Volume I, Issue 12
ISSN: 1547-7754
May 2004
printable version

Chris King, Editor
By subscription only, this monthly e-newsletter will be loaded with short, "down and dirty" tips to help you with solving the everchanging and growing puzzle of the Internet. This e-zine will also serve as a place to ask your questions and find the answers.

In the March 2004 Issue, I wrote about the steps toward having a website. In STEP #2, I talked about "no cost" (or fr~ee) websites:

STEP #2. A No Cost Website with Site Building Tools

Even though there are cons, there may be a time when you want to get a quick website up easily and for no hosting (or a very low hosting fee) - for example, a resume, a reunion announcement, a one page mini-site, a blog or a sample of a website-to-be. So, in this issue I will share the names of some of the no cost resources that you can make use of.

CHOICE #1. http://www.tripod.lycos.com/
I found this fr~ee web building site to be one of the best of this kind. My suggestion is to take your time, read everything and try many of the features. The templates are the best no cost templates I have found, the styles and other additional tools are excellent and the sites can be created to work professionally. You will have a choice of many graphics, suggestions for what to include on the website and the ads are non-intrusive. If you do not want any ads, you pay a low fee for the hosting. Remember, though that your site is part of a database, so can't be transfered to a different location and will not be picked up by the search engines. You will, however, learn a great deal about what goes into designing a website.

CHOICE #2. http://geocities.yahoo.com/
Yahoo does an excellent job of providing you with tools - use their PageBuilder or step-by-step PageWizards for easy web pages. Upload files from your computer or customize your own HTML with File Manager. They also provide many add-ons to help you with adding pizzazz to your website, and you can list your site in their member directory of sites. They have ads that don't appeal to me, but for a small additional charge, you can have the ads removed. When taking some Internet classes, I set up a Geocities site and found it straight forward and fun.

CHOICE #3. http://freewebs.com
I haven't used this site, but it does come highly recommended and includes many different ways to use it, along with fr~ee hosting and low prices if you choose to upgrade. They have simplified the web publishing process so that even the most inexperienced web user can create, edit, and publish a professional website. Their goal was to make a start to finish web publishing solution that would be deemed as easy to use as e-mail. Users create stunning websites using the simple but powerful WebsGen technology. They can then edit their pages from anywhere in the world through a simple MS-Wordpad style editor with WebsEdit, a cutting-edge real-time editor. Those users that are experienced in web production can create experienced accounts, allowing them to upload and edit their sites in real-time.

CHOICE #4. Subscribe to a service that provides a personal page.
I still maintain a dial-up service with Earthlink.net and am thrilled with the personal page that accompanies the service. Besides having unlimited time on the Internet, I have a page with no advertising that I can use any way I wish. I often use it to hold Special Reports and also to provide space for a website that I am working on for a client. This way we never have to use the dreaded phrase, "Under Construction." My personal page holds the new site until it is ready for launching.

The best part of working on one of these no cost choices is that you can have lots of fun, get a feel for the Internet without feeling a financial pinch. Happy webbing!

Remember, send your comments and questions to me at chris@creativekeys.biz. I love to receive feedback and will answer your questions in future e-zines.