Frequently Asked Questions

Answers: General

Will you match a competitor's price?

No. If you're asking us to match a competitor's price, you'd obviously rather host with OnTarget Hosting (and we don't blame you). So there must be something about our services that's worth paying more for, right?

You wouldn't ask a Ferrari dealer to match a price quote on a Geo Metro, would you? You would?! Well, let us know if it works and the name of the dealership you went to...

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Do you offer custom packages?

No. At this time, we do not provide custom web hosting packages. We have put together a set of plans that we feel address a broad range of needs. Chances are that at least one of our plans will be able to suit your website's needs.

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Do you give non-profit or educational discounts?

No. Sorry. We keep our prices low for everyone, and are therefore unable to offer additional non-profit or educational discounts.

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My website gets a lot of traffic--will this be a problem?

This usually depends on the nature of your website. While relatively straightforward sites (think basic html/xhtml content, most shopping sites, webpages, blogs, etc.) can receive tens of thousands of hits at any given time and work perfectly fine, problems can arise with more complex sites--sites with lots of images, scripts or interactivity with visitors. Tens of thousands of users each accessing a database at the same time can cause quite a strain on a server and might be too much for a shared web hosting environment.

The thing to remember is that the term "shared hosting" (which is another term for standard web hosting) means that your site will share a server with other users. This allows for plenty of usage while keeping prices low, but certain sites may not be appropriate for such an environment. If you are unsure whether your high volume website will work with our shared plans, please feel free to e-mail our sales department, and we will be happy to assist you in determining the best solution for your needs.

We also offer a line of High Velocity hosting plans, aimed at sites requiring additional server resources. Please contact our sales department for more information.

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What if I need more space and bandwidth?

If you need additional space and bandwidth, you can simply upgrade your account to a higher plan. Upgrading your plan provides a much better value than paying for more bandwidth and storage on the side.

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Answers: Features and Technology

Do you have [insert feature name here]?

Probably. We support just about everything under the sun. Check out our web hosting plan comparison page for information on all the features we offer. If you don't see anything about a specific feature, try using the search box on the main ontargethosting.com homepage to search our site and forums for the feature.

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I have my own SSL certificate--can OnTarget install it for me?

Sure! We allow you to use your own SSL certificate if you'd like. There is a one time $15 installation fee for all custom SSL certificates. Contact our customer service department for assistance.

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What do you mean by "low site to server ratios" and how does this benefit me?

The number of accounts hosted on a web server can have a significant impact on how quickly that server is able to respond to page requests. Since system resources such as processor time and RAM are shared by all users of a server, a server with too many accounts can be slow to respond and cause your site's visitors to become frustrated and leave.

Many hosting companies pack too many accounts onto each server in an effort to maximize profit. At OnTarget, we feel that the long term customer satisfaction resulting from providing high performance hosting is far more important than the short term profits made by overfilling servers. Our customers love the extra speed they get at OnTarget, making them more than happy to recommend OnTarget to their friends, family and website visitors.

Join OnTarget today and experience the many benefits of our "undercrowded" servers!

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What is "available server power" and how does it benefit me?

The amount of server power or server system resources available to each hosting account depends on the number of other websites sharing a given web server. A server's total processor and memory (RAM) is shared by all of the accounts on that server.

All of our accounts are hosted on servers with much fewer accounts than the majority of other web hosts. But, above and beyond that, accounts on our Gold plan will be on servers with half as many accounts as servers hosting Silver plan accounts.

Servers hosting Diamond plan customers will have one quarter as many accounts as the Silver plan. This ultra low site to server ratio means that each individual Diamond hosting account has roughly four times the share of the server's processor and memory as does a Silver account. That's a lot of power!

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Do you do regular backups of my account?

Yes, we perform nightly backups on all accounts, but don't count on our backups alone! Your website is important, and you are the one ultimately responsible for ensuring that your data is backed up!

We make every effort to back up all account data on a nightly basis, but we don't guarantee that our backups will be complete, up to date or even available at all. We are not responsible in the event that some or all of your account data and settings are lost (please see our service agreement for more information).

You should always keep an up to date copy of your website on your local computer. That way you will always have a copy of your site on hand in the event of data loss.

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Answers: Domain Names

Do you sell domain names or do I have to buy my domain from another company?

OnTarget does, in fact, sell domain names. You will see a "Domains" tab in our menu bar at the very top of the page. Click this tab to search for and purchase new domain names through our revolutionary, ultra-usable Domain Manager.

Additionally, you can transfer your existing domain names to OnTarget with the click of a button.

Domain names through OnTarget cost $9.95/year.

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What is the difference between domain pointers and parked domains?

Domain pointers act like full websites and can also be used for email and subdomains. Parked domain names simply point to your main website.

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I want to buy a domain name without hosting. Where do I go to order just a domain name?

Currently we don't sell domain names as a standalone service. Once you receive your web hosting account information, you can transfer existing and purchase new domains using the "Domains" tab in Backstage.

