For those who are new to the Forum and will be applying for a VPS for the first time on 1st of September I have the following suggestions for preparing for your VPS request. I'm going to keep this thread open for a while to receive feedback on suggestions for improvements that can be made or information that can be added to it.
1. STUDY PREVIOUS GIVEAWAY DISCUSSIONS
Check through the previous Giveaway threads - particularly the Opening Posts (OPs). You often get feedback in those threads about the VPSs. In the OP there is a URL for comparing all of the VPSs. This is quite handy for an instant comparison of the available VPSs. Such as the one for the last Giveaway:
https://post4vps.com/compare/#1,3,6,7,8,...4,15,17,18
2. CHECK THE SPECS IN THE VPS PLANS & CHECK THE APPLICATION RULES
These are available in the VPS Plans. You can check all of the specs of each Plan. However, you then have to scroll right down to the bottom of those plans to find the Rules of the Giveaway, and also the way to prepare your VPS Request. Good tip is also to check whether there are reviews of the VPSs that you like. You can check available reviews here:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-Reviews
3. ACCESS TO GIVEAWAY REQUEST FORUM - 1ST OF MONTH
The VPS Request section will only be open for you on the 1st of the month when the next Giveaway starts. This is a link to it when it is active and open for submitting requests:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-request
4. STUDY DYNAMO'S FORMAT FOR CREATING A VPS REQUEST
Most important "to-do" is to read @Dynamo's (the owner's) format for the VPS requests. If you don't follow this format, your request may not be looked at. You can find his format here:
https://post4vps.com/Announcement-Application-Format
5. READ AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE TOS OF THE VPSs YOU APPLY FOR
Second most important "to-do" is to read and make sure you understand the Terms and Conditions of Service (TOS) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) of the VPS you are interested in. These are available through links in the VPS Plans. Better yet, it is always a good idea to check out the sponsor's Website. You may pick up on valuable information such as Status Reports that may come in handy later on when you are managing your VPS or a networking section where you can get hold of an IP to test how well your ISP works with the IP.
If you are thinking of running a Games Server on a VPS, it becomes doubly important to read the TOS and AUP. Some of the VPSs don't allow Games Servers, or if they do there may be restrictions such as a limit on the resources you are allowed to use. It's always better if you're planning to run a Games Server, to go for a VPS that has been designed to run a Games Server and has plenty of backup from the sponsor.
If you are thinking of running Windows OS, most of the VPS Plans allow for a trial, but again, you need to study the TOS and AUP of the sponsor. Otherwise you have to have a valid license for the Windows OS.
Some of the VPSs (such as VPS 13 and 14) require picture ID from the sponsor. Please read the OS of the Giveaway Thread if you plan to apply for a VPS that requires picture ID.
6. APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE VPS
Once you've identified your VPSs that you would like to apply for as a new applicant, with obviously less credit points, it's always a good idea to apply for a second choice of a VPS, or even a third, along with your main choice. You do this by adding this to the topic of your VPS request like so - i.e. the first VPS 1 is the one you really want, VPS 2 mentioned second is your second choice, and if you have a third choice you add an "or VPS 3":
7. VPS SUPPORT
Only you and the staff can see your application for a VPS. At the end of the Giveaway and after award of the VPSs, the VPS Request threads are closed, as well as the Request Forum locked. You will be able to see your request that you made, but it will be locked. If you have any inquiries about the new VPS that was awarded to you, you need to look at the Support Forum for submitting the inquiry. Please don't PM the staff. It is also against the Giveaway Rules to contact the sponsors direct. If you create an inquiry in the Support Forum, then not only all of the staff, but also the sponsors and the Technical Consultant can see your inquiry and may be able to help you as well. You get a much wider coverage of support that way.
Here's a link to the VPS Support Forum:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-Discussion
Note you have a choice of public or private VPS Support. For private, only you, the staff, sponsors and Technical Consultant can see your support request. It's always best if you are going to submit details of your VPS that should not be shared with the public, to open a Private VPS Support thread.
Also note that you don't earn any post credits in the support forums.
8. HOW VPSS ARE AWARDED
The Giveaway works on a very transparent award system. Like there isn't much thinking that needs to be done to select the winners. The VPSs are awarded to those with the most credit points, except for VPS 9. With VPS 9 the applicant has to give motivation for why the applicant would need the huge specs for the VPS, also give details of how he/she is going to manage the VPS and what the content is going to be. The owner and staff also need to be convinced that the applicant will be able to manage VPS 9 on their own as it is an unmanaged VPS that requires at least some skill and experience with working with VPSs.
