Benefits of PAYH/Plesk over Plusnet standard web server

[#1]

I've been using the Plesk webserver for a few months now with no problems. The reason I switched from standard server was because the .php email form my web site design s/w creates, would not work on the standard server (or at least neither I nor PlusNet could get it to work). I was then told about Plesk, signed up for it, moved all my website files and domains across - and the .php forms work perfectly. However, I now see that a monthly charge is being introduced for new accounts - and there is the problem with the low-ish data transfer limits. I'm not talking about a major website-based enterprise (we run a little campsite in west Wales and the website generates most our enquiries), so we have very limited needs. I could go back to the standard server but then I'd lose the .php email form functionality. I have introduced about seven new customers to PlusNet and a few of these have small websites and the same problem with the .php forms not working on the standard server. One has just asked to be signed up for Plesk and is now being told that it will cost $.49 per month.
So, my question is PlusNet likely to apply Plesk .php functionality to its standard web server (which is fine for 99% of my needs)? We could then revert to the standard server.
Also, will the 'early adopters' of the Plesk service start to be billed on the same basis as the new accounts signing up now?

[#2]

Hi
Customers on the trial accounts, will be able to remain on the offerings they are on at the moment and if on free accounts will continue to not have to pay for these services while they are a Plusnet customer.
New customers who want to use the PAYH (Plesk) service will have the PAYH packages available to them, that will also include the full email service. We will be introducing some lower priced products for Plusnet customers in the future, although there is no set time to when these will become available.
The PAYH prices can be seen on the link below:
http://payh.co.uk/price.php

[#3]

Thanks Kevin, but one of the user accounts I look after - a PlusNet customer for three or more years, has had a reply (from you) stating that to switch over to PAYH service is going to cost him a minimum of £4.59 per month. So when you say 'new customers' do you mean new to PlusNet, or existing PlusNet customers who want to switch to PAYH?

[#4]

Hi
Sorry, could have been clearer on that.
I mean any new requests that want to host their sites on Plesk.
Whilst we have been running the trial, we have been looking through the feedback, that has been passed to us and now we are able to use that feedback to continue to be able to carry on improving the service.
Hope that clears things up
Kevin

[#5]

Hmm?  Are you now saying that existing Plusnet customers who wish to migrate to PAYH because of the impending demise of the CCGI server can only do so if they pay a monthly fee?
can we get some clarification on what is happening with planned migration to PAYH:  Costs / Timescales / Services etc?
maurice

[#6]

Hi
Anyone that now wants a Plesk account, will need to go on to one of the PAYH products, with regards to what will happen to the CCGI platform, this has not been fully confirmed at this time and an announcement will be made when this decision has been made.
Prices for PAYH can be found on the link that I gave previously, we are looking at introducing 2 new products that will only be available to Plusnet customers and they will be made available once they have been fit in to the work stack.
Kevin

[#7]

Quote from: Kev

Hi Customers on the trial accounts, will be able to remain on the offerings they are on at the moment and if on free accounts will continue to not have to pay for these services while they are a Plusnet customer. New customers who want to use the PAYH (Plesk) service will have the PAYH packages available to them, that will also include the full email service. We will be introducing some lower priced products for Plusnet customers in the future, although there is no set time to when these will become available. The PAYH prices can be seen on the link below: http://payh.co.uk/price.php

Will 'early adopters' that have been taking part in the Plesk server trial have to pay for the basic service once it goes live?

[#8]

Hi
People who opted for the free accounts will be able to remain on these as long as they remain a Plusnet customer, but will be able to upgrade on to the paid for accounts if they wish.

[#9]

Thanks for clarifying this for me.

[#10]

As part of Mand's 25th February excellent summary of the product changes, she said
"Other changes recently made include:
- Making the current PAYH trial available to both new and existing customers"
Kev's reply in this thread says:
"Anyone that now wants a Plesk account, will need to go on to one of the PAYH products"
Do I misread this, or did I miss an announcement  sometime in the four weeks or so barring fresh applications for conversion to 'preview' PAYH accounts ?

[#11]

Kevin seems to be saying that as of 'now', whether you are an existing PlusNet account holder or a brand new customer, you will now have to pay a minimum of £4.59 per month in addition to your PlusNet subscription for PAYH web services. 

[#12]

I read Kev's post as applying only to those who have not yet changed their account to preview PAYH. I was questioning the disparity between that and Mand's post which implied that a 'recent' change (as at 25th February) had led to the opening of the preview trial to new as well as existing customers - the direct converse of Kev's statement. But then five weeks is a long time in IT! 
adie:quote

[#13]

Quote from: Kev

Hi People who opted for the free accounts will be able to remain on these as long as they remain a Plusnet customer, but will be able to upgrade on to the paid for accounts if they wish.

So some PN customers get Plesk for free if they signed up for the free service prior to now, and the rest of us will have to pay? This is grossly unfair. Had I known this was coming I would have signed up for the free service.
If this is indeed the case then PN are about to lose a customer.

[#14]

Hi
We offered Plesk to Plusnet customers as a trial with a view to moving on to Plesk completely.
The trial as now ended and as a thank you to the customers that took part in the trial, we are allowing them to keep the service for free so that there is a knowledge of the plesk platform in the community forums.
With the PAYH accounts, you get a full hosting service with the ability to control your emails through the Plesk platform as well.
We already have plans to introduce new packages that are only available for Plusnet customers and once we are in a position to offer these packages then we will make a further announcement.

[#15]

Could I echo Kev's point about the Plesk email service. For those who need the functionality, there is quite a lot in the 'full' Plesk service which was never in the normal PN email service (even with the add ons for e.g. list management) such as forwarding to multiple addresses, and store in mailbox and forward.  It also get away from the PN 'all your maiboxes / redirects in one big list per account' model which can be a nuisance for anyone who hosts several domains and uses common email addressee names (i.e. @hostname prefixes) such as 'info', 'chairman', 'queries' and the like; the Plesk model is by domain name and not by PN account.