Anyone else getting unnecessary infractions at WebHostingTalk?

[HostXNow]

Member posts

---Quote (Originally by kpmedia)---
Stablehost has Softaculous, which enables the 1-click installs of quite a few apps (WordPress, etc). I'm not readily aware of other hosts in Europe that have this.
---End Quote---

I reply with

Loads of UK providers include Softaculous with their web hosting packages. :stickout:

I got 10 infraction points from Sirius for just posting that. I already had 2 off him before the recent one. I'd say he was right about the previous 1 infractions (maybe 2), but not this one.

OP said "I'm not readily aware of other hosts in Europe that have this"

Really? (@OP) So Stablehost is the only host in Europe that you know supports Softaculous? :rolleyes2

That is why I replied with

Loads of UK providers include Softaculous with their web hosting packages. :stickout:

Notice the tongue-in-cheek LOL.

Either sirius has got it in for me for some reason or there is something else going on that I don't know about - like protecting big advertisers (Stablehost is one of them) at WebHostingTalk. And for the record, I have nothing against Nerdie/Stablehost, KPMedia or Sirius. :smash:

I don't want potential customers to keep seeing "temporarily suspended" on my profile/posts all time.

So I guess it is time for me to stop taking part on the WebHostingTalk forum and just post in the advertising section only. Shame as I liked the forum from day 1... but lately I get unnecessary infractions every now and then. Grr.
</rantoff>

 

[HostXNow]

PS I just noticed I used UK

Loads of UK providers include Softaculous with their web hosting packages. :stickout:

I should have put

Loads of providers in Europe include Softaculous with their web hosting packages. Grr... might aswell disable sigs for all users. No chance of anyone being infraction trigger happy then. :shaky:

 

[HostXNow]

So I repost with

Loads of providers in Europe include Softaculous with their web hosting packages. OP can also try keywords in Google like "softaculous europe host" , "softaculous europe hosting" and "softaculous hosting europe".

And now my account at WHT has been disabled. Very poor moderation, IMO.

I post a lot of useful content on their forum and recently Sirius keeps suspending/cancelling my account after 6500+ posts. I've also spent a fair bit on thread ads premium/corporate membership at WHT.

-1 to Sirius.

 

[KJVHosting]

Member posts

---Quote (Originally by kpmedia)---
Stablehost has Softaculous, which enables the 1-click installs of quite a few apps (WordPress, etc). I'm not readily aware of other hosts in Europe that have this.
---End Quote---

I reply with



I got 10 infraction points from Sirius for just posting that. I already had 2 off him before the recent one. I'd say he was right about the previous 1 infractions (maybe 2), but not this one.

OP said "I'm not readily aware of other hosts in Europe that have this"

Really? (@OP) So Stablehost is the only host in Europe that you know supports Softaculous? :rolleyes2

That is why I replied with

Notice the tongue-in-cheek LOL.

Either sirius has got it in for me for some reason or there is something else going on that I don't know about - like protecting big advertisers (Stablehost is one of them) at WebHostingTalk. And for the record, I have nothing against Nerdie/Stablehost, KPMedia or Sirius. :smash:

I don't want potential customers to keep seeing "temporarily suspended" on my profile/posts all time.

So I guess it is time for me to stop taking part on the WebHostingTalk forum and just post in the advertising section only. Shame as I liked the forum from day 1... but lately I get unnecessary infractions every now and then. Grr.
</rantoff>

Yes, I do have issues with that forum and their style of moderation. I am just going to tell this, I hope that the moderators will simply hear me out, not be compelled to force me out. I happen to be a libertarian Conservative; and frankly, I find the entire Moderation and rules structure at WebHostingTalk to be on par with straight up fascism. I mean the very idea that someone can attack you in a forum, for simply asking a question. Then that person gets away with it, and then when you respond to attack like anyone else would ---- you are the one with the problem and you get the infraction is just straight fascism and shows that the forum WebHostingTalk is biased in their enforcement of the rules.

Allow me to explain to you what happened to me when I first checked into that forum as a newbie. I checked into that forum and asked about starting a hosting company. I was answered by someone with a snotty, condescending attitude who said, “Honestly, why the heck would anyone want to buy hosting from you?” I mean, what kind of a forum has people in it, which come back to those who are new to the forum and discourages them for trying to be an entrepreneur? On top of that, when the person, who is insulted does not like the idea that he has been insulted or does not take to kindly the snotty, condescending attitude shown decides to defend himself, he is the one who gets the infraction and not the person who showed the attitude! I ask you all, is that justice?

