posted on February 21, 2001 11:21:34 AMkerrigirl: Yeah, this probably wouldn't be the best service for those running a huge on-line retail store or doing tons of business, but I thought it might be perfect for the "smaller" eBay sellers [assuming there are any of them left....]
As for their control panel and e-mail set up, I actually don't even bother using it. I use my standard FTP program to upload and delete files, and my standard e-mail client to get my mail.
I know it's a small thing, but I still get a kick out of calling tech support and having a live human being answer after the first or second ring.
Anyway, I'm sure this service isn't for everyone, but I just thought I'd pass it along in case anybody can find it useful. I'm having a blast with it, personally!
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on February 21, 2001 02:01:03 PM
Thanks for the tip Barry. I called them, and as you say got an answer in a couple rings. I asked for a sales rep and was put through to a manager of some sort. Happy to talk with me. Of some of the info I got, I asked how they could stay profitable with such low fees and was told that they have 5000 accounts with about 30 inquiries a day and growing. They have no intentions (so I was told) of increasing fees or any hidden costs any time soon. The sign up does not include registry with any search engines but there are packages for as low as $10.00 (annually or monthly?? I'm not sure) for registry with major engines such as yahoo, alta vista, exite, etc. I must have been in a haze, because again I'm not sure, but I don't believe they offer any kind of html template or help with such. I was very happy with the treatment I recieved and I believe I will sign up soon.
posted on February 21, 2001 02:21:32 PM
THANK YOU BARRY!! I did it...I am now officially a domain.....www.quillwork.net.......or will be in a few minutes....YAY .now I have to get busy and figure out how to transfer all my other webpages html over to this one. I have never used the FTP upload before (I am currently on a freebie site, I used their quick page editor but wrote my own html) and so it was done on the site. I got a bit panicky when I read some of the info on how to's/terms etc but I am sure I can figure it out. ..Please make me feel better and tell me this is gonna be easy Anyway, thanks for the info. This is exciting. Pam
posted on February 21, 2001 03:14:57 PM
No problem Barry, if the store generates $15.000 or better in sales in the first year I'll be glad to toss you a hundo! (or would you rather have a nice Illinois Sterling)
posted on February 21, 2001 08:14:59 PM
godzillatemple
Well, I took the plunge also. I had a total mental block about setting up a cart system, and Fat Cow’s looked so easy. I started working with the site tonight, and it is great. I believe I am going to be able to easily incorporate the html of their cart wizard, with FrontPage, and create a very workable, original web site.
We have two sites already, but really needed a cart on one section of one of the sites, and I'll be hoping to get it set up this weekend -
Thanks so much for recommending this site, I have talked to their Support once and had my problem solved in about 2 minutes.
I'm quite pleased with what I have encountered so far, and the price is GREAT, for all the extras which come with it.
posted on February 22, 2001 06:01:47 AM
Hey -- my pleasure. To be honest, I was half expecting somebody to point out the "hidden" catches I missed, but so far it looks like everybody is happy....
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on February 22, 2001 06:45:10 AM
Some have commented about FatCow being rather simplistic - BUT, I have already found, that if you are at all creative, and you write html or use Front Page, you can take the simple CARTWIZARD, carry it over to your FrontPage, and make as complicated, and jazzy web page/pages as one could desire and still have all the shopping cart information there without having to input it yourself.
Just a simple cart program alone, can run as much as the whole FatCow hosting program for a year, so I saw this as a major bargain.
I am very pleased with what can be done with their program, and with their support who have been more than gracious.
posted on February 22, 2001 07:21:51 AM
Right now, simplistic is good........I wrote all my html from my other webpage on an online freebie quickpage freehand editor....so I need simplistic....LOL..so far its been an adventure in learning ....haven't tackled the shopping cart yet but its coming. I am so excited about this......
posted on February 23, 2001 10:29:33 AMExecutiveGirl: Yes, that looks like it could be another "contender". You get about 1/2 what you get from FatCow in terms of web space and transfers/month, and they don't have the shopping cart setup that FatCow provides, but that's still quite a lot for a measly $9.95/month.
I wonder if this means that the days of having to pay $49/month and up for business web hosting are numbered? And if so, what caused the sudden change? Most people I have talked to STILL can't believe I am getting 100 MB of web storage space and a domain name for only $99/year [not to mention live technical support!]
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on February 23, 2001 10:39:28 AM
Ok, this probably rates right up there with STUPID QUESTION of the week, but I gotta ask. What is meant by "transfers" are you talking about every time you FTP something or what?? Yeah, I know, its a stupid question..... but doing a page this way is a bit different for me.
posted on February 23, 2001 10:49:30 AMminx47: Naaaah, it's not a stupid question. Inf act, I got burned on this issue with one of those "free" hosting services a few years ago.
