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Where to get a website?

TonnichiwaTonnichiwa 🖼️ 16 images Surveyor
in Cartographic Resources
Hi everyone,

Lately I have been contemplating starting my own website. So I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to go about getting a website? I'm hoping for a free one but if that isn't possible then maybe something very inexpensive. Does anyone have any ideas?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you :)
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Comments

  • thehawkthehawk Surveyor
    What you're looking for will depend on what you want to do with it, what your skill level is, and how much control you want to have over how it's all put together.
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  • TonnichiwaTonnichiwa 🖼️ 16 images Surveyor
    Ok, thanks for that information. I want the website so that I can display some of my maps, as well as have an area of it that people can download art that I make for them. Sometime I would like to start a patreon account and I kind of need a place to put some of my rewards for different levels of patreon such as those downloads I was talking about. I want to be able to control what downloads are free and which ones are for the different patreon levels.
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  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited July 2017
    Here's a list of free and cheap hosts.

    There are multiple things you need to consider to pick a good provider though.
    - Free sites usually have poor customer service
    - Some free sites serve ads on your pages
    - Free (and cheap) sites often have limits on what kind of software you can install, as well as database availability.
    - You need to consider if you wish to use a CMS-based system, a host-provided website designer, or if you just wish to write the html yourself
    - Are you planning to write the software yourself to manage those different Patreon user levels, or do you wish to use off the shelf software. In the first case, you need to make sure the host supports the languages/framework you want to use, in the latter, they must either support that software, or allow you to install custom software and support that language (usually php (with a mysql db)

    I can't recommend a particular host though.
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  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    My web host is good: http://www.crosswinds.net/ Cheap and lots of room and bandwidth. No ads, no banners. There is an instaler that can place blogs, cms, etc. on your domain.
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  • thehawkthehawk Surveyor
    Other options include sites like DeviantArt or WordPress (as examples) that do all the infrastructure work for you - just be sure to read the terms and their stand on copyrights and such. Using a 'Web 2.0' sort of site -usually- means they take care of more of the security and updates, but you get less overall control of the site.

    Using a host gives you more control, but you're also responsible for more security and keeping the software up to date. Some hosts have the installers mentioned and you're required to use them, while others have the installers but you can use whatever you want, and still others just provide you with the 'factory floor' and it's all up to you. This gives you freedom to use software or to write your own code to do what you want.

    Hosting providers keep the operating system (mostly WIndows or Linux) up to date and you don't have to be concerned with that at all.
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  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    Ah, I forgot that. An account holder can use the installer, or do it manually. I've installed textpattern and others by hand. Cpanel is how a site/domain/sub-sites/subdomains are managed at Crosswinds.net. And we have a help site to. I'm one of the volunteers that answers questions, I get nothing if you sign up there.
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  • TonnichiwaTonnichiwa 🖼️ 16 images Surveyor
    Ok, thank you everyone for your help. I have been trying to learn HTML but I am not good at it at all so I doubt I would be able to write my own stuff. So I probably need something that will automatically build stuff for me. I'll start looking through stuff to see what I can do. Thanks again :)
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  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited July 2017
    You're welcome. And we do help at Crosswinds.

    Here is our help site.
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  • TopdeckerTopdecker Traveler
    edited July 2017
    I have watched this for a bit before weighing in...

    I would recommend setting up a free Wordpress account. Do NOT invest a lot of time and effort in the site - just start a friendly blog and gradually add to it as you learn and experiment. You do not need to know HTML to do this - it has visual editors and the the themes tend to automagically lay your text out.

    If you survive that and STILL want a website, get an account on a host service provider. I payed for 2 years of hosting with my host because paying up front tends to be cheaper than paying monthly. Your host will give you tools to upload whatever you want to upload - and then you can provide it to your friends, family, and followers as you wish.

    If thing get going, you might spring for a custom Wordpress theme or subscribe to a site that provides many themes and widgets. But I recommend starting out free and deciding if you can do it. And if you can do, now decided if you want to invest money into it. And if you do, well, have fun!

    Tim
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  • TonnichiwaTonnichiwa 🖼️ 16 images Surveyor
    Thanks everyone. I appreciate all of the feedback :)
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