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Greetings all!

There is a lot to my request, but I will start with my first one due to an email that I received the other day.

I received an email that said one of my hosted websites (using the hosting credits) would get deleted due to non-use due to a domain name not being added.

I honestly thought that I had done this! Then when checking, I had only added the domain to the “DNS” section of “The Hub” and was waiting for the domain’s changes to get propigated. I really am not used to having to take 10 steps to do 1 thing. I am very used to cPanel or CentOS with my hosting accounts. I add the domain, tell it what folder to point to and once the propagation has happened you have a live site!

I have run into other things like this before while trying to setup a site on WPMUDEV. (To-date every site that I have created on WPMUDEV has later been removed for one limitation or another.)

I am just asking if there would be any way to streamline some of this? When you create a site have a pop-up that says “Would you like to add a domain to your new site?” and then take you there.

Anything to make people’s lives easier would be great!

Thanks!

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 17:13:36
    • Todd Stratton
      • Crazy Is, As Crazy Does?!

      AdamE

      I have actually NEVER had such a hard time setting up a website in my life! That is saying a lot since I used to have to do all of it using a command prompt on Linux. (Yes, I am that old! In fact, when I started there were only bulletin boards and you had to dial into each server separately.)

      I did also just spend about a year trying to see who was the best hosting provider and who really delivered what they said that they do. I was always able to go from account setup to a working website in 10 minutes or less. Even WordPress.com is so much easier. AWS is even easier!

      Thanks for the comment and for backing me up!

  • Nithin Ramdas
    • Support Wizard

    Hi Todd Stratton ,

    The steps are pretty much the same when compared to cPanel or pointing a domain ie adding A record, AAAA record, CNAME etc manually.

    The “DNS” section of the “Hub” only works once the nameserver is pointed which is done in the domain registrar side and there are factors like DNS propagation to consider which would be one of the factors to consider and can break in a streamlined process.

    Hence an option to make the changes manually is provided at the moment. I’ll make sure to bring this to our team’s attention to see what further improvements could be looked into regarding this.

    Kind Regards,
    Nithin

    • Todd Stratton
      • Crazy Is, As Crazy Does?!

      Nithin ,

      The steps are pretty much the same when compared to cPanel or pointing a domain ie adding A record, AAAA record, CNAME etc manually.

      I really have to completely disagree with you there!

      If you would like me to provide you a video of what happens, or even create a cPanel install on my server so that you can test it for yourself I can.

      When you add a domain in cPanel, all of the needed DNS records are automatically created. Including all of the MX records for creating emails.

      *The only thing that is not created is an AAAA record, due to the fact that the hosting provider handles that per the dedicated server IP.

      Also when creating anything on your servers I have to wait for quite some time for anything to even happen. On one of my cPanel installs I have 68 domains, with over 200 email accounts associated with those domains. Also forwards, catch-alls, and more. When doing any of that it takes longer to type in the domain/email than it does to be created by the system. When installing WordPress from Softaculous or Installatron, it only takes less than a minute.

      To add a DKIM, yes, that is one extra and easy step with a few clicks per domain.

      The “DNS” section of the “Hub” only works once the nameserver is pointed which is done in the domain registrar side and there are factors like DNS propagation to consider which would be one of the factors to consider and can break in a streamlined process.

      I understand completely about propagation, however with cPanel you can setup an entire domain, plus emails, plus the software install (minus the SSL cert.) before the domain is even created, or pointed. Once that propagation finishes, then your site is up and running.

      I have never had to bounce between so many screens and had them all open at the same time before in my life when creating a website, with a domain and an email(s). I can do all of this with a few clicks, from one screen to the next on cPanel.

      As a curiosity for doing this on a pure cloud hosting environment like that used by WPMUDEV, I even setup a WordPress install on AWS last night. Again, I didn’t have to go through so many steps or screens. I even in that time setup 2 virtual machines (1 Ubuntu, 1 CentOS), I played around with their other sections just to waste some time. I had all of this done and more in the same time that it took to setup 1 website on WPMUDEV. That is why I am asking for a simplified setup.

      Thank you for your time!

      *I swear that I really am NOT a bad and angry guy! I just see something broken and try my best to help fix it. I have also always gone by the motto “Work Smarter, Not Harder!” my entire life. Why take 18 steps to do something when the exact same thing could be accomplished in 6 steps?

      Todd S.