I want a personal website: How must I proceed?

[Morris Schæffer]

I'm just trying to get my own personal website although I'm only beginning to learn the basics. I noticed that a lot of solutions come up when I google "Free webspace," but is it that simple? I understand that if I go all the way, I will probably have to pay a monthly or yearly sum to be able to use the webspace, but is a free solution really sufficient for my needs? And more importantly, is it indeed totally free?

I was thinking movie-related stuff such as reviews, new posters etc...., but I'd like to archive older stuff as well rather than deleting older items when my webspace gets full.

Do any of you have your own website? I noticed that number8 uses justpressplay, but that's not really his site is it?

I'm just interested in the whole process I suppose.

[Sycophant]

I'm just trying to get my own personal website although I'm only beginning to learn the basics. I noticed that a lot of solutions come up when I google "Free webspace," but is it that simple? I understand that if I go all the way, I will probably have to pay a monthly or yearly sum to be able to use the webspace, but is a free solution really sufficient for my needs? And more importantly, is it indeed totally free?

I was thinking movie-related stuff such as reviews, new posters etc...., but I'd like to archive older stuff as well rather than deleting older items when my webspace gets full.

Do any of you have your own website? I noticed that number8 uses justpressplay, but that's not really his site is it?

I'm just interested in the whole process I suppose.
I run a couple of websites off of one account I have with a company called Westhost. They're a pretty decent company, though I think their prices might run a little higher than you can get elsewhere. I pay $18 a month for a pretty sweet amount of server space and bandwidth, with annual renewals of the domains I use running $15 a pop (less if multiple years at a time).

However, if you're just starting something out, a free account somewhere might not be a bad idea. You might even want to consider doing a heavily-modified Blogger page or something. I haven't used any of the free hosting spaces in the last three or four years, so I can't say that I have any insightinto that.

Also, 8 may have JustPressPlay, but he also has http://www.aryaponto.com/ so perhaps he might have some pointers for you.

[Morris Schæffer]

I'm trying not to go the blogger route since I'd like to start the whole design from scratch. And yes, I'd like to know if totally free solutions are available. 18 a month sounds steep already. :)

[Sycophant]

Back in the day, I was fond of Geocities. I think in terms of free space, they're still not bad. Generally, I find it's best to go with something more established, as a lot of the smaller free hosting sites have a tendency to have server issues and sometimes fold quickly. Visit example sites on their servers and see how ad-congested they are. You'll probably have to put up with some ads, but you want to keep it minimal.

[chrisnu]

I have my own Web site, but it's mostly just a blog and a gallery for my various screen captures. I've used third-party software for both: WordPress for the blog, and Simple Picture Gallery Manager for the gallery. I put together some basic Web pages in Microsoft Expression Web, but that's about it.

[number8]

As far as free sites go, Geocities is one of the best, methinks. Their ads are less annoying, and they have a good control panel system.

If you want an archiving posting system, you'll need something like Wordpress, and for that you're gonna have to cough up the dough for an actual server.

[chrisnu]

I think Wordpress.com offers free accounts. They even allow you to register your own domain name, and associate it with your blog as a paid upgrade.

[jesse]

I'm trying not to go the blogger route since I'd like to start the whole design from scratch. And yes, I'd like to know if totally free solutions are available. 18 a month sounds steep already. :) I used to think that too until I wrestled with it for a few years and decided it wasn't worth my time or effort. I've found that I can do essentially everything I wanted on a web page on my blog, so I switched over.

I used a free Geocities account for my first website and it worked well, but it didn't take long until I ran out of space. It was pretty helpful with starting out though.

[Sycophant]

If you're considering dynamic content/updates/archiving at all, working with the extensive customizability of Blogger's templates can be awesomely powerful, paritcularly if you're a hand-coding HTML junkie like myself.

[Morris Schæffer]

If you're considering dynamic content/updates/archiving at all, working with the extensive customizability of Blogger's templates can be awesomely powerful, paritcularly if you're a hand-coding HTML junkie like myself.

Maybe I should give that another shot. Merci!

[Morris Schæffer]

I need some help. Here's my problem.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/Lightstorm/Image1-2.gif

You see the red stars? And how they're surrounded by a nasty border of white? What must I do to have just the stars on the green-ish background?

What I've done is create the stars in MS Excel, paste that into Paint, but I'm sure I'm going about it the wrong way. I also have Paint Shop Pro 9 which is possibly very similar to Photo Shop and I suspect that either program is what I need. Still, no luck. I can't get rid of the white border. I'm somewhat familiar with different layers and all that, but no succes.

What's the key here?

Thanks.:)

[number8]

.gif file.

Transparent.

[Morris Schæffer]

This is so hard for some reason. How do I get this after opening "new file"?

http://www.sluniverse.com/kb/Article.aspx?id=10190

The second picture in that link. In paint shop pro, transparent is checked when I choose "new," but I just can't seem to get the checkerboard background. Always a white square.

EDIT: Supposedly I can change whatever I need to change in preferences, but to no avail either.

Got it! I just reset all my settings.