# Elements Hosting Updates - 2nd edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Elements Hosting\ **Created:** [February 18, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/elements-hosting-updates-2nd-edition/54477 "2026-02-18T13:10:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![differentdan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/differentdan/32/33530_2.png) [@differentdan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/differentdan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/elements-hosting-updates-2nd-edition/54477/1 "2026-02-18T13:10:43Z")
Hey Everybody, Second round of updates. **First set of Early Testers onboarded** We got our first two early testers onboarded on Monday, and so far things are going great (knock-on-wood ✊ 🪵). Both early testers were gracious enough to do a Zoom call so I could see how things were working from start to finish. Because of this we were able to fix a few small issues and make some enhancements to the signup workflow, so I’m extremely grateful for the time that those early testers gave. 🙏 I also got all their domains set up under our Managed Cloudflare partner account, and that also worked quite well. This made it very easy for me to manage their DNS, security, and performance optimizations without them having to do much of anything, which is the goal of our managed hosting service, we do all the technical bits so customers can focus on the important things like bringing their website to life with RapidWeaver. 🙂 **Next wave of Early Testers incoming** I’m going to be reaching out to our next wave of Early Testers today to see when they want to get things going. If I send you an email and you don’t have any time this week no worries, I’ll move on to the next person on the list and we can get you in a subsequent wave in the upcoming weeks. As with the first round of early testers, it would be great if we could do a Zoom call during the onboarding process so I can see how the process goes and make any improvements based on live customer feedback, however a Zoom call is not required so no pressure if you want to try and do things by yourself. We have [documentation here](https://docs.realmacsoftware.com/elements-docs/hosting) to help you out. **.htaccess Poll** Thanks to everybody who voted in our [`.htaccess` poll](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/how-many-here-utilize-htaccess-files-on-your-current-hosting-accounts/54372). It helped us make a decision on the most convenient server environment to provide for our customers. We appreciate the feedback! **Hosting Location Poll** The [hosting location poll](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/requesting-feedback-for-hosting-locations/54090/3) is still open, and will be for a while. If you haven’t voted yet, feel free to cast your vote there as it will help us to determine the next location we open a new server in for our customers. **Questions?** If anybody has any questions about anything hosting related, feel free to post them in this new [Elements Hosting forum](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/c/rapidweaver-elements/hosting/65). Happy to answer any and all questions that I can about our hosting service, or just web hosting in general. 🙂 **Conclusion** That’s it for this update. For the early testers keep an eye out for my email/DM which will be coming today to see if you are ready to start the onboarding process. Thanks again to all for the interest in hosting your RapidWeaver based sites on our new Elements Hosting service. We are extremely grateful for your trust and consideration in checking out and testing our new service! 🙏 ❤ 🫶 ---
**Author:** ![kDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@kDog](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/kDog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/elements-hosting-updates-2nd-edition/54477/2 "2026-02-18T14:26:14Z")
I’m a little late to the hosting news. I asked about this a year ago, I guess before it was in the plans. I ended up setting up with AWS (Lightsail). Can you give me a quick comparison? Also, I’d like to be added to the list if possible. ---
**Author:** ![differentdan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/differentdan/32/33530_2.png) [@differentdan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/differentdan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/elements-hosting-updates-2nd-edition/54477/3 "2026-02-18T14:34:11Z")
> [@kDog](#): > > I ended up setting up with AWS (Lightsail). Can you give me a quick comparison? Hi @kDog Thanks for the interest. I’m not sure I could really do a quick comparison between AWS Lightsail and our service, aside from the fact that AWS Lightsail is for highly technical people who know how to set up and manage their own Linux server on the Amazon platform. They are responsible for managing every bit of that environment, so it’s really only for people who know how to manage servers, keep them secure, keep them up-to-date, fix things when they break, etc. Our hosting service is fully managed, so customers don’t have to learn how to become a server administrator just to host their website(s). 🙂 Hope that answers your question. > [@kDog](#): > > Also, I’d like to be added to the list if possible. Our Early Testers list is already full at the moment, however if one of the early testers drops off, I can get your name added as a possible replacement. Thanks again for your interest. If you don’t make the early testers period you can still sign up when we open Elements Hosting to the public, that is if you are tired of managing everything on AWS (Lightsail) yourself. 🙂