Need Joomla hosting recommendations now that SiteGround is dropping Joomla support

[renejdm]

Looking for Joomla Hosting recommendations now that SiteGround is dropping hosting support for Joomla. They have decided to focus solely on Wordpress. This is bad news for me as I have been a supporter for many years.

They will start by dropping tools such as STAGING. Without staging their hosting for complex Joomla websites is not desirable.

So please mention hosting providers that have a staging tool.

[sozzled]

... SiteGround is dropping hosting support for Joomla. They have decided to focus solely on Wordpress.

OK ... *cynical stare* ...

Where did you read that? When people make assertions about webhosting companies on internet-based technical forums, they need to be able to support their claims with authoritative references.

Writing messages in extra large type actually reduces the credibility of fanciful "claims" such as this one.

If this is something that is really happening (and my two-minute research cannot uncover any reference to SiteGround abandoning Joomla in favour of WP or any other CMS) then why would they cut off a significant portion of their business? Therefore, until I see some evidence of claims about certain companies cutting Joomla from their revenue streams, this sounds like a load of garbage to me.

[posurreal]

Have you considered using a Joomla extension for staging? That will allow you more flexibility with your web hosting choices. Frankly, with performance being important for SEO, I moved most of my Joomla websites to the cloud. They are lightning fast compared to shared hosting.

[sozzled]

The premise of this discussion is based on a rumour. Please don't give the discussion any further oxygen by recommend "alternatives" until the rumour can be confirmed with a company statement from SiteGround. Until then, "alternatives" may be considered to be spam.

You can tell when someone is spreading fake news when they write a message on a forum and, within a few minutes, they disappear! If they were serious (and interested) they would reply.

Nothing to see here (and no reason to provide a running commentary); just a load of junk.

[renejdm]

Hi mr. cynical,

Read this, esp. the comments...

https://www.siteground.com/blog/new-cli ... ite-tools/

[renejdm]

@posurreal

I would definitely consider using a Joomla extension for staging. As well as using Joomla in the cloud. Can you point me to some guidance on how to do this?

[sozzled]

I read the article (dated two weeks ago). The article does not say that SiteGround is dropping support for Joomla—in fact, it says the opposite—and it does not say that SiteGround is "focusing solely on Wordpress".

The article does say that SiteGround has decided to discontinue maintaining some peripheral tools (such as "staging") but it's a complete falsehood to draw any further conclusions other than that. So, yeah, the opening sentence of the original post (written in large font) is nonsense.

The relevant paragraph in the company statement is

We only aim to discontinue the maintenance of the peripheral tools we have added on top (such as staging). The decline in the number of Joomla clients leads to a decline in the usage of these tools, which regardless how little that usage is still require a heavy and ongoing maintenance.

[renejdm]

@sozzled

You obviously didn't bother to read the comments. Let me give you a hint. Search for the keyword "Joomla" and read all the comments.

Without staging and the other tools, SiteGround is not an option. The admins of SiteGround even say they are phasing out Joomla, in favor of Wordpress.

I asked a question. I don't want to hear your opinions.

[renejdm]

@posurreal

I searched the extension database and came up with StageIt (https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/stageit/)

I guess that this is the tool you hint at.

Can you describe more about moving your hosting to the cloud. I would love to know more about this. Are we talking Amazon or Azure or someone else? Can you point me in the direction to implement this type of solution?

I am sure many other people would be interested in knowing how to do this.

[posurreal]

@posurreal

I would definitely consider using a Joomla extension for staging. As well as using Joomla in the cloud. Can you point me to some guidance on how to do this?

1) Staging: I don't use a staging extension, so I cannot speak to the best one. You may want to backup your site, install one, and see how you like it. I googled joomla staging extension to find StageIT and SP Staging.

2) Gee, I spent many months to land on my server-side architecture and mine is just one way of doing it. Cloud hosting is provided by big boys like Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Digital Ocean is also popular.

I chose Linode due to predictable pricing and ease of use. $5/month will get you started. Factor in the cost of a Cpanel subscription or try Virtualmin, its counterpart. I use Virtualmin because I'm a cheapskate. I also connected to AWS S3 for automated backups. I'm on an Ubuntu server with Apache Linux PHP etc. installed.

You still have FTP access, user management for ftp and email, ability to update the server software, etc. Without Cpanel or Virtualmin, you will need Putty or SSH to access the server. That was too complicated for me to learn; so Virtualmin eased my learning curve.

