RE: Map to Subdirectory Tool Bundle Now Available

[Pestilence]

AS Found in the annoucement Here (http://forums.powweb.com/showthread.php?t=67472)
Note: This notice applies to the new platform.

PowWeb now offers an easy to use Multi-Domain Management Tool that allows you to redirect domain names to directories without having to write any scripts or manage multiple .htaccess files!

To give you more flexibility and convenience, the Map to Subdirectory Tool Bundle includes these features:

- Simple management of all your domains in one location from OPS
- The ability to install multiple copies of popular instant installer applications
- One FREE additional domain credit
**SNIP**
Pricing: $27.77/Year

Does that Mean that the "Map to Subdirectory Tool" & the URL Redirect currently in OPS are going to be removed if we don't wish to purchase the Bundled package? From what I'm reading on the Linked page (http://www.powweb.com/powweb/multidomainbundle.bml) this Bundled package basicly does the same thing as the two tools mentioned above with the addition of possibly the .htaccess Editor.

With the exception of the free domain, and using the auto-installer for multiple copies, what does the $27.77 really add to the package? Using the tools in OPS as mentioned above seems to cover all that with out having to be "an advanced .htaccess guru". Just Looking for some clarification. Thank you.

[IanS]

My understanding is that the tool adds redirection to sub-directories for the additional domains. This used to be done in .htaccess and on migration has caused some difficulties for some users.

[cc1030]

My understanding is that the tool adds redirection to sub-directories for the additional domains. This used to be done in .htaccess and on migration has caused some difficulties for some users.

That's exactly what it does, based on the description. But let's not mince words here. The issue is not that "migration has caused some difficulties for some users". The issue is that Endurance's Apache is BROKEN, which is causing perfectly valid .htaccess files to not work correctly.

[thrawniejoe]

My Question is, Does This Tool( "Map to Subdirectory Tool Bundle" ) Work?

I got a bunch of domains im moving over to Powweb but I have no way of adding them without them going to my default web address. I really am trying to stay away from having to go to hostgator but im really close to doing so.

So Can this " Map to Subdirectory Tool" map domains(Not Subdomains) to any directory you want?
aka:
www.domain1.com > home/htdocs/domain1
www.domain2.com > home/htdocs/domain2
www.domain3.com > home/domain3

without going through all the crap of editing the .htaccess file(that doesnt work anymore)

[IanS]

My Question is, Does This Tool( "Map to Subdirectory Tool Bundle" ) Work?

I got a bunch of domains im moving over to Powweb but I have no way of adding them without them going to my default web address. I really am trying to stay away from having to go to hostgator but im really close to doing so.

So Can this " Map to Subdirectory Tool" map domains(Not Subdomains) to any directory you want?
aka:
www.domain1.com > home/htdocs/domain1
www.domain2.com > home/htdocs/domain2
www.domain3.com > home/domain3

without going through all the crap of editing the .htaccess file(that doesnt work anymore)The $27+ tool will work fine. Most of the disucssions here are about the included free tool for sub-domains.

[don1976]

Shock-Horror, another one to add to the list of benefits stripped from the old PowWeb and re-introduced at a fee on the new platform.

All along they have been telling us they are having trouble implementing re-write rules etc etc and were making changes to the platform to fix it when in fact they were putting together a nice wee tool so they could charge us for the privilege of making use of the ability to host additional domain names.

Add this to

FTPZoom - paying to get an FTP connection any more than 100k
SSL Certificates - having to pay for a certificate so you can have a secure URL that doesn't contain your username
Change from Daily Bandwidth limit to monthly - meaning if something goes wrong you have to buy more bandwidthor live without your site for anything up to a month.
MySQL Fee's - removal of the one off fee and introduction of a vastly more expensive monthly fee.

How much more will we have taken away and then offered back for a fee?

[tbonekkt]

don1976 - you're mistaken.

1) Legacy (old PowWeb) had no tool to allow for easy mapping of additional domains to different directories. So the addition of even a paid offering is progress.

The new tool is not meant to be the solution to the .htaccess/mod_rewrite problem. It does fix it though, and that is good but not THE solution. Engineers ARE WITHOUT QUESTION working on the real fix to the problem.

