What are some of the best options currently for developing and hosting free websites. Basically something like Geocities etc. I need to build a couple of websites for a non-for-profit and a sports group here. Previously I used NetFirms with MS FrontPage. It works fine, but this time I don’t want to go through so much hassle. A much simpler solution will be appreciated.
I used Homestead a lot previously, when it was free. Not sure what are the current favorites for people. For free site, I am sure there will be some ads displayed, which I really don’t mind, but the tools to develop the site should be of moderate to advanced level.
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
Microsoft Officelive will give u free webhosting and a domain name but u will have to pick one of their pre-loaded styles for hosting..can make a site of ur own..but its a good option..otherwise u can buy a domain name for $2 from yahoo domains and host on freewebs or awardspace.com
It has cpanel and fantastico with which can install readymade cms scripts in few seconds and you can make any changes you want. Let me know if you need some help.
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
Thanks guys. I used Microsoft Live Office to develop the first website. Turned out pretty nice. Interestingly, MS offers any domain name (.com/.net/.org) of your choice for free as well. Previously I used to buy the domain name separately from godaddy for $8.99/yr and then forward it using zoneedit. This time its all free and completely uncomplicated.
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
I was willing to pay $8-10 per year for domain, however, MS Office Live got me a free domain (a straightforward .com domain and not a subdomain URL), provided all the tools to develop a multi-page website with many add-on tools, including 5 email addresses with their own web email access.
Best of all, the website (including domain registration) was online within 24 hours, is displayed without any ads (for now) and looks pretty darn professional. I developed a 20 page website in about 5 hours, with an impressive navigation bar/layout. All of this was done using the tools provided by MS Office Live.
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
try www.zip.io
they are offering some cool stuffs and100MB FREE WEB SPACE, and apart from a banner on the last of ur pages they don’t put any more adds on ur pages as well…
they are having the biggest number of sub domains to chose from …
for exaple my site is parked @ tech.zip.io
or
try this… www.united.net.kg/
they only offer 15 Mb but they’ll not put any adds on ur pages…
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Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
Not sure if its gonna be free for ever. We all have been bitten enough times by internet's bait-and-switch artists that 'for ever' is a long time now. I think, as long as your website doesn't exceed certain parameters (bandwith, storage etc), it will remain free. If it exceeds then they'll want you to upgrade to a higher plan (plans start at $19.99/mo, I think - which is pretty steep IMO).
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
As long as his name is the registered owner i don't see a problem moving it. Ofcourse he would pay for it at the new location, cuz as you pointed out earlier no one else does domain regs for free.
DNS setting is another story. Faisal do you have any control over that? Like creating additional host and mx records et al?
Re: Best options for free website development and hosting
No. I don't think I have control over DNS as long as the website is hosted by Microsoft. For my purposes that is fine as I don't want to deal with or mess with the DNS settings. The volume on my website is fairly low at this time so there are no concerns that I need additional NameServers or anything of that sort either.