Note that this does not mean that you won't be able to continue domain name service without an active web hosting account. You can continue domain name registration service through Site5 as long as you choose, regardless of whether or not you still have web hosting through Site5.

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Answers: Scripts and Programming

Will you install my programs and scripts for me?

No. Our hosting accounts come with an autoinstaller that allows you to install over 50 scripts with the click of a button. Click here for a complete listing of scripts that can be automatically installed.

In addition, Site5 has a custom written installer for the popular Ruby on Rails based blog system, Typo.

If, however, you need to install scripts that are not listed above, we can not assist you. In addition, we do not provide support for any third-party scripts (even if they were installed with the autoinstaller).

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Will you install custom Perl modules?

Yes. Our technical support team will install almost any Perl module upon request. Simply contact customer service with your request.

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Answers: Ordering

How long will it take to setup my new account?

Once you submit your order, our system automatically runs a series of fraud tests in order to verify the order's authenticity. If the order passes all of these tests, the order is immediately setup and requires no manual intervention by our staff. In this case, you will have your welcome email within a few minutes of placing your order.

If one or more of the fraud tests fails, your order will need to be manually reviewed by a customer service representative, and we may ask you for additional information before activating your account.

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My order wasn't setup immediately. What should I do?

If your order wasn't setup within 5-10 minutes, it has likely been flagged for further review and verification by a customer service representative.

You do not need to take any further action. Our staff continuously checks the order queue for orders requiring verification and will contact you via email or phone if additional information is required to process your order.

Orders are only manually reviewed during business hours Monday through Friday. If your order is placed outside of business hours and requires manual verification, it will be performed at the start of the next business day. We appreciate your patience in this situation.

If for some reason you have not heard from our customer service department after a full business day, please let us know.

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I'm confused or having trouble with the ordering process. Who should I contact for assistance?

If you're having trouble ordering, our sales team will be happy to help!

You can contact our sales department at sales@site5.com or use the "Live Sales Chat" link at the very top of the Site5.com website to chat with a friendly Site5 sales representative.

We're glad you decided to join the growing Site5 community, and we look forward to providing you with outstanding web hosting service!

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Can I register a new domain name at the same time I place my order?

Not yet. Currently our order form does not handle domain name registrations. If you are signing up for service with a new domain name and would like to register it through Site5, here's what to do:

1) Place your order for a hosting account using the domain name. It does not need to be registered before you place your order.



2) After you receive your new account information, login to Backstage and click the "Domains" tab.



3) From here, you will be able to register your new domain name.

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Do I need to have a domain name picked out and registered before I submit my order?

Picked out: Yes


Registered: No

When you place an order, the order form will ask you to enter a domain name for your new account. Our web servers will be configured to work with this domain name when your account is provisioned. If you would like to change the primary domain name on your account, you can do so by sending a request to our customer service department.

You do not, however, need to have this domain name registered before you place an order. If you do not yet own the domain name, you should make sure to verify that the domain name is actually available and not already in use. You can do so at our domain name lookup page.

You can register your domain name with Site5 (by using the "Domains" tab in Backstage) or through another registrar of your choice at any time.

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Answers: Billing and Payments

If I'm not satisfied, will you give me a full refund?

Absolutely!

We like happy customers. If for some reason you're not satisfied with our service, let us know. We would love the chance to work with you to resolve any problems you experience, however if you'd rather just part ways, we will give your money back with no hassle.

If you cancel within 60 days of signing up, we will provide you with a full refund, otherwise we will issue a pro-rated refund for unused services.

Please see our guarantees page for detailed terms and conditions on our 60 day money back guarantee.

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Do you accept PayPal?

Yes. This option will be available to you upon sign up.

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Can I pay by check or money order?

OnTarget only accepts payment via credit card or PayPal at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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What credit cards do you accept?

We currently accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

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How much will I be billed upon signup?

Upon signup, you will be charged for your first contract period. For example, if you sign up for a twelve month plan, you will be charged the 1 year rate for that plan.

Our order form will calculate the amount of your first invoice before you submit your order, so that you can make sure you know exactly what you will be charged.

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Answers: Policies, Usage and Terms of Service

Do you offer Reseller services?

At this time, we do not offer Reseller services.

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What is your Resource Usage Policy? If my site gets busy, will it be suspended?

In shared web hosting, the ability to use your account is limited not just by your space and bandwidth, but also by how much of your server's resources (processor and RAM) you may be able to use at a given time. Since you are sharing a server with many other clients, each must operate their site within certain limits to ensure that all accounts perform as well as expected.

We also completely understand, however, that webmasters are often unaware of intances where their site is using too many resources, and that such usage is not done maliciously. Our Level 3 staff is partially dedicated to handling resource usage issues and working with clients to resolve them.

For a more detailed explanation of our usage policies, please see the following Terms of Service

Will you send me spam? Do you have a privacy policy?

No. We spend countless hours combating spam. It doesn't make much sense for us to turn around and send unsolicited mail ourselves.

Our privacy policy can be found here.

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