5lave

Dear sir or madam,

I've been using Hostway for more than a few years now to host various websites and every time I go to set one up I inevitably run into the same problems. I'd like to share those with you so hopefully you can do something about it for everyone else (and me in 6-8 months when I go through it again). if your not the person who makes decisions like that I understand but please forward this off to the person who does. I'm not looking for help. I'm looking to be heard.

Setting up a site (my third or fourth) via sitecontrol was painful and in the end I didn't get what I wanted. I find sitecontrol to be confusing and chalked full of options that I don't need and will never use. Further, there are so many places to find help I was constantly second guessing myself that I was looking in the wrong place for it.

I find the site set up (via order services) through sitecontrol to be like walking backwards into a room full of presents while blindfolded with the lights turned out. I know what I want, but I have no idea if I'm going to get it or the whole experience will just be a huge waste of time. you'll never guess what I got? If I'm in sitecontrol it means I have an existing domain here. I already know my options and I want to pick and choose the features that are right for me. Sitecontrol setup didn't allow me to change to the options that I wanted. I tried to switch from Windows to Linux and I got a "You don't want that" message and my choice was returned to the default. That made me VERY angry. Sadly, after looking at your main site I realized that setting up my site from there would have given me what I wanted in about two steps. All I need is hosting with PHP, MYSQL and PHPMyAdmin. I'd prefer a linux system, because I hate windows but that's purely an emotional choice not a logical one. Still, I like to have choices.

Looking through sitecontrol for information on my plan was like looking through a junk drawer in a nerds kitchen. Everything to do with Domain Names in this drawer. Everything to do with your site plan in this drawer. Everything to do with ecommerce in this ... wait a minute isn't ecommerce a site feature? What's the difference between Website Tools and Sitekitchen? Half the links seem like ads for new services disguised as links like Dataprotect (feature!) Marketplace (which seems like a subfeature of ecommerce to me?) Hostway plus (ooo another ad for something I don't need) Why is Sitekitchen a link under Website Tools and a link on sitecontrol? But where oh where are the links to the REAL tools that I actually use on sitecontrol? Where is the link to the Site Administrator? That is a tool that I use to control my site. A website tool infact!

As a side note, I fond the placement of the currently managing dropdown to be confusing. Because it's at the top of the page I expect the WHOLE page to be links for that domain. Why aren't Personal/Billing Info and Plan Info together?

When looking for help about how to correct my situation I found not one, but FOUR links to various help documents, all which looked deceptively the same to me at first glance. I took my time pouring through each link to find that none of the FOUR help links contained ANY of the information I was looking for. I completely overlooked this email address in sitecontrol because it was under a heading labelled Technical Support.... which I don't really need. I had questions about how to set up my account. I associate technical support problems to things like "My site won't load" or "Everything is blue on my screen."

If you want to improve your services for me, here's what you can do:
1) Give me ONE help section so that I know I'm at least looking in the right place
2) During site setup, let me pick the package I want from a list that includes the details of the installation and feature list
3) Only give me options during site setup that I can actually change. Don't include Linux as an option if you won't let me choose it, I see red!
4) Reduce the number of links in site control to the bare essentials and include links to the tools you have that we need
5) Remove Sitekitchen, Dataprotect, Ecommerce, Marketplace and Hostway Plus from the main link list in sitecontrol and put them in Website Tools
6) Move the <- currently managing dropdown under the profile link bar (the one that includes personal/billing info)
and lastly, 7) Find someone in your office that hasn't used your services before and knows nothing about it. Ask them to set up a domain and make a website. Sit behind glass and don't help them or talk at all. Write down everything they do wrong during the process and find a way to fix it.

Please don't reply to this email with anything like "if you want to find [X] look here". I found everything I need now. I contacted support via a ticket to get PHP and MYSQL installed, undoubtedly they will tell me I need to change my plan, I'll tell them to do that and it will be three days before everything is sort out. Sigh. I know how it goes. This email is about the usability of your site. This email is about what you need to do to make the experiences for your users better. I don't need help. I need to hear that you listened and your going to take steps to improve your site, not for me, but for others like me.

Thank you for your time