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Domain Hosting

KilarneyKilarney
edited June 2009 in Technology
Can anyone recommend a reliable and affordable domain hosting service? This would be for a website that would not see a ton of traffic.

Comments

  • Alex LeavittAlex Leavitt
    edited June 2009
    I'm using Bluehost for http://doalchemy.org. It's cheap and does what needs to be done.
    Post edited by Alex Leavitt on
  • AprecheApreche
    What kind of site? You may be able to just use google sites or worspress.com or such.
  • fluxflux
    Trick your school administrators into buying a server for a wiki then secretively use it for personal purposes.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited June 2009
    I need something that will allow me to have my own domain name. I wouldn't mind a site that has templates, so I don't have to get too heavily into HTML. I'm not trying to do anything fancy.

    It has to look professional, but it will only be used to convey information. No fancy bells and whistles are needed. I don't want it to look amateur, though. No banner ads, etc.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • KilarneyKilarney
    I'm usingBluehostforhttp://doalchemy.org. It's cheap and does what needs to be done.
    Do they have templates? I didn't see any when I looked quickly.
  • AprecheApreche
    I need something that will allow me to have my own domain name. I wouldn't mind a site that has templates, so I don't have to get too heavily into HTML. I'm not trying to do anything fancy.

    It has to look professional, but it will only be used to convey information. No fancy bells and whistles are needed. I don't want it to look amateur, though. No banner ads, etc.
    The domain name is separate from the hosting. You get your domain name from a registrar. Then you set the DNS record of the domain to point to the IP address of your host.

    Sounds to me like you could just buy a domain name from godaddy.com and then point it at your wordpress.com blog with a CNAME record. Wordpress.com will charge you $10 per YEAR for that. Wordpress.com domain mapping.

    Here's what I suggest. Go get a blog at wordpress.com. It's free. At first, it won't have your domain. It will be something like http://kilarney.wordpress.com. Try it out. See if you like it. Try to change the theme and fool around with the plugins and such. If you like it, then go get the domain and point it.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    Excellent, thanks.

    The only catch is that this will not be a blog. As a matter of fact, the information on it will be static. I'll see if wordpress will work for that. I need to make a main page with 7 or 8 sub-pages off of that.
  • AprecheApreche

    The only catch is that this will not be a blog. As a matter of fact, the information on it will be static. I'll see if wordpress will work for that. I need to make a main page with 7 or 8 sub-pages off of that.
    WordPress is a CMS that is primarily designed to be a blog. However, you can make pages in it, as opposed to posts. So it will work.

    You also might want to try Google Sites.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    You also might want to tryGoogle Sites.
    I poked around, and that seems like a good option. Like I said, I don't need anything fancy. Thanks for the tip.
  • AprecheApreche
    I poked around, and that seems like a good option. Like I said, I don't need anything fancy. Thanks for the tip.
    Yeah, there is a major problem out there for people who want a web site that is like, just a few static pages. If ISPs weren't shit-heads, everyone would have a static IP. Then we could all run our own servers. Only people who needed serious hardware would have to bother with hosting companies. There are cheap web hosts out there, but they are around $5 a month. There are also fancy non-free CMS out there, like SquareSpace, which I think is $8 a month. That's a very reasonable price for someone who blogs or podcasts. It's a very un-reasonable price for a local restaurant to post its menu.

    There an under served and overcharged market out there of people who just need tiny static web pages. One good option might be to get one of those $5/month hosts. Then find four other people who all need tiny, low-traffic, static pages. You'll each pay $1 a month, but you won't have the constraints of being tied to any particular web platform.
  • Jain7thJain7th
    You could try NearlyFreeSpeech, they only charge for what you use, so a tiny static website would cost you next to nothing.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Try SquareSpace.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I tried SquareSpace. The blog import royally sucks. And I discovered a new level of hate for WYSIWYG editors.
  • AprecheApreche
    TrySquareSpace.
    I tried SquareSpace. The blog import royally sucks. And I discovered a new level of hate for WYSIWYG editors.
    So true. Squarespace is awesome to people who don't mind paying too much money, and don't know any better. It probably has the best web WYSIWYG ever. That is to say, it has the least smelly turd.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage

    So true. Squarespace is awesome to people who don't mind paying too much money, and don't know any better. It probably has the best web WYSIWYG ever. That is to say, it has the least smelly turd.
    I think the more advanced the WYSIWYG editor, the more annoying it is to reach its limits. There's this "Switch to HTML" option on Squarespace, but once you press it, there's no going back. After an hour of playing with Squarespace I realised exactly what I content management system I wanted for my website, and wrote it myself in Python. I should have done it years ago.
  • LyddiLyddi
    It was already mentioned, but Godaddy.com sells domains for pretty cheap. The web hosting (interface) is a big mess though. I've edited other people's pages that use Godaddy, and have concluded that its only decent for small sites.

    I have been thinking about getting my own domain name for a long time now, and I was just wondering if anyone else here has used Godaddy to buy one. The ads claim you get free basic web hosting upon buying one. Has anyone had good/bad experience?
  • AprecheApreche
    I've only ever used gandi.net to buy domains. It is french, and a little bit more expensive than other places because of Euro exchange rate. However, they give me 100% full control of the DNS records in a simple interface. Because our DNS is very complicated with all sorts of extra records for GAFYD and such, this is what I need. Even if there is a competitor out there that does the same, or better, for less, it would be too much of a pain to switch at this point.
  • StarfoxStarfox
    Here's what I suggest. Go get a blog at wordpress.com. It's free. At first, it won't have your domain. It will be something like http://kilarney.wordpress.com. Try it out. See if you like it. Try to change the theme and fool around with the plugins and such. If you like it, then go get the domain and point it.
    This is what I want to do. What is the best way to do the last sentence?
  • AprecheApreche
    This is what I want to do. What is the best way to do the last sentence?
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/
  • StarfoxStarfox
    Will I be able to use google apps with that? As in, be able to get whatever@mydomain.com?
  • AprecheApreche
    Will I be able to use google apps with that? As in, be able to get whatever@mydomain.com?
    Yeah, you get the domain from godaddy, or gandi.net or any of the other domain registrars, and you are good to go.

    However, it seems you really have no idea how domains work at all. I highly recommend you thoroughly research DNS and how it works. If you do not understand it, you will have all sorts of trouble trying to deal with domains.
  • StarfoxStarfox
    I got it, I was just confused about getting the domain from wordpress as opposed to godaddy et al. Google apps on wordpress.
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