Breakfast Topic: Guild hosting
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 12th 2008 at 8:00AM
Liss on LJ wants to know, as do we: What is the best place to host a guild website? She's had good experiences with Guildomatic, while apparently lots of people like using Guild Launch instead. Most of the guilds I've been a part of have almost all used GuildPortal, but there are tons of sites out there, and even many more not linked here. What kind of experiences have you had at various guild hosting sites?And what exactly do you expect from them? It seems that pretty standard features on most guild sites have to include a blog of some kind (to track your guild's kills), a message board for both talking to the public and planning private raids, some time of roster software (powered by the Armory or otherwise), and a DKP tracker of some kind. Of course, even if you don't go with a hosting service, there are also lots of different apps that will let you do all of this on your own, as long as you're HTML and maybe even PHP ready.
I'll tell you one thing I'd like to see in guild hosting sites that I haven't yet: a design that's actually easy on the eyes. I'm really proud you downed Vashj, guys, but next time, try raiding some web design fundamentals.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Breakfast Topics, Forums, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Maliyah Jun 12th 2008 8:18AM
I used DKPSystem.com--which was flexible enough to allow our guild to design a site with our own template. I absolutely cannot stand sites that look like it was an explosion of color, or so messy that you can't find 1 link. We went for "easy on the eyes" color, and a sensible layout with limited clutter. Got a lot of complements for the site when it was up.
Sonmerlong Jun 12th 2008 9:48AM
We use DKPSystem.com as well
http://carpediemguild.dkpsystem.com/
I like the service due to several factors.
For the less skilled at web design there is the ability to chose from a large range of pre-made templates which you just drop in using an admin feature.
The customer service has been GREAT, every time i broke something he (one guy owns and operates it) has fixed it for me.
You can customize the look and layout of your page HEAVILY.
Built in forum is nice if not the absolute best, but people can sub in or customize it to solve that.
AND it comes with custome made dkp tracking mod that works WONDERS.
Allows me to track who was online for what kill.
Who was on the sit list for what kill.
Who stayed from start to finish.
Anything really.
Then it ties into a database specific to your guild that allows you to FURTHER track any statistic you can think of pertaining to raiding.
Sit %
Attendance %
Late %
Early drop %
Repaired to full at start %
Just anything, though it doesnt default to track all that.
You can basically make it as robust or slim as you like.
I think we payed a bit over $100 for 18 months, and we just renew it whenever the time runs out.
Good stuff.
nosedive51 Jun 12th 2008 8:19AM
I have my guild setup on my personal server and I'm using WordPress to run it.
http://www.wayfarersresttavern.com/
ZUR13L Jun 12th 2008 8:22AM
Speaking of "web design fundamentals", that link is broken.
>.>
William Jun 12th 2008 8:34AM
Link worked for me. Site looks great.
Tara Jun 12th 2008 8:37AM
Oh, very nice, added to my favorites to steal when I need a new site ;-)
We also have our own designed and hosted site: http://www.chaos-inc.eu .
Rauten Jun 12th 2008 11:11AM
My guild is fortunate enough to have a professional web designer as one of our officers. He not only hosts, but also built our site for us, complete with roster, character management, news articles and both public and private forums.
You can visit us at [link]http://loki.tomesofazeroth.org[/link]
AK Jun 12th 2008 12:10PM
What is the template that you have? o.0 I know its prob modified but I love the way the links and stuff looks =)
nosedive51 Jun 12th 2008 12:20PM
AK: No template used.
Badger Jun 12th 2008 12:44PM
That page is really, really nice, Nosedive.
Hurode Jun 12th 2008 3:25PM
Wow, nosedive. That link have given me new faith in what a guild website is capable of looking like.
AK Jun 12th 2008 4:07PM
Seriously? Sheesh... that must have been pretty hard to do... xD I think Ill stick with the basic HTML stuff for now
Clint Jun 12th 2008 8:38AM
My guild switched from guild universe to wowstead (www.wowstead.com) and we love it. All the features we've wanted, including a little progression tracker. Nice alt/main and recipe tracking, too.
Buckshot Jun 12th 2008 8:38AM
Unless it's self hosted I am really turned off to it. (Props to nosedive51) Every large guild I have been I have ususally hosted the site, and we had members contribute the art/design.
Razhlok Jun 12th 2008 8:42AM
We use Lunar Pages (http://www.lunarpages.com) for hosting with a SMF 1.1.4 front end. Its nothing fancy, but, it provides a nice clean interface and enough customization so we can add things like a navigation pane of important links like the guild's WWS page. Check it out:
http://whj-guild.org
Like I said, nothing fancy, but, I feel its clean and gets the job done with not a lot of work involved by the officers to maintain.
Krick Jun 12th 2008 10:27AM
I'm a long time lunarpages user too. I'm not hosting a guild site, but I'm hosting my paladin tank site...
http://www.tankadin.com/
I use Joomla for the main site, with SMF for the forums.
Joomla rocks.
...
Krick
webdesign Jun 12th 2008 12:49PM
Tankadin! One of my favorite sites as a prot. tankadin :)
I'm hosting my own as well for a sub-guild (RP-PvP Team) that just starting out. After having seen the prefab sites, I never found one that did everything I wanted with the flexibility I was after. We're an RP guild made for Battlegrounds when our mains have us a bit burned out questing/raiding/etc. A Warhammer 40K theme set in WoW.
http://www.orderofthebloodyrose.com
As to software *inhale* The CMS is ModxCMS w/ SMF for the forum integration (its there, just no content yet.). The framework is GoogleLab's "BluePrint" css. It makes designing SO Much easier. Also using liberal amounts of good old PHP/GD Library for fancy headers and such.
As to hosting, I can't express how much I love my hosting provider - just199.com - Its literally $1.99/mo. for a 1GB of space, plenty of emails (Real Email, as in Pop & iMap as well as Webmail), MySQL allowances, and, for the IT inclined, offers excellent security. Also, the owners are WoW players, so they understand what's involved in trying to bring a guild site online with minimal hassles.
Many sites use PHPBB, and I was one but after multiple exploits, I've switched to SMF.
Razhlok Jun 13th 2008 10:07PM
Tankadin is an favorite of our Paladin tank! And Paladin tanks are a favorite of mine. They make Hyjal trash so much enjoyable. I'll have to check out Joomla.
Bumwaller Jun 12th 2008 8:53AM
We use Wowstead.com and I really like it. They allow modification of the style sheets, a number of nice applets and the ability to add in your own code. It is integrated with WoWjutsu and the Armory. oh yeah - and it's free. http://limited-warranty.wowstead.com
hoss Jun 12th 2008 9:56AM
That's Funny, Just last night I signed up for guildlaunch. So far so good. Though I although have a domain for our guild but work is far too busy to develop it.