I'm working on creating some CS-Cart specific hosting plans and I was wondering what types of included options/services users of CS-Cart would like to see?
Currently I was thinking I would offer a normal hosting plan bundled with a dedicated IP address and an SSL certificate, plus some sort of basic support/question service and I have the CS-Cart provided cPanel auto-installer running on my servers.
Examples would be like for plan A you would be able to ask x-number advice or questions a month, plan B a couple more and then an unlimited plan. That service would just be more like how do I setup this specific feature or how does this work, more like how do I effectively use CS-Cart, it would not be support like what CS-Cart offers directly.
So any suggestions of what you would like to see?
Hi rmsilver7,
I like the help credit idea and I think it definitely helps to know that there is a helping hand. As a developer however it would be nice to know that perhaps there is a possible failsafe support when I hit a snag in CS-Cart - maybe you can offer discounted freelancer support for this?
Secondly in terms of general help - perhaps you could setup screencasts showing the basic features of CS-Cart (its always easier to visualize). The initial setup maybe a little hard but then it would possibly limit the amount of customer queries that get sent to you.
Also my main concern with CS-Cart is the speed. As I am still new to the CS-Cart software I know I would feel a lot more secure if the server that was tailored to CS-Cart either helped improve the speed of the cart somehow or offered advice on how to keep your cart optimised code-wise.
[quote name='j-nelson' timestamp='1329511937' post='131495']
I like the help credit idea and I think it definitely helps to know that there is a helping hand. As a developer however it would be nice to know that perhaps there is a possible failsafe support when I hit a snag in CS-Cart - maybe you can offer discounted freelancer support for this?
[/quote]
Do you mean like specific support for other CS-Cart developers/designers as opposed to just a shop owner? I guess I'm not exactly sure what you are suggesting here.
[quote name='j-nelson' timestamp='1329511937' post='131495']
Secondly in terms of general help - perhaps you could setup screencasts showing the basic features of CS-Cart (its always easier to visualize). The initial setup maybe a little hard but then it would possibly limit the amount of customer queries that get sent to you.
[/quote]
That is a good idea, I'll have to toy with that one for the future.
[quote name='j-nelson' timestamp='1329511937' post='131495']
Also my main concern with CS-Cart is the speed. As I am still new to the CS-Cart software I know I would feel a lot more secure if the server that was tailored to CS-Cart either helped improve the speed of the cart somehow or offered advice on how to keep your cart optimised code-wise.
[/quote]
Again another good suggestion. Though FYI there are multiple threads on these forums on things you can do to speed up your CS-Cart install.
Thank you for the feedback. Another question I have is about cost, what is the minimum you would be willing to pay for a CS-Cart optimized hosting plan? I'm looking at creating three plans, Starter, Advanced and Unlimited that start at $14.95, $24.95 and $49.95 a month.
[quote name='rmsilver7' timestamp='1329517938' post='131506']
Do you mean like specific support for other CS-Cart developers/designers as opposed to just a shop owner? I guess I'm not exactly sure what you are suggesting here.
[/quote]
Ideally support for both options (in that you offer your CS-Cart guides with maybe a if you need more in-depth help get a freelancer type thing. However I was coming more from a dev point of view so I be going over the top on this one.
And yeah thanks for the heads up and I did bookmark a couple of speed threads I found on here…personal prayers answered on that front >:3.
In terms of what I would be willing to pay in - your prices do sound fair however without actual specs I can't fully judge. Are the specs the same as the one you currently offer on your website?
The only thing I will say if for 49.95 per month I would expect some kind of VPS or equivalent. Nothing too powerful but as an example Mediatemple.net offer a basic VPS at 50 per month.
Consider dayly backup, + not oversold top quality shared server, + Block IP range to some countries to avoid spam, +chat forum for users.
[quote name='j-nelson' timestamp='1329522379' post='131515']
In terms of what I would be willing to pay in - your prices do sound fair however without actual specs I can't fully judge. Are the specs the same as the one you currently offer on your website?
The only thing I will say if for 49.95 per month I would expect some kind of VPS or equivalent. Nothing too powerful but as an example Mediatemple.net offer a basic VPS at 50 per month.
[/quote]
I'm open to suggestions here, my first thoughs are to have for the $14.95, 5 gigs bandwidth/disk space (maybe 1 included basic question a month), for $24.95 10 gigs bandwidth/disk space (maybe include 3 basic questions) and an unlimited plan that is $49.95 with unlimited bandwidth/disk space (maybe 5 basic questions?), but not on a VPS. All plans will include a dedicated IP address and basic 256-bit SSL cert.
[quote name=‘colortone’ timestamp=‘1329528853’ post=‘131537’]
Consider dayly backup, + not oversold top quality shared server, + Block IP range to some countries to avoid spam, +chat forum for users.
[/quote]
I already do the first three on my current plans and the cs-cart plans would have this as well. I’ve tried a forum in the past for my clients and it wasn’t utilized much, but that can always be added if needed 
Thanks, keep those suggestions coming!