I need advice re: cheaply getting my own web page

[Dixon]

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account. This means that my email address, [email protected], will have to change, I guess. I'm told that I can inexpensively get my own webpage (or domain or whatever it's called), and then my email address can be "[email protected]" or whatever. Can anyone here recommend a good cheap purveyor of domains (if that's what they're called)? I'm interested in getting one that would allow me to post my writings along with pictures, audio, and video. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer this techneanderthal.

[Bryan]

Hey Dixon - Since you are looking for easy, maybe godaddy.com or 1and1.com

They will do the first year for almost free, and then charge you for domain, webpage and email box.
The godaddy.com cost is $12/month after first year.
1and1 has a $4/month web account that could be right for you.

If you want a less expensive approach, you need to setup the domain ONLY at godaddy or 1and1.com,
then forward the email (for free) to a free gmail.com account. But you would still need a webpage somewhere if you want that.

You pay for the domain, and for free send/receive the email from gmail.com - there is a way
to configure the domain account and the gmail.com account to do that.
The domain should be $15 a year lets say so you'll save $50/year if you don't need a webpage but only email.

Maybe others know someone less expensive than godaddy or 1and1 for just 1 account?

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account. This means that my email address, [email protected], will have to change, I guess. I'm told that I can inexpensively get my own webpage (or domain or whatever it's called), and then my email address can be "[email protected]" or whatever. Can anyone here recommend a good cheap purveyor of domains (if that's what they're called)? I'm interested in getting one that would allow me to post my writings along with pictures, audio, and video. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer this techneanderthal.

[Chris Murray]

Here's a starting list:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-w...ting-services/

Always good to think long and hard about what you need, odds are that the cheapest will be adequate unless you plan to sell stuff.

... I'm told that I can inexpensively get my own webpage (or domain or whatever it's called), and then my email address can be "[email protected]" or whatever. Can anyone here recommend a good cheap purveyor of domains ...

[Barry]

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account. This means that my email address, [email protected], will have to change, I guess. ...

Sonic.net offers an email-only service for something like $4/month. This would allow you to keep your address should you want to, at least for a while. However I do recommend having either a gmail account, or better yet, your own domain.

[1104GT]

Use any domain service like GoDaddy or Namecheap for your domain. Then use Wordpress or Weebly to build your site. Wordpress is best for blogs and for getting the attention of search engines. Wordpress has a bit of a learning curve, so it's not great for newbies. If you have some web experience, it will be fairly easy. If search engine optimization (Google finding you) is not your priority, Weebly is much easier and free if you don't mind their small logo in the footer. Look at their tutorial videos. It really is that easy.

If you don't care about having your own domain (www.yourdomain.com), definitely use Weebly. Weebly allows you to setup a domain like this: "www.yourdomain.weebly.com" for free and almost instantly. My kids setup free Weebly sites for grade school projects, birthday party invitations and just for having fun with friends.

Cheers!

[cocreator]

Hi Dixon,

You should be able to use your email account no matter where you use WiFi; that just gives you internet access.

In terms of your own web page/domain (same thing): If you want a simple place to post your writing and audio/video content, there are a number of free or very low cost sites, such as the 5 discussed here. I created an online portfolio on Clippings.me based on the info in this article, can upload and edit my work whenever I choose, add images, etc., and it's free. You can also choose the paid option on most of them (it's just $5/month on Clippings.me) and get your own email address, web hosting, etc.

If you want to create a more elaborate site with a domain of your choosing, first you need to see if your name (or whatever domain name you wish to use; it doesn't have to be your own name) is available. You can test this out by simply typing the name you want to use into a browser with different suffixes (such as .com, .net, .biz, etc.) and seeing what shows up. You can also type the domain you want into a domain search box and check for availability. I just checked dixon.net at Name.com, and it doesn't appear to be available — but lots of other suffixes are!

Many people set up a WordPress site as their domain. WordPress is really easy to use, and you can have a designer help you create a custom page if you want it.

Hope this is helpful as a start. Lots of more techie folks on here than moi, so you may get more specific advice.

Blessings ~

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account. This means that my email address, [email protected], will have to change, I guess...

[Peacemaker]

Dixon, have you spoken with Sonic about this? It may be possible to retain your sonic.net e-mail even though you end your internet account with them. Also, if you have a web pager with them, you may be able to keep that too. I would expect them to charge a fee. Just wanted to raise the possibility.

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account...

[patnicholson]

Ask sonic if you get free web space w/ your account.

pat

[gypsey]

I have free email accounts at AOL and Hotmail and don't have a domain name. Others use gmail.

[juna]

I personally boycott Go Daddy due to learning about the family's safari killing spree of African endangered species such as tigers and lions.
Juna

Hey Dixon - Since you are looking for easy, maybe godaddy.com ...

[Shandi]

Blake Irving is now president at Go Daddy, and I believe it was Bob Parsons who was the safari hunter. I don't know about Blake Irving.

