DragonWebHost/OnePoundEmail - History, Updates, Discussion, Questions

MichaelCee

Yes I am once again following the herd and doing what everybody else does by making a brand discussion thread I want to use this thread to post about the progress of OnePoundEmail (Now using this thread also for DragonWebHost and MakeMyKB as of 16th April 2026), any announcements or changes that happen and to get feedback along the way.

To catch you up to speed...

• OnePoundEmail launched in 2022 as an MXroute reseller, offering SmallEmail for One Pound per month.
• We slowly grew since then as understandably, I worked on regaining trust in the community having left the industry before.
• We now have close to 300 registered users and would be happy to take on many many more.
• In July 2023 I posted about some personal circumstances that led to a lack of attention to the brand. Extra help was contracted for the rest of that year, bills were settled in advance, subscriptions created where applicable, things looked a lot better.
• In September 2023 I followed up and posted about plans to re-do the website, make the affiliate program better, possibly rebrand, make bigger packages, acquire more customers/brands and add some additional services.
• I did manage to get most of that done. The website was updated, affiliate program enhanced and a couple extra packages added. On top of that, I reduced annual pricing, added discord and live chat, fixed some pesky issues, simplified the control panel navigation and added Crypto, EUR and USD payments.

We're now over a year after that post and have had a very successful Black Friday campaign, acquiring a stupid number of new customers, and it's time to use the higher number of users to our advantage and improve the service where possible.

Here are some base plans for 2025:

• Completely fill the entire knowledgebase. I've taken some inspiration and asked for feedback about how to approach this, and have started to section it out. We have categories for starter information, DNS setup, transferring guides and troubleshooting. As well as the usual sales, billing, etc. The plan is to reformat every single article and add images. I've already started the formatting process on a few dozen.
• On the topic of knowledgebase, each article will have a video equivalent. I do have a OnePoundEmail YouTube channel - it has a few guides on there. It gets 100s of views every month and I haven't touched it in almost 2 years. Time to change that.
• Again sticking with the theme of documentation, I plan on publishing a full contingency plan. Everything from the potential of MXroute kicking me to the curb to me being fisted with a christmas tree (maybe not). The plan is to be 100% transparent with what would realistically happen in certain scenarios.
• UK domain management. I started the application process with Nominet, only to realise I am not budgeting for the one-time and maintenance fees associated with that. It won't be worth it, so an alternative option for managing UK domains in the client portal will be implemented.
• Launching a blog. I had a blog, somewhere. I will be making a new one for more general topics.
• Rely less on promotional pricing. Black Friday has increased the client numbers by a lot. Discounts will be less frequent and hard hitting going forward to focus on stability and healthy growth.

There's lots more. But it's 2AM. I want to go to bed. Have this for now.

bdl

@MichaelCee said:
me being fisted with a christmas tree (maybe not).

HO HO OH NO - NOW I HAVE A MACHINE GUN

MichaelCee

I have had some back and forth on livechat about the prospect of EU, and other providers promising an EU location in the future.

Yes, a lot of people want to be able to choose an EU location (myself included), and I thought about considering sourcing this elsewhere in the future but after some consideration I would like to re-clarify my position.

OnePoundEmail intends to exclusively be a reseller of MXroute, until the very end. (I.e the day that they kick us off their platform)

I just don't want to mix and match infrastructure, neither do I want to leave one thing for another.

I'll make it known if my position ever changes. But that's it.

AlwaysSkint

LMFTFY

@MichaelCee said: kicking me to the curb kerb.

Just to curb your 'murican enthusiasm.

cainyxues

@AlwaysSkint said:
LMFTFY

@MichaelCee said: kicking me to the curb kerb.

2 questions......1) In the signature what's NVMe2G ?
2) What's LMFTFY [WTH it so big for short form ]

AlwaysSkint

@cainyxues said: 2 questions.

1, Freebie Virmach VPS
2. LMGoogleTFY

MichaelCee

@AlwaysSkint said:
LMFTFY

@MichaelCee said: kicking me to the curb kerb.

Just to curb your 'murican enthusiasm.

MichaelCee

Miscellaneous update for https://michaelcee.com. If you had an account at https://my.michaelcee.com over the last few years and didn't use it (no active services, no payments made, no data needed to be kept as far as GDPR is concerned) the following email is on your way.

