HostGator. We've been with them for 6 years with a family-friendly retail site, and almost a year with our adult blog without any issues. And in their TOS they clearly state that adult content is ok. Their control panel is easy to navigate, subdomains are free (if you want to expand) and you can get someone HUMAN on their tech support lines 24/7 who is actually helpful if you get stuck. less

Ok, I got my domain name done, but I don't really know what I require in a hosting program (GB, MySQL and all those other technical stuff) to run my blog and this kind of personal store.

I found one but I don't know if it's suitable - HOSTING
Is the economy one suitable - it will cater for all the store and blog images?

Ummm, and how do I get the actual page to design my blog? Lol - I have only ever used pre-set up web pages before so I don't know where to start less

HostGator. We've been with them for 6 years with a family-friendly retail site, and almost a year with our adult blog without any issues. And in their TOS they clearly state that adult content is ok. Their control panel is easy to navigate, subdomains are free (if you want to expand) and you can get someone HUMAN on their tech support lines 24/7 who is actually helpful if you get stuck. less

The amount of hosting space you need is dependent on the amount of "stuff" you have on your site. In the case of an Eden Personal Store, the images and other content hosted on the store will make up the bulk of the hosting space required.

I emailed one of the Eden developers about this issue and was told that:
-Save Big Sex Toys is the largest EPS online right now, and it has 1259 products in it. The store takes up about 2 Gigabytes of hosting space.

-A store with 200 products would take up about 350 Megabytes (1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte) of hosting space.

The developer also advised that affiliates limit themselves to 100-200 products per store to avoid overloading the hosting, but that it really dependent on how much space you want to have, how big of a store you want, and how much other content you have up on your site.

As for the "actual page to design my blog" -- part of the initial setup of the store is getting the store software, so don't worry about that for right now. I'll be emailing ya!

I hope that helps Keep the questions coming! less

The amount of hosting space you need is dependent on the amount of "stuff" you have on your site. In the case of an Eden Personal Store, the images and other content hosted on the store will make up the bulk of the hosting space required.

I emailed one of the Eden developers about this issue and was told that:
-Save Big Sex Toys is the largest EPS online right now, and it has 1259 products in it. The store takes up about 2 Gigabytes of hosting space.

-A store with 200 products would take up about 350 Megabytes (1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte) of hosting space.

The developer also advised that affiliates limit themselves to 100-200 products per store to avoid overloading the hosting, but that it really dependent on how much space you want to have, how big of a store you want, and how much other content you have up on your site.

As for the "actual page to design my blog" -- part of the initial setup of the store is getting the store software, so don't worry about that for right now. I'll be emailing ya!

I hope that helps Keep the questions coming! less

Ahhhhh excellent.
Thanks for that.
Here I was worried about only having 10GB space....lmao.
There's no way I need that much.
I think at this stage I'll just plan on space for about 200 toys. I can always upgrade later if need be through the hosting, right?

I was hoping my brother would help me out but he tells me things but does the technical talk that goes straight over my head...lol. less

Have to say I've been working on this for a couple of days now and I LOVE what this software can do! I managed to install it on my own without to many headaches and Kris your tutorials are awesome and easy to follow. I do have quite a bit of tech knowledge but if you follow the tutorials and aren't afraid to play this is a good piece of software.

Just working on my graphics, inventory and menu, etc now. Have the bare bones working though. Hoping with the snow we have coming in tonight the kids will let me work tomorrow as my graphics skills are pretty rusty less

OK, I'm totally stumped on the "setup DNS records" part for a standalone store. I'm normally more than tech savvy enough to get by, but I've read the info on the link several times and am still lost. Is there anyone that can explain how to do this in more common terminology? less

Ok, I'm going to try my best here. This is the part of the setup I am least familiar with right now. I'm writing these instructions based on my personal server experience, so the instructions may not exactly translate to your server's control panel, but the concepts should be the same. Here we go:

DNS stands for domain name system, and it acts as sort of phonebook/cheat sheet that links up IP addresses and domain names.

The reason why you need to set up a DNS record is because your server/host needs to be able to associate its content with a domain.

