Hostnun brand closing - consolidating into ellipsisno.de

[drmike]

Looks like the Host Nuns are giving up their habit and moving on.

 

I think this is a good move.

Host Nun has had its day and will be closing come the end of May.


In short, HN clients will be transferred to my new initiative, Ellipsis Node: http://ellipsisno.de


What does this mean for you?


1) Shared hosting accounts will be transferred from Quadranet to OVH, ...'s Montreal location. The move will take place sometime in May, hopefully sooner than later. You shouldn't notice any downtime. VPS instances will stay where they are.


2) I will be abandoning WHMCS and moving to simple email invoices for the time being. I may eventually transition into Blesta or something else. WHMCS has proven to be more of a headache than anything with its ongoing security vulnerabilities, it's time to try something new.


3) In the absence of WHMCS's client portal, you may begin contacting support via email at [email protected].


4) New invoices will be sent from [email protected]. Please configure your email filtering accordingly if you plan on continuing with the service.


That's about it, I think. I'm available at this email address and [email protected] to field any questions/concerns you may have.


Best,


Matt Zacharias
http://hostnun.net

 

[Geek]

Props for exiting gracefully and giving notice.  

I still can't watch "Sister Act" in the same way...  

Bless ye for having, by far, one of the awesome themed/worded hosting projects out there for a while. 

That's about all I know about them.

 

[MannDude]

ellipsisno.de

Oh god, why?

Ask me in ten minutes to type out the domain/website and I've probably forgot or made a typo.

Props on the proper notice, however. A full month is good. Amen to that, and best of luck moving forward.

 

[RLT]

Bad bad name, "Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short")"

​So instead of Host Nun we'll have Ellipsis No.de or omission/falling short node. Could it be a Freudian Slip? 

 

[KMyers]

Bad bad name, "Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short")"

​So instead of Host Nun we'll have Ellipsis No.de or omission/falling short node. Could it be a Freudian Slip? 

Well, you cannot accuse him of setting the bar very high.

My concern about abandoning any form of billing/helpdesk software is that in the long term, it is unsustainable. I remember using a similar approach when I first started in the industry and after the first 10 clients, I had to break down and implement a real billing/support solution. Not using a real billing solution only hurts the customer experience as it eliminates instant provisioning. At the time(2005), instant provisioning was not expected so I was able to get away with it, in 2015 it is expected and some customers have been known to issue chargebacks 10 minutes after placing the order if they do not have their credentials. 

I understand the desire to be secure but completely killing the billing software is not too wise, it also makes me question the number of accounts they host. 

Edit : I just paid a visit to the site and am even more confused. HostNun's website uses a popular ThemeForest template that was at least modified in a whimsical way to sell the "Nun" brand. The new website is an utter joke. In fact, I take that back, I have put A LOT more effort in designing a large number of joke websites. 

 

[raindog308]

That new site...what the...

I hope that's some holding piece while they get a new design in place.  Though that raises the question of why they are moving people over if they're not really open for business with the new identity.

I don't mind minimalist web sites (remember zensix?) but this is...odd.

 

[KMyers]

That new site...what the...

I hope that's some holding piece while they get a new design in place.  Though that raises the question of why they are moving people over if they're not really open for business with the new identity.

I don't mind minimalist web sites (remember zensix?) but this is...odd.

Minimal is one thing, this is laziness 

 

[HN-Matt]

Bad bad name, "Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission" or "falling short")"

​So instead of Host Nun we'll have Ellipsis No.de or omission/falling short node. Could it be a Freudian Slip? 

Infinite meanings and connotations beyond that (not to suggest that I agree with what is written here, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_poetrywas the first that came to mind). What you choose to reduce the semiotics of three dots to really says more about you than anything.

 

My concern about abandoning any form of billing/helpdesk software is that in the long term, it is unsustainable. I remember using a similar approach when I first started in the industry and after the first 10 clients, I had to break down and implement a real billing/support solution. Not using a real billing solution only hurts the customer experience as it eliminates instant provisioning. At the time(2005), instant provisioning was not expected so I was able to get away with it, in 2015 it is expected and some customers have been known to issue chargebacks 10 minutes after placing the order if they do not have their credentials. 

I understand the desire to be secure but completely killing the billing software is not too wise, it also makes me question the number of accounts they host. 

I didn't say I was 'abandoning any form of billing/helpdesk software' although you were not the only concerned citizen. The suggestion seems to have reached a crisis moment on LET, spilling over into a bizarre flagging panic, but has since been cleared up: http://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/1059108/#Comment_1059108

Also 'instant provisioning' is not absolutely necessary and has certain drawbacks. Believe it or not, there are quite a lot of people out there who don't mind waiting a few hours for a vps. Dedicated servers still take days sometimes. If you're in such a hurry that you can't wait for someone to personally review your order before choosing whether or not to respond to it at all...