I post here because at least 1 user had an email address that doesn't exist (anymore).

Hi there,

I hope you're doing well. I’m writing to inform you that your account on https://my.michaelcee.com has been deleted due to inactivity.

This action was taken to protect your privacy and security, as I noticed:

No active services were associated with your account
There was no billing history
Your account has been inactive for a prolonged period

Please know that this decision was made with your best interests in mind, ensuring your data is not left unattended.

I take privacy seriously, and this step helps me ensure that inactive accounts are safely handled.

Should you wish to access my services again in the future, you’re always welcome to sign up at any time.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for being part of MichaelCee, and I hope to assist you again soon.

Best regards,
Michael Cee
Web Hosting & IT Support

rcy026

@MichaelCee said:
Everything from the potential of MXroute kicking me to the curb to me being fisted with a christmas tree (maybe not). The plan is to be 100% transparent with what would realistically happen in certain scenarios.

Please don't, 100% is to much. I do not want to know 100% about what would realistically happen if you were to be fisted with a christmas tree. I feel that not even the most seasoned doctor would want to talk about that.

MichaelCee

@rcy026 said:

@MichaelCee said:
Everything from the potential of MXroute kicking me to the curb to me being fisted with a christmas tree (maybe not). The plan is to be 100% transparent with what would realistically happen in certain scenarios.

Please don't, 100% is to much. I do not want to know 100% about what would realistically happen if you were to be fisted with a christmas tree. I feel that not even the most seasoned doctor would want to talk about that.

I'm sorry, I've already filmed the video.

DataRecovery

@MichaelCee said:

@rcy026 said:

@MichaelCee said:
Everything from the potential of MXroute kicking me to the curb to me being fisted with a christmas tree (maybe not). The plan is to be 100% transparent with what would realistically happen in certain scenarios.

Please don't, 100% is to much. I do not want to know 100% about what would realistically happen if you were to be fisted with a christmas tree. I feel that not even the most seasoned doctor would want to talk about that.

I'm sorry, I've already filmed the video.

OK, this sheds some light on what kind of injury might be preventing @yoursunny from making new push-up videos.

yoursunny

@DataRecovery said:
OK, this sheds some light on what kind of injury might be preventing @yoursunny from making new push-up videos.

No worries.
We still have more than 30 unpublished push-up videos, including exciting places like Boston and New York City.
Next year we'll start recording squat videos.

MichaelCee

New uptime monitoring set up for OnePoundEmail (and DragonWebHost) using Uptime Kuma on QDE's Christmas special plan.

https://status.michaelcee.com/status/onepoundemail
https://status.michaelcee.com/status/dragonwebhost

It's been set up to ping the Discord channel "status". Join the OnePoundEmail Discord here > https://discord.gg/mZXTGeVK9Z

Care to see me document this process? Click here.

Next week: Backups. Backups Backups Backups.

cainyxues

@MichaelCee said:
New uptime monitoring set up for OnePoundEmail (and DragonWebHost) using Uptime Kuma on QDE's Christmas special plan.

https://status.michaelcee.com:3001/status/onepoundemail
https://status.michaelcee.com:3001/status/dragonwebhost

It's been set up to ping the Discord channel "status". Join the OnePoundEmail Discord here > https://discord.gg/mZXTGeVK9Z

Care to see me document this process? Click here.

Next week: Backups. Backups Backups Backups.

Good Work

bdl

@yoursunny said:

@DataRecovery said:
OK, this sheds some light on what kind of injury might be preventing @yoursunny from making new push-up videos.

No worries.
We still have more than 30 unpublished push-up videos, including exciting places like Boston and New York City.
Next year we'll start recording squat videos.

OnlySunnys

MichaelCee

Have never really advertised or guaranteed backups with OnePoundEmail (still don't: "While we make every effort to back up your data, we do not guarantee the availability of backups in the event of data loss.") but I did want to improve the system I had which was automatic on the internal DirectAdmin server and manual when it came to saving stuff remotely.

A new backup server has been set up in London which now receives daily Incremental backups from JetBackup and rotates them every 7 days.

Next year I will be getting a backup backup server to then pull those in.

Note: These are emergency backups only, not for general use.

DataRecovery

@MichaelCee said:
A new backup server has been set up in London which now receives daily Incremental backups from JetBackup and rotates them every 7 days.

