Archive for September, 2009

Making Your Website Work with Internet Explorer 8

September 22nd, 2009

Posted by Mike

Many 34SP.com website hosting clients have had their websites hosted for a period of years. Whether you are on a Professional Hosting plan, a Reseller Hosting account, or even have a Dedicated Server – you still need to pay attention to changes on the Internet to keep your websites current.

One such change occurred recently when Microsoft released a new version of its Internet Explorer web browser about 6 months ago. You may not know, but although Internet Explorer has been steadily losing market share in the browser market, it still counts for nearly 67 percent of all browsers. Now that I.E. version 8.0 has been released, web developers may have to do some work with their websites to ensure their site displays correctly on the new browser.

With Internet Explorer 8.0, Microsoft has enhanced how it renders and displays websites. Commonly, the complaint toward Internet Explorer was its failure to comply with Internet standards for CSS and HTML.

The I.E. 8.0 browser is said to have massively improved this, bringing Internet Explorer in line with other major web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari browser.

With the new I.E. 8.0 release it is possible that there may be issues with it correctly reading your legacy html code. So what should you do if this is the case for your website?

If your site was fine with Internet Explorer 7 but not I.E. 8, then there is an easy fix that can be entered into your HTML.

Somewhere between the <head> tags of every page on your website, insert the following XHTML:

This tells Internet Explorer 8 to build your website exactly as it did in Internet Explorer 7.

Problem solved.

For more information on this issue please view the following: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956197. Of course you can also contact us here in the Customer Service and Technical Support Departments for any questions at all on your websites as well. We’re always ready to help.

34SP.com Deploys SmarterTrack Customer Service Software

September 17th, 2009

Posted by admin

Manchester, United Kingdom – Service oriented UK website hosting company, 34SP.com has announced the deployment of SmarterTrack customer service software to deliver world-class customer support Ticketing and Live Chats to its fast growing base of web hosting clients. According to the company, service feedback has improved dramatically with the adoption of SmarterTrack. In fact, 34SP.com is using the SmarterTrack software as the cornerstone of its company mandate: ”Website Hosting with Exceptional Service and Support”.

Flexibility was one reason that 34SP.com selected the SmarterTrack customer service software, as the package can be deployed as a traditional installation or in a hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.

Co-founder Stuart Melling explained the importance of the SmarterTrack software to the 34SP.com sales and support teams, ”The adoption of the SmarterTrack customer service software has dramatically increased client satisfaction levels, and lead to ultra-fast response times in the case of Live Chat. We can now literally solve in seconds what previously may have taken hours through our previous systems. Plus, the Live Chat creates a level of interactivity previously only available over the phone. The cutting and pasting of data via live chat gives our support team a crystal clear view into what clients are experiencing, and we can instantly respond. The increase in client satisfaction has been nothing short of amazing.”

Main features of the SmarterTrack customer service software include:

A world-class Ticket solution that transforms service, sales, and support emails into a powerful information distribution system.

Live Chat, which gives businesses the ability to reduce phone calls, capture information on Web site visitors, and assist more customers.

WhosOn, which gives businesses real-time tracking of customers as they navigate Web sites, providing the opportunity to increase sales, expedite customer service, and gather information on site visitors.

A portal interface that is optimized for search engines and functions as the central hub for all communication channels.

Self-service resources, such as a Knowledge Base and news items, that allow customers to research and resolve questions and issues.

A Web-based interface that provides accessibility wherever an Internet connection is available.

An integrated survey system that can be triggered upon events.

More than 70 summary and trend reports with many levels of customization and filtering.

Support for multiple brands within a company.

”SmarterTools is pleased to see International firms like 34SP.com adopting SmarterTrack as a customer service solution for their clients,” said Jeff Hardy, vice president of business operations at SmarterTools. ”34SP.com is committed to the highest levels of customer service and satisfaction, and the fact that they have chosen SmarterTrack to build out their service department speaks volumes about the strength of our support and service solution for the web hosting industry.”

Among actual 34SP.com client feedback and comments as a result of the SmarterTrack implementation are: ”Although I previously thought your phone support was good … your on-line support was even better!” – Heather D. and ”Live support superb. So easy to use and the assistance first class!” – Jeff R.

For further information on SmarterTrack customer service software, please visit: http://www.smartertools.com/SmarterTrack/Features/Customer-Service-Software-Web-Interface.aspx.

To learn more about 34SP.com and its web hosting products, please visit: http://www.34sp.com/hosting.

About SmarterTools Inc.

Founded in 2003, SmarterTools Inc. is an information technology-management software company based in Phoenix, Arizona. SmarterTools builds a Windows Mail Server, Web Log Analytics reporting tool, and Customer Service Software applications that simplify and automate the day-to-day IT operations of businesses and hosting environments in over 100 countries.

About 34SP.com

34SP.com offers professional website hosting services for cost conscious web developers and designers. The 34SP.com team of technical experts offers industry leading support and service coupled with a money back guarantee to ensure client satisfaction. Website hosting services offered include: UK domain names, UK hosting and reseller hosting. The company is headquartered in central Manchester, England.

Website Hosting Security

September 16th, 2009

Posted by Joe

Website Hosting Security

Hello, I’m Joe and one of the helpdesk team that are available by phone, chat or email from 8 am til 8 pm Monday to Friday here at UK web hosting company 34SP.com. I’m here to blog about keeping your site safe and secure from potential threats. Security is key on the Internet, as no one wants their personal details to be distributed around the world for all to see. Websites can and do get hacked every day, but as long as you stay vigilent to the possible open doors that hackers can use, then you stand a better chance of keeping your website safe and sound. Don’t just think that it’s amateurs that get hacked either. The venerable New York Times had its display advertising system and website hacked just this past weekend.

