Best free webhost ??

[Baguadude]

Hey Chris,

Did you manage to have Wordpress.org working with 000webhost?

If not, then I will have to shoot for a paid hosting service, having the fantastico button on a cPanel makes your life so much easier.

Cheers.

[chris.p]

Well, I went back to my install there as I couldn't get WP on a real domain working anywhere else.

I reinstalled it and it's OK now. Before, I had it in a directory, like how Fantastico installs it. But this isn't the best arrangement, ideally you FTP the files up to the webroot, you get a better install then.

But I still can't get the SEF URLs to work. This is something to do with the virtual path to root they have on the server at 000webhost. You have to use an htaccess file, with a Rewrite Base/ script in it. But it's not working for me.

I need to get that working or give up and move on. Or just live with it. It means the SEO is bad, so really it needs fixing. It's not just the URL type, it's stuff like duplicate URLs to pages, 301s for duplicates, etc. It could just be that the SEO plugin I've used won't work on this server.
.

[edit]
OK, an update. An expert on WP looked at it and fixed the htaccess, it needs a fancy one. Now we got SEF URLs and stuff, I'm a happy bunny.

So it's rock & roll at 000webhost

[chris.p]

...And the latest update...

Wordpress ran fine on 000webhost after the parameters were set up right for SEF URLs

Then it seemed a good idea to change the site over to a CMS to see if that worked OK. I installed Joomla 1.0 which I prefer to J1.5. However you can't manually install it on this host, there are too many issues - wrong Apache file ownership settings etc. The files aren't writeable for this reason and others. Too many problems.

Anyway, there's a Fantastico installer there, so no problem (I thought) - I'll use that. Tried that, but it's offline. They're "fixing it soon". In the meantime - "Upgrade to our paid service". Sure. That would put you on another server I reckon, as the script installer won't work with those faulty server settings.

So I thought hmm, let's try another host, then. Heard about another that should be better: 5quidhost.co.uk

They have a full commercial hosting service at £5 a year ($7.50), or a free version, or various upgrades of course. I got an account to try the free version. Stunned - absolutely perfect server settings, full-on cPanel and email, all the latest PHP and Apache versions, all the server settings absolutely right, the full monty. Exactly the same as if you were paying £70 / $100 a year, no difference. And obviously run by capable server techs as servers like this, that are set up absolutely right, are about 25% of the total in my experience.

The catch is a tiny webspace and bandwidth allowance of course - just 20MB disk space and 2GB traffic. It's actually not possible to install Joomla correctly in a space that small, but luckily they give you the same space again for the database, which makes it just possible. Very tight though. Anyway - you can see what you're getting, this way, and can then upgrade if you like it. And that's what I'll do. £5 won't kill me

So here's the state of play:
Use 000webhost for an HTML site or a blog / micro-cms install like WordPress. It works 100% and there is a big resource allowance. You can upgrade once your site takes off, to get better email (which is the worst part of this service, just 5 accounts and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w. Messages can take 24 hours to appear in your inbox

Use 5quidhost if you want to run a real cms, but you'll only get a skinny install in there. Then you'll hit the wall and need to upgrade. Not a fortune though -- and well worth it. A really excellent server set-up that you will have trouble beating at under £100 / $150 a year. Haven't checked how many sites on the server yet but it doesn't seem slow, unlike many of the others I looked at.

They have servers in the UK and US (and elsewhere I think), and I believe you can request where to be hosted. If you have a commercial site that offers a service based in a particular country, you must be hosted in that country. If you're selling in South Africa you must be hosted in SA.

But to start a site out, it may not matter too much. And if you want max initial traffic, and the site is not country-specific, then host in the US.

And if you want the most sensible legal situation, in an EN language country, with no restrictions, loony laws, or litigation culture, then host in the UK. Don't know how long that will last though.

[update]
Unfortunately the 5quidhost account upgrade to £5 / $7.50 a year doesn't include MySQL, in other words no DB. Hmm. Next upgrade is £24 / $36 per year. Still very good value for what you get though, a perfectly set up server.

[terry31]

Hosting certainly good.
But not all there is good.
At them is affiliate program.
Here it is necessary to know.
A deceit!!!
000webhosting.com there
affiliate program is a FRAUD program - Beware!



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[rosarionemia]

Sorry but I dont really believe in free webhost. just a simple question, why are they giving it for free?

Thanks.

[chris.p]

Yes, that is a logical question.

And the answer is - the same reason software authors give their programs away for free. Almost all of the same reasons apply. For example try-before-you-buy is a proven business model. You lock out your competitors this way.

However I'd say the big difference is the relative quality in the two areas - free / open-source software is provably of the highest quality and in some cases can't be bettered. You can't say the same about free webhosts. I haven't tried many, but I've only found one quality host that offers a free service. Because it has a tiny webspace allocation it's basically a try-before-you-buy service.

However it worked for them - while trying out free webhosts, I came across their economy hosting service, and found one that actually knows how to host CMS properly. So they will get work from me as I can always use a source of cheap but good CMS hosting - not easy to find. I know of others but I'm not keen on their business ethics - they hold your card details and auto-charge every year unless you cancel 2 months before, and that kind of stuff. Smart tactics of that type don't get my vote.

[korbenPL]

000webhost.com

Their free hosting is lousy. The most typical reply you get when sending a ticket with a problem is: upgrade to paid one. Polish language available for free user yet it doesnt work unless you pay [sic] And make sure you insert gmail address when registering or your domain may never become activated.

When you take a look at their forum - hundreds of unsolved issues and no ona cares about the free users but other users, where is the staff?

the autoinstaller never works

my opinion: 1/5

atbhost.net
I've been toying with its rich options for a week now and let me tell you it is both free and good. try it and you won't be disappointed.

my opinion: 4.5/5

[bk_7312]

Originally Posted by korbenPL

atbhost.net
I've been toying with its rich options for a week now and let me tell you it is both free and good. try it and you won't be disappointed.

my opinion: 4.5/5

atbhost.net sure is one unique free webhost. By free, the actually mean you pay by post per month, not by money. That's one way to make sure your client is still active. What's more, they have MySQL databases (which isn't found on many free webhosts).

[bk_7312]

Does anyone know anything about .co.cc domains? What's the difference between .co.cc and other domains like .com, .net and etc.

You can register for a .co.cc at www[DOT]co.cc for free.

[chris.p]

Yeah, .co.cc is a cheap domain, basically. Like .info, only even cheaper.

Depends what you want it for - it's OK for a personal site but no good for a site that you want traffic for. So if it's a business site or one that you can maybe get a couple of $$ with ads then I don't recommend it.

The reason is that Google thinks of .info and .co.cc as spammers and you have a lot of hard work to do before you can convince them otherwise. This is because spammers buy domains to churn 'n burn, and the cheaper they are the better. They buy hundreds at a time and set up spam sites on them. Then when they are discovered, they ditch them. As .info's were sold for 60c and are still cheap, they are a favourite for this. If .co.cc are cheap they will go the same way.

A real domain is only about $8 so I don't figure it's worth cutting corners. Always buy a .com unless you really don't care about traffic or anything.