Monthly Archives: October 2013

How to Create a Backup Now with WordPress Backup 2 Dropbox (wpb2d) Plugin

I had this problem today, I wanted to create a backup before making some changes. WordPress Backup 2 Dropbox appears to only have a schedule setting. A lot of people complained in the reviews of the plugin about this and gave it low ratings.

But I discovered this functionality is actually there, it's just in a place nobody would ever think to look: Backup Log.

How To Backup Your WordPress Immediately with WordPress Backup 2 Dropbox:

1. Login to your WordPress Admin section.

2. Find WPB2D on the sidebar and click 'Backup Log'

wpb2d-sidebar-nav

3. Click 'Start Backup'

wpb2d button

 

4. You're done!

It can take some time to generate the backup, but it seems to restart itself pretty well and get it done, eventually.

I hope this saves some WordPress Developers time in the future!

GoDaddy Media Temple

Changing the Story, MediaTemple’s New Spin on GoDaddy’s SOPA Story

I run Review Signal to be an unbiased source of information about web hosting companies. I try to avoid injecting my personal opinions into the discussion about a web host's quality and service. I try to explain what I see in the data collected from hundreds of thousands of people.

However, there are rare moments when you just need to call a company out because the issue is so important.

Today, during a live Google Hangout Q&A, Russ Reeder, the President and COO of Media Temple said,

"The employees at GoDaddy never supported it. It was one person, who had a voice, and they are no longer at GoDaddy. It was an employee, it wasn't the core management."

I understand GoDaddy just purchased your company. I've watched your twitter account explode trying to prevent customers from leaving because of their acquisition. However, this just doesn't square with the story told during the actual SOPA incident.

Here's then GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman's statement,

Go Daddy opposes SOPA because the legislation has not fulfilled its basic requirement to build a consensus among stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities. Our company regrets the loss of any of our customers, who remain our highest priority, and we hope to repair those relationships and win back their business over time.

And the full press release on the turn around, [emphasis added]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Dec. 23, 2011) - Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" currently working its way through U.S. Congress.

"Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," Warren Adelman, Go Daddy's newly appointed CEO, said. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."

Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims, and specific provisions to protect free speech.

"As a company that is all about innovation, with our own technology and in support of our customers, Go Daddy is rooted in the idea of First Amendment Rights and believes 100 percent that the Internet is a key engine for our new economy," said Adelman.

In changing its position, Go Daddy remains steadfast in its promise to support security and stability of the Internet. In an effort to eliminate any confusion about its reversal on SOPA though, Jones has removed blog postings that had outlined areas of the bill Go Daddy did support.

"Go Daddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of third parties, and will continue to do so in the future," Jones said.

The statement from the CEO is slightly ambiguous, but the press office statement makes it pretty clear that they were working with SOPA legislation. GoDaddy and their General Counsel were working on this, there is no mention of one employee doing this without approval. They worked for months on SOPA legislation. The original statements don't make SOPA sound like some fringe issue, they are framing it as they were actively engaged in its crafting and have changed their judgement about the content/outcome of the legislation.

I tried to get an answer from Russ Reeder and Damian Sellfors, but they ended the Q&A session right before my question.
media temple live stream question

The rogue agent story that has been passed off today just doesn't match up well. For an issue like SOPA, which is near and dear to so many internet users, this type of spinning needs explanation and clarification.

If you want to sell out your company and earn millions of dollars, that's your prerogative (and congratulations on having enough money to do whatever you want for the rest of your life). All I ask is you be honest with your consumers.

GoDaddy Media Temple

GoDaddy Acquires Media Temple: The Good, The Bad and The Business

If you are following the tech or web hosting world at all today, you've probably heard about GoDaddy [reviews] buying Media Temple [reviews] which Tech Crunch announced earlier today. The news is evoking some very strong emotions and reactions from the community.

But emotions are only so interesting. Let's talk about the implications of this acquisition and how people might actually be affected by it.

The Good

The obvious winners here are the owners of Media Temple: Damian Sellfors and John Carey.

One of the biggest concerns that I've seen is that Media Temple will now go downhill. I don't know that this is guaranteed and it seems unlikely to happen overnight. I only have a few years of data, and only one company jumps to mind as a good comparison: A Small Orange [reviews].

A Small Orange - trends - sep2013

A Small Orange were acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG) in March 2013. EIG, for those who don't know is the conglomerate that owns many major web hosting brands including BlueHost [reviews], HostGator [reviews], Host Monster [reviews] and more.