So, what "setup DNS records" entails is a few things. You need to:
-log into your site's hosting/server
-find out what your server's IP address is
-create a DNS record, connecting your server's IP address and your site's domain

To create the DNS record, in my control panel I found an icon that was labeled "Simple DNS Zone Editor." Maybe you have a similar icon or section available. Click on your DNS setup / editor / etc. icon and see what's there.

I think the main thing that you need to do is add an "A record" because that's the record that connects IP addresses to domain names. Find the fields that let you create an A record, and put your domain name in the "Name" field and put your server's IP address in the "Address" field and create the record. Now your server should know when to supply data, and that's whenever someone tries to browse to your domain, because now it knows that its IP address and your domain are linked.

If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free. I'm sorry I don't have a cut-and-dry answer for this one right now. I got most of the info and instructions from here: link in the section called "How to setup your domain name." less

Ok, I'm going to try my best here. This is the part of the setup I am least familiar with right now. I'm writing these instructions based on my personal server experience, so the instructions may not exactly translate to your server's control panel, but the concepts should be the same. Here we go:

DNS stands for domain name system, and it acts as sort of phonebook/cheat sheet that links up IP addresses and domain names.

The reason why you need to set up a DNS record is because your server/host needs to be able to associate its content with a domain.

So, what "setup DNS records" entails is a few things. You need to:
-log into your site's hosting/server
-find out what your server's IP address is
-create a DNS record, connecting your server's IP address and your site's domain

To create the DNS record, in my control panel I found an icon that was labeled "Simple DNS Zone Editor." Maybe you have a similar icon or section available. Click on your DNS setup / editor / etc. icon and see what's there.

I think the main thing that you need to do is add an "A record" because that's the record that connects IP addresses to domain names. Find the fields that let you create an A record, and put your domain name in the "Name" field and put your server's IP address in the "Address" field and create the record. Now your server should know when to supply data, and that's whenever someone tries to browse to your domain, because now it knows that its IP address and your domain are linked.

If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free. I'm sorry I don't have a cut-and-dry answer for this one right now. I got most of the info and instructions from here: link in the section called "How to setup your domain name." less

I got my domain from Namecheap.com for US$9.98 per year.
I'm still trying to work out the hosting. I like GoDaddy cause if ya sign up a new account, the 10G space is only AU$3.01 per month for 3 months.
But does anyone know if they are adult friendly???? less

You have the skills P'Gell. It's like everything else it takes time to learn anything new and I swear the older I get the more difficult it becomes to learn something new. When I've been stuck on something technical before I've found the appropriate forum and asked for help. You'd be surprised how may guys are willing to give assistance to a damsel in distress

I've also asked my hosting companies in the past if they have or know of any tutorials that might help make it easier for me as they know what server panel they are running, etc. Sometimes they were more helpful than others but I've always found it never hurts to ask.

I've been running my site for about 11yrs now and trust me there are still times when I want to put my fist through my laptop because I can't figure something out. I figured out a long time the wisest thing to do is walk away and come back later, saves me a ton of time in the end -))

I've also learnt that if I really can't do it myself it can often pay me to pay someone else to do it for me. I'm a better writer and promoter than graphics artists for example, so I often pay someone else to do my banners, etc. Just make sure they do the work before you pay them all the money as this is the internet after all and ask for recommendations from other webmasters, etc

I feel like I'm rambling now so I'll shut up, just don't want to see people give up on something they really want to pursue so figured I would put a few ideas out there. less

My advice for what its worth is stay away from GoDaddy when it comes to adult stuff myself.

This is from their terms of service:

You agree not to engage in unacceptable use of any Services, which includes, without limitation, use of the Services to: (...) (ii) disseminate or transmit any material that, to a reasonable person may be abusive, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, harassing, grossly offensive, vulgar, threatening or malicious;

I know from people who have used them before that although they will tell you that it's okay, one complaint and you can say goodbye to your hosting and there is nothing or little you can do about it.

Dreamhost and hostgator are both pretty good and as far as I recall they do allow adult content.

Before you choose a hosting company read the TOS it can save you a whole host of headaches later down the road. If it specifically states no adult or nudity, porno, etc somewhere in there stay away would be my advice for what it's worth. less

{P'Gell sits in her chair with her mouth open, drooling, wondering how she got so far behind in the Tech Revolution and amazed at what people can do.}



I'm hopelessly lost. I'll have to re-read the testimonials, but I don't know if I have skills to do what I want to do. less