If you don't mind my curiosity: Is this a forwarded update from Jarland (so it's applies to all MXroute users) or resellers can do some partial backups in Directadmin for their clients only?

MichaelCee

@DataRecovery said:

@MichaelCee said:
A new backup server has been set up in London which now receives daily Incremental backups from JetBackup and rotates them every 7 days.

If you don't mind my curiosity: Is this a forwarded update from Jarland (so it's applies to all MXroute users) or resellers can do some partial backups in Directadmin for their clients only?

It's not something new to me/resellers, but I have no idea about MXroute end-users ability to use JetBackup

Edit: Looks like access is blocked off for end-users (at least on my reseller, I'm assuming the same for direct users)

MichaelCee

Playing around..

(Also started porting the knowledgebase to video format)

MichaelCee

• The "Getting Started" category is almost fully ported over into video format.
• All videos on the YouTube channel now have a consistent thumbnail structure.
• More videos (and articles) will be added soon!

Fancy subscribing? https://www.youtube.com/@OnePoundEmail/videos

cainyxues

@MichaelCee said:

• The "Getting Started" category is almost fully ported over into video format.
• All videos on the YouTube channel now have a consistent thumbnail structure.
• More videos (and articles) will be added soon!

Fancy subscribing? https://www.youtube.com/@OnePoundEmail/videos

You got your 8th subscriber 😉

MichaelCee

I love late night inspiration from other LES hosts. I have just updated the Blesta login/password/username pages. Very nice.

esyede

@MichaelCee said:
Fancy subscribing? https://www.youtube.com/@OnePoundEmail/videos

Subscribed. Thank you for the hard work!

rcy026

@MichaelCee said:
Playing around..

(Also started porting the knowledgebase to video format)

I just have to ask, why? Has anyone really asked for this? In my experience the only ones that prefer video are the ones creating them, the people that have to watch them usually hates it.
To me this seems like a complete waste of time but I could be wrong.

MichaelCee

@rcy026 said:

@MichaelCee said:
Playing around..

(Also started porting the knowledgebase to video format)

I just have to ask, why? Has anyone really asked for this? In my experience the only ones that prefer video are the ones creating them, the people that have to watch them usually hates it.
To me this seems like a complete waste of time but I could be wrong.

Nobody's asked, but I have a few clients for whom English isn't their first language. Even when the written instructions are extremely clear, they sometimes struggle to understand. I've shared older videos with some of these clients, and they've been able to follow the videos.

So I'm making some new ones to share too.

Aside from that, it's for me-to gain experience editing videos, build a presence on YouTube, and continue learning along the way.

AlwaysSkint

^ Seeing both sides, though as a general rule, I hate the me,me,me videos that infest the 'net.

MichaelCee

@AlwaysSkint said:
^ Seeing both sides, though as a general rule, I hate the me,me,me videos that infest the 'net.

With the stuff I see on social media these days.. I think a few videos about doing X, Y or Z in DirectAdmin aren't too bad

esyede

@rcy026 said:
I just have to ask, why? Has anyone really asked for this? In my experience the only ones that prefer video are the ones creating them, the people that have to watch them usually hates it.
To me this seems like a complete waste of time but I could be wrong.

I'm one of those clients who requested for this. In fact, it is really helpful to a dumb-ass like me who barely understand tech-related english, especially in terms of email relay which I have next to none experience. I really grateful of this😁

MichaelCee

Minor website updates today.

Actually thinking about converting the whole of Blesta from Bootstrap 4.x to 5.x - but maybe I should finish off some other projects first.

MichaelCee

Got a good deal the other day so we now have services deploying in Everest. Safari is currently sold out.

I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Oh, and side note, this was my first time emailing all active clients at once. Turns out, I found 2 4 non-existent email addresses. So, keep in mind that using real and accurate info is essential. If your email address isn't accurate or has been deleted, it could lead to account cancellation since it's part of our policy (and MXroute's) to maintain accurate information and keep sending lists clean.

AlwaysSkint

@MichaelCee said: Everest

Oooh, that's a new one to me; between myself & clients, I do know a few..

msatt

@MichaelCee said:
I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Don't think a change in terms should have 0 days notice (bad practice).

We are writing to inform you about some updates to our Acceptable Use Policy and Refund Policy, which will take effect on March 27th, 2025.

