Frequently Asked Questions

Can I modify the software myself?
MonsterDB desktop interface is created with Filemaker Pro including custom file management plugins. It runs smoothly on both PC & Mac in "Adaptable" version using Filemaker application, or "Runtime" version. The website admin interface and web browser front end are written and well documented in PHP4 for versatility.

Adaptable vs Runtime version?
Most MonsterDB desktop modules are available in your choice of "Adaptable" or "Runtime" version. Use "Runtime" version to download freestanding version that does NOT require Filemaker Pro. Use "Adaptable" version if you own Filemaker Pro version 7 or higher to download open, unlocked Filemaker Pro templates which you can modify on your own or with any Filemaker developer. All web software is licensed for a single website, you can modify PHP code to your own needs.

Is any other software required?
MonsterDB is configured for you when you purchase it and can manage your image workflow without other software, but:

Filemaker Pro version 7 or higher is required to use "Adaptable" versions that you can modify yourself for your own use. Use "Runtime" versions to use without Filemaker Pro and install like standard software.

Photoshop is required to use the Photoshop Actions that accompany modules that actually modify images.

Was this created by a photographer or software developer?
Good question! I have been a professional photographer for over 20 years and while my passion for creating images is still strong, like many and maybe like you, Adonica and I were flooded by initial waves of the digital revolution. With 60,000 fresh RAW and JPEG images to edit down to stock inventory, combined with the new need to keyword like crazy, we were up the creek without a database, so to speak.

Being a hobby programmer since the days of TRS-80's, I decided to make this "easy". What seemed a long but achievable quest to get images offloaded, edited, keyworded, uploaded and maybe even sold & paid for. The path was much longer than it appeared and we have tried to smooth the way for you and others to follow.

We use software development skills and photography business management experience equally to fulfill YOUR needs!

Web Hosting Questions
We have tried to answer most of the pre-sales questions posted at Web Hosting Reviews.

Can MonsterDB host my site reliably?
The most honest answer we can give you is that no effort nor expense has been spared to provide you with the best hardware, server environment and support possible. There are 2 support staff in Western Canada and an experienced technician watching your site 24/7 in New Jersey. We are hosted on the best server available with another "cold" server at the ready.

I have seen much cheaper web hosts, why host my website with MonsterDB?
In web hosting you often get what you pay for. Many of these hosts cram your site on a midgrade server with 200+ other websites, with 1 technician for every 200 servers. If you complain? Oh well, they can get more clients to replace you, right? Yikes!

We provide the business, hardware & support structure to assure that your site is running rock solid year round, yet you can still host your site here from $10/month or $100/year. Here's some benefits direct to you!

Your site is hosted in a New Jersey data center away from heavy natural disaster areas.
Your site is monitored by a local technician 24/7, our tech personally monitors a handful of servers.
Your site is monitored constantly from our office in Western Canada.
Your site is served from a gigantic mainframe working within it's capacity.
You can phone toll free 7AM - 9PM PST every day and talk to Darren or Adonica, the company owners. Try us! 1-866-333-9378

How long have you been in business?
Darren has been a commercial photographer for over 2 decades entering the commercial & stock photography in 1983.

In 1998 Western-Media.com began hosting approx 80 clients, while photography took a back seat. In 2002 Western-Media.com was bought out by HostingDirect.com, a reliable company larger than Western-Media while still small enough to provide personal support and hardware monitoring to our clients.

In 2004 HostingDirect acquired 3 new hands on owners and their tech support and reliability was fine tuned even to even higher standards. Their parent company SolidLoad was formed and our power consumption was converted to certified Green-e power from mid-Atlantic wind turbines.

Adonica O'Shanna has joined us in 2002 and we progressed from a sole proprietorship to a partnership to serve you even better.

In early 2006 after being on the same reliable server for over 2 years, we upgraded to our own managed hosting system on a UNIX mainframe server. We run our own Linux operating system on a giant server with low server load.

Still a client of SolidLoad we now offer multi-tiered support at a very personal level. Adonica, Darren and our own MonsterDB software monitor the servers and we are available to assist you personally, over 100 hours per week. Our service provider SolidLoad maintains and monitors the servers and hardware 24/7. You get a level of personal support that's second to none!