FTP Access
If you are running a Personal Hosting or Professional Hosting Account, you would upload and update your site via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). As a security standard, we have an FTP Access Lock on these accounts, which is set to ‘Disabled’. This means that if you tried to use your FTP connection, it would be refused. This is the safest mode to operate in for the 90% of the time that you are not making updates to your website, as it means any unwanted connections will be refused. If you need further ionformation on updating your Access Level, please review the following link: http://www.34sp.com/ftp-security-measures.

Knowing When You Have Been Hacked
The next situation occurs if you notice something different, new or unwanted on your main website. This is usually an advert or a separate link to an illicit site. If you do notice something, please let the helpdesk know about this as soon as you can by emailing us here.

The most commonly hacked pages are index.html or index.php, as they are your front page to the website, and that gives their redirect or advert maximum exposure. Another target is your htaccess file. The htaccess file is commonly used for effecting or controlling the behaviour of files in the same directory. Again, if you notice anything that seems different, please let the team know, or alternatively upload a previous clean copy of your website to be sure that you are ok from here. This is another great reason to frequently back up your website data.

Help, My Website Has Been Attacked
It can happen to any of us at some point, you leave your site unattended and when you check it again, Google has placed a ”suspicious site” warning over your front page. First point of call would be the 34SP.com helpdesk. We can then run our virus scanner over the website and files contained on your hosting. We regularly revise the database to include new hack attempts such as iframes and all forms of ‘debase code’ that are pasted into the headers of html pages. This is a very effective way of determining the exact cause of the problem.

Letting Google Know Your Site Is Clear
Once we have identified the lines of code, we will then let you know how to remove them. Google will need to be made aware that the site has been cleared of the virus/hack. Google will need to have a request for this to be emailed to them. More information can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35843.

Once Google has reconsidered your website, they will remove the warning and your site will then appear as per normal.

For more information on how to keep your site safe and secure, or to find out if there are any reported issues on our servers, make sure to check our support pages on: http://support.34sp.com/Main/Default.aspx and the status page on: http://status.34sp.com.

34SP.com Part Time Employment Opportunity

September 9th, 2009

Posted by admin

Company

34SP.com is a rapidly growing website hosting, dedicated server and reseller hosting company based in central Manchester. Founded in 2000, the company is a Limited, VAT registered company.

Salary

Hourly rate of £8.00 per hour. Plus sales bonuses, plus optional overtime.

Position

The successful applicant’s role will be to learn and conduct customer support tasks and answer pre-sales questions for prospective clients. This will involve providing 34SP.com clients with account and technical assistance via telephone, live chat and email.

We feel the position perfectly suits a locally based student, seeking real world job experience.

Hours

3 x 8 hour shifts.

An initial training period will require the three shifts on weekdays. Once trained to an acceptable level the position will require availability 9:30am to 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday, with one additional shift during the week.

Required Skills and Experience

Good English coupled with a proficiency in typing.
Excellent telephone manner.
A working knowledge of web hosting basics (FTP, HTML, email etc).
Knowledge of PHP/Perl/MySQL/*nix OS a distinct advantage.
A customer centric point of view.

Please submit your application and CV to info@34sp.com with subject ‘Support Position’.

VPS Hosting Specifications Increased

September 7th, 2009

Posted by Derek

Great news for anyone currently on a VPS hosting plan or considering purchasing one! 34SP.com has re-introduced its line of VPS hosting products with specifications that lead the VPS hosting market in the UK. The new specifications are a huge step up from our previous offering – but with no increase in price. So just a giant step up in resources…for free! The new products and exact specifications are available immediately at: http://www.34sp.com/vps-hosting.

Current 34SP.com VPS hosting clients will have their resources increased automatically at no charge.

Virtual Private Server hosting or VPS hosting for short, is a mid-step between shared hosting and dedicated servers. The new plans were designed after months of comprehensive research into the competitive VPS products in the current UK marketplace. Virtual servers may suffice in lieu of dedicated servers due to the close similarities between the two. Completely isolated operating environments, root access, and loading any operating system or software required by a professional developers are characteristics of both VPS hosting and dedicated servers.

Daniel Foster, co-founder of 34SP.com explained the VPS hosting update process, ”Our systems engineering team has been hard at work creating a new architecture for our VPS accounts that yields more resources for each account without any increase in cost. Therefore, beginning immediately every VPS hosting account at 34SP.com will get even more disk space and bandwidth for no extra charge. It’s a way of giving back to our clients for their commitment to the 34SP.com brand.”

34SP.com has had demand for its VPS hosting products grow exponentially over the past year as developers and designers discover the convenience and price advantages of virtual servers. The new storage specifications on the VPS hosting products range from 25 GB to 100 GB, while bandwidth ranges from 500 GB to 1,000 GB. 34SP.com VPS hosting comes with a choice operating systems including: CentOS, Debian, Fedora Core, Suse and Ubuntu. Each VPS server is guaranteed a certain amount of the server’s RAM at all times. In times of low server load, users are permitted to burst above this limit.

Many thanks to our engineering team who put in vast hours of work to get these new VPS plans created. Well done team.

The new specs at a glance:

Mini:

Space: 25GB
Bandwidth: 500GB
Memory: 384Mb

Standard:

Space: 50GB
Bandwidth: 750GB
Memory: 512Mb

Super:

Space: 100GB
Bandwidth: 1000GB
Memory: 1 GB

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