ServeTheHome.com --- Forum name change?

Name change?

  • Yes, it makes sense to change the name.

    Votes: 5 11.6%
  • No, keep the formal ServeTheHome.com domain linkage

    Votes: 38 88.4%

  • Total voters
    43
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
I have recently been asked by a few members whether or not the site should be http://forums.servethehome.com or if I should change the site name to something else. The reason behind this is that a lot of the users on the site are creating servers that are of sizes and specifications no longer aligned to "home" use.

On one hand, I have been working on ServeTheHome.com for well over a year now, so there is some emotional attachment I have to the name, and the main blog's URL.

On the other hand, I can see that in terms of this forum "Home and Small Business Servers" is really going to turn into "Small and Medium Business Servers, some of which may be used in home environments." OK, that tag line is a bit too long, but I think it gets the point across.

What the change would mean to you:
1. A new logo would be placed at the top of the forum.
2. A new domain name would be used.
3. Odds are there would be a few hours of downtime late one weekend night or early one weekend morning.
4. http://forums.servethehome.com would remain a valid URL for accessing all of the content here as I would either mirror the domain or just redirect it to the new domain.
5. Any e-mails that you request to be sent from the forums will be sent from the new address.

Since the forums are still relatively new, and I know people have been putting time into posting here, I did want to get everyone's feedback.

Thank you for your time,
Patrick
 

john4200

New Member
Jan 1, 2011
152
0
0
I think servethehome.com is a catchy name. Unless you can come up with a new catchy name (that is not already registered), I vote for sticking with the current name.
 

Kyoko

New Member
Jan 4, 2011
9
0
0
I agree with John. Server the home is a great name. It says... what everything it should.Most of the things here arn't the most extreme high end home servers. It's home server (and home servers for us with a huge inner geek)

I vote: Keep it as it is !
 

OBasel

Active Member
Dec 28, 2010
494
62
28
do you have the domain yet?

mind sharing?

seeing before voting is a good idea.
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
OK when I get home I will look into some other domains I have parked.
 

OBasel

Active Member
Dec 28, 2010
494
62
28
have anything that starts with an a,b,c,d,e?

starting higher in directory listings == good
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
I have AServerSite.com or AStorageSite.com so http://forums.AServerSite.com or http://forums.AStorageSite.com

Only bad thing is I like using STH as an abbreviation... and AServerSite or AStorageSite do not abbreviate as well :) I really like those names though and was thinking of using them for another project but I could see using one here. Would mean that I could make a broader main site also (keeping STH alive).
 

OBasel

Active Member
Dec 28, 2010
494
62
28
server == more broad which could be better
storage == more focused which could be better

both == no longer a "home" focus

what to do with the main site tho?
 

Jeggs101

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2010
1,529
241
63
AStorageSite.com is good. sell the other IMNSHO or go big with subdomain NOTJUST.astoragesite.com
 

odditory

Moderator
Dec 23, 2010
381
59
28
in what? name change? maybe because there's relatively no one on the board yet. i could have predicted that doing this by committee would get exactly nowhere.

1. there's an art to domain naming for sure. since every english word has been registered, along with most two-word combinations, in order to get a domain name in the magic 6-13 character zone the only thing left is to tweak real words, like cut a word in half and join it together with half of another word i.e. "verizon" or "engadget". or modify a two-word combination slightly. and then you still want it to embody your vision which is the second challenge. in my case i chose "mondostor" as a domain for a blog to reflect "big storage". not great, but works until I choose to get more serious and figure out something better.

2. anything suffix other than .com = crap. nobody cares + confusion

3. i think abstract > literal because then it can't ever be outdated. mediasmartserver.net a prime example of what not to do: name is long and wordy, its a .net and most significantly WHS and HP media smart server are both dead. of course he couldn't have predicted the deaths of those products but he's pigeonholed himself with that narrowed naming.

4. breasts on the homepage. always.
 
Last edited:

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
12,511
5,792
113
Yea, the AServerSite and AStorageSite are pretty darn generic for servers and storage. Then again, I also see a lot of value (value being in something I personally like versus ever being profitable especially given the current zero ad nature of the site) in keeping this focused on smaller installations.
 

odditory

Moderator
Dec 23, 2010
381
59
28
Having a particular focus doesn't preclude having a shorter name that may be slightly abstract as well as catchy. let's take two words to reflect what we're trying to do here based on the people you're trying to get into one place - how about "storage" and "experts". not to pronounce ourselves storage experts, but "fake it till you make it" baby. besides, real "storage experts" as in engineers at big companies aren't on forums spoonfeeding noobs free info. and who knows maybe we attract some real ones.
 
Last edited:

fblittle

New Member
Apr 5, 2011
19
0
1
Gridley, CA (near Sacramento)
If you want to appeal to a wider audience did you try to add the domain ServeTheOffice.com as well. I like you r url ServeTheHome.com but by forewarding additional url to the site you can accomplish the same thing.