I personally boycott Go Daddy due to learning about the family's safari killing spree of African endangered species such as tigers and lions.
Juna

[juna]

Not sure if Bob Parson still receives money from Go Daddy yet here is what I found on Google:

https://www.google.com/search?source....0.345hMrx4HKY

[ This link on Time Magazine's site is particularly good - Barry ]

Blake Irving is now president at Go Daddy, and I believe it was Bob Parsons who was the safari hunter. I don't know about Blake Irving.

[Shandi]

I did investigate further, and saw that he still has 28% ownership in the company, so that's enough for me.

Not sure if Bob Parson still receives money from Go Daddy...

[caromia333]

Hi Dixon,

I have made dozens of websites using Yola.com - they are free and easy as can be to build yourself.
They come with templates and everything you need.
Here's some of my websites:

hummingbirdmedicinalscbd.com
www.solutionaries.org
www.wondercloud.org
www.bellalunatreehouse.com
https://www.boycottbigoil.org
destinywalkingtrip.yolasite.com

All of these are for my own projects.

I created these in a couple hours for friends:

https://gregortonlegalservices.yolasite.com
collegecostreductioncalculator.yolasite.com
nutritionalconsultswithshizandra.yolasite.com
simplyorganizingsonoma.yolasite.com

You can see just a sample of the many templates Yola offers. It's fun to work with them AND the hosting is FREE - to get some of the premiere templates you would pay $10 a month - but you can make a pretty good website for absolutely NO money.

Enjoy,
Carolyn

I've moved into a place that includes wifi, so will have to end my Sonic.net fusion account. This means that my email address, [email protected], will have to change, I guess. I'm told that I can inexpensively get my own webpage (or domain or whatever it's called), and then my email address can be "[email protected]" or whatever. Can anyone here recommend a good cheap purveyor of domains (if that's what they're called)? I'm interested in getting one that would allow me to post my writings along with pictures, audio, and video. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer this techneanderthal.

[gypsey]

My understanding from Dixon's original post is that he was losing his Sonic email address and wanted to find out the best way to have another. Someone told him he could get a web page for a low monthly/annual cost, but in fact email addresses are often FREE: aol, hotmail and gmail as well as yahoo to name a few.
DIxon you can use your own name often but not always...so search these free sites.
Best,
Gypsey

I personally boycott Go Daddy due to learning about the family's safari killing spree of African endangered species such as tigers and lions.
Juna

[Glia]

The GoDaddy hunter, Bob Parsons, has been basically bought out; he is something of a figurehead at this point, which may be why he has time on his hands for African hunting sprees.

Their Website Builder product is reasonably easy to use and looks good, especially for the price.

I personally boycott Go Daddy due to learning about the family's safari killing spree of African endangered species such as tigers and lions.
Juna

[Dixon]

I can have an email address at Weebly, too? (That's my most urgent need right now.)

...If you don't care about having your own domain (www.yourdomain.com), definitely use Weebly. Weebly allows you to setup a domain like this: "www.yourdomain.weebly.com" for free and almost instantly. My kids setup free Weebly sites for grade school projects, birthday party invitations and just for having fun with friends.

Cheers!

[1104GT]

Yes, Weebly has an agreement with Google Apps (Gmail) to provide free email addresses using your domain. It's a little tricky, but not too bad. I used Google to setup both my business and family email using my domains.

Here's a link for more info on how to do it. https://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us/artic...Email-Address-

If you are ok with not having email connected to your domain name, there are TONS of free email services (Google, Yahoo, Sonic, Care2, Posteo ....)

Ted

[Dixon]

I looked into Weebly but they apparently charge for their email service. A number of outfits that purportedly offer free email service have been mentioned in this thread (Google, Yahoo, Sonic, Care2, Posteo, AOL, Hotmail, Gmail). Can anybody recommend one or two as the best option, or are they pretty much the same quality?

[Dixon]

I personally boycott Go Daddy due to learning about the family's safari killing spree of African endangered species such as tigers and lions.

Tigers in Africa? He must have been shooting in a zoo.

[Chris Murray]

If sonic.net will allow you to continue with your existing email address at no charge, why not continue with that?
If not, then there are probably upsides and downsides to all the free alternatives. I find that I use a lot of Google's services such as calendar, maps, drive, translate and docs. Although I originally signed up using a different email address, one day I found that I'd been "assigned" a gmail address and that's what I had to use. I suppose I could have found a way to revert to using my original email for logging in, but it really wasn't worth the effort. Quite frankly, I appreciate all the free goodies that Google offers. I realize they probably know more about me than I do myself (perhaps one day they'll offer free counselling ) but likely so does the NSA and a variety of other undesirables. At least the gmail account synchronizes everything. They'll even back up your photos to the cloud. Overall I think it's a nice offering. I should add that I also have email addresses with yahoo! and hotmail to benefit from their offerings.