Furthermore, I can tell you of another incident where some anonymous user came to my business site and used the contact form on my site and leave me, with an bogus e-mail address and name; that I was out of my ‘F’ing” mind to have the TOS that I did on my business site. I took and copied TOS from my provider and edited it to suit my business; which is for my own legal protection. Continuing: I get this message and I checked the time stamp and went into my log files and sure enough, the person left the idiotic message came from, you guessed it, WebHostingTalk. Therefore, I go over there to that forum and leave a little message informing the forum that I did not appreciate people from that forum leaving messages of that sort. Guess what happens? ---- I get the infraction.

It is quite obvious to me that whomever runs WebHostingTalk is either a rank Liberal Democrat or someone with a god-like control freak complex, because a true freedom –loving American would never have that many idiot rules, stipulations and regulations in place, just in forum where entrepreneur can hawk their wares to those who wish to buy them.

That is my feelings and I would love to hear yours.

-Charles Patrick Adkins
Owner
KJV Hosting and Web Design Services Inc.

 

[handsonhosting]

Might want to drop them a note directly if you feel there has been an injustice.

Too many forums take moderation to the extreeme (or no moderation at all). That's one of the reasons I like HD. There's no BS either from the users or the admins.

 

[HostXNow]

Sirius replied with

Not sure why we're not getting through to you, that you cannot post simply to get your signature shown. In this thread, you posted google keywords which all lead to your google listing. The last set of keywords, you are the very first result.

Errr...

1) I didn't post just to get my sig shown? :smash:
2) the obvious keywords that I posted were off the top of my head. I didn't even know HostXNow ranked for those keywords (I didn't check). :smash:

HostXNow ranks #3 on 1st page for "softaculous europe host", 4# on 1st page for "softaculous europe hosting", and #1 on 1st page for "softaculous hosting europe"

Unlucky. I think Sirius is taking his role at WHT too seriously. Should do bit more of his hacking/martial arts. :|

 

[HostXNow]

Well HD has "web hosting community for grown-ups". If that's true I'll be at HD more.

WHT has too many spammers, trolls (immature/annoying) users. And I question the moderation at WHT sometimes.

Anyway, had my say. :disagree:

 

[handsonhosting]

Well HD has "web hosting community for grown-ups". If that's true I'll be at HD more.

The moderators, forum owner and even the general users here at HD seem to take this line to heart in their activities. It's definitely a true statement and has been for the several years that I've been frequenting here on the forums.

 

[HostXNow]

Ok. Well WHT gave me a warning and have unsuspended my account. I guess I need to be MUCH MORE careful when replying to threads at WHT from now on.

It is probably competitors/jealous members reporting posts that is making WHT be more tough with what is considered spammy, etc.

Anyway, HD mods can close this thread if they like. I got the info I was after.

Cheers.

 

[easyhostmedia]

Yes, I do have issues with that forum and their style of moderation. I am just going to tell this, I hope that the moderators will simply hear me out, not be compelled to force me out. I happen to be a libertarian Conservative; and frankly, I find the entire Moderation and rules structure at WebHostingTalk to be on par with straight up fascism. I mean the very idea that someone can attack you in a forum, for simply asking a question. Then that person gets away with it, and then when you respond to attack like anyone else would ---- you are the one with the problem and you get the infraction is just straight fascism and shows that the forum WebHostingTalk is biased in their enforcement of the rules.

Allow me to explain to you what happened to me when I first checked into that forum as a newbie. I checked into that forum and asked about starting a hosting company. I was answered by someone with a snotty, condescending attitude who said, “Honestly, why the heck would anyone want to buy hosting from you?” I mean, what kind of a forum has people in it, which come back to those who are new to the forum and discourages them for trying to be an entrepreneur? On top of that, when the person, who is insulted does not like the idea that he has been insulted or does not take to kindly the snotty, condescending attitude shown decides to defend himself, he is the one who gets the infraction and not the person who showed the attitude! I ask you all, is that justice?

Furthermore, I can tell you of another incident where some anonymous user came to my business site and used the contact form on my site and leave me, with an bogus e-mail address and name; that I was out of my ‘F’ing” mind to have the TOS that I did on my business site. I took and copied TOS from my provider and edited it to suit my business; which is for my own legal protection. Continuing: I get this message and I checked the time stamp and went into my log files and sure enough, the person left the idiotic message came from, you guessed it, WebHostingTalk. Therefore, I go over there to that forum and leave a little message informing the forum that I did not appreciate people from that forum leaving messages of that sort. Guess what happens? ---- I get the infraction.

It is quite obvious to me that whomever runs WebHostingTalk is either a rank Liberal Democrat or someone with a god-like control freak complex, because a true freedom –loving American would never have that many idiot rules, stipulations and regulations in place, just in forum where entrepreneur can hawk their wares to those who wish to buy them.