Also note that some of our sponsors with high-spec VPSs prefer more experienced technical users to manage their VPSs. Examples are VPS 4 and 5 and VPS 8. We're lucky with VPS 4 and 5 that the quality winners of those VPSs have been winners with the most credit points, there was no need to think about the award, but should there have been a winner who won by default because there had not been any other applicants, and it looked as though the sponsor may have an issue with the "winner by default", then that could technically influence the decision of the award. This hasn't happened yet, however can technically happen. VPS 8 is in that category too since it has a zero abuse tolerance written in its TOS - no second chances are given. Hence why it is so important to read and understand the Terms and Conditions of Service (TOS) of the VPS you are applying for.
So if you are a first time user and not quite confident yet, I suggest you go for a VPS like VPS 1 to get your feet wet first and at the same time demonstrate your capability of managing a VPS. You can then always apply later again when you have had a chance to increase your credit points and you have your eye on a specific VPS. But that is as you prefer. You may already be an experienced user, and may get lucky "by default", i.e. no other application for the VPS you applied for. Always good however, in case this doesn't happen, to apply for more than one VPS if you need a VPS immediately.
9. QUALIFICATIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING A VPS
Note that in order to get a VPS you have to have a 0% warning level, 25 posts and more than 100$ credits in your account.
Note that in order to keep your VPS you have to make 20 monthly maintenance posts and your warning level has to be below 50% at all times. Note that the owner requires quality maintenance posts to be made and Staff have been asked to remove one-liner posts from the Forum similar to the posts that are needed to get a VPS - short meaningless one-liner posts are looked upon as spam posts. So are "thank you" one-liner posts or posts that don't make a contribution to the topic of discussion directly. If you want to thank a member for a good post, do so with the rating system. If you don't agree with how a member is posting in the Forum, or pick up on breaking of the rules, hit the report tool. Don't post to threads that are breaking the rules. Those threads will ultimately be removed from the Forum along with your post.
Note that the points counter discourages the making of more than four posts in one sitting. If those posts are of a reasonable length, like at least a couple or more paragraphs, then automatically it adds to the credit points for a given "Post Day", and more posts can be made. But if those consecutive posts are one-liners, you won't receive post credits past four posts for the "Post Day". And those posts may be removed from the Forum as well. So it's always recommended that you make your 20 posts right through the month, and try to participate in the community, instead of cramming the maintenance posts for the sake of making maintenance posts only in the last few days of the month.
So don't wait until the last day until you make your maintenance posts. There's a good chance you may lose your VPS. Also note that the staff are monitoring the number of maintenance posts in accordance with Dynamo's strict policy. If the number is less than 20, then the VPS will be removed from the VPS Holder, the status of the VPS Holder will be changed to Registered Member, and the Registered Member will have to reapply for the VPS with a 100$ penalty when successful in getting the VPS again.
The monitoring of the maintenance posts starts on the 23rd of the month. Cut off date and time for making the maintenance posts for the month is measured according to GMT0 - last hour and day of the month. Failure for making the 20 posts leads to instant closing of VPS and the VPS is then listed for the next Giveaway on the 1st of the next month.
VPS Holders who fail to make the 20 maintenance posts, or VPS Holders who apply for a different VPS and are awarded the VPS, will have a couple or more days to take backups to empty the VPS.
If anything technical should happen to the VPS, i.e. VPS breaks down due to sponsor technical issues, or sponsor withdraws the VPS, then no backup VPS is made available. Member has to wait until the next Giveaway to re-apply for a new VPS.
Note that abuse of VPSs may lead to instant suspension of VPS with a review of member's qualifications for managing a VPS. Unethical use or breaking of the TOS or AUP rules have a zero tolerance policy at post4vps.
10. BENEFIT OF MAINTENANCE POSTS
Note that making the maintenance posts is always a great opportunity to increase your status as a respected member of the Forum and to increase your credit points so you can apply and get the VPS you would want to ultimately have. In the end however, if you check our available VPS Plans, you will note that there aren't really VPSs with low specs. All of the VPSs are great VPSs. So hope you will find the one that is most useful to you, instead of being blinded by huge specs.
Note that the owner of the Forum wants you to enjoy being part of a community of VPS Holders, create and participate in quality discussions and learn from the experience. Apart from getting and keeping your VPS you have an opportunity to improve your ability to communicate effectively with like minded VPS enthusiasts and to polish your writing skills. You also have the opportunity of learning about what cheap and value VPSs are available, how to manage them effectively, and keep up to date with new trends and security challenges of the hosting industry. We are blessed with some very talented and experienced members in the Forum and a great opportunity for learning.
