Netuxo Community Newsletter - Summer 2017

Summer greetings to one and all!

What a year ... and we are only a bit past the half way mark! We've got a lot to tell you about, including new websites, new services and some news from the network. But first we want to let you know about the changes we are about to make to our email hosting services...

Andreas, Carmen, Ippy and everyone at Netuxo

New and improved Netuxo email system

We have taken on a new mailserver and - over recent weeks - have been preparing the ground, ready for us to start using it. Migration of all mailboxes and emails is planned for this weekend. Whilst you should not need to make any changes to how you access your mailboxes, read on as, we will give you some additional info and tips about the new and improved services we are rolling out:

Mobile friendly webmail

You might already have noticed, but our webmail at https://webmail.netuxo.co.uk is now mobile friendly, allowing you to easily check your emails on the go, and reply to that important email. Whilst for heavy use on your mobile we would recommend using an open source client such as K9-Mail (for Android), for occasional use the mobile webmail client is perfect, as it won’t disturb you with notifications about incoming emails… You have access when you want to, but you are in charge.

Spamfilter and more account customization via your webmail

Perhaps more important for many of our clients is that you are now able to manage many aspects of the spamfilter for your email address via your webmail, logging in with your usual email credentials.

Go to Settings (in the top right) → Account (left settings column), and you are able to access a range of options (under Section – second column):

General: This is just an overview or your account, the email address, server, and linked email addresses (aliases)
Password: allows you to change your email password. Note that if you change it here and also access your email via Thunderbird or any other email client, you will also need to adjust the password there.
Fetchmail: want to get emails from another account? Here you can configure for Roundcube to fetch emails from any other imap or pop3 enabled account.
Forwarding: want to forward your email? You can add forwarders here.
Autoreply: Set and schedule your autoresponder. No need to do it just when you are leaving – you can schedule start and end date (so no need to remember to switch it off when you’re back)
Mail Filter: allows you to configure server side mail filter rules.
Black/White List: Need to blacklist a persistent spammer who for some reason manages to bypass the spam filter? You can so this here, as well as you can whitelist someone who gets blocked for some mysterious reason (or, most likely, because of bad sender reputation).
Junk: Here you can choose one of several pre-defined spamfilter policies. We will try to optimize these policies as we get more email (and spam) traffic passing through this server. As a general rule, email with a score higher than “Kill Level” should be quarantined, but we are still testing this feature and may make further announcements about the quarantining feature in future.

Thunderbird labels

For those of you who use the popular Thunderbird email client, we have enabled Thunderbird-style labels also in our webmail. So if you mark something as important in Thunderbird, it will also show as important in your webmail.

We hope you will enjoy these new email and webmail features.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about using your mail service

Drupal 8 website launches

Over the past 12 months we have been working with our friends at War Resister's International to migrate their content and function-rich Drupal 6 site (built by Netuxo in 2011-12) to Drupal 8. This multilingual site provides a publication-to-newsletter system for a number of different publications in a range languages, along with what we believe to be the most comprehensive database of conscientious objectors that exists on the web.

In parallel with the migration of the "main" WRI website, we have also been engaged in the development of a project-specific site called Empowering Nonviolence - which gathers together and offers "campaigning resources and nonviolence training to grassroots activists around the world". Another multilingual site, encouraging users to contribute their own stories of taking nonviolent action.

These have been demanding and challenging projects which have stretched us (in a good way!)

If you would like to support the invaluable work of WRI, supporting war resisters worldwide, please make a donation today.

Along with these two projects we have also launched a few more this year...

Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

Much earlier in the year we completed work on a small project for CAAB - an organisation which "concentrates on the presence, role and functions of the US Visiting Forces and their Agencies", with the NSA spy base at Menwith Hill as a primary focus. The new site offers easy access to information about UK and overseas USAF/NSA bases and some of their spying operations, allowing news and events to be neatly grouped together and categorised, along with thematically arranged content and all the usual essential features you would expect, such as a newsletter sign-up, an archive, contact form and social media links.

