Just completed my blocs website and registered with Heart Internet as my ISP. I also arranged the domain: “thedigitalpaintbrush,co.uk” Then I have just spent two full days fighting with Heart Internet interface to upload the site. I signed up to FORKLIFT and FILE ZILA which made no difference and tried uploading directly to “H I” which still did not work. I am closing my account with Heart.
I need a new domain name, and amend the blocs files accordingly.
I need a new ISP
And I want you great people to feel sorry for me and make suggestions LOL!
Basically I am a 76 year old, traditional artist, now turned to painting in PROCREATE and the Affinity suite. I am fed up with this lock-down situation and whilst I am painting I figure I might make a pound or two if possible.
Any thoughts folks?
First of all I would suggest a nice cup of tea and taking a deep breath. It’s always the best remedy for finding solutions.
You shouldn’t require a new domain if it has already been registered and I can see from the who-is data that you are good for another couple years. That domain can either be hosted with Heart or elsewhere. If you want to host it somewhere else, you will first need to change the nameservers that should be available at heart.
I don’t see why any of this would require a new ISP. That’s something totally unconnected. Personally I have never used Heart, so I cannot offer any opinion, either good or bad, but this should be a relatively straightforward matter uploading via FTP with details they should have provided.
HI @yoshi2, Sorry to hear you can’t get along with you’re current ISP. Personally I’m using one.com for most of my websites and I’m extremely pleased with their service and helpdesk. I’m sure other members of this forum can give countless other good hosting providers. A quick Google search on how to transfer a domain from heart teaches you how to do so as Heart itself is not keen on sharing this with you.
I would be surprised if the current web host cannot help sort this out if a support request is sent in. I am using guru.co.uk for hosting, however they are more aimed at professionals. Kualo.co.uk are good hand holding support and fixing issues. I often send clients to Kualo for domain registration because their interface is very simple.
I take your point Flashman, Sir, and I DID have a cup of tea! There is also the point that an awful lot of changes would have to me made to the content - in blocs.
You shouldn’t have to make any changes in Blocs. Any links you have are domain related so they will continue to work no matter where your domain is hosted. Personally, I would get out of your current situation and find a hosting company that can help you get your site published. Personally, I use Namecheap.com - been with them for many years and their support staff are always on hand in live chat and can solve most issues during a chat session.
It does sound like you may be uploading to the wrong directory on the server, but if this is the case then the hosting company should be able to see this and help you correct the situation. Best solution, get a new host that has live chat support and know what they’re doing. Don’t do anything to your blocs project until you are able to upload it to a server somewhere. Once you find a good host, simply change the DNS record with your current host to point the domain to a new server - it’s a simple thing to do and you’ll be up and running in a few hours.
As @hendon52 mentions it sounds like you are uploading to the wrong directory. What path have you chosen in the FTP app?
I’ve had 2 dealings with Heart. Never again!
Best of luck.
Thanks to all for your advice. When attempting to upload with FORKLIFT yesterday, the upload failed. But I spent most of the day trying to upload to Heart Internet via their eXtend panel. The trouble there was I could not upload the folder with images for example, there were 54 images - I am a painter - then I had to gather them into a new folder - and I had to do it with the entire content, and it still failed. So I am going back into blocs and start a new package. I shall use FILE ZILLA . This time the "server will be entered as fttp:// etc AND NOT AS ftp. as heart stated in their original instruction,Here hoping!
Please bear in mind that the file upload facility offered by most web hosts through their panel interface is limited to single files only - no folders of files. To overcome this limitation, you should be able to publish your blocs project to a folder on your desktop. Open the folder and select all the files and folders that make up your website. Right-click and choose the Compress option. This will create an archive zip file. You should now be able to upload that to your public-html directory through the panel interface as it is a single file. When its uploaded, locate and select the zip file on your server and look for the decompress option. When the zip is decompressed, your website and all its files/folders will be placed in the public.htm folder.