If you want to check who our VPS holders are you can check this thread here:
https://post4vps.com/Announcement-List-of-VPS-Holders
1. STUDY PREVIOUS GIVEAWAY DISCUSSIONS
Check through the previous Giveaway threads - particularly the Opening Posts (OPs). You often get feedback in those threads about the VPSs. In the OP there is a URL for comparing all of the VPSs. This is quite handy for an instant comparison of the available VPSs. Such as the one for the last Giveaway:
https://post4vps.com/compare/#1,3,6,7,8,...4,15,17,18
2. CHECK THE SPECS IN THE VPS PLANS & CHECK THE APPLICATION RULES
These are available in the VPS Plans. You can check all of the specs of each Plan. However, you then have to scroll right down to the bottom of those plans to find the Rules of the Giveaway, and also the way to prepare your VPS Request. Good tip is also to check whether there are reviews of the VPSs that you like. You can check available reviews here:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-Reviews
3. ACCESS TO GIVEAWAY REQUEST FORUM - 1ST OF MONTH
The VPS Request section will only be open for you on the 1st of the month when the next Giveaway starts. This is a link to it when it is active and open for submitting requests:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-request
4. STUDY DYNAMO'S FORMAT FOR CREATING A VPS REQUEST
Most important "to-do" is to read @Dynamo's (the owner's) format for the VPS requests. If you don't follow this format, your request may not be looked at. You can find his format here:
https://post4vps.com/Announcement-Application-Format
5. READ AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE TOS OF THE VPSs YOU APPLY FOR
Second most important "to-do" is to read and make sure you understand the Terms and Conditions of Service (TOS) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) of the VPS you are interested in. These are available through links in the VPS Plans. Better yet, it is always a good idea to check out the sponsor's Website. You may pick up on valuable information such as Status Reports that may come in handy later on when you are managing your VPS or a networking section where you can get hold of an IP to test how well your ISP works with the IP.
If you are thinking of running a Games Server on a VPS, it becomes doubly important to read the TOS and AUP. Some of the VPSs don't allow Games Servers, or if they do there may be restrictions such as a limit on the resources you are allowed to use. It's always better if you're planning to run a Games Server, to go for a VPS that has been designed to run a Games Server and has plenty of backup from the sponsor.
If you are thinking of running Windows OS, most of the VPS Plans allow for a trial, but again, you need to study the TOS and AUP of the sponsor. Otherwise you have to have a valid license for the Windows OS.
Some of the VPSs (such as VPS 13 and 14) require picture ID from the sponsor. Please read the OS of the Giveaway Thread if you plan to apply for a VPS that requires picture ID.
6. APPLY FOR MORE THAN ONE VPS
Once you've identified your VPSs that you would like to apply for as a new applicant, with obviously less credit points, it's always a good idea to apply for a second choice of a VPS, or even a third, along with your main choice. You do this by adding this to the topic of your VPS request like so - i.e. the first VPS 1 is the one you really want, VPS 2 mentioned second is your second choice, and if you have a third choice you add an "or VPS 3":
Quote:VPS 1 or VPS 2 Request - Forum User Name - 34 posts - $235.76 Credits
7. VPS SUPPORT
Only you and the staff can see your application for a VPS. At the end of the Giveaway and after award of the VPSs, the VPS Request threads are closed, as well as the Request Forum locked. You will be able to see your request that you made, but it will be locked. If you have any inquiries about the new VPS that was awarded to you, you need to look at the Support Forum for submitting the inquiry. Please don't PM the staff. It is also against the Giveaway Rules to contact the sponsors direct. If you create an inquiry in the Support Forum, then not only all of the staff, but also the sponsors and the Technical Consultant can see your inquiry and may be able to help you as well. You get a much wider coverage of support that way.
Here's a link to the VPS Support Forum:
https://post4vps.com/Forum-VPS-Discussion
Note you have a choice of public or private VPS Support. For private, only you, the staff, sponsors and Technical Consultant can see your support request. It's always best if you are going to submit details of your VPS that should not be shared with the public, to open a Private VPS Support thread.
Also note that you don't earn any post credits in the support forums.
8. HOW VPSS ARE AWARDED
The Giveaway works on a very transparent award system. Like there isn't much thinking that needs to be done to select the winners. The VPSs are awarded to those with the most credit points, except for VPS 9. With VPS 9 the applicant has to give motivation for why the applicant would need the huge specs for the VPS, also give details of how he/she is going to manage the VPS and what the content is going to be. The owner and staff also need to be convinced that the applicant will be able to manage VPS 9 on their own as it is an unmanaged VPS that requires at least some skill and experience with working with VPSs.
