Few questions.

[Private_Ale]

Hi, Been looking for a new host and so far Host Gator's looking good, but first a few questions...

1) In the ToS it clearly states that image hosting scripts are not permitted on the shared plans, but what if you use a modification and disallow hotlinking? this is what I mean:

I am one of 3 administrators on a Simple Machines-Powered forum, and we roughly have 15-20 daily active users, there is a modification for SMF called SMF Gallery Pro and its basically well, an image hosting script. BUT, since its just an extension to the forum software it can be set to only allow registered users to upload and you can set a fixed size for the directory.
IF i only allow my users to upload AND using the cPanel to prevent hotlinking so the images can ONLY be used in MY forum and nowhere else on the web, is this still against ToS?

2) Although our forum has no copyrighted/illegal material on it, just as a inquiry, In the ToS it states: "Examples of unacceptable material on all Shared, Reseller and Dedicated Servers include: Pirated Software / Warez".... I know this means the material actually being hosted on the server itself, but what about links to it being hosted elsewhere? (ie: rapidshare, megaupload, etc..)

3) About how big of a forum, in your opinion, could the "baby" plan suit?


Thanks much,
-PA

[YukonMaster]

1.) That should be fine as long as it doesn't overload the servers. But you may want to check with sales (at) hostgator.com to be sure.
2.) Not really sure on this. Although I remember it being discussed before.
3.) It isn't the size of the forum, it is the activity of the forum that you need to worry about. You can have 10000 users and 200000 posts but if there is only 5-10 users on at a time, you have nothing to worry about.
I would say once you get about 300 concurrent users on at a time it may be time to move on. I hosted a large vBulletin forum on the shared account, which I sold to a friend, and he still runs it and it gets anywhere between 150-200 users on at a time with no issues so far.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Private_Ale

IF i only allow my users to upload AND using the cPanel to prevent hotlinking so the images can ONLY be used in MY forum and nowhere else on the web, is this still against ToS?

I wouldn't think so, but your best to ask abuse@hostgator.com

2) Although our forum has no copyrighted/illegal material on it, just as a inquiry, In the ToS it states: "Examples of unacceptable material on all Shared, Reseller and Dedicated Servers include: Pirated Software / Warez".... I know this means the material actually being hosted on the server itself, but what about links to it being hosted elsewhere? (ie: rapidshare, megaupload, etc..)

Once again, check with abuse

3) About how big of a forum, in your opinion, could the "baby" plan suit?

It depends on how many users are on at one time (average)

[Private_Ale]

Thanks All!

[othellobloke]

They won't allow links to illegal materials either. That's basically what torrent sites are.

[Private_Ale]

Hi again, getting closer to getting an account, but got another question.

ToS states NO CHAT SCRIPTS... so i assume this will be a no-no?

-> http://www.tufat.com/s_flash_chat_chatroom.htm
(please view link so you can actually see the product)

[GvilleRick]

You would be better off to contact sales or abuse by email for a definitive answer.

[Private_Ale]

Once again, many thanks!

[Goddess Dix]

Originally Posted by GvilleRick

You would be better off to contact sales or abuse by email for a definitive answer.

probably a good idea to doublecheck, but i doubt they will have a problem with flashchat so long as you limit the connections and don't hog the resources.