That is my feelings and I would love to hear yours.

-Charles Patrick Adkins
Owner
KJV Hosting and Web Design Services Inc.

yes i had an account on WHT until an ex client started abusing me, so i told him to stop or i would report him. so i reported him and bear (mod) had me disabled yes the abuser is still an active member.

 

[SenseiSteve]

I have to say that I'm still a very active member at WHT and have only received one infraction, and that was in 2009 for using the wrong point size in an advertisement. I do know that you can't post anything that would lead a visitor to your site, and you can't tell someone to Google it.

I used them almost exclusively until they were hacked, and that's when I found Hosting Discussion. The culture of this community is much different, but each has its pros and cons. I will say I have dozens of forums bookmarked, but HD is the first forum I visit every day.

 

[HostLeet]

WHT is like the Wal-Mart of hosting forums (I compare HD more to Publix ). The mods on WHT are kind of on edge at all times due to the massive amount of spam/kiddie hosts that they have to deal with, and therefor see more negative than good through their eyes as a result. It's like the people that are always looking for bad news on the news paper/TV, that's all they will eventually see and find because they filter out everything else without even thinking..

In WHT, you can simply post to answer a question in a totally harmless fashion, but since you showed your "sig" and didn't write an essay for a post you might get an infraction for "spamming your sig"... This happened to me in 2009, and I can honestly say I was NOT even thinking about the OP looking at my sig (at all).. I just posted and it never crossed my mind to click the "disable sig" checkbox on my post (I never do.. Why would I?).

I'm also still active at WHT (not as much as I used to be since they got hacked, I mainly use the advertising forums now) and haven't received an infraction since 2009, but I do agree 100% with what others say and think about their moderator issues.

 

[romes]

I am always getting infractions for stuff I didn't do. I believe I had 2-3 infractions last year for mining the member base. You all know me, when do I ever try to mine a forums member base? lol When I complain about it they tell me not to do what ever I did next time. When I again tell them I didn't do anything they tell me it's not their problem and close the ticket. Their so rude, and they don't care. I freakin hate WHT!

Reason I love HD. I believe since I was a member of HD I only had Art contact me two times about something I did. He didn't give me an infraction or anything, he simply told me what I did wrong, allowed me to correct it and we moved on. Art is awesome!

 

[Artashes]

I've been a member of WHT since 2002 and I don't think I've ever received an infraction or a warning. It is possible that I did receive either of those, but I honestly don't remember. Mind you, I have always been very careful and I've always made sure I knew what the rules were prior to posting. In spite of this, I have always lived with a mentality that I can lose my account privileges at any time. It could be tomorrow, next week or a year from now. I just got used to that style of thinking seeing how others have been getting penalized for something that was taken out of proportion. There was just too much policing and as consequence the forum never made me feel that I was a part of a very friendly family-like community.

I can say with an absolute certainty that certain administrators of WHT have been dreaming of the day they could disable my account. They had a problem with HostingDiscussion for keeping threads of WHT criticism open. The few at the top are enjoying the power so much that it probably disappoints them that they cannot control the content posted on HostingDiscussion as well, or remove it at will. The Man Himself told me off directly over PM once because I didn't respond to his email (that I never received btw). Sure he sent it to an official email he found through our Contact Us link that at the time I wasn't checking (my fault, I admit), but there were other ways he could have approached me, instead of lashing out on me (I remember thinking "personal issues much?"). Which, in itself, was the violation of the #1 Rule of the land: "We take the "Be Polite" rule very seriously. We do not tolerate any rudeness. Any member who is intentionally unpleasant or disruptive may be banned without warning." There were comments about my ethics, something about my true colours and something about telling me they'd never keep problem content out in the open. What-eva. Who am I to do anything about it anyway?

WHT is the victim of its own success in some ways. The forum is too large for any kind of personalization. The moderation has to be strict and by the book. Unfortunately, over the years I've heard dozens of stories such as yours, when established members get infractioned for minor violations (some of which you can't even call a violation, rather a different interpretation of a post). WHT reminds me too much of America, which took the role of policing the world. I don't like, nor do I usually respond well to aggression, so I minimized my activity on that forum to just the Marketplace.

What strikes me the most about their method is that they would infraction a member who has been with the board for a lengthy time. That can be easily argued by stating that rules are the same for everyone. That would be true, if not for the fact that it just leaves bad taste in the mouth. Possibly a difference in moderating styles, but I consider every rule violation individually. I do take into account who the member is, what he/she contributed, the age of a member, his posting style, etc. I also always consider whether it could have been a simple mistake. In such cases, as I did many times before, like our moderators, I'd send a personal message to a member informing him of the violation, with a reminder of the rules. In virtually all the cases members are appreciative of the attention.

