Need Web Host with easy features

December 5, 2007 12:39 PM

Were can I find another web hosting company that offers this type of hosting?

Our church is the process of revamping our website and is wanting to use some a web host that offers this type of solution for hosting. http://www.discoversky.com/ We like that end users can edit their own content really easy and add different modules onto a page on the fly. We need easy!! What back end are they using to accomplish this? Is this like Dotnetnuke? What other platforms could we use that are easy to use? (No programing involved) Thanks for the help.

posted by johnd101 to technology (9 comments total)

johnd101, you could look for hosting accounts that come with WordPress pre-installed. I run a hosting company and over the last year I've moved about 90% of our clients to WordPress managed sites, and all our new business is given WordPress from the start. It is the easiest way I've found for anyone to easily manage their website content and updates without having to take training classes or learn HTML.

http://wordpress.org

You can go to http://wordpress.com to sign up for a free account and try it out easily to see if it could work for you. Keep in mind that the WordPress you'll use on your own hosting account will have more features available to you than what you get at wordpress.com.
posted by annathea at 12:54 PM on December 5, 2007

You might look for a host that gives you PHP+MySQL (pretty standard with a Linux/UNIX-based host), and then you could use a Content Management System (CMS) like PostNuke, PHPNuke, or Geeklog. Drupal is another one that comes to mind. I haven't used any of these in several years, though, but they were decent when I used them 4 years ago.
posted by fogster at 12:55 PM on December 5, 2007

This time with clickable links:

http://wordpress.org

http://wordpress.com
posted by annathea at 12:56 PM on December 5, 2007

As far as I have been able to tell, Element Fusion makes their own content management software. I've previously looked at one of their other products, Light CMS and although intrigued, I've never used them because I want something I host myself.
posted by kpmcguire at 1:20 PM on December 5, 2007

Joomla is a nice CMS that's pretty user friendly for basic stuff, and is featured on a variety of hosts like (the inexpensive) Bluehost.

With any of these CMS systems, it'll take someone with at least some know-how to get them set up and running. Once you get the framework locked in it's pretty trivial for anyone to add content.
posted by sprocket87 at 1:50 PM on December 5, 2007

I'm not sure what your budget is like, but if you're looking for something a bit more powerful than Wordpress I would recommend finding a webhost that comes with a system like Drupal preinstalled. One that I know of is a local (to me) company called Bryght. They charge $19.95 a month for preinstalled Drupal, and give you the ability to add modules, etc.

Alternatively, you could install Drupal on your current web host, but it will require some technical know-how.
posted by sanitycheck at 2:08 PM on December 5, 2007

Check out GoDaddy's Hosting plans. They have an amazing feature they call Hosting Connection. You can install a myriad of applications on your server just by filling out a short form (usually consisting of the admin account info). They have some of the CMS applications mentioned above (Wordpress, Drupal) as well as some others that may interest you (i.e. Gallery allows your users to upload pictures, have albums, etc.).

Try them all out. You can uninstall applications with just one click. Make sure you go with the Linux server (better application support). No knowledge of Linux or programming necessary.
posted by upplepop at 2:23 PM on December 5, 2007

Two sites I've used for hosting in the past are:

PowWeb

HostICan

Note that if you're going to be relying heavily on MySQL applications (as Wordpress, Drupal, or any other CMS would), Powweb has been going through some growing pains. I used them for many years and finally had to move some of my MySQL based sites to another host - thus my listing of HostIcan, who so far have been great. They may have fixed the problem, I haven't checked their forums in a few weeks. Note that if you're using plain-HTML or PHP (without MySQL) then you shouldn't experience any slowness).


Either site will get you plenty of space and bandwidth for your purposes at around 5-7 bucks a month.

DreamHost is also a big player in the market. I haven't used them but know a few people who do with no complaints. Similar hosting prices, I'm sure.

Note that many hosting sites, including all 3 I've mentioned here, have "1 click install" for just about any of the major web applications like Drupal, WordPress, Coppermine/Gallery, etc. Just choose what you want on your site, it's installed and ready for you to log in and configure.

And, if it turns out you come across some application that isn't available via 1-click install, installing things are relatively easy as it's a matter of download a zipfile from the source website, unzipping it on your machine, and FTPing it to your webspace.
posted by MarkLark at 2:27 PM on December 5, 2007

yeah, dreamhost's one click is easy enough for a n00b like me, though I've since moved on, and their support is pretty good too.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 5:25 PM on December 5, 2007