Thanks to each and everyone for your advice. Having said that I have dropped a ticket on Heart Internet and asked for immediate cancellation of my account. I am in UK, a Mac user and have a simple 4-page website (including a 24-image gallery of my paintings. Can you nice people recommend a hosting provider to replace Heart? I have subscribed to Forklift as an ftp client. I have used G0-Daddy in the past and believe they approach hosts to release domains, What I need is a simple setup for a simple website (to be used by a simple old guy Lol!
Thanks all
Take a look at the offers from Namecheap. Currently, a basic hosting account is about $17.00 a year and provides everything you’re likely to need for a small website. Support is good - been with them for many years and never had any issues that couldn’t be resolved through a quick, online chat.
It’s hard to beat that on price and for simple sites the features are probably adequate. My concern with any service like this would be overselling and the potential impact on uptime, loading speed or email. From previous experience with cheap web hosts there was always a compromise somewhere or they would go out of business.
They don’t mention anything about CPU or permitted processes, so I am guessing higher traffic sites might hit the buffers quickly, though static Blocs sites are very efficient in that sense if you are sensible. Whenever web hosting is ultra cheap they attract more customers, but equally they have to cram in huge numbers to make a good profit and that is where the overload risk occurs.
For a little bit more I have found Kualo to be very helpful for customer support with a simple user interface in the client area. They are UK based and fine for non critical purposes, though I wouldn’t entrust any of these cheaper hosts for important business related websites.
@yoshi2 I would really avoid GoDaddy like the plague. I’ve had to resolve all sorts of issues for web design clients using them, so I reserve a particular dislike for their services and also the upselling practices related to Office 365, along with SSL certificates.
I use www.ineedwebhosting.co.uk and have always found them very good.
David is an excellent helpline!
@Flashman All very valid points and you’re absolutely right to point them out. However, I’ve never had any issues with uptime or slowdowns in performance. Where I have sites hosted that are expected to have very high traffic volumes, clients are advised to take out an alternative plan that includes CDN (content Delivery Network) This option can cost about $8.50 per month more, but for a site with lots of video content or very high visitor numbers, its a relatively small price to pay. At lease they give you these options just in case you’re likely to need them. They do have a 100% uptime guarantee and they also offer a 30 day money-back guarantee. So, you can try them out and cancel within 30 days if any issues occur that you’re unhappy with. One of the reasons I like this host is because they have chosen NOT to sign up for voluntary VAT collection, which means if you have international (non EU clients) you don’t get that surprise 20% on-cost at checkout - even if you choose their UK datacenter option ($1.00 extra per month)
You can even check out their online support service (online chat) before you order anything. Just click the chat button and ask all the questions you like. You’ll get answers quickly on the chat. Very few queues (if any) and no “we’ll get back to you via email” Got to be worth trying them out - nothing to lose because of their money back guarantee. A full list of what is included can be found in the tech specs section of the plans page. If none of the standard shared plans do it for you, you can always select another type of plan - including the top CDN option.
I have moved to site ground as their reviews are off the wall. , And they have been fantastic as I had a lot of migration to sort out and advice for several things - so much better than 1and1 who am going to shake off last 2 websites with.
All the ones mentioned above are good.
Yoshi, used certahosting the last few years. They do a very affordable reseller package which hosts multiple websites. Reliable, cheap and excellent tech support. I’ve used a lot of hosts and had many bad experiences, tases guys are perfect because hosting is a nightmare but they’re a good outfit I think…
Hi Flashman, I have just spent an hour waiting for GoDaddy to take my call, and their on-line chat is*****. I kinda trust what you say and will look at Kualo as suggested. I guess the first thing I need to do is get my domain away from GoDaddy, or do I set up with Kuala and the transfer follows?
I don’t think there is any major problem using GoDaddy for domain registration. I just wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole for hosting. If you want to transfer the domain to Kualo that’s pretty easy after setting up an account there and I’m sure they should help if you explain what you want via a support ticket.
In this situation I’d probably ask what they suggest via the chat link on the home page. It looks like they have an 0800 number you can call as well.
Thank you Sir, I will go to the Kuala now, I am to blame as I should have asked here for suggestions before commitment and “days” wasted with Heart Internet and now GD, but there you go