business for a really long time and has a good reputation. Check out hostgator, hawkhosting, jaguarhost, stable host.

[Marianne_K]

sorry it double posted :S

[Y365Design]

I use Vidahost in the UK their service has been the best I have ever had, and I have used several really bad ones to get the journey correct at this juncture of my business life and the cloud service is very cheap. https://www.vidahost.com/

Support is available 9am-11pm

[Abcplumb]

I'm also looking for a new web host, after signing up to ... and cancelling straight away. I would advice everyone to avoid them.
Just called vidahost, after reading the above post. A free number to call, answered within a minute. wow, and they are open till 11pm.
But I will still look around before I decide to part with my money, specially after what... put me through. I will say vidahost don't look the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. The search continues for an honest no headache web host provider.

[bluebend]

I've had lots of luck with Bluehost. I know a lot of ppl that use them as well and have had lots of good experience.

[joomblaster]

Ask to every web hosting company is the way to success

[candyjsn]

- http://www.rochenhost.com/ which http://www.joomla.org/ uses.
- http://www.rackspace.com/ which we use.

[momo2012]

hallo all
i need help
i have artisteer 3.1 and joomla 2.5
if i create a templet with artisteer i have a error on my templet like this:
Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in C:\xampp\htdocs\joomla25\templates\loewen3\functions.php on line 616

Code:
{
$config =& JFactory::getConfig();
$sef = $config->getValue('config.sef');
if ($sef)
$content = str_replace('background:url(images/', 'background:url(' . JURI::base(true) . '/images/', $content);
return artxPostprocessContent($content);
}
what am I doing wrong?

[Plugje]

Hi,
You could try Strato too. It's a German company. Their hosting and virtual servers are cheap, but they have a good quality. http://www.strato.nl/

Regarding a test environment I could suggest you this. Ofcourse depending from your technical skills..

I made a virtual PC with VMware workstation. In this virtual PC I installed Ubuntu (Linux) http://www.ubuntu.com/. Then install Virtualmin http://www.virtualmin.com/. It's a free webhosting control panel. In Virtualmin you can make as much servers as you want (depending from your hardware ofcourse) with ftp, mail etc.

This is very usefull when you want to compare for instance different templates, or if you are working on multiple sites. And.. in VMware you can make a snapshot (copy) from everything in a few seconds. So if you want to try something on a server, for instance with an extension, just make a snapshot and try it. If it's not working it takes a minut orso to be back. When I am ready with a website I make a copy with Akeeba and put it on a live server. When my customers want to have something changed, I first try it in my own virtualmin server before changing it on their server.

If somebody is interested I can give some more details, but with Google you can find already some info.
And ofcourse other virtual PC software works too, when it can make snapshots.

[pxforti]

hostgator, bluehost, hostmonster. Best service hostgator. stay away from hawkhost; very surly support team and won't help with beginner problems.