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Author Topic: Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?  (Read 9792 times)

mg73

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Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?
« on: August 23, 2013, 10:29:55 am »

I'm looking for a reasonably professional looking website at reasonable cost.  I've been using Zenfolio for years, but it just doesn't give me that professional look I have in mind.  Note that this is more of an advanced hobby for me at this time, not my full time job, but I have made money at it.  I don't currently make any money selling directly off the site.  At this time I'm just looking for a showcase type website for clients to give them a general view of the quality of my work.  All my sales come from direct personal contact and local viewings of my work.  So at this time I just want a website that looks professional.   I've done some research in this forum and LiveBooks has come up consistently.  APhotofolio also comes up.  The pricing for the LiveBooks predesigned templates is pretty much where I'm confortable at this time.  I can have a nice, professional looking flash site for about $20 a month with no upfront fee.  I did the free trial and general like what I see.  I'm also impressed by APhotofolio but the $1,000 initial fee plus the monthly fee just isn't cost effective for me at this time given that LiveBooks gives me what I need at this time for a much lower price.
1.  Are there any major issues with LiveBooks predesigned Flash templates I should be aware of?
2.  I understand the company was recently sold.  Anyone been experiencing any technical or support problems due to the sale?
Thanks,
Mark

« Last Edit: August 23, 2013, 10:32:06 am by mg73 »
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Ellis Vener

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Re: Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2013, 11:24:33 am »

1) none that I have run into.

2) Not yet.

I have have had a livebooks site up since 2009. It has more than paid for itself multiple times over every year.
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tcphoto

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Re: Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2013, 12:54:51 pm »

I have been on Livebooks for a year or so and nothing but positive things to say about them. The templates have been the standard in the Industry for a decade and for $39 a month, I cannot complain. I did not care for the Zenfolio templates or Rob's pricing on APhotofolio, so Livebooks was my best option.
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David Eichler

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Re: Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2013, 11:37:46 pm »

I'm looking for a reasonably professional looking website at reasonable cost.  I've been using Zenfolio for years, but it just doesn't give me that professional look I have in mind.  Note that this is more of an advanced hobby for me at this time, not my full time job, but I have made money at it.  I don't currently make any money selling directly off the site.  At this time I'm just looking for a showcase type website for clients to give them a general view of the quality of my work.  All my sales come from direct personal contact and local viewings of my work.  So at this time I just want a website that looks professional.   I've done some research in this forum and LiveBooks has come up consistently.  APhotofolio also comes up.  The pricing for the LiveBooks predesigned templates is pretty much where I'm confortable at this time.  I can have a nice, professional looking flash site for about $20 a month with no upfront fee.  I did the free trial and general like what I see.  I'm also impressed by APhotofolio but the $1,000 initial fee plus the monthly fee just isn't cost effective for me at this time given that LiveBooks gives me what I need at this time for a much lower price.
1.  Are there any major issues with LiveBooks predesigned Flash templates I should be aware of?
2.  I understand the company was recently sold.  Anyone been experiencing any technical or support problems due to the sale?
Thanks,
Mark



I have had a Livebooks website for a couple of years. Their backend is very good. Whenever I have needed customer service they have been pretty responsive. However, in recent months there have been reports of a lot of complaints about Livebooks cutting back on staff and not being responsive. The templates are nice if you like the style, which I do. However, Flash is not a color managed application, or at least no one seems to use color management with the application, so colors and contrast are not displayed accurately. The new owner claims it will resolve any problems with customer service and plans to switch from Flash to HTML5. I have not needed customer service recently, so I have no personal experience of any problems. However, I am tired of Flash and can't wait for them to switch over, so I will be using another type of website soon.


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SecondFocus

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Re: Are we liking LiveBooks these days for webhosting?
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2013, 09:21:40 pm »

I am one of the very first liveBooks customers, certainly in the first five. Over the years it has been a certainty of 100% operational. And nothing has changed under the new ownership. I personally had a long conversation with the new CEO and all seems good.

Now there was a month or so of poor customer service during the changeover from the original owners cost cutting and reducing staffing and I think everyone over there was regretting it for sure. However the new ownership has gone back and made an effort to rehire every person possible and working hard to move everything into the future.
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Ian L. Sitren
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