WebHostGear.com Reviewed in Ping Zine Magazine Published: Jan 22, 2005

• Rating

  1/5

WebHostGear.com, a industry portal for web hosting, was featured in Ping Zine magazine for a full page website review in Volume 2 - Issue 4 by Kirpaul Bains and had many good things to say.

WebHostGear.com, a industry portal for web hosting, was featured in Ping Zine magazine for a full page website review in Volume 2 - Issue 4 by Kirpaul Bains and had many good things to say.

Volume 2 - Issue 4 - Page 64

WebHostGear.com Review
By Kirpaul ”Sargek” Bains

I recently did a little searching for "hosting interviews, articles, and tutorials" and came up with about 90,000 pages. Since I didn't have quite that much time, I picked the site at the top of Google's list: www.webhostgear.com.

It didn't take me long to notice this is an above average "all things hosting" site. Many of the hosting information sites I found only give information on which company is best or cheapest, and inundate the reader with banner ads. What if you want to find out how to clean a hacked server, install Pico on FreeBSD, or maybe secure your Apache server? WebHostGear has articles on hosting issues, tutorials for hardware/software setups, product reviews, the latest web hosting news and what I feel is the epitome of information exchange, the forums. Nothing beats being able to ask a real person when you are troubleshooting a problem and all else fails! Of course they also offer a list of hosting companies. This is, after all, a web site about hosting...

Layout is the first thing readers see on a web site. If the site is laid out poorly and difficult to navigate, most people will leave. WebHostGear's layout is very intuitive. Across the top of the page is a menu bar with links to all of the major areas of the site, to include "Most Popular" and "Top Rated" tutorials, how-tos and articles. You can navigate the entire site by using the side bar menus. When menu items on the side are selected, the results are displayed in the center of the page. Additionally, the side menu is always visible, so it's easy to go anywhere within the site from any page. Nice!

Hosting articles and tutorials are further sub-categorized when they are displayed, and you can see how many of each category there are. For example, I clicked on the "Hosting Articles" link in the left menu and was presented with the sub categories "Domain Name Articles (2)," "Web Marketing (1)" and "Dedicated Hosting Articles (3)."

WebHostGear also includes the ubiquitous site map, which is also well laid out. I frequently use site maps because when I want to find something on a site, digging through every page to find what I am looking for is not high on my list of fun things to do. I am also easily distracted, and I'll forget why I went to the site in the first place!

The forum section includes "Server Admin & Tech Chat," "WebHostGear," "Website Garage" and "Advertising" categories. Server Admin & Tech Chat is for general web hosting questions, security issues and includes a general hangout lounge for discussing just about anything. WebHostGear is for site article discussion, comments, suggestions and feedback. The Website Garage is a neat place for showing off your latest web site designs and swapping web site programming ideas. Last but not least is the Advertising section where companies can post advertisements for hosting and non-hosting related products or services.

One feature I've grown to love about many "techie" web sites is their ability to allow article submissions by readers. This is a great way to give the readers a sense of ownership, plus it frees the site administrator(s) from the duties of searching for article material. A sort of "grid computing" on a human level, if you will. WebHostGear offers a way for readers to submit articles on a casual basis, and for the hard-core writer a way to join the WebHostGear team of authors.

Are you into RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds? RSS feeds are a great way to get frequently sought information sent to you, instead of having to go out and find it. WebHostGear has an RSS feed code example you can copy and paste into your web site. This provides your readers with an RSS feed from WebHostGear! They can also do custom feeds upon request.

As if there weren't already enough ways to get the information you need, WebHostGear also offers an email newsletter. Sign up and get the latest hosting information in your inbox. If after reading this article and visiting the site, you are totally impressed (with the site, of course), WebHostGear provides a way for you to recommend them to your friends. Spread the word!

All in all, I am very impressed with www.webhostgear.com. The site is nice on the eyes, easy to navigate, and above all, provides the information you are looking for without having to jump through burning hoops to find it. Hosting web content is a great way to gain exposure for your personal or business needs, and www.webhostgear.com helps you do it smartly and safely.

Paul is a software developer and works primarily on n-tier web applications. He started using Linux as his primary home system in 1998, and, as his wife can attest, would spend every waking moment at the monitor if she let him. When he's not moderating www.linuxcult.com, He loves to read, play golf, and has recently developed a passion for writing.