Welcome to Hosting Forums

Web hosting discussions including domains, control panels, servers, hosting provider selection, support, etc. Let's build a better hosting community together!

Hosting Forums Staff

Administrators: @Amadex @BikeGremlin

Hosting Forums Rules /Basic

You're only allowed one (1) account.
Our language of discussion is English.
Don’t be a dick.
Don't do things that decades of netiquette have shown to be offensive. Don't be "That Guy". Don't break the rules. When in doubt, just don't.
There will always be new ways to cause trouble for people within a community, and they can’t all be listed one by one. Intent isn’t always impossible to judge, and it isn’t always relative. The administrators and the moderators are the judges, respect their requests when you are told that you have stepped out of line.

Hosting Forums Rules /Bannable

Overt racism, religious intolerance, etc. All that stuff that is in every forum TOS on the planet.
Threats, harassment, doxxing, supporting terrorist activities, making public your wish for people here to die, motivating people to commit harm to themselves, etc. You're being a dick.
Obvious spam. We all know it when we see it.
Ban evasion.
Being a dick.
Shilling.

Hosting Forums Rules /JDDI

Posting multiple threads on the same topic.
Creating a thread and then editing the content to remove it, replacing it with "delete please", or anything along those lines.
Bumping threads because you're impatient.
Answering every thread with your affiliate code(s)/link(s).
Hidden affiliate links. All affiliate links must be made obvious. Affiliate link(s) must be clearly marked as an affiliate link with a non-affiliate link provided, in the same size. Affiliate links are a privilege for helpful, contributing community members. If you signed up just to spam, expect a ban. If your only posts are affiliate links, expect a ban. This includes posting links to your blog that only contains affiliate links, URL shorteners, etc.
The Dark Arts of Thread Necromancy. Make sure the thread you're replying to is still relevant.
Signatures longer than most of your posts that fill significant portions of our screens. It should not be more than two lines, nor should it be distracting.
Making 👍 your 😀 thread 😂 titles 👏 super 😍 flashy. This ain't WHT/LET.
Posting threads asking for members to stress test or throughput test an IP, URL, or any other network resource(s). The potential for DDoS abuse is too great to allow such threads.
We do not allow discussions of how to commit illegal activities such as DDoS attacks, spamming, hacking, etc. Threads on these subjects will be closed and removed. Discussion of defense against these acts are welcome.

Hosting provider tags and offers

To offer web hosting (or any other web hosting-related services), you must first apply for a provider tag (and have it approved).
The member requesting a Hosting Provider tag must be of legal age to make contractual obligations in their country of residence.
To apply for a hosting provider tag, your account must be at least 6+1 days old, with at least 6-1 non-spammy posts (the aim is to build a community, not to sell advertising space). Then, you can send your application, with your forum nick, contact email, and your company registration info, in a private message to one of the admins:
@Amadex or @BikeGremlin
(the "Private Discussion" forum option)

Exception to the registered company rule applies to well known (to us) sole traders - and will be publicly stated (explained, justified) upon approval.

Needed info for a provider tag:

Company Name:
Billing portal link:
Email address to validate domain control:
Forum account username:
The account is 7+ days old: Confirm
The account has 5+ non-spammy posts: Confirm
You are of legal age to make contractual obligations in your country of residence: Confirm
A link to public incorporation information (official GOV/State sites only):

Rules for posting your offers

These rules have proven to work well on the LowEndSpirit forum, so there is no need to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak

Failure to follow the rules may result in your Hosting provider tag being removed.
If you want to offer general services/design you may start your own thread and then ask a mod/admin via PM to move it to the offers category (tag). Use common sense - no pointless bumping only update it to respond to questions or update/add new info.
Hosts that have been trading for less than 2 years may only post monthly or quarterly offers. Exceptions can be made on application and review (PM the admins/mods).
7 days between offer posts.
Please do not bump your own offer posts repeatedly unless you have something of genuine significance to add or are directly responding to a comment.
Please do not post any offers for services based out of a ColoCrossing location without first confirming via PM that you own your own hardware and IP space and have been operating for at least 3 years. This is to avoid the community suffering from the incredible amount of fraud and scam hosts operating from ColoCrossing locations.

Hosting Forums is a buyer beware market

Despite our best efforts and diligence, it is objectivelly not possible for us to vet every single provider and offer (nor do we believe that kind of policing is a good idea - customer feedback and recommendations are a better way to check providers and offers, any you are invited to share them here).

General tips and guides

How to set your contry flag to be displayed next to your nick (step-by-step tutorial)

Signatures rules

No more than 2 lines for general users.
No more than 3 lines for Hosting & Service Providers.
No Images
in plain English: feel free to be creative with your signature, but also be reasonable.
Affiliate links are fine if prefixed as affiliate links ("aff")
If using affiliate links make it clear where they lead e.g. "My Amazon aff. link"
Affiliate links or any links that inject/stuff cookies to other sites for financial gain are a no-go.
Affiliate links to hosts that have a shady reputation or have been involved in scams are not allowed (NixiHost, RackNerd, EIG owned hosts etc. to name the few "jewels").
in plain English: affiliates are fine, but no scams, misleading people and similar.
Every signature must end with " @Amadex for president! "
in plain English: I'm joking on that last one / BikeGremlin 🙂

How to add/post images and animated gifs

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to add images to your posts.

GDPR privacy and all

You may post anonymously, i.e. it is your choice whether your nickname or the info you share in your posts reveals any of your private data. We generally don't do "delete my account and all my posts" - as it can break forum stuff, and/or make a discussion thread be meaningless (when posts that are replied to in a discussion are deleted).
Your email is not publicly shared/visible.