Overall, my suggestion would be to never bother with Network Solutions because there are too many other good hosting companies (see my post on Hosting Companies).  However, if you find a situation where you absolutely HAVE to, then this is what I finally figured out.  This is after finishing a project my company lost money doing because of the many, many extra hours dealing with Network Solutions....

This blog will get a Joomla site functioning at a decent speed, however, I was still unable to get SEF links or a www-redirect to work.  I even tried using their open source install tool (Joomla 1.5.13 of all things) and that copy still would not support SEF.

PHP Settings

- In order to even get the normal PHP settings you need, you cannot use a normal php.ini in the root.  Do not bother contacting Network Solutions as they will tell you they simply CANNOT change the settings.

- Instead, use your FTP program to go to /cgi-bin/.php/ and download "php.coalesced.ini"

- Make the necessary changes and overwrite existing.  

- At a minimum, I would add:

• display_errors=Off
• register_globals = Off
• safe_mode = Off

Database settings

Apparently many of the Network Solution servers cannot handle the number of queries from your typically CMS mySQL database.  To get this fixed, you must call customer service and tell them:

"I have a (Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal) website and the database is running very slow.  Can you please:"

1.) Move my database to a server that can handle its load

2.) Reinstall PHP on the server

- Go to phpMyAdmin (Manage Acct->Hosting Package->Manage Databases)

- Check all your tables and select "REPAIR TABLES" from the dropdown

- Select all your tables and select "OPTIMIZE TABLES" from the dropdown

- Additionally, do not use the IP address in phpMyAdmin as your database host, use the "mysqlv##" that is listed when you go to Manage Databases.

.htaccess File

As I said, I did not get this part completely functioning, but these are the few tidbits I did learn.

- .htaccess files must be uploaded in ASCII mode not binary mode (in Filezilla, go to Transfer->Transfer Type->ASCII)

- After uploading, change permissions to 644 (rw-r--r--).

- If you want to ensure you have a file in the correct format, go to Site Enhancements-> Custom Error Pages, and then set a rule.  Then look in the /htdocs for their file.  You can download and make changes.

- Several blogs/forum posts state you must un-comment out:

Now here is the weird part.  On one try, I was using a .htaccess I got off the forum and left in

even though my site wasn't in a subfolder.  It still worked which makes no sense to me.

Conclusion

Network Solutions offers a 30-day refund, so if your client just got it, encourage them to get the refund.  NetSol still takes out a hefty "service charge," so I would recommend getting Pre-Paid Legal service (which everyone should have anyway) and have them write a letter back to get the money back.

Comments

If you are able to get the SEF or www-redirect working, please add a note in the comments and I will update the post.  I really hope this post will save someone else time.

Sources

• Because Network Solutions Sucks
• Make your website work on Network Solutions by Modifying the .htaccess file
• Does Network Solutions Support .htaccess Files?