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[webmaster]

I received the following questions from a potential client and felt others might benefit from reviewing it. NOTE: The questions/answers have been edited.
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I would like to obtain information regarding the web hosting service mentioned in the article in the November issue of the International Musician.

I am a member of Local *** in ****** and have been discussing a website with the Local's Secretary, who is interested in this project.

If you don't mind me asking, can you please tell me:

1.) Does the price include Domain Name Registration? If not, how much extra does it cost and would GoPro handle this, or should I do it with one of the registrars, such as ****** or ******.com?

If you intend to build your own site, ( Not purchase the AFM Quartet Software Suite - details at: http://www.goprohosting.com/afm_quartet.html ) the Domain Name Registration is in addition ($11.95 per year) to your chosen hosting package. Solo = $19.00 per year, Duo = $29.00 per year, Trio = $89.00 per year, Quartet = $149.00 per year.

2.) Can we upgrade from the "Single" plan to the "Duo" or "Trio" without additional fees beyond the difference in plans if we decide we need more disk space once we get into it?

YES. You simply pay the cost difference of the plans.

3.) Does an officer of the Local need to contact you to initialize this and give it final approval?

Someone authorized by the Local simply surfs to http://www.goprohosting.com and purchases the required Domain and hosting package. We accept all credit cards (via PayPal - You do NOT require a PayPal account) and checks/money orders.

4.) Can we pay for one year at a time, or is a multi-year deal required?

You will be charged for one year. We invoice annually only to keep administrative and processing charges as low as possible.

5.) Are there any restrictions/recommendations as far as software packages for site design? I use with Dreamweaver MX2004. Would this be alright?

Although we fully support Microsoft FrontPage extensions, we DO NOT recommend its use. Dreamweaver MX2004 is certainly fully compatible and much preferred to many other possible choices.

6.) Are there any other hidden fees we should be aware of? For example, is there an additional fee for database connectivity?

There are NO HIDDEN FEES. An unlimited number of MySQL databases may be used without any additional charge.

7.) Regarding database connectivity, who would maintain the database of players? For example if we wanted to provide users who are seeking musicians with a search capability, would we be able to access a national database, or would we need to maintain one for just our Local?

If your choose to purchase the AFM Quartet Software Suite, it includes (among many other features) a fully functional on-line Booking Referral module customized for the Local. The data appearing in the page is "served" via a MySQL database maintained by the AFM. (GoProMusic.com) Should you decide to build your own site, you may do as you wish (as you are paying for the hosting package) but you will not be granted access (connectivity) to any of the AFM's databases.

8.) Do you submit our domain name to the search engines?

NO. We believe the usefulness of directly "submitting" the info to the search engines is very much over rated. A well designed website will be visited by the search engine's "spiders" on a regular basis and your listing will automatically be placed in their directories. Having said that; the Domain owner is certainly encouraged to tweak/optimize the site so that it's placement in search engines will be as high as possible.

9.) Are you currently hosting any sites for bands or Locals that you can refer me to?

YES. Please keep in mind that we launched Nov.1/07. As such, we are just getting started with this new AFM member/Local benefit. Our most recent additions have been purchases of the AFM Quartet Software Suite. Smaller Locals have really taken a liking to it. Here's four very recent examples: http://www.afmpensacola.org/ , http://www.afm300.org/ , http://www.santabarbaramusicians.com/ , http://www.huntsvillemusicians.org/ . Several members have purchased Domain names and hosting packages and are currently working on building their sites.
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