[ann] Zone Network Web Hosting

[dappleyard 0]

I've just setup a new website for a hosting company, Zone Network. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions about the site, and/or the packages and pricing we are offering. We are trying to offer great packages (with PHP/MySQL etc) for a very reasonable price. We are also currently running two promotions for free hosting at the moment.

Website: www.zonenetwork.co.uk

[Ludge 0]

It's pretty damn nice, although I think on those really light coloured boxes (Basic, Pro, Enterprise etc) you've lightened them a bit too much. I reckon a bit more contrast would make quite a difference. I can't find anything else to whine about so it must be good!

[Simon 0]

Quality work Dave, as always

[nightcrawler1089 0]

Pretty nice- I agree with Ludge about the contrast, though.

Some other suggestions:

1) The links on the left should only extend as far as the text itself does, instead of the entire purplish border. (In my opinion)

2)I strongly reccomend you should use CSS instead of images of text. It's a lot less space, and you accomplish the same thing. I'm talking about the words "Basic" , "Professional," and "Enterprise." Also, for the prices, and all the white on purple headers. Again, just my opinion, but these images don't really have anything special, so you might want to switch to CSS.

3) Eliminate all the extra space on the right. On 800*600 monitors with IE, you have to scroll all the way over to the right just to see the "Sign Up now from our online shop" (on the top) and the acceptable credit cards (on the bottom)- and it's all white space in the middle. I think you should move those things on the top and bottom closer to their respective centers instead of the far right- the Sign up now thing isn't obvious enough where it is.

That's all I can think of for the moment.

One question- How did you get the white-to-purple gradient at the top?

Other than these, it's pretty good!

-nightcrawler1089

[dappleyard 0]

Originally posted by nightcrawler1089+Sep 3 2004, 08:40 PM-->

QUOTE(nightcrawler1089 @ Sep 3 2004, 08:40 PM)

2)I strongly reccomend you should use CSS instead of images of text. It's a lot less space, and you accomplish the same thing. I'm talking about the words "Basic" , "Professional," and "Enterprise." Also, for the prices, and all the white on purple headers. Again, just my opinion, but these images don't really have anything special, so you might want to switch to CSS.

OK - I'll look into moving to CSS for parts of the site - Could you tell me how to do anti-aliasing in CSS?

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 08:40 PM

3) Eliminate all the extra space on the right. On 800*600 monitors with IE, you have to scroll all the way over to the right just to see the "Sign Up now from our online shop" (on the top) and the acceptable credit cards (on the bottom)- and it's all white space in the middle. I think you should move those things on the top and bottom closer to their respective centers instead of the far right- the Sign up now thing isn't obvious enough where it is.

OK, well I'm not too concerned about the prominence of those items, as they are replicated elsewhere. There are many signup links on each page etc. The idea is that section (to the right) is a percentage of the width, and will decrease in size on smaller monitors so there is no gap. Is this not working?

[Ludge 0]

The prices are pretty good. On a par with my current hosts at least. Is this your hosting company then?

[dappleyard 0]

It is, yes. We're 'starting out' at the moment, and although we have a reasonable number of clients, we're offering a few promotions to try to generate interest in the company, and get us off the ground.

We're going for good value packages, with a wealth of features (even the cheapest packages have PHP and MySQL etc).

If there are any recommendations anyone wants to offer in terms of the features we offer, or promoting the company, please let me know.

[Ludge 0]

Actually, I might have to start moving some of my current sites over when their current hosting expires.

Is it your own server, or are you reselling from another company?

[dappleyard 0]

Originally posted by Ludge@Sep 4 2004, 08:09 AM

Actually, I might have to start moving some of my current sites over when their current hosting expires.

Is it your own server, or are you reselling from another company?

We are renting dedicated servers in a secure data centre, and are running our own software on the servers, managing them ourselves. We control every aspect of the servers, except their physical location.