What would you want in a hosted WordPress service?

  • Hey folks –
    I own a web hosting company that recently introduced a special hosted WordPress service. For your average blogger, a full-featured shared hosting plan is probably overkill. By cutting out more ‘advanced’ features, we can offer an affordable and powerful weblog service.
    We’re already running the ‘first verison’ of this service, and I was hoping that I could get some suggestions from the WordPress community regarding features & control. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re currently offering:
    – Default WordPress Install (nothing crippled/modified)
    – Subdomain/domain options
    – Email accounts (SPAM/Virus Protected)
    – Visitor Statistics
    – FTP Access (Install addons, host pictures, etc)
    – Advanced: mod_rewrite for homemade “permalink” URLs
    – Other: custom error pages, password-protected folders
    What else do you, as a WordPress user, find indispensable for running a blog – and that you would want to see in a hosted WordPress service?
    Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • I need Perl for contact forms.
    I also need a decent stats program; I hate to fly blind.

    Why use Perl for contact forms? Any e-mailing using forms I use are written in PHP and can talk directly to a SMTP server.
    Talking about the stats, you could use Webalizer, great thing is it’s free and has been released under the GPL.
    Maybe some pre-made styles for the hosted blogs could be included? Such as Root’s Gemini Interface.
    How about a nice picture gallery? as most bloggers upload photos (I know I do). Gallery on SourceForge is your best bet for that.
    Hope that helps.

    Thread Starter JeffH

    (@jeffh)

    I think adding ready-to-use styles for non-tech-savvy users is a great idea.
    Regarding statistics, I chose AWStats over Webalizer simply because it provided more “human-readable” output, and more detail in some areas. Any particular reason you think Webalizer would be a better choice.
    The gallery isn’t a bad idea either, but I’d want to have it integrated in WordPress. If someone needs robust gallery software like Gallery, then I’d probably ask them upgrade to a standard hosting account.
    Thanks for the input! I appreciate your time.

    Anyone know if a service like this exists? I think it would do very well.

    -kj-

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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