MichaelCee

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:
I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Don't think a change in terms should have 0 days notice (bad practice).

We are writing to inform you about some updates to our Acceptable Use Policy and Refund Policy, which will take effect on March 27th, 2025.

Sure, but arguably better practice than no notice at all which is typical for most LE* hosts.

msatt

@MichaelCee said:

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:
I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Don't think a change in terms should have 0 days notice (bad practice).

We are writing to inform you about some updates to our Acceptable Use Policy and Refund Policy, which will take effect on March 27th, 2025.

Sure, but arguably better practice than no notice at all which is typical for most LE* hosts.

But makes a mockery of terms / conditions. Don't use other LE* hosts an an excuse so you can to do what you want. 0 Days notice is still NO notice.

ahnlak

To be fair, if your upstream provider changes their terms, you're pretty much stuck with it.

(and explicitly banning a service that exists to spew out AI spam which was already breaking terms doesn't seem that egregious)

MichaelCee

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:
I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Don't think a change in terms should have 0 days notice (bad practice).

We are writing to inform you about some updates to our Acceptable Use Policy and Refund Policy, which will take effect on March 27th, 2025.

Sure, but arguably better practice than no notice at all which is typical for most LE* hosts.

But makes a mockery of terms / conditions. Don't use other LE* hosts an an excuse so you can to do what you want. 0 Days notice is still NO notice.

In the event MXroute changes their policy and gives no notice, like they did with that AI thing, I physically cannot give a notice period because that would give the impression to customers that something is still allowed until the new terms come into play. It would jeopardize the relationship with my infrastructure provider.

Things that are only related to OnePoundEmail, sure, you make a fair point.

msatt

@MichaelCee said:

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:

@msatt said:

@MichaelCee said:
I've also sent out a general notification email about tweaks to our Acceptable Usage Policy and Refund Policy. The AUP update is mainly due to MXroute's recent policy change, which includes forbidding the use of the instantly.ai service with ours. The refund policy update just clears up language about non-refundable promotional packages.

Don't think a change in terms should have 0 days notice (bad practice).

We are writing to inform you about some updates to our Acceptable Use Policy and Refund Policy, which will take effect on March 27th, 2025.

Sure, but arguably better practice than no notice at all which is typical for most LE* hosts.

But makes a mockery of terms / conditions. Don't use other LE* hosts an an excuse so you can to do what you want. 0 Days notice is still NO notice.

In the event MXroute changes their policy and gives no notice, like they did with that AI thing, I physically cannot give a notice period because that would give the impression to customers that something is still allowed until the new terms come into play. It would jeopardize the relationship with my infrastructure provider.

Things that are only related to OnePoundEmail, sure, you make a fair point.

Totally understand your logic / reason but again this should be down to you saying the same as I am to MXroute.
Terms / conditions need to change BUT in these circumstances (AI thing) it should be blocked. Your terms and conditions should be changed to reflect services will be blocked if interfering with normal service.

MichaelCee

Would anybody care for regular transparency updates for certain stats? I recently connected Blesta with the about page to show client and service numbers, I'm pondering the idea of quarterly/yearly posts about abuse reports received/resolved.. stuff like that? If anyone cares? Or has suggestions on things they think would be beneficial to know?

MichaelCee

Update: If you put your address as a Subway restaurant, I expect free sandwhiches or you're OUT!

imok

@MichaelCee said: Everest

what?

techdragon

Hey @MichaelCee!

I understand if it isn't something you want to answer publicly but I'm curious as to what you think the future of OnePoundEmail might look like.

Are you aiming for acquisition and or looking to scale as you grow? Or would you build separate brands if you were looking to offer more services?

MichaelCee

@techdragon said:
Hey @MichaelCee!

I understand if it isn't something you want to answer publicly but I'm curious as to what you think the future of OnePoundEmail might look like.

Are you aiming for acquisition and or looking to scale as you grow? Or would you build separate brands if you were looking to offer more services?

If you mean to /be/ acquired then, no.
If you mean to acquire then, yes, I'm open to expanding by acquiring other email and/or web brands.
For the separate brand stuff I have technically done that.
I would like to offer an EU email solution but that is quite tricky right now for a number of reasons, brand loyalty being a primary one.

techdragon

@MichaelCee said:

@techdragon said:
Hey @MichaelCee!