I looked into Weebly but they apparently charge for their email service. A number of outfits that purportedly offer free email service have been mentioned in this thread (Google, Yahoo, Sonic, Care2, Posteo, AOL, Hotmail, Gmail). Can anybody recommend one or two as the best option, or are they pretty much the same quality?

[Shandi]

I'd STAY AWAY from AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo. I have had GMail for many years, and I like it for several reasons: unlimited space, options for several email addresses, and many other features, like great organizing tools.

I've been online since 1994, when it was first available, and was part of a team that created MentorNet, the first Internet Learning Center in San Francisco. Gmail wasn't available at that time, so people were getting AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo. My advice is to stay away from them. I didn't have a computer at that time, so I got one through People PC, and it included an email address. I used that for a couple of years, and then switched to GMail.

Many people in West County use Sonic, so they'll probably tell you about their experience.

There may be an online chart that you can view which details and compares the services. That may be your best bet, so you can make an informed decision. Search "compare email services".

I looked into Weebly but they apparently charge for their email service. A number of outfits that purportedly offer free email service have been mentioned in this thread (Google, Yahoo, Sonic, Care2, Posteo, AOL, Hotmail, Gmail). Can anybody recommend one or two as the best option, or are they pretty much the same quality?

[Shandi]

I found a picture of him sitting on an elephant he just killed, saying that this is so "rewarding". Even though he sold Go Daddy, he still owns 28% of it, so I won't be getting any domains from that company again. We vote with our money, and that's one way we can do it. There are alternatives to Go Daddy.

Tigers in Africa? He must have been shooting in a zoo.

[Shandi]

I just wanted to share this, since I did a search to compare free email services, and GMail has a Gold Award for Best of 2015. https://free-email-services-review.t...eviews.com/v3/

...There may be an online chart that you can view which details and compares the services. That may be your best bet, so you can make an informed decision. Search "compare email services".

[marv3lls]

I posted this thread on a Web group I do a lot of stuff with, and aside from "websites cost a fair penny" I got this: https://www.wpsitecare.com/how-much-does-a-website-cost/

[meagain]

Appalling. Thanks for doing the research on this.

I found a picture of him sitting on an elephant he just killed, saying that this is so "rewarding". Even though he sold Go Daddy, he still owns 28% of it, so I won't be getting any domains from that company again. We vote with our money, and that's one way we can do it. There are alternatives to Go Daddy.

[gypsey]

Unfortunately Shandi G mail is often frequently hacked--based on what I've seen from friends who use the site.. I have not had that problem with AOL or Hotmail, both of which I use. However, I never open an email with a link from a sender I don't actually know. I have used Hotmail for many years and find it to be the best in terms of security and also the great "filing system".

I just wanted to share this, since I did a search to compare free email services, and GMail has a Gold Award for Best of 2015. https://free-email-services-review.t...eviews.com/v3/

[Shandi]

I've never been hacked in all the years I've had it. LIke you, I never open a link even if it's from someone I know, because friends may just forward links, not knowing about potential dangers. People have different experiences, and that's why I suggested looking at a chart of best free email providers, based on high numbers of users, rather then just you and me.

Unfortunately Shandi G mail is often frequently hacked--based on what I've seen from friends who use the site.. I have not had that problem with AOL or Hotmail, both of which I use. However, I never open an email with a link from a sender I don't actually know. I have used Hotmail for many years and find it to be the best in terms of security and also the great "filing system".

[gypsey]

And your suggestion is an excellent one.

I've never been hacked in all the years I've had it. LIke you, I never open a link even if it's from someone I know, because friends may just forward links, not knowing about potential dangers. People have different experiences, and that's why I suggested looking at a chart of best free email providers, based on high numbers of users, rather then just you and me.

[iaim2xl]

I am a web designer, and get a lot of email as well as work with a lot of clients' emails. Based on my experience, I have to agree with Shandi and disagree with Gypsey on this. I have never yet seen grmail hacked (at least not personally), and I believe it is one of the more secure email products out there, depending on how you handle your password, of course.

Hotmail and Yahoo emails are the most frequently hacked free accounts (particularly Yahoo), and I recommend that anyone invest in a paid email to maintain highest security and, if applicable, to match your website domain. You can register a domain for under $15 per year, and email to go along with it starting from just 84 cents per month at this link: https://shop.newparadigmmarketing.com/ (I am a reseller of these services...)

Also, some general advice about websites... Since Google is now downgrading search results for sites that are not "responsive' (mobile friendly), make sure the site you choose meets those requirements. If search position matters, you probably should compare features to see if the site is SEO (search engine optimization) friendly, since many of the free online web builders are not.

I am happy to answer specific questions if you have them. Feel free to message me privately.

Cheers,
Tim

Unfortunately Shandi G mail is often frequently hacked--based on what I've seen from friends who use the site.. I have not had that problem with AOL or Hotmail, both of which I use. However, I never open an email with a link from a sender I don't actually know. I have used Hotmail for many years and find it to be the best in terms of security and also the great "filing system".