The fun part is that I have 2 server admins through Upwork that migrate my websites to this architecture because it's over my head. In the end, I have the tools I need.

One caveat is that you may choose to use an alternative email solution. Most of my clients use Gmail Pro at $6/email account. Why? You don't have control over the IP address you are assigned. So, if that IP address was blacklisted, then you're opening a can of worms on e-mail deliverability (spam). I use MXToolbox to test the IP address given to me before I migrate a website to a server. I'm personally using email on Linode because I detected any blacklisting and got those removed. Then, the coast was clear.

Sounds like you have some time to test the waters with cloud hosting/virtualmin/AWS backup or any other cloud architecture you land on. So, you'll be ready to move with confidence.

[renejdm]

@posurreal

Wow! Thank you for all the great info. I have saved your answer to my desktop and I am hoping I have enough time to come up with some of these alternative solutions for hosting.

Even though SiteGround has not officially announced dropping Joomla yet, the writing is on the wall, esp. with their decision to drop staging and all other external tools. This should be a concern to everybody with complex Joomla websites.

[john-doe]

As long as they can support a Database I Still work Joomla on SiteGround.
Only that i upload the installation (as I always do)

[sozzled]

"Comments" posted on a company statement are not authoritative about the company's statement.

SiteGround is a major sponsor of Joomla. There is no truth in the rumour that SiteGround is abandoning Joomla.

The admins of SiteGround even say they are phasing out Joomla, in favor of Wordpress.

Show me where the owners of SiteGround state that!

You've completely misinterpreted the article. The relevant paragraph that you've miscontructed was

What you call “phasing out” of the support for Joomla is partially correct way to put it - our core Joomla service and support are not affected in any way. We only aim to discontinue the maintenance of the peripheral tools we have added on top (such as staging). The decline in the number of Joomla clients leads to a decline in the usage of these tools, which regardless how little that usage is still require a heavy and ongoing maintenance.

The decision regarding some of our Joomla tools is not associated to the switch to Site Tools and is not done in favor of WordPress or any other CMS either.

[deleted user]

SiteGround might be dropping first class support for Joomla in its hosting tool suite, but so long as their platform can run PHP applications it will always support running Joomla. TBH, the writing has been on the wall for years after the failed joomla.com platform that was eventually replaced by the current Launch platform and SiteGround's shift toward becoming a "WordPress first" host.

Their price raises though are what led me to start working on migrating, nothing to do with some novelty tools they add to their control panel.

[renejdm]

@mbabker

Thanks for your input. Before I migrated to SiteGround, I used to update components on my website one at a time, taking backups for each one. As my website grew bigger, with more components, this became impractical. Add more websites and the problem was compounded.

Then I heard of SiteGround as the best hosting provider for Joomla. They had a staging tool. This became super important to me because now I could just spin off a copy of my website on their servers (very important!) and work on the copy; updating and testing. This was great. No more white screens of death because of a conflicting plugin, etc.

So the staging tool has become invaluable to me. I pay the high prices mostly because of this.

They are now eliminating staging and all of their Joomla addon tools. They are replacing cpanel with their own solution.

This is very disturbing to me and shows a disregard for the clients that have helped this company grow.

I have asked the Joomla community for solutions. Thank you for giving me your answer and thanks to the other people who gave me useful info.

[brian]

SiteGround is a major sponsor of Joomla. There is no truth in the rumour that SiteGround is abandoning Joomla.

Was not is

[posurreal]

@mbabker
Same is true for me. When my clients were up for renewals at Siteground, the price increased by 23%! It's what motivated me to consider alternatives.

@renejdm
The wrap-up here is (1) Use a Joomla! extension for your staging and stay where you are for now, and (2) Determine the best cloud solution or server architecture.

One more thing:
If you see "Managed Services", then they are offering to be your server admin. That's a key service you paid for with Siteground. If you choose NOT to use managed services, then find a server admin to get you going.

[Webdongle]

... The article does not say that SiteGround is dropping support for Joomla...

But it does say that dropping Joomla is being discussed.

Colin, in full honesty, we have been talking for a while about removing the Joomla tools from cPanel (and not provide them in Site Tools either). We are seeing a solid drop in their overall usage and as you can imagine maintenance of these tools takes its toll. We don't have a date when to discontinue them, as we were discussing if we can provide alternatives to users

[mandville]

I read that as the tools - eg 1click installer tools not the application enviroment itself.

... The article does not say that SiteGround is dropping support for Joomla...

But it does say that dropping Joomla is being discussed.