I understand if it isn't something you want to answer publicly but I'm curious as to what you think the future of OnePoundEmail might look like.

Are you aiming for acquisition and or looking to scale as you grow? Or would you build separate brands if you were looking to offer more services?

If you mean to /be/ acquired then, no.
If you mean to acquire then, yes, I'm open to expanding by acquiring other email and/or web brands.
For the separate brand stuff I have technically done that.
I would like to offer an EU email solution but that is quite tricky right now for a number of reasons, brand loyalty being a primary one.

Appreciate your time and response.

SocksAreComfortable

Question: is it possible to disable an affiliate account? Or at the least stop the emails if they contain no sign-ups? I signed up for affiliate a while back but have never actually used the code, so I just get monthly emails saying "yep still no referrals duh" lol.

MichaelCee

@SocksAreComfortable said:
Question: is it possible to disable an affiliate account? Or at the least stop the emails if they contain no sign-ups? I signed up for affiliate a while back but have never actually used the code, so I just get monthly emails saying "yep still no referrals duh" lol.

Monthly reports should now be disabled. But yeah, I can probably remove you as an affiliate.

SocksAreComfortable

@MichaelCee said:

@SocksAreComfortable said:
Question: is it possible to disable an affiliate account? Or at the least stop the emails if they contain no sign-ups? I signed up for affiliate a while back but have never actually used the code, so I just get monthly emails saying "yep still no referrals duh" lol.

Monthly reports should now be disabled. But yeah, I can probably remove you as an affiliate.

The report disabling was mainly what I was looking for, appreciate it! Who knows, maybe I'll get around to using some of the affiliate links I've signed up one day...

MichaelCee

Policy updates incoming:

Hi there friend,

We hope this message finds you well.

We are writing to inform you that effective July 1, 2025, we will be updating our Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use Policy to improve our service and clarify procedures around policy violations.

What’s changing?

Payments and Chargebacks:
To ensure smooth and secure payment processing, any chargebacks or unauthorized payment reversals may result in account suspension or termination. Customers remain responsible for any outstanding fees.

Support Abuse:
We are committed to maintaining a respectful and productive support environment. Abusive or harassing behaviour towards our staff, or creating multiple redundant support tickets, may lead to restricted support access or account suspension.

Violation Handling and Enforcement:
We take violations of our Acceptable Use Policy seriously. Upon detection or reports of policy breaches, we may take actions including suspending outbound mail, placing sending restrictions, or terminating accounts without prior warning to protect our service integrity. Repeated abuse may also be reported to relevant fraud databases to prevent further misuse.

You can review the full updated Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use Policy on our website. The revised versions are linked within our current policies until the effective date, when the existing pages will be replaced.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Best regards,
Michael Cooper
OnePoundEmail

Mostly clarifications and spelling things out.

vyas

@MichaelCee said:
Would anybody care for regular transparency updates for certain stats? I recently connected Blesta with the about page to show client and service numbers, I'm pondering the idea of quarterly/yearly posts about abuse reports received/resolved.. stuff like that? If anyone cares? Or has suggestions on things they think would be beneficial to know?

Do it ! Like the backblaze "How our diks performed" posts- very interesting data for numerophiles...
And that occasional user with 1 TB of log files

MichaelCee

About a year ago, I gave the homepage a more “professional” look. At the time, it felt like the right move. But looking back, it was trying a bit too hard to copy a competitor instead of just being OnePoundEmail.

So, I’ve stripped things back to a simple one-page layout that keeps all the essentials, no fluff. And as a bonus there's dark mode now too!

Spotted any bugs or have feedback? Let me know. I’ve already got a few dark mode tweaks planned for the next update.

MichaelCee

Taking inspiration from up the stream: OnePoundEmail has a new documentation set-up: https://docs.onepound.email

Going to try and format the old kb in a much more user friendly manner over here, but both will be running side by side (at least for now).

MichaelCee

https://my.onepoundemail.co.uk/plugin/announcements/client_main/read/37

Dear OnePoundEmail Users,

Just to let you know we've disabled the ability to pay with USD via our Stripe payment gateway as it was causing some complications >with our book-keeping system.

Payments in EUR are all good as they auto convert to GBP in our account, and you can still pay with USD via PayPal.