Would you Use a Service Like This?

[kenmaz]

I'm considering making a service for web designers to host html pages and assets, designed to be easier than any other service out there for this task.

The pitch for the service would be the following features:




HTML Platform as a Service
-Host an HTML Website and Assets in about two minutes following two or three simple steps
-Free for two months, after that $2 / month per site
-Automatically sets up page to connect to popular reporting tools (Google Analytics snippit automatically added to each html page), vanity metrics reported in real time
-Version history is supported. Changelogs exists, and can revert to old version. Old versions can run side by side at different urls.
-Inline registration for domains; if you purchase your domain through the utility it will be automatically configured to point to your site.
-Site can transfer owner, so after work is completed a client can worry about paying the monthly charges if the site is for a different person




Would you use a service like this? Are there any other features you think would be useful? Are any of the features that I listed not useful?

 

[4goodhosting]

I'd try, why not?

 

[ian]

Not sure what you mean by assets, but there are already many services similar to what you propose, that is not to say you will not do well if you execute the project well.
Also the site would need to offer a lot more advanced features, similar to something that http://www.squarespace.com does

 

[Backseat]

Sounds good but there's some catches

- what if I want to configure my PHP/APACHE settings (for instance what if I like to use the php short tags or have a code base relying on this), can I do that?

- what are my constraints in data usage? What if I just upload a bunch of porn, and if I do, what will happen to my account?

I like the idea though. Will you only allow php though? What about mysql access? What are my constraints on data usage / traffic, how many databases can I have etc...

Also you might want to consider adding some standard installed packages such as wordpress, joomla, drupal, whatever...

Things that will scare me off are:
- what is my limit on databases (size/number of databases/...)
- what is my limit on assets (images, video, can I upload psd's?)
- what is my limit on scripting (php? asp? asp.net mvc?)
- what can I configure (php.ini? httpd.conf? iis config?)
- can I password protect it and manage the accounts (for client preview)?
- do I have ftp access or another very convenient way of uploading?

I'm sure there are other things to consider here too