2) Bandwidth setup/calculation is much better on the new platform. The removal of Daily limit prevents one or two day traffic surges from rendering your site disabled if you get a Digg or Slashdot mention. And if you use up all of your bandwidth in the first half of the month, you have the option of purchasing more. It wasn't even possible on Legacy to purchase additional bandwidth.

[cc1030]

The new tool is not meant to be the solution to the .htaccess/mod_rewrite problem. It does fix it though, and that is good but not THE solution. Engineers ARE WITHOUT QUESTION working on the real fix to the problem.

I don't mean to be rude, but what's taking so long? It's been over two weeks, and there's still no resolution. Do the engineers even know what the problem is? The problem should have been diagnosed, and a resolution found, tested, and implemented within a few days. If I ever took this long to fix a problem, I would be fired.

[don1976]

Forgive me if I remain sceptical that any solution to the re-write problems will be forthcoming and while I remain in the situation where I have to use framed redirect for sites I host while PowWeb/Endurance continue to work on it.

I also disagree about the Bandwidth setup/calculation being better. Under PowWeb prior to the takeover the daily limit meant if you used your bandwidth up in a single day then your site would be available the next day and you had a chance to fix whatever the cause. We may not have had the option to purchase additional bandwidth, but the site was never going to be down for anymore than 24 hours. Under the new setup if something goes wrong and Bandwidth is chewed up on the first day of the month we are held over a barrel by PowWeb - we either purchase more bandwidth (which could be expensive if you need a months worth for a busy site) or your site is offline till the start of the new month.

Spin it any way you like, the truth of the matter is features/benefits are being stripped out and offered back at a fee - I have not seen one single thing offered for free on the new platform that I would consider a "Customer Benefit" - sure things have changed and some tools have been slightly improved, but these are far outwieghed by errosion elsewhere.

[don1976]

Add the ability to have use multiple instances of the Instant Installer for a single application to the list of features removed and included in a feature which now requires a fee.

[jrfuda]

Well, after I had one too many issues getting my Joomla/Gallery2/SMF install to work properly on my domain residing in a subdirectory of htdocs using the good ole .htaccess tricks, I decided to give this $27.77 a year tool a try.

It works, but it still required some .htaccess tricks and directory relocating toget it to work.

On the old platform, I had my extra domain pointing to:
/home/htdocs/subdirectory/

While, it worked - just barely - in that directory using .htaccess tricks (had to have all SEO/SEF turned-off) it still had some quirks, and the quirks persisted with the new tool enabled and the .htaccess tricks commented out.

I then moved the domain from /home/htdocs/subdirectory to /home/subdirectory/htdocs/ and performance improved a but with the new tool, but I still could not use SEO/SEF features. Finally, a little tweak to a rewrite rule let me use my SEO/SEF features and now EVERYTHING is working perfectly. These tricks, however, were not required in my primary domain that points to my /home/htdocs/ directory, so this shows there is still a limitation to this tool bundle that does not completely negate the requirements to edit the .htaccess... in fact, I think If I would have moved my extra domain to /home/subdirectory/htdocs/ to begin with - and used the new .htaccess tricks, I would have had the same end state for $27.77 less, however, I hope - as the new platform matures, this tool becomes more robust and makes it worthwhile.

[mGee]

One of the core features that powweb advertises to attract customers is the fact that you can host multiple domains with your account.

Then they charge you for a "tool" to redirect these domains. Smells like a marketing scam to me.

This issue along with the fact that there still is no Ruby On Rails support are reasons enough for me to finally make that jump to <<removed>>.

[KitBear]

You can host multiple domains, .htaccess files work (now).

Charging for the domain mapping tool is a separate argument, even basic cPanel hosts include this functionality at no extra charge. It's really a Powweb decision, make a few extra bucks at the expense of additional support load and lose a few customers in the process.

Additional support load? Yep, all those people contacting support because they can't fiqure it out. If the tool were free and FAQ was beefed up, that load would diminish.

Lose a few customers? Yep, nuff said.