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Is it worth getting a website? — Parallax Forums

Is it worth getting a website?

MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
edited 2011-03-31 07:58 in General Discussion
Hi,

I'd like the opinion of other website owners here, is it worth getting a personal website? I've had one before, only having someone else hosting and a subdomain name, but is it worth the cost of a real one?
I can get the domain *******.com for $10 ($3 for .info), plus hosting for $35 a year from here: http://www.namecheap.com/
I plan on hand-coding the site with PHP/HTML/Javascript though if someone knows of a useful website builder software I would also be open to that option.
The site would mostly contain descriptions and code of my projects I have finished/am working on plus maybe some products to sell.
I'll be paying for hosting as to not annoy mctrivia anymore with hosting off of his server. :-)

ANY comments or opinions are welcome.

Thanks,
Microcontrolled

Comments

  • Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
    edited 2011-03-29 12:07
    Check your Internet Service Provider - they may offer free or cheap hosting. Then all you need is a domain name (if desired) with forwarding capability.
    My cable provider allows 6 email addresses and 10 meg of web hosting storage for each ...
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2011-03-29 12:11
    No matter where you plan to host your website make sure you claim your domain ASAP. I'm surprised that domain already hasn't been registered by someone else and if you want it then do it now!!! If someone else registers the name then you are too late. I'd recommend removing the actual domain name fro your post above until you actually register it.....

    You don't need to have the domain name with the same place as the website hosting and I would suggest you get that first.

    Robert
  • stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
    edited 2011-03-29 12:14
    You'll get a different opinion from everyone who chimes in here.

    The big question is: do you want an easy place to post stuff just to let folks know what you can do OR do you want web-page building and maintenance to become another hobby/job OR do you want it to be a vehicle to sell stuff?

    I've used Startlogic for several years and it does what I need it to do very economically.
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-03-29 12:17
    @Ron: I checked, and they do offer free hosting, but it doesn't look like you can add your own domain name, or use PHP files.
    @RobotWorkshop: I'll register it now, because I can always sell it off if I decide not to use it, but should I get the .com or .info?

    Thanks,
    Microcontrolled
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-03-29 12:21
    @stamptol: I want it to post things, but also as a commercial selling site. I'm going to get a few boards prototyped that I might decide to sell and I would like to use the site to do it. Kind of like Bean's site before he sold it off. It doesn't need to be big like Gadget Gangster, nor small like uController, if you get what I mean.
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2011-03-29 12:26
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    @Ron: I checked, and they do offer free hosting, but it doesn't look like you can add your own domain name, or use PHP files.
    @RobotWorkshop: I'll register it now, because I can always sell it off if I decide not to use it, but should I get the .com or .info?

    Thanks,
    Microcontrolled

    Go with the .COM before anything else because that is the one that everyone will probably goto first. After all the Internet was often referred to as the .COM age. How often do you hear of people mentioning .info or other extensions?? Not nearly as often as the .com

    Robert
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-03-29 13:44
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'd like the opinion of other website owners here, is it worth getting a personal website? I've had one before, only having someone else hosting and a subdomain name, but is it worth the cost of a real one?

    I have a personal website that is free but the problem is that while it gets a lot of views, people don't participate enough with it. The other issue is that companies that can provide a lot of page hits through advertising also want to charge obscene amounts of money in the thousands of dollars.

    While I appreciate web sites for free, I almost feel disappointed every day that it is up.
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2011-03-29 14:41
    I like having a personal website if for no other reason than to know I'll always have the same email address.

    I concur with registering the .com address over .info.

    As far as web building frameworks, I haven't played with it yet, but Capuccino looks like it might be worth looking at. As soon as I have time I'm going to run through the tutorials.
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-03-29 14:54
    Thanks for all the replies.
    Unfortunately, when I went to Namecheap to secure my domain, I forgot my login password and mistyped the new one they gave me, so I'm locked out of my account for 24 hours and cannot purchase the domain until it is re-activated. :-(
    I did decide to go with .com, as it is easier to remember and most people will go there anyway.
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2011-03-29 15:38
    SSteve wrote: »
    I like having a personal website if for no other reason than to know I'll always have the same email address.

    This is a good reason to have your own domain. Having a fixed email address that you "own" is nice. You don't need a web site to go along with it. One of my domains is used purely for email - there is no web site attached to it. I have it point to a provider that acts as an email server for me.

