need opinions on free web hosts

[mentalcrisis00]

Hey all

I'm an artist trying to get my first web site up to showcase my work and small bio. I have been using dreamweaver and finally got a main page up, no links yet and only one picture. I've been using this site called hostrator.com it has 10GB of space, no ads, and it's free. I looked at a few reviews and people seem to like it.

I was wondering if this is the site I should go with or if others have better options? My only criteria are that it should have a reasonable amount of storage, no ads, ability to have my on domain would be nice, I'd like my site/files to be secure, and of course it needs to be a free service.

I'd like to pick a good one and stick with that before I invest alot of time developing and uploading a site. I ask here on anandtech because I trust the opinion of the people here, if anyone knows of a better host please reply with a link.

Thanks in advance

-Ray

 

[Evadman]

RossMAN to ATOT Stat!

 

[Baked]

Socialism FTW!

Suggestion. Spend the money and get your own host and domain, separately.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

would godaddy.com be a good place to buy a domain? a professor suggested that site to me, once I buy the domain can I just upload my html and jpeg files to that site and thats all or does one pay extra to upload files? If thats not a good place any links to a site where I could buy a domain?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Namecheap for a domain.
Cookiehost for a cheap (and reliable) host.
Do not get your domain bundled with your host.

EDIT >> HostPC is another host I've heard good things about.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Dear mentalcrisis00,

Free hosting sucks. Here's why:
1) Annoying ads, ad banners and pop-ups which earn $$$.
How much of that $ goes to you? Zip, zilch, nada, nothing.

2) Annoying hard to remember subdomains like http://mentalcrisis.100mb.com

3) Restrictions on file size, bandwidth usage, content, etc.

4) No PHP, MySQL which restricts you from installing blog, CMS, image gallery and forum software.

5) Because RossMAN said so!

You can have your own domain and web hosting for under $20 per year.

Always use an actual domain registrar and NEVER register your domain with your web host company. You can switch web hosts whenever you want.

Domain registration - http://www.namecheap.com/

Web hosting - http://www.hostpc.com/community/showthread.php?t=3860

Step 1 - Register your domain with namecheap.com
Step 2 - Sign up for HostPC.com web hosting
Step 3 - Wait for your "welcome to HostPC" e-mail which has two DNS nameservers. Login to Namecheap.com modify your domain and change the DNS nameservers to those listed in your "welcome" e-mail.
Step 4 - Wait for DNS propagation which can take 30 minutes - 24 hours.
Step 5 - Upload your website via FTP or DirectAdmin control panel.

Here is a test account I setup for you. Please note HostPC.com uses a different control panel (DirectAdmin), this is cPanel with Fantastico. They both accomplish the same thing but cPanel is a little prettier/fancier.

http://www.ratemyvps.org/cpanel
username: mental
password: rossman123

Does free web hosting offer that? I didn't think so.

Go ahead and click around, you won't break anything. Scroll down and click Fantastico towards the bottom. You can auto install any of those scripts with a few clicks of your mouse. That's right, you can install your own blog, forums, image gallery, anything. Go ahead and try installing one or a few of them.

Try uploading your web site via FTP:
ftp.ratemyvps.org
username: mental
password: rossman123

Upload everything into the public_html directory.

RossMAN

Apparently, he can't bear to post from his account, so he has to email me. I guess I am his bitch. Well, there are worse people to be a bitch for.

 

[KK]

HostPC is also having their 10 year of being in business deal going on. link

BTW, will Rossman come back once the forum switches and he loses his post count?