Edit : I just paid a visit to the site and am even more confused. HostNun's website uses a popular ThemeForest template that was at least modified in a whimsical way to sell the "Nun" brand. The new website is an utter joke. In fact, I take that back, I have put A LOT more effort in designing a large number of joke websites. 

lol calm down KMyers: http://www.indexhibit.org/what-who-why-how/



 

I think this is a good move.

So do I, thanks for not shitting all over it this time!

 

[HN-Matt]

​So instead of Host Nun we'll have Ellipsis No.de or omission/falling short node. Could it be a Freudian Slip? 

If you can imagine no other conclusion than that, perhaps the omission/falling short is yours?

 

[RLT]

Geez such a total lack of piety. Seriously I liked the host nun. The new name is just so related to omission


I hope it goes well for you.

 

[mikho]

I didn't say I was 'abandoning any form of billing/helpdesk software' although you were not the only concerned citizen. The suggestion seems to have reached a crisis moment on LET, spilling over into a bizarre flagging panic, but has since been cleared up: http://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/1059108/#Comment_1059108

Wouldn't call it a crisis, long story short to kill the hype/drama that you wish to create around yourself.


You said in the thread about closing HN that you would abandon WHMCS and tun the new brand on an "email basis".


When you posted the offer I had to make sure that you actually had a billing system in place as the rules to post an offer requires one.


Aren't you glad that I asked you before deciding what to do with your thread? Should I have handled it in a different way?


You are the one that tried to create unneccesary drama by posting screenshots from our Private Messages and asking for more people to flag your posts.

 

[William]

I had to make sure that you actually had a billing system in place as the rules to post an offer requires one.

Order form != Billing panel and is allowed.

 

[HN-Matt]

Wouldn't call it a crisis

www dot google dot com slash joke

You said in the thread about closing HN that you would abandon WHMCS and tun the new brand on an "email basis".

Not sure why you're putting quotes around that phrase as I never said it. Searched the thread you're referring to and the word "basis" doesn't appear once (so literally no one said that except you). I would ask for you to stop putting words in my mouth. This is what I wrote in the email that was sent to clients and quoted in the thread:

2) I will be abandoning WHMCS and moving to simple email invoices for the time being. I may eventually transition into Blesta or something else. WHMCS has proven to be more of a headache than anything with its ongoing security vulnerabilities, it's time to try something new.


3) In the absence of WHMCS's client portal, you may begin contacting support via email at [email protected].


4) New invoices will be sent from [email protected]. Please configure your email filtering accordingly if you plan on continuing with the service.

Aren't you glad that I asked you before deciding what to do with your thread? Should I have handled it in a different way?


You are the one that tried to create unneccesary drama by posting screenshots from our Private Messages and asking for more people to flag your posts.

Yes, thanks for asking. Definitely a step up from treatment I've received on LET in the past. I posted the screenshot because the thought of people flagging my thread re: something so trivial seemed absurd and hilarious to me, although I wasn't aware that the rules explicitly disallowed the absence of a 'billing system' at the time. If I knew, I wouldn't have taken the screenshot, so my fault there.

 

[mikho]

I wrote email basis in quotes since I don't remember the exact words, it was something like; "I might use Blesta but probably I will start by email invoices". Not your exact words, haven't bothered to check.


You are blowing this out of proportion and it is (to me at least) kind of funny to read about your attention seeking attempts. Leave it, live life and try not to take everything so damn personal.

 

[mikho]

Order form != Billing panel and is allowed.

The offer rules at LET says :

You must have a website with a proper ordering system. "Email me to get this deal" does not count.

From what I read in the thread about closing HostNun I assumed (and other users if LET) that regular emails would be the means of communication between provider and client.


The make everything clear (instead of acting on my assumption), I asked the question and got the reply I needed.

 

[HN-Matt]

You are blowing this out of proportion and it is (to me at least) kind of funny to read about your attention seeking attempts. Leave it, live life and try not to take everything so damn personal.

What, 'attention seeking attempts' in the attention economy? God forbid!


Although again, I think it's to the contrary. I didn't make any efforts to publicize the email in this thread or on LET. I can't help it if people on various forums feel the need to create publicity for every email I send, nor can I help it that a series of small, inanimate dots cause so many meltdowns (e.g. mpkossen melting down in my sales thread).

 

[tdale]

Ok well. Wow. http://ellipsisno.de/

http://everydayim.com/does it better

 

[HN-Matt]

Geez such a total lack of piety. Seriously I liked the host nun. The new name is just so related to omission


I hope it goes well for you.

I'm sorry for the hostility. One way to think of 'ellipses' is to liken them to the concept of 'horror vacui' in visual art. The lacunae becomes a precursor.

 

In typed/written language you'll notice that ellipses often occur to mark points where communication has failed. 'Omission' appears as a temporary stand-in for that which cannot be said due to context/circumstances/whatever. This is one of the reasons I like to replace the ... with philosophical concepts selected at random.

 

[souen]

While we're on the topic, I'm still trying to visualise the new brand. With "Host Nun" it was easy to picture a world of clergy, habits and cloisters.

... and drawing up a blank. Flourescent lights and 4'33"?

 

[HN-Matt]