Does GoDaddy have issues with Rapidweaver or stacks?

I recall a few years ago reading somewhere that certain stacks had issues running properly on GoDaddy’s hosting service. I don’t recall which stack, or hearing of any other hosting companies with RW issues. I searched the forums here and saw some GoDaddy posts, but not the stack issue that I recall.

I personally use HostMonster and I’m quite happy with them. A web client has their current site hosted with GoDaddy and want to know (before I publish their final site) if anyone’s aware of any existing issues.

Should I give it a try on GoDaddy and see what happens, or ask the client to transfer to mine or another hosting company? The client is okay with switching hosts, though they might as well stay with them if there’s no issues.

Other than the fact that they can be a pain in the butt about transferring domains, I have a number of clients that host with GoDaddy. No problems with any Stacks.

As long as your client isn’t planning on operating a storefront via a shared hosting plan, they should be fine. I’ve long used them without any issues at all, including Yabdab’s stacks (he states on his website that his stacks won’t work with GoDaddy).

The RecursiveDirectoryIterator is NOT enabled on shared plans (it is for VPS and Dedicated plans). So, if your site requires it and it’s on a shared plan, you’re out of luck. But, I believe the only types of sites that require it are storefronts.

GoDaddy has some limitations on their php environment. This probably does have an affect on a few addons (plugins, themes, and stacks) – but it’s probably pretty rare.

That said, I would strongly discourage anyone from using GoDaddy. They are cheap, but you get what you pay for. Significant downtime, inconsistent performance, hard-sell tactics, and abysmal customer support.

My recommendations for hosting:

If you just need an inexpensive solution. I have used BlueHost for years. It’s a cheap shared host with no frills. But their support staff great and the uptime is about as good as it gets for a shared-host.
BlueHost

If you want RapidWeaver specialists from a smaller company that can give you an extra hand with personal support
ChiliDog RapidWeaver Hosting

If you’re a nerd like me and want best-of class. Zero downtime. Running a VPS with full root access on the *nix of your choice on modern blade hardware with all SSD storage… etc. etc.
Digital Ocean

NB: I use Digital Ocean for YourHead, Stacks Cloud, Answer Cafe, The YourHead Blog, YourHead API, YourHead Info… and a few more too. It is simply the very best.

Cool data point: The Stacks Cloud server has not experienced a single downtime event (as measured by Pingdom.com) since I turned it on over a year ago.

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I’ll just add that in over ten years of having my sites hosted by GoDaddy, I’ve had exactly ONE downtime that lasted about eight hours. That’s eight hours out of over 90,000 hours of up-time. For years, I used Solarwinds to monitor the status of my sites - but after two years of nothing to report, I dropped them. As far as I can tell, the performance has been fine - and their customer service has been great. In fact, all of their reps are state-side, so (unlike many tech companies), it’s easy to communicate with them since there isn’t an accent-barrier. I will concede, however, that they like to up-sell. As long as you’re good with saying NO, it’s all fine since they don’t push beyond being turned down once.

I don’t like GoDaddy, either, but I’ve used them for years. And have to say I have not had quite the experience you describe. I put my business website on there many years ago, for reasons forgotten, added another one and never had a good enough reason to go through the hassle of signing up with another host and transferring them over.

I don’t like them mostly because of their hideous, aggressively promotional website. At every step, you have to be careful of the boxes you click, because they are constantly trying to trick you into buying something. They will offer what looks like an impossibly good deal which you grab but then you discover – hopefully – at the last minute that they just made it look that way. It actually was impossible. Really obnoxious. (You can cancel anything you buy from them within a day or two just by clicking off on it – if you can find where to do that. Your profile, I think.) Also, it is extremely difficult to find what you need on their website – everything is buried in layers of aggressive promotion and seemingly mindless obfuscation. For years, I have kept links to specific pages within the site so I can more easily go back and find specific things if I have forgotten the path to them.

On the other hand, I cannot recall ever having a moment of downtime. Probably have but it has never been at a time so that I noticed it or lasted long enough to make any difference. My sites have always worked fine. (But they are relatively simple.) The rates for what I have bought from them are among the lowest. And I have been consistently surprised by their customer phone support. Maybe I have just been lucky but the few times I have had to ask a human about something, I have gotten intelligent, pleasant people who were willing and able to help me quickly. Completely unlike the look and feel of the company they work for! (Which I have pointed out to them more than once.)

differing opinions are different. LOL
as they say, “the plural of anecdote is NOT evidence.” :wink:

it may be better to do a bit of research on google and see how the wider web feels about them rather than listening to any of us.

nb: whatever you do, don’t search for go daddy and elephants. :frowning:

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Thanks for the advice and comments.

I’m sending this forum page to the client and she if she wants to switch. I’m suggesting the switch.

Isaiah, I googled Godaddy & elephants, and that might be the reason she switches hosts.

Thanks

Less than .0001 elephants killed per customer by the former CEO, but they still give off a malodorous aroma with their corporate mindset. I’m in the process of moving a new client’s hosting from GoDaddy and their “unlimited” account to an intentionally limited but better provisioned account with A Small Orange at this very moment.

Pro Tip: don’t rely too heavily on any single source in online hosting company reviews. You really need to cast a pretty wide net to correct as best you can for a rather high rate of biased, often affiliate linked and compensated hosting information. Even the webmaster forums where in theory there is less BS have high rates of opinions biased by affiliate arrangements and confirmation bias.