bludomain?

[islandphoto]

Hi everyone, I was thinking of getting a template with bludomain. They are having a $400 special right now. But I started searching through the forum and read some not so great things about them. Can anyone give me input on them?

I am aware of some technical problems that they have had - but I have my own hosting so I was wondering if those problems would affect me. Any feedback would be great because the special ends tomorrow so I have to decide about them. Thanks!

[liza]

I know that a lot of the pros who frequent DWF use bludomain and have never heard anything negative about them. Jamie, Tim, or Petra might know someone who uses them. I use Bluehost myself.

[islandphoto]

thanks... maybe they'll jump in here.

[islandphoto]

no other feedback on them:rolleyes:

[sfaust]

I've been with them for about 2 years. Never an issue at all. Always available, never a hitch. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them based on their service, and the compliments I get all the time on how nice my site looks.

I also host it from my own server. The only thing I've noticed is that it doesn't load as fast as when I access it directly from their server. So there is a slight delay when hosted on servers not under their control.

http://www.stephenfaust.com/

[PhotosGuy]

Seems pricey, & I'm not sure just what sort of site you need. Take a look at http://jalbum.net for some options.

[Ed Kanney]

Have been w/Blue Domian for 2 years with NO problems. Good stuff...

[islandphoto]

just bought their bday gift certificate for $400... now I just have to decide which template I like best hehehe :)

[Shadowplay]

I've been with them for about 2 years. Never an issue at all. Always available, never a hitch. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them based on their service, and the compliments I get all the time on how nice my site looks.

I also host it from my own server. The only thing I've noticed is that it doesn't load as fast as when I access it directly from their server. So there is a slight delay when hosted on servers not under their control. You can compare the difference if you want by accessing each of these sites. The first is on their server, the second is on my server. If I point my domain to their server, its about 5 seconds quicker in loading up the site.

http://www.bludomain3.com/stephenfaust/
http://www.stephenfaust.com/
It loads slowly when on your hosting account with ipowerweb because ipowerweb is a crummy host with oversold servers. You don't have your own server, you have an allotment of resources on a server (a hosting account). It just so happens that there are at least 545 other domains on your IP address, and who knows how many public IP addresses on that server. This is common amongst web space retailers, they offer far more resources than they can afford to provide at the price they listed and then hope no one actually uses anything. It works for them, but screws the common person who doesn't know any better, and by the time their client figures it out it's too late. Thats why they push the immediacy in their accounts so hard (notice the front page says deal expires july 13 at noon, bet that one changes every day). They also push the year or two year deals on you, because if you actually use them you'll find a new host in 2 months because they're terrible, so in order to make money they have to lock you in for long periods or charge you a fat setup fee to ensure their continued existence.

Now, not that this has anything to do with BluDomain, but if I can help anyone avoid a crummy host I'll do it. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to hosting. Expensive backbones (level3, AT&T, Global Crossing, Sprint, etc) and nice servers are large recurring costs for a webhost. I haven't been in the game for quite some time so I can't recommend a good host, but I maintain my dual 2.8Ghz xeon webserver in a world class datacenter at a reasonably inexpensive $270/month.

I can recommend checking the forums at www.webhostingtalk.com to find a good host.

[sfaust]

I realize it isn't a dedicated server, but was referencing it as 'my server' in relation to not being a BluDomain server. Technically an incorrect reference, my apology. I spent many years in networking before going full time in photography, so I'm not uninformed in that regard and fully understand how it all works. I have no need for a 'dedicated' server, so IPower works fine for the small bandwidth I use. Other than their crumby customer service (read that as nonexistent), its been 99% uptime for me and more than fast enough over the last few years. I have no complaints for the price paid, or the hosting provided.

[jenie_penny]

if $400 upfront plus hosting seems pricing you might want to consider a site and hosting service, a new company portfoliositez.com is coming out that might be what you are looking for

[airfrogusmc]

I've been with them for about 2 years. Never an issue at all. Always available, never a hitch. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them based on their service, and the compliments I get all the time on how nice my site looks.

I also host it from my own server. The only thing I've noticed is that it doesn't load as fast as when I access it directly from their server. So there is a slight delay when hosted on servers not under their control. You can compare the difference if you want by accessing each of these sites. The first is on their server, the second is on my server. If I point my domain to their server, its about 5 seconds quicker in loading up the site.

http://www.bludomain3.com/stephenfaust/
http://www.stephenfaust.com/

I really like your site. Love the bus and the blonde and the eye. Sorry now back to topic.

[DG32]

Bludomain has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau, and their phone has been disconnected.

BBB Report (http://denver.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=33&bbb=0885&firm=64020703)

That pretty much says it all.

[turbo212003]

I was going to get a template from them but heard the stories of 1) not having a phone number to call 2) SLOW service. 3) I wanted something simple, they look like but too flashy

[DG32]

Who did your site, Grant?

[Paul J McCain]

http://www.bludomain3.com/stephenfaust/
http://www.stephenfaust.com/

Wow that IS a nice site! I need to look into this.

[turbo212003]

Who did your site, Grant?

www.smugmug.com


here is my site: http://grantwphoto.smugmug.com

I'm in the process of transferring everything over from www.grantwphoto.com

Soon I will be using my domain name instead of the smugmug.com tag.

[DG32]

It looks good.

Yes, using your domain name would probably be better.

[turbo212003]

It looks good.

Yes, using your domain name would probably be better.


If you use the prom code 'yahoo', you will get an account for half off.

[DG32]

Kewl! Thanks.

[AlexMoPhotography]

It's fortunate that some of you never encountered any problems with Bludomain. I, on the other hand, had quite the opposite experience. Everything on my site was broken. The image uploader was buggy, the music player was buggy (and still is in some sections), some of my galleries wouldn't show up, some of my photos in certain galleries wouldn't show up, the e-mail protocol was buggy, the text box editor is still buggy (difficult to highlight stuff to copy and paste), and some of my displayed images are still buggy. I probably have about a dozen e-mails from them saying "we fixed the problem, sorry for any inconvenience..." When I buy a new car, I don't expect to take it back to the shop every weekend.

[harroz]

they had all of their servers stolen a month or 2 ago apparently.

[sfaust]

I've been working with BluDomain on updating to a new template that also allows me to show my video work. Customer service has been spotty, but ok overall. Just took longer to receive a reply than in the past. Haven't had any problems with the site itself so far, and hope to have it on line in the next month once all the video clips are updated to fit the flash format. I'd probably still recommend them at this point.

I really like your site. Love the bus and the blonde and the eye. Sorry now back to topic.

That image is of Kimberly Roads from the band Little Big Town, and taken during the shooting of their "I'm With the Band" music video while touring with Martina McBride. Wonderful lady.

The bus was a broken down 70's model, and was on a flat bed trailer for filming. Exterior shots where done as it sat outside the building used for the shoot, but for the interior shots while moving, it was hauled around town on the flatbed since it couldn't run on its own power. Here is a shot of the bus. I think that's even Kimberly's head in the window.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3375606410_70468a4a7a.jpg

[AlexMoPhotography]

I have to open yet ANOTHER support ticket now...
This time, everytime I upload a batch of images, the last image shows up as the first one. So then I have to move it to the last one. Every. Single. Upload. Pain in the ass.