NATO Watch

A fortnight ago we launched a new incarnation of the NATO Watch site - which works to "promote a more open, transparent and accountable North Atlantic Treaty Organisation". Netuxo built the original site more than five years ago, using Drupal 6. The recent work included migration to Drupal 8 and some re-categorisation of all the content plus a new off-the-peg theme and a much improved emailed newsletter system, similar though much narrower in scope to WRI's.

Solid Carpentry

Its not quite finished, but it will be next week! So lets take the opportunity to tell you about one of our lesser-spotted commercial clients. Again, a Drupal 6 to 8 migration with a new theme and a bit of a tidy-up along the way. Based in Hackney, the business owner is our friend and a former landlord, he is also and is an ace carpenter and general builder, and all round decent guy. So, if you are looking for a reliable and genuinely recommended carpenter in London, check out Solid Carpentry.

Repeat custom tells us we are getting something right - as do these independent reviews. Contact us today to discuss your project.

WordPress development

Whilst it is true that we focus heavily on Drupal development, in recent months we have been slowly expanding the volume of WordPress work we are taking on, including developing new sites, securing and developing new features for existing sites and providing ongoing user support and updates. This is partly a reflection of our current team's skills mix and recent customer requests, but we also know that we host a good number of WordPress sites and so are pleased to be able to offer additional services to our existing WP users as well as to the wider community.

SSL certificates

Over the past few months we have been slowly moving all our website and email hosting to another datacentre and provider, partly for systems harmonisation and improved hardware performance, but also due to our dissatisfaction with the quality of service. One of the benefits of this change is that for a small, one-off, installation fee of £17.50 ex VAT we can now offer all our website hosting clients a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt. Just contact us to request one.

Withdrawal of payment by cheque

From 31 March 2017 we no longer accept payment by cheques in the post. The following payment methods continue to be available:

By bank transfer
By using a credit or debit card
By Direct debit via GoCardless
By using a PayPal account
By paying in cash or cheque to our bank account via your own branch or direct from your own account (eg if you do not use online banking)

Direct Debit will be particularly helpful for annual hosting package and regular service contract payments. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a mandate.

Late payers - talk to us

if you have any problems settling your invoice within the 30-day period given, please talk to us - in the vast majority of cases we are happy to agree additional time to pay. However... if you do not pay and you also do not communicate with us within 60 days of the invoice date we will remove websites, release domains, and stop mail services. As we are sure you are aware, this still represents substantially more generous and accommodating terms than can be found elsewhere.

Hosting package prices

A reminder that, after holding prices for two years, from 1 April 2017 we began rolling out a range of new hosting packages with a new pricing structure. Over the course of the year we will be in touch with all clients at least 30 days in advance of renewals with any updates information regarding your new package, an invitation to pay by Direct Debit, and your annual invoice.

Netuxo offers web hosting, email hosting, or combined packages. Here's a quick overview...

BASIC: Suitable for individuals and very small groups with one website and simple email requirements
MEDIUM: Suitable for small organisations with one or more websites and more demanding email requirements
LARGE: Suitable for small to medium sized organisations with one or more websites who require higher performance, greater storage, more databases and mailboxes

For full details and options, click here

All prices ex-VAT

A small "thanks"

We value our customers and the long-term relationships we have forged with so many of you over the years. To say a small "thankyou" for your continued custom, we'd like to offer you two discount codes:

NXHP17 - 5% Sign up by Direct Debit!
Existing and new customers: receive a one-off 5% discount when you pay by Direct Debit (see below)
NXHPNEW - 10% Tell a friend!
Existing customers only: get 10% off your next hosting package when you make a successful referral.

Either or both can be redeemed at any time during 2017 - just let us know when you place a new order or receive a renewal invoice.

And finally ...

We just wanted to say congratulations to a number of our clients who have been working for many years to push for a nuclear weapons ban. On 7 July 2017 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations. Well done you! .

Apoyando a organizaciones éticas gestionar su presencia en linea

¡Adios Netuxo!