How many employees does MonsterDB have?
Darren & Adonica work tirelessly to fulfill your needs over 100 hours / week. All of our support is offered in-house, speak directly to the company owner and make yourself heard. All of our programming & development is performed in-house. Some of our site design work is outsourced/subcontracted to other contractors worldwide including Russia. We have beta testers worldwide to improve our software applications. So the short answer is 2, plus talented people that we work with worldwide.

What hours is support available?
Our server is monitored 24/7 by SolidLoad for immediate hands on hardware issues. You can call toll-free 1-866-333-9378 for personal support EVERY DAY from 7AM - 9PM PST (GMT-8). These are our published service hours, though Darren doesn't sleep much and email/chat based help is often available at 4AM. Emergency support is available 24/7/365.

How long does MonsterDB sales or tech support take to respond?
You can access IMMEDIATE support by using our live help system or phone toll-free 1-866-333-9378 and talk to an owner of the company from 7AM-9PM. Outside of these hours emergency response is immediate, sales and general tech support will be responded to before noon the following day, or simply phone us for quick support at 7AM!

Methods of contacting support?
Toll-free phone, MSN Instant Messenger, Skype, Live help chat or even email.

Is support free?
Our support is both free and unlimited!

Reseller account?
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Server hardware?
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Server software?
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How many sites on a server?
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What's the maximum amount of CPU usage I'm allowed to use on a consistent basis? What's your general "resources abuse" policy? How are the offending websites treated?
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What's your servers' average load? What's the average load of the server where you'll have my website hosted? How about average CPU usage?
make sure you understand what "Server Load" is

How fast will my account be created?
For your security, your account will reviewed before it is opened. This is to prevent potential hackers and spammers from using our system, and being your neighbors.

Is my account scaleable?
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Pricing for additional bandwidth?
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Pricing for additional storage space?
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Bandwidth limits?
Daily? Monthly?

How is my site backed up?
Daily? Monthly?

Setup fees?
No setup fees!

How many months do I have to pay up front for?
Just one, though yearly packages offer you great discounts.

Is domain included?
No, but we can register your domain for you in YOUR name for just $15/year.

Free trial?
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Adult content?
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Can I use my current scripts?
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SSH / Telnet?
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Site builder included?
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Limit on emails sent per hour?
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Access to raw server logs?
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Access to site traffic analyzer?
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What payment methods do you accept?
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Where's your TOS, AUP, SLA...?
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How many clients, how many sites?
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how many servers?
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Why don't you offer unlimited bandwidth?
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Why don't you offer gigabytes of hard drive space for cheap?
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Overselling?
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Spam?
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Changing hosts?
Moving databases, not losing emails, modifying name servers

Registering my domain?
Our registrar is Enom.com

Downtime?
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Business plan?
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Staff knowledge & experience?
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Basic support?
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Do you offer reseller accounts?
We are a niche hosting service providing 1 to 1 support to our clients, so we do not offer reseller accounts. We do provide great value if you wish to host multiple domains. We offer a month free hosting for referring a friend, see below.

Refer a friend?
Like our service? Refer another website to us and receive a free month of hosting added to your own account. Your account will be credited once referred site has been wit us for 3 months.

Who maintains our server?
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Who is our service provider?
You can access IMMEDIATE support by using our live help system or phone toll-free 1-866-333-9378 and talk to an owner of the company from 7AM-9PM. Outside of these hours emergency response is immediate, sales and general tech support will be responded to before noon the following day, or simply phone us for quick support at 7AM!

Money back guarantee?
You can access IMMEDIATE support by using our live help system or phone toll-free 1-866-333-9378 and talk to an owner of the company from 7AM-9PM. Outside of these hours emergency response is immediate, sales and general tech support will be responded to before noon the following day, or simply phone us for quick support at 7AM!

Uptime guarantee?
1 server

Control Panel?
You can access IMMEDIATE support by using our live help system or phone toll-free 1-866-333-9378 and talk to an owner of the company from 7AM-9PM. Outside of these hours emergency response is immediate, sales and general tech support will be responded to before noon the following day, or simply phone us for quick support at 7AM!

Click to ask a question
Send us an email to questions@MonsterDB.com
You will receive a personal response within 1 business day maximum, usually within an hour.

Call for personal support every day 7AM-9PM PST toll free 1-866-333-9378.