The very core style of moderation on any forum is usually formed based on the actions of the owner/head administrator. In the case of WHT, I found that one person at the top has too much power and control over everything that is going on. That wouldn't have been a problem if that power was not sometimes abused for the wrong reasons, whether it is for various sorts of pressure, scare tactics, mind-control or possibly even personal preferences.

I do also understand that sometimes people would post something of no real value, or indirect advertising (could have been what they saw in your post, HostXNow. After all, those keywords essentially lead to your site being at the top - nice work by the way!) just to plug a signature or themselves. At HostingDiscussion, we'd delete those posts without an infraction and in most cases a member would understand on his/her own why the post(s) were deleted. If they continue, then we issue a warning (or send a private note, depending on case). If they continue after multiple infractions, then it is clear we are just dealing with a spammer. But we don't jump on someone right off the top. That kind of mistake would lead a lot of members on WHT to be nervous to post anything at all. WHT, evidently, chooses to operate strictly by the book and in their own interpretation sometimes because they know that whether a member has been around for 5 weeks or 5 years, there are no real options out there in terms of the size of the forum.

The culture of this community is much different, but each has its pros and cons.

Steve, I would be very interested in learning about the cons of HostingDiscussion to see how we can improve on those. Whenever you have a minute, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback/criticism, either publicly or in private. Cheers.

 

[webling]

I left that forum a long time ago and have never returned there. I detected a very power hungry administration on that site. I had one infraction and was very surprised by it since I try to respect everyones site.

 

[HostLeet]

Steve, I would be very interested in learning about the cons of HostingDiscussion to see how we can improve on those. Whenever you have a minute, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback/criticism, either publicly or in private. Cheers.

The only con I see with HD is that it's the #2 biggest hosting forum on the web instead of #1 .. But I'm sure one day it will surpass WHT in size as well. Just don't forget about us loyal HD members when that day comes Artashes!

 

[HostXNow]

And going by Artashes lengthy (but very interesting) post he clearly has the time and can give a more personal reply. That is definitely a pro. Good stuff.

Who is the owner of WHT anyway? Coolraul? Software Revenue? I think it is Coolraul? Reason: I setup WHTHosts (WebHostingTalk Hosts - Directory) sometime ago but I was sent a friendly PM from SoftwareRevenue asking me to change the name as Coolraul ( I think) didn't approve. I had no problem with that though. So I changed the name from WebHostingTalk Hosts to WebHostingTop Hosts. That was the best name I could come up with HAHA!

To be fair, I learnt a lot of stuff from WHT and got most of my clients from there which has got me clients making repeat orders + many referrals. So +1 to WHT and the other sites I use for that. But then I have spent a fair bit on ads and shared a lot of useful information with other members (also helps with serps/rankings). So kind of equal really.

Like Artashes said, WHT are more strict (corporate like) and are very well known! I remember contacting BusinessLink for some advice and WHT was one of the forums/sites they recommended I use. No mention of HD though? But I'd already been using WHT for sometime. It is good how BusinessLink recommend them in their emails. Maybe HD should ask to be included in the list = more UK startups knowing about HD. Just a thought.

Anyway, this forum seems great. :thumbup:

 

[easyhostmedia]

Who is the owner of WHT anyway? Coolraul? Software Revenue? I think it is Coolraul?

if you scroll to the bottom of WHT you will see

Copyright © 2011 iNET Interactive. and even the TOS and PP goes to iNET Interactives website

so these are who own and run WHT

 

[HostXNow]

if you scroll to the bottom of WHT you will see

Copyright © 2011 iNET Interactive. and even the TOS and PP goes to iNET Interactives website

so these are who own and run WHT

I meant the one at the top on WHT. Like I said, I think it is Coolraul from iNet.

I only setup the directory for WHT members, that's why I thought it'd be ok. I didn't intend to make money from it. Bit like the WHTFaces one which I think was also run by a member.

 

[easyhostmedia]

I meant the one at the top on WHT. Like I said, I think it is Coolraul from iNet.

I only setup the directory for WHT members, that's why I thought it'd be ok. I didn't intend to make money from it. Bit like the WHTFaces one which I think was also run by a member.

Oh OK.

well when i was abused by a WHT member and then it was me disabled for reporting this member while this member is still an active member) i appealed and never got any reply, even contacted iNet and still no reply.
i think they have their favourites who cant do anything wrong and if you report these then they ban you as a trouble maker.