Most of the EIG brands do not have a great reputation. A Small Orange has had one of the best reputations since Review Signal has launched. So, I've been keeping a close eye to see what happens to their ratings as time goes on. They've continued to operate independently and their ratings have gone up in the past few months. That is the exact opposite of what many people would expect based on the acquisition.

I only have 6 months of data to look at so far, but the trends looks good for them. There may be a decline at some point, but the idea that a company that gets acquired immediately becomes bad isn't necessarily true. Which is good news for Media Temple customers.

The Bad

 GoDaddy.

When the second question in your acquisition FAQ is "What about GoDaddy’s reputation in the tech community?" you have a problem.

The answer sends some confusing messages too:

GoDaddy has been transformed in recent months and is essentially a new company. If we did not like what we have seen, we would not have joined the GoDaddy family. They have overhauled their leadership team and attracted tech talent from the best-of-the-best. We love “the new GoDaddy” that CEO Blake Irving and his team have created, especially their new approach with advertising, product focus and UX.

Though neither GoDaddy’s brand nor operations are being integrated into ours, we are excited to be a positive influence on them with how to make even more improvements to better serve the Web pro community.

It's a new company, they are great, but we won't be integrating any of that greatness. In fact, they turn around and say they hope to influence GoDaddy positively, so Media Temple is better? All the data we have would agree with that argument.

As far as GoDaddy being a new and great company?

GoDaddy - trends - sep2013

Not seeing it. It looks fairly stable at a mediocre level. Maybe more time will change that.

Virb and Founders

Another bad signal is both co-founders are leaving. They are also buying back Virb. There are a lot of flowery words about growth, dreams and better serving customers, but the actions seem to speak louder.

The Business

The web hosting industry continues to see consolidation. There appears to be two major players for the consumer market now: GoDaddy and Endurance International Group. They both seem willing to spend massive amounts of money to buy valuable brands.

Last year Media Temple had $52 million dollars in revenue [source]. So I would expect they sold out for 100's of millions considering growth, the cost of customer acquisition in the web hosting industry and low attrition rates.

Neither seems to be aggressively pursuing the growing developer market. There is a whole different set of competitors in the space like Amazon, RackSpace, Linode and Digital Ocean. Media Temple says they specialize in serving web professionals, but that's a slightly ambiguous term. This may be a slight push in the developer direction for GoDaddy, but I am not sure that the GoDaddy brand has much of a chance at making a headway in the developer space. It seems to evoke a lot of strong emotions (both rational and irrational). Using the Media Temple brand may be their only chance at getting any type of foothold.

For Consumers

I don't expect any dramatic changes right away. Media Temple should be on their absolute best behavior considering they know how bad the GoDaddy brand is and any legitimate reason to sow doubt would be amplified by the acquisition news.

A lot of people want to move on moral principles and that's reasonable. I would suggest taking a look at our web hosting reviews.

For those on the fence, locked-in or unable to afford a move, I wouldn't worry too much. We have yet to see any change in performance, it's likely to remain stable for a while.

Keeping an eye out for warning signs of declining performance at your web hosting company is always a good idea. This applies to any company, because over time, service and quality will vary at any company.

Hulk Hogan Launches a Web Hosting Company

Friday's theme is Anything Goes Friday, and I couldn't have asked for a better story.

According to the press release published today wrestling super star Hulk Hogan is launching a web hosting company: Hostamania.

"HOSTAMANIA is already being felt across the internet – the “other guys” have just hired a Hollywood kung-fu fruitcake to be their spokesman! Not even 24 hours after I announced the world of hurt I intend to put on these unreliable web hosts and they are running scared!

Can you believe this, brother? They’ve got this little punk playing a rainbow flute on their homepage!

How do you think a FLUTE is going to stand up to these 24 inch pythons??

Weak mascots of the web hosting world – whatchu’ gonna do when HOSTAMANIA runs WILD on you?

HH"

The latest video from their blog is simply... indescribable. WARNING: Might be mildly not safe for work in a GoDaddy-esque way.

I have no idea how serious this is, but by looking at his partner, Tech Assets, it seems like it's legitimate. They own and operate a handful of niche brands including Christian Web Host and Open Source Host.

It seems like a simple branding play to leverage Hulk Hogan's awareness to get web hosting customers. Given that generic web hosting is so commoditized these days, branding is one of the few differentiators left.

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