Also note that some of our sponsors with high-spec VPSs prefer more experienced technical users to manage their VPSs. Examples are VPS 4 and 5 and VPS 8. We're lucky with VPS 4 and 5 that the quality winners of those VPSs have been winners with the most credit points, there was no need to think about the award, but should there have been a winner who won by default because there had not been any other applicants, and it looked as though the sponsor may have an issue with the "winner by default", then that could technically influence the decision of the award. This hasn't happened yet, however can technically happen. VPS 8 is in that category too since it has a zero abuse tolerance written in its TOS - no second chances are given. Hence why it is so important to read and understand the Terms and Conditions of Service (TOS) of the VPS you are applying for.
So if you are a first time user and not quite confident yet, I suggest you go for a VPS like VPS 1 to get your feet wet first and at the same time demonstrate your capability of managing a VPS. You can then always apply later again when you have had a chance to increase your credit points and you have your eye on a specific VPS. But that is as you prefer. You may already be an experienced user, and may get lucky "by default", i.e. no other application for the VPS you applied for. Always good however, in case this doesn't happen, to apply for more than one VPS if you need a VPS immediately.
9. QUALIFICATIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING A VPS
Note that in order to get a VPS you have to have a 0% warning level, 25 posts and more than 100$ credits in your account.
Note that in order to keep your VPS you have to make 20 monthly maintenance posts and your warning level has to be below 50% at all times. Note that the owner requires quality maintenance posts to be made and Staff have been asked to remove one-liner posts from the Forum similar to the posts that are needed to get a VPS - short meaningless one-liner posts are looked upon as spam posts. So are "thank you" one-liner posts or posts that don't make a contribution to the topic of discussion directly. If you want to thank a member for a good post, do so with the rating system. If you don't agree with how a member is posting in the Forum, or pick up on breaking of the rules, hit the report tool. Don't post to threads that are breaking the rules. Those threads will ultimately be removed from the Forum along with your post.
Note that the points counter discourages the making of more than four posts in one sitting. If those posts are of a reasonable length, like at least a couple or more paragraphs, then automatically it adds to the credit points for a given "Post Day", and more posts can be made. But if those consecutive posts are one-liners, you won't receive post credits past four posts for the "Post Day". And those posts may be removed from the Forum as well. So it's always recommended that you make your 20 posts right through the month, and try to participate in the community, instead of cramming the maintenance posts for the sake of making maintenance posts only in the last few days of the month.
So don't wait until the last day until you make your maintenance posts. There's a good chance you may lose your VPS. Also note that the staff are monitoring the number of maintenance posts in accordance with Dynamo's strict policy. If the number is less than 20, then the VPS will be removed from the VPS Holder, the status of the VPS Holder will be changed to Registered Member, and the Registered Member will have to reapply for the VPS with a 100$ penalty when successful in getting the VPS again.
The monitoring of the maintenance posts starts on the 23rd of the month. Cut off date and time for making the maintenance posts for the month is measured according to GMT0 - last hour and day of the month. Failure for making the 20 posts leads to instant closing of VPS and the VPS is then listed for the next Giveaway on the 1st of the next month.
VPS Holders who fail to make the 20 maintenance posts, or VPS Holders who apply for a different VPS and are awarded the VPS, will have a couple or more days to take backups to empty the VPS.
If anything technical should happen to the VPS, i.e. VPS breaks down due to sponsor technical issues, or sponsor withdraws the VPS, then no backup VPS is made available. Member has to wait until the next Giveaway to re-apply for a new VPS.
Note that abuse of VPSs may lead to instant suspension of VPS with a review of member's qualifications for managing a VPS. Unethical use or breaking of the TOS or AUP rules have a zero tolerance policy at post4vps.
10. BENEFIT OF MAINTENANCE POSTS
Note that making the maintenance posts is always a great opportunity to increase your status as a respected member of the Forum and to increase your credit points so you can apply and get the VPS you would want to ultimately have. In the end however, if you check our available VPS Plans, you will note that there aren't really VPSs with low specs. All of the VPSs are great VPSs. So hope you will find the one that is most useful to you, instead of being blinded by huge specs.
Note that the owner of the Forum wants you to enjoy being part of a community of VPS Holders, create and participate in quality discussions and learn from the experience. Apart from getting and keeping your VPS you have an opportunity to improve your ability to communicate effectively with like minded VPS enthusiasts and to polish your writing skills. You also have the opportunity of learning about what cheap and value VPSs are available, how to manage them effectively, and keep up to date with new trends and security challenges of the hosting industry. We are blessed with some very talented and experienced members in the Forum and a great opportunity for learning.
If you want to check who our VPS holders are you can check this thread here:
https://post4vps.com/Announcement-List-of-VPS-Holders
