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Did you know that on just about every page of Control Panel there is a list of related Knowledge Base articles?
There are a lot of articles in our Knowledge Base (318 and counting!), and we understand that sometimes it can be difficult to quickly find exactly what you are looking for. That’s why we have included a “Related KB Articles” list in many sections of Control Panel.
When you are in the Email section, for example, you have direct access to the most relevant and popular Knowledge Base articles about email.
Also, if you feel that there is a Knowledge Base article that is missing, or that needs updating or clarification, please let us know. We work hard to maintain the best Knowledge Base in the industry, and your help is one of our most valuable tools!
Ready or not, here comes SQL 2012!
I know, you weren’t expecting us to roll it out so soon, were you? We’ve been busy prepping behind the scenes for the Microsoft release, and ensuring that we could offer it to you as soon as it was publicly available.
So you can log in to Control Panel and use SQL 2012 right now.
When you log in to the Site Tools section, the first thing you may notice is that the MS SQL 2008 section has been renamed MS SQL Manager.
Once you’re inside, you’ll see that when you create a new database, you now have the option to choose SQL 2012.
That’s all there is too it.
We’re happy to be able to make SQL 2012 available to you quickly. We’re working hard to make Winhost the only web host you’ll ever need.
If you have domain names registered elsewhere but use them on a Winhost site, you may want to consider moving your domains to your Winhost account so you have all of your web site properties under one (virtual) roof. Here’s how you do that.
The first thing to do is to take note of a few things that will make your transfers smooth and trouble-free:
We have some videos that cover the domain preparation process for the most popular registrars. You can see them here.
To get started, log in to Control Panel and click the Domains tab.
Click the Transfer Domain Name button.
Enter the domain name you wish to transfer, select the extension and click the Continue button.
At this point our system performs a check to make sure your domain is eligible for transfer. If you have missed a step in preparing your domain name for transfer, or it is ineligible for any other reason, you will see the following error:
Domain status [status] does not allow for transfer
Go back and check the pre-transfer steps and make sure you haven’t missed anything. If the transfer initiation still fails and you are unsure why your domain is not eligible for transfer, please contact the current registrar.
If your domain is eligible for transfer, you will be taken to the next step which includes:
WHOIS Privacy – choose whether your whois contact information will be visible to the public. There is a $5 annual fee to activate whois privacy. Whois privacy is not transferable from your previous registrar.
Next you will want to complete the contact information in the following fields (we will pre-populate the Registrant fields with information from your Winhost account):
The next section is where you choose to keep the Name servers for the domain the same as they currently are, or change them to point to Winhost. If your name servers do not point to Winhost and you intend to use the domain on a site in your Winhost account, chose “Change to Winhost’s name servers.”
The next step is to double check the contact information, name servers and “Transfer Request Approver” email. You must have access to the Transfer Request Approver email address in order to complete the transfer process.
You can edit any information that needs to be changed on this page.
If everything looks good, click the “Transfer Domain Name” button.
If you need to set up a new site for the domain name, you can click the Order New Site for this Domain button on the final page.
Once you have approved the transfer to us, the actual transfer between the two registrars can take a day or two. Depending on who the old registrar is, you may be able to speed up the process by also approving the transfer from their control panel. Though this is not always applicable, many of the larger registrars, such as GoDaddy, do allow for transfer approval.
While the transfer is in progress your domain will continue to function as normal (there is no “downtime” in a registrar transfer) and the domain’s status will be “Pending Transfer” in the Winhost Control Panel. When the transfer is complete the domain status changes to “Active.”
If you run into any problems, we have a Knowledge Base article that provides a step by step explanation of the domain transfer process.
The love affair between Microsoft and Google continues. In this installment, Google Apps comes under fire from the Microsoft Business Productivity folks (the online Office suite that competes with Google Apps).
[Video deleted.]
A lot of you have joined our circles on GooglePlus, and we’re excited about what we may be able to do over there. It might seem like overkill, what with Facebook, Twitter, the Winhost forum, this blog – now another spot to occupy?
The thing is, we enjoy connecting with you in all of these different areas. We’re always anxious to hear what everyone has to say and see what we can contribute.
We don’t have the star power of these guys, but we’re trying:
[Video deleted.]
It’s that time of the year when gift baskets start to show up at the office. We appreciate the gesture, and many of us appreciate the stuff inside the baskets.
With some exceptions. There has been one particular basket that has been in the break room for a week or so, and it is completely empty. Except for the half bag of Huckleberry popcorn.
You may ask, “Hey, what is Huckleberry popcorn?” To which I’d have to answer, “I don’t know,” because I’m not putting that stuff in my mouth. Apparently someone has eaten some of it. But the fact that it’s still there after a week tells me it is not currently the most popular thing in the room.
If anyone wants to try Huckleberry popcorn I’ll send it to you. But I can’t be responsible for what happens to you if you eat it. You’ll have to sign a waiver of some sort. At the very least.
You might remember that back in September we asked you to vote for us in the DevProConnections Community Choice Awards. A lot of you must have responded, because we placed 4th!
You might think 4th place is nothing to brag about, and usually that’s true. But look at who we placed 4th behind:
When you look at those kind of heavy hitters, the fact that Winhost, as a relatively young upstart, managed to rank anywhere near them is kind of amazing.
We work hard to provide the best hosting service anywhere, and it’s great to have the .NET hosting community tell us that we’re doing a good job.
And most of all, we thank all of you who voted for us. You are the reason we get out of bed every morning (or every afternoon, for those guys on the night shifts) and look forward to coming in to work.
So yeah, maybe we’re the only people who are goofy enough to announce losing, but to us, it’s a major win.
Like a lot of companies, we have a lot of whiteboards in the Winhost offices. Dozens of them. Most are full of important technical schematics, notes and other sorts of everyday tech company things.
But outside of the break room there is a whiteboard for suggestions. Meaning ways to improve the service, provide more value, bring more users to the fold. A few days ago someone decided to add “Company softball team” as a suggestion. You can see what happened after that:
The yellow text says, “MURDERBALL,” and I’m not sure I want to know what that is.