Colin, in full honesty, we have been talking for a while about removing the Joomla tools from cPanel (and not provide them in Site Tools either). We are seeing a solid drop in their overall usage and as you can imagine maintenance of these tools takes its toll. We don't have a date when to discontinue them, as we were discussing if we can provide alternatives to users

[Webdongle]

Yes but does not 'Tools' include quick install and updating Joomla?

[sozzled]

I don't have a problem with the basic question (even if it's not one that I can answer with any authority). The basic question asks for recommendations about webhosting providers who currently provide "staging services" for owners of Joomla websites. That's a perfectly reasonable question to ask.

The problem I have with this topic, however, is the premise that a well-known webhosting provider (that has been a choice of many people who currently, and will continue to, operate their J! websites) is dropping (or is considering abandoning, or will be abandoning) webhosting support for J!

Now, let's be very clear about this. What does "dropping support for J!" mean?

Well, it can mean different things to different people. Taking a very generalist approach to the question, my understanding is that webhosting support means that people can upload their websites on to the webhost and their websites will operate just like any other website on the internet. While this seems to be a quite commonly understood concept of "webhosting support", some people may need other, more advanced facilities, other than "simple" domain hosting, file transfer, database management, email account management, etc. whether by cPanel, Plesk or some other proprietary software or system.

Such advanced facilities may include website staging, or scripted installations, or "automated"/automatic [lights out] updating. In these respects, those needs may be quite different to the "average user's" needs, whatever they may be.

From my reading of SiteGround's announcement, I cannot see any indication that basic webhosting support for J! websites will be disappearing off the horizon in the near- or medium-term. But, if that should happen, I guess there will be a "disturbance in the Force" ... and c'est la vie!

So, no, my opinion is that the premise of the question—that SiteGround is dropping support for Joomla—is flawed. That's the only point that I want to make.

[sunny day]

We have been very happy with the service we have had with Siteground over the years but any proposed or actual reduction in service is a concern particularly in relation to the Joomla staging tools. We will wait and see what happens over the next few months.

Regarding renejdm's original question - seeking alternative 'hosting providers that have a staging tool' - we too would be interested in any recommendations.

[Webdongle]

1and1 ?

[renejdm]

Here is an excerpt from an email sent out by SiteGround....

"We are excited to inform you about the upcoming switch to our new Client Area and Site Tools. The new interfaces are already used by all new clients who signed up in the past month. Starting from the second half of September 2019, we will gradually roll out the new setup to all our existing clients, replacing the current User Area and cPanel. We will notify you by email at least one week in advance to let you know when you’ll be switched to the new interfaces."

So next month they will remove staging, cpanel, and the addon tools for Joomla.

[sunny day]

If Siteground do remove staging and other important tools for Joomla users that will be a sad day for those of us who have been loyal supporters and advocates of their service. Why they are even risking going from 'hero to zero' in the eyes of many Joomla users is beyond me. Would someone from Siteground care to comment?

[Webdongle]

As far as I can see from the page linked to ... Joomla tools have not been removed from the new 'tools suite'. They are just dicussing removing them. So the email (telling you the Client Area and Site Tools are being renewed) does not mean the loss of Joomla tools.

[darb]

I have been customer for Siteground for many years before but see their dropping of Joomla support coming and thats why I also drop them bcs of price trick problem when your site grows effecting performance. So I think many Joomla people also leave them after a while.

I have good experience of MDD Hosting that have good testing numbers for speed and working well now for 2 years https://www.mddhosting.com/ I think I have tested about 15-20 different hosting providers during the years.

[renejdm]

Hey darb

Thank you for your hosting recommendation. I also have been a SiteGround customer for many years. I started this thread because I have complex Joomla websites. I am a very experienced software developer. Every software developer needs to have at least 2 development sites happening. Most have 3.

[darb]

Hey darb

Thank you for your hosting recommendation. I also have been a SiteGround customer for many years. I started this thread because I have complex Joomla websites. I am a very experienced software developer. Every software developer needs to have at least 2 development sites happening. Most have 3.

Yeah I agree. I had my own hosting company 1994-2000 and time was different then. You learn from experience

[hoanta]

Hey darb

Thank you for your hosting recommendation. I also have been a SiteGround customer for many years. I started this thread because I have complex Joomla websites. I am a very experienced software developer. Every software developer needs to have at least 2 development sites happening. Most have 3.

Thank you Renejdm for the topic.

I am on the same boat with you. I will follow this topic to find the joomla supported host for my websites.