Can you set up a free website

[astondog]

Can you construct and put a free website on the web. I know it's a bit of a cheek but I'm a recent amputee and cannot afford to do much as I'm on disability benefit.
Thanks.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

First, you need to design your website. Obviously, you'll be looking for free software. Serif is a great software company, which makes older versions of many of its programs available totally free of charge. (Most people find that this free software is perfectly adequate for their needs. The newer stuff just has a few extra 'bells & whistles', which aren't necessary to accomplish the basic task). The relevant free program, for web design, is WebPlus 6:
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/

Next, you'll need somewhere to host your website. I'd be extremely surprised if your ISP doesn't provide you with some free web space. (Almost every ISP does. The amount provided is usually perfectly adequate for most people's needs). Check your ISP's website for details of how to use this free web space. (If your ISP doesn't offer free web space - which, as I've said, is very unlikely - just Google 'free web space'. There are dozens of companies which provide this service but you should be aware that they're funded by advertising which will appear on your web pages or on pop-ups which appear when people view your site).

[Fitzer]

If you have an ISP (and since you're posting here I assume you do) then most of those give you some webspace to host your own webpages. For instance I'm with Virgin Media (was NTL) and I have 55MB of webspace to play with. There are tutorials on the web to tell you how to construct a webpage using nothing more complicated than notepad. Who is your service provider, they may have info on their homepage on any tools etc that you can use.

[Fitzer]

Or you can just follow Chris's somewhat more comprehensive advice :-)

[Buenchico]

I'm not sure whether WebPlus 6 includes an FTP program for uploading your website to the host server. You might find it simplest to use a (free) dedicated FTP program, such as CoffeeCup Free FTP 3.0:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/195147

By using WebPlus (and possibly CoffeeCup), together with the free web space provided by your ISP, you've now got your own website, without paying a penny. The only problem is that the URL won't be particularly 'snappy'. For example, if your ISP is called 'myisp.com', and you log on as 'astondog', your site's address might be something like 'www.myisp.com/users/a/astondog'. If you'd rather have an address like 'www.astondog.co.uk', you'll have to pay to acquire that web address. (Just Google 'uk domain names' to see what different firms offer and how much they charge). You'd still be able to put your website on your ISP's server (for free) but people would then be able to see it by typing in the 'snappy' address which you'd paid for.

Chris

[wideboy]

Astondog,

Instead of all the palaver trying to set up a website and to learn the software (even though Serif is good!) why not consider a free WIKI. Have a look at http://www.wikispaces.com/

Setting up is just like using a wordprocessor but you can do so much with it (and they are adding more when they can). If you want to, you can allow others to contribute (by invitation). If you want more information and samples, let me know.

Not to be confused with Blogs - much better!