Anyone here ever set up a Web site, with a "Free Web Hosting" site?

[Up2Late]

I'm thinking of moving my web site to a free or less expensive web host. I found this list of "Free Web Hosting" sites
<http://www.free-webhosts.com/free-web-hosting.php>

at this site <http://www.free-webhosts.com/>

If so, I have a few general questions maybe someone can answer.

What do they mean by "Forced Ads?"

When they say "Your Ads", doesthat include referral ads I choose to except from other websites?

When they say, "Note: Not all sites accepted," are they mostly referring to "No Porn sites?" or could they also restrict political speech (i.e., if I created a Anti-* site, could they pull it if they found it offensive?)

When they list "Scripting," is that a list of scripting that WILL work, or scripting that is required to create the website?

For example, I have a few "Java Script" counters on my "comcast .net" site, but they don't work on my "Network Solutions .net" site.:shrug:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. You want less expensive?

And kickass hosting services to boot?

http://www.dreamhost.com

http://www.mewebhost.com

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I use yahoo

for my free sites. I've found it able to take the code I make. Yahoo will allow a wide range of sites, but frowns on hate sites. There are ads, but they are at the side and you can close them relatively easily.

[emulatorloo]

3. I would be skeered to do it. . .here is a cheap one I use

http://www.pair.com/services/web_hosting/

I do the basic.

Pretty Cheap, easy to manage, etc.

[kliljedahl]

4. "Scripting" is CGI script

written in Perl. Has nothing to do with Javascript. I'd recommend paying 4 or 5 dollars a month to get rid of the ads. I'm using Go Daddy right now & really like it. "free" is not usually, "forced ads" probably means pop ups, though I've never heard that term before. You need a a good WYSIWYG editor unless you know HTML. Don't rely on the ones they provide. I use Frontpage & Dreamweaver.


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[China_cat]

5. Forced Ads means ads

they place on your site. Removing the coding for them violates your TOS and removes your pages. They may also not allow you to add ads of your own. You'll have to check the TOS VERY carefully for that one.

Not all sites accepted means they can deny you space for any reason, unless they list exactly what is not welcome. They could 86 you for anything they don't like...politics, religion, hair color, not holding your tongue right.

Scripting is what will work. Usually not much.

When you use the free sites, you get what you pay for. There are places that charge very little for your space and give you lots in return. Do a google search and look for one. (Low as $4.95/mo) If you really want your site to reflect you, you don't need all that other crap.

[longship]

6. Self-hosting

Self-hosting isn't difficult. If you do not have a huge bandwidth demand, i.e., no downloads other than text/graphic content, you can do your own hosting with a DSL account. Mine is SDSL (768k/768k). This is about half a T1. Cost is about $100 per month for the connection + bandwidth, but I have static IP and control of my own domain. I even host my own DNS.

Running Apache on a box is easy, even trivial. I even have some virtual domains. Maintenance is nearly non-existent. Of course, you can also run exim/sendmail and handle your own e-mail services. (How many e-mails do you want?) The cost is minimal considering that you can have total control of your Net services.

Of course, you're not going to be able to do this kind of thing with ComCast or AOL. They'll charge you through the nose if they find out you are running a server. Find a local ISP who will give you better service and won't care. My ISP doesn't care what I do as long as it's legal.

Being your own ISP is awesome and surprisingly easy.

[Up2Late]

7. Where do you get the Apache software?

Is there a site with instructions and advice on hardware/software?

I currently have two computers on my home network, connected to a Comcast cable modem.

[longship]

8. Info

Apache is readily available. See http://httpd.apache.org/

Of course, it was originally written for Linux. I've no experience with the Windows version, but it probably works well, too.

You can run Apache on almost anything. With mostly static content, or even with dynamic content, an old, out-of-date computer is able to serve up content with little or no trouble. You'll hit the bandwidth limit long before you come close to pinning the CPU. I run Apache on my main workstation box. I never notice it. (It's a P4-2.4Ghz - 512Mb, but you can even run Apache on a Pentium I!)

There's plenty of docs on the above Web site. If you need some assistance, I'd happily help.

If you have an old box, setting Linux up is the best way. I recommend Ubuntu for a newbie distribution.

The only problem is ComCast, who will not like it if they find out you're running a server. (Stupidity is the norm--you can use your bandwidth to download all sorts of copyrighted stuff and they do nothing, but if you run Apache to do something legitimate, it's a tragedy.)


Respond to this message if you'd like help. We can arrange virtual meeting.