    I have a couple other domains that don't get used much. One of them is also used for email and does have a web site associated with it but I haven't touched the site for years. I also own the .name domain with my name but I'm not doing anything with it. Just holding on to it. :)
  • schillschill Posts: 741
    edited 2011-03-29 15:41
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies.
    Unfortunately, when I went to Namecheap to secure my domain, I forgot my login password and mistyped the new one they gave me, so I'm locked out of my account for 24 hours and cannot purchase the domain until it is re-activated. :-(
    I did decide to go with .com, as it is easier to remember and most people will go there anyway.

    If you are worried about losing it (say, to someone who saw your original post - I didn't), you can always register somewhere else. There are plenty of places. Godaddy is only $11.99 right now.

    Remember that you will be paying for the domain every year.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2011-03-29 15:42
    I suggest going with a pay-as-you-go provider such as nearlyfreespeech.net. You front-load the account with $$$, and if you run low your site just goes dark until you pay up. It's much cheaper if you don't get much traffic, but will hold up nicely on that happy day when you get slashdotted and you won't get a surprise bill for the bandwidth usage.
  • Zap-oZap-o Posts: 452
    edited 2011-03-29 15:52
    I own and manage several websites. They are a pain and I don't like doing it as much as I did when I first owned them. It was and is a great learning experience. I do sometimes put my webserver to work, as in searching the web for things, sending emails to a-lot of people automatically (not spam) and other little pieces of code that I enjoy testing. So thats a bonus!

    I suggest WordPress to start out for your site and www.godaddy.com has always been good to me, of-course I own a server and I could make you a deal - if you need a host.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2011-03-29 16:01
    My 2 cents.

    I have used www.powweb.com for 6 years and have been happy with them. Tech support has been great and they speak English!

    Currently they are offering, (for $4.88/Month):

    UNLIMITED Hosting
    FREE Domain
    Host Unlimited Domains
    MySQL, PHP, CGI
    SSL, FTP, Stats
    Point & Click Site Builder
    $150 in Google, Yahoo!/Bing & Facebook Ad Credits
    Free Yellowpages.com Listing
    E-Commerce Included
    FrontPage/Dreamweaver ready
    30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

    It's a good deal, and an American company.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-03-29 17:53
    If you get a website I will visit it often to see what sort of interesting stuff you are up to. :-)
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-03-29 18:38
    I'd like to second the Wordpress suggestion. Websites are great, but potentially zap time that you want to use for actual projects. Wordpress will do all the design grunt-work allowing you to post interesting information quickly and go back to what you really want to do.

    http://www.propellerpowered.com is a WordPress website.

    OBC
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-03-29 23:06
    Yes it is worth it !

    I own 4 domans and one server site .

    Ill never give them up .

    www.peterthethinker.com is my main but I have a few others for internal use and I have My MVP page for future Biz .


    peter
  • icepuckicepuck Posts: 466
    edited 2011-03-30 06:58
    check out squarespace they have a two week free trial
    http://www.squarespace.com
    -dan
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-03-30 19:09
    Thanks for all the replies!
    @localroger: Thanks for the link, I've checked them out and it looks good, I may go with them.
    @Publision: If my site gets big enough they would be a great option. Right now I'm not sure if I'd go with $60 a year, especially since I probably won't have much web traffic, but It's a good option to have. Thanks.
    @Holly: That's enough to make me get a website up, no kidding!
    @OBC: I've downloaded Wordpress and will see if I can manage to install it. It's nice that they have a web guide, so it should be easy. BTW I had no idea my Stingray setup made Propellerpowered.com! Thanks!

    I still can't log into my Namecheap account, and it has been more than 24 hours. I'm going to either create a new account or purchase from somewhere else.

    Thanks,
    Microcontrolled
  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-03-31 05:53
    OK! I purchased the domain, now I need to transfer it to the web server....
  • Jay KickliterJay Kickliter Posts: 446
    edited 2011-03-31 07:58
    Microcontrolled wrote: »
    OK! I purchased the domain, now I need to transfer it to the web server....

    No one mentioned Squarespace. I'm surprised, since they advertise on so many podcasts. I use it and it's awesome. They host on virtual servers that can expand to handle any load, and have the design software built into the website. It's what I use for my site.
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