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Email: support@westlinks.com
February 1, 2018, New York / San Juan -- Wow, that month flew by fast! So much has happened in life and on the Westlinks Online platform. Read on to see what's going on here at Westlinks Online.
I am on a deployment to San Juan Puerto Rico to help in the Hurricane Maria recovery effort here. This is expected to last for several months. Although my time to devote to Westlinks is significantly reduced, we are still very much in business and the site is in good hands with a tight team. it came as no surprise that I would get this deployment and so in anticipation of it, several key development projects were built and put into place before I left. We have Olive Quizon keeping a close eye on customer activities and I work with Talgat Baltassov, our senior developer, daily to continue polishing up existing features as well as implement new ones.
So although some of the chemistry shifted a little, rest assured that we are here, we are serious about success and open for business.
-Gerion
So let's move on with the newsletter!
Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter. This is the fourth edition and we are excited to have you on board!
These items were finished in January
In this crazy world we live in these days, security is key. Whether it is your home, your vehicle, your finances, or travel (to name a few), we must be on-guard from attacks and vulnerabilities from all sides at all times. Sometimes it is hard to know the motives of these intruders, but regardless, they are out there, just looking for a way in. This month we have added two security features to help you protect your online assets.
2FA is now available on Westlinks Online. If you are not familiar with it, here is a brief explanation.
Normal web logins include a username and a password. Get them right and you gain access to the site. If your credentials somehow get into the wrong hands, then those hands can log into your account without your awareness. There are even hacking tools that criminals can use to robotically figure out your password.
With 2FA you gain a 2nd level of verification to prove that it is actually you logging in. This is done by sending a code to your mobile device in the form of SMS or to MFA devices. We have used the Authy API which allows you to use the cool Authy app on your smartphone which cleanly interfaces with the login. Give it a try and we think you won't go back. Anything else is like leaving your door unlocked.
For those customers who want to access their servers via the command line or SFTP clients, we now provide a place to insert your public SSH key during server creation and on your account in your dashboard. Using this we build your server and pre-load the SSH key to the server allowing you to log in using the passwordless login method. We block username/password login which eliminates a common vulnerability on VPS accounts.
This is a fun one. We try really hard to engage with you, our customers. We provide notifications for various events so you are aware of your assets. Previously email was the only way to receive these notifications. But email is not always the most effective communication channel. Most people don't stay glued to our email clients all day and night waiting for notification messages.
So what about SMS text messages? It is a known fact that most people react to incoming SMS messages within just a minute or two of receipt.
We have added a section in your Settings where you can choose to have your notifications sent by SMS or email. You can switch back and forth at any time. You are in control. As we expand services we will continue to make further notifications available.
We have now exceeded 150 followers on Instagram. This growth is exciting and continues to astound me. Other platforms like Twitter, G+ and Facebook are growing as well (but a bit slower). Olive has also written a new blog article on the ease of WordPress installation.
Read it here:
https://blog.westlinks.com/
We will continue to perfect existing features on the site with bug fixes and general cleanup. Other features are not ready to be announced at this time. Stay tuned. March is just around the corner!
Do you have any suggestions or ideas of how you would like this to work? We welcome your thoughts and suggestions. Send them to suggestions@westlinks.com. Thanks!
January 1, 2018, New York -- Happy New Year! 2018 is here and we are very excited to share with you what's going on here at Westlinks Online.
Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter. This is the fourth edition and we are excited to have you on board!
December was HUGE! There were major changes made to our platform. Here's the rundown...
After a middle-of-the night epiphany, it became clear that we needed a complete make-over in how we deliver our server orders. Rather than going through the shopping cart and paying a flat monthly charge, you can now order a server on the fly, operate it for any length of time you wish and then only pay for the time you used it. Need a server for a week? Not a problem. You only have to pay for that week, not the whole month.
The daily usage charge makes a lot more sense and conforms with how most cloud hosting is operated. Some providers charge by the hour. We don't consider that necessary for our business model at this time.
If you keep your server for a full month (as most website customers do), pricing converts to the monthly fee and never exceeds the monthly list price. This keeps it predictable and convenient.
Finally, all server usage is billed on the first of every month for every customer. Other charges such as domain names, software installation and consulting are paid for at the time of the purchase.
Enom the domain name registrar service we use to provide in-app domain name registration directly to our customers (you) has been fully integrated.
You can now do these activities:
These features are available on request but not integrated into the platform:
Olive has been doing a phenomenal job on social media. Instagram is popping with now over 100 followers and growing quickly. She has established our Facebook page, posts to Twitter and is working on G+ and Pinterest as well. This activity helps to establish name recognition and eventually customer attraction. It's very exciting to see it come to life.
The latest project we're working on and nearly have complete is the ability to control how you would prefer notifications to arrive. Email is the default but it will soon be possible to choose SMS text messages and Facebook Messenger as well. SMS is in testing now and should be released in the next few days.
We now retain all notifications on the website so you can visit your profile and see what has been sent out to you there. Some messages are too long for the 160 character limitation of SMS so we provide a link in the text message to the full message in your profile.
We invite you to log in and investigate this new section and look forward to your feedback!
Do you have any suggestions or ideas of how you would like this to work? We welcome your thoughts and suggestions. Send them to suggestions@westlinks.com. Thanks!
Toll free +1 855-712-1800
NYC area +1 929-325-1800
Email: support@westlinks.com