hawkmcdowell

Hey Everyone,

I have been checking out some forums but haven't ran across a related question yet.

I have little to no web site design experience but I would like to start developing one within the next month (or few months). I plan on doing a good deal of researching but the reality is I don't have a lot of free time, so I would like to design something for a small non-profit org that is professional looking with relative ease.

Some technologies I would potentially employ include:
Forums, (wiki/blogs), live one-on-one chat, live group forum chats

We are basically creating an online interactive community ('web 2.0').
What hosting services (or general) suggestions would you have for me that could support the above technologies?

My understanding is that I will need a registered domain name (one time fee) and a hosting service where site is stored and accessed (small monthly fee).

What services/hosts are you using or have you heard about that may fit my needs? Thanks! Please let me know if you need more info.

jjpeacha

Hi hawkmcdowell,

This shouldn't be too hard for you to setup as most of the features of what you want can be uploaded to a server and then setup automatically (such as phpBB forums).

Most hosts now can support what you want and there are vast amounts of web hosting services to choose from. I myself use a paid version of x10hosting, which also offer free webhosting but with quite alot of restrictions. However, one of my friends has used http://www.pixelinternet.co.uk/ and claims that it's the best host he's ever used and looking at the prices and features does seem true.

As for a domain name being a one time payment, that isn't true. Domains need to be paid for yearly/2 yearly depending on your domain name provider.

Regards,
Jj

RobinMarek

The best hosting I have come across is www.servage.net (yes it really is that cheap for that much space!)

I've been using them for well over a year now and had no problems, they are great for support and look after you.

As for live one on one chat, you could use Skype? It's free, and you can use it for free skype-to-skype voice calls as well as type chatting.

You can get little icons from their site that you can put on your site and people can click. The only thing is the other person will need to have skype.