Can you talk about building a web site with me?

[Jean in Wisc]

My astronomy club would like to build its own website with its own domain name. Problem? We are a non-profit organization that does not have the money for $200 to $400 dollars/year to put into this.

Is there a place where non-business organizations can build a website for less money?

Thanks!
J

[KathyJo]

Are you talking just hosting, or do you also need design and upkeep?

You can have a domain name forwarded to a free site. This can even be masked so that those who visit the site never even see the actual URL. The problem with this is that most free sites have ads on them, but some ISPs offer a free ad-free site to customers, and there may be other places as well. This way, you're only paying for the domain name and possibly a small yearly fee for the forwarding, up to about $20 per year.

I host my website with Elemental Muse (http://elementalmuse.com). It's a small business run by a homeschooling mom (at least, I know she used to homeschool; I don't often have personal chats with her). Her customer service is excellent; she's even helped me with problems that were on MY end, not hers. Chances are that one of the least expensive plans (with her, or another small hosting service) would suit your needs, and if you can pay annually rather than monthly, you receive a discount. Total cost of both the hosting and domain name would be $50 to $100 per year that way. If you begin getting so many hits that you need a more expensive plan because of bandwidth, then at that time you might consider ads or something that would get the site to pay for itself.

[Jean in Wisc]

Are you talking just hosting, or do you also need design and upkeep?

You can have a domain name forwarded to a free site. This can even be masked so that those who visit the site never even see the actual URL. The problem with this is that most free sites have ads on them, but some ISPs offer a free ad-free site to customers, and there may be other places as well. This way, you're only paying for the domain name and possibly a small yearly fee for the forwarding, up to about $20 per year.

I host my website with Elemental Muse (http://elementalmuse.com). It's a small business run by a homeschooling mom (at least, I know she used to homeschool; I don't often have personal chats with her). Her customer service is excellent; she's even helped me with problems that were on MY end, not hers. Chances are that one of the least expensive plans (with her, or another small hosting service) would suit your needs, and if you can pay annually rather than monthly, you receive a discount. Total cost of both the hosting and domain name would be $50 to $100 per year that way. If you begin getting so many hits that you need a more expensive plan because of bandwidth, then at that time you might consider ads or something that would get the site to pay for itself.

One of our members takes care of the website of a large business and is willing to create and do the upkeep. We just want to get one out there with as little cost as possible--since we don't have much for income. LOL!

Thanks. I'll pass this info on.
J

[LauraGB]

Hi Jean,
Do you want to "build" it from scratch? Will a blog work? Dh has his business set up at blogger and paid Go Daddy $10 a year for a better domain name. He can do what he wants when he wants to in the site. Visitors can either type in hisaddress.blogspot.com or the much cooler one he bought from GoDaddy and get there as well. If you want to see his site as an example, feel free to pm me.

PS - It looks like the water is receding from what it looks like on the news. Hope you're hanging in there - been thinking of you.

[Amy in Orlando]

Jean, I use http://fw.members.freewebs.com/relogin.jsp?logout=1 for my website. If you don't mind banners on your site, it really is free. I pay a little each month to keep the banners off of my site. It's very fast, easy and I've not had any serious issues with them. hth

I hope the weather and the water is getting better for you up there. I think of you every time I see pictures on the news.

[Jean in Wisc]

I asked about bandwidth from members who would know more than I do, and we would need 5GB's. That would not be free, but it is less money than some.

Thanks for the help. We might be able to do this!