A "file transfer" is anytime a file is uploaded or downloaded to or from your site. This obviously includes FTP, but more importantly it includes everytime anybody visits your site and VIEWS the images there. Remember -- in order to view an image it must first be downloaded to the viewer's computer [where it is typcially stored in the web browser's cache so it doesn't need to be downloaded each time the person views the same image].
I had a very popular page with a lot of images, sounds, video clips, etc., that was getting well over 1000 visits per day. Even though I was well within my alloted space, the hosting company suddenly informed me that I was well over the allowed 50MB/month limit for file transfers. I was given the choice to either start paying "business rates" at something like a couple of hundred dollars per month, or else cancel my account. Like you, I had assumed that the 50mb/month limit applied only to FTP transfers, but I was mistaken. Needless to say, I cancelled my account with that service.
FatCow has a 5000 MB/month file transfer limit, whereas registerfly.com apparently has a 1000 MB/month limit. Both are PROBABLY good enough for most people, but it really depends on how much traffic you are expecting and how many images, sound files, etc., you want to have.
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on February 23, 2001 12:51:33 PM GULP....and 5000mb is a LOT right??? Seriously....my webpage relies heavily on a lot of pics etc as I do custom work.....and each subpage has a midi. Barry, if I go to your fatcow page and email you off that with my current tripod website...would you mind taking a quick glimpse at it and tell me if you think I am going to be in trouble?? And pics of my work are added all the time as I do new stuff. Since you have been there maybe you can tell right off if I should panic.?? Oh heck...here is the link for my current tripod page......I have , of course, not transferred over to my fatcow yet....wanted to change some things.....but would you mind checking and letting me know if this is a LOT to worry about??
http://members.tripod.com/~quillworker/index.html Thanks in advance....Pam
posted on February 23, 2001 01:01:40 PM
Keeping in mind, of course....that I was planning on putting all my ebay pics on there too so that would be even more hits.....
posted on February 23, 2001 01:03:18 PMPam: I really wouldn't know what to look for, but I think the main issue is not how MUCH stuff you have but how MANY visitors to your site. As I mentioned, at the site I had trouble with, I only had 5MB of stuff but I had over 1000 visitors per day. Even if every visitor only looked at 1MB of files, that was still 1000MB of transfers per day!
I honestly don't think you will have to worry too much. And the worst case scenario with FatCow is that they would charge you a whopping $10 extra per month for each additional gigabyte of file transfers over the allotted 5GB.
As for me, I had thought about putting a bunch of 1MB video clips on my site, but after some careful consideration I decided to skip that idea just in case....
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on February 23, 2001 01:13:35 PM
Barry...thanks for the clarification. I THINK I am ok...even hosting the ebay pics...based on what you said....I just did a momentary panic......and your right, the worst case scenario would be a few extra bucks and they ARE so reasonable anyway. Thanks again. Pam
posted on February 23, 2001 02:04:20 PM
Ok, now I have a (dumb!) question. I don't know very much about starting up new websites, etc. But I just got my own domain name and I need somewhere to host my new website. (That I haven't started yet). I have a couple different options as far as which company I would use to host my website (right now it's leaning towards Fatcow.com) - how would I transfer my domain name to fatcow.com? I'm a little foggy on how this all works.....
posted on February 23, 2001 02:26:29 PM
Executive Girl.....go to the help section of the fatcow control panel...there is an excellent tutorial about everything and it also covers transferring your domain name....Pam
posted on February 28, 2001 03:20:43 PM
Hmmmmmm....
Given the recent announcement from AW that they are now going to charge for image hosting, I thought I'd just bump this thread back to the top in case anyone else is now interested.
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
[ edited by godzillatemple on Feb 28, 2001 03:22 PM ]
..Please make me feel better and tell me this is gonna be easy 
Anyway, thanks for the info. This is exciting. Pam
GULP....and 5000mb is a LOT right??? Seriously....my webpage relies heavily on a lot of pics etc as I do custom work.....and each subpage has a midi. Barry, if I go to your fatcow page and email you off that with my current tripod website...would you mind taking a quick glimpse at it and tell me if you think I am going to be in trouble?? And pics of my work are added all the time as I do new stuff. Since you have been there maybe you can tell right off if I should panic.?? Oh heck...here is the link for my current tripod page......I have , of course, not transferred over to my fatcow yet....wanted to change some things.....but would you mind checking and letting me know if this is a LOT to worry about??