Such thing as a decent free-web hosting solution?
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Posted on Sep 22, 2009 01:12 am
J-bot
Byte-Mixer
Member Since: Dec 04, 2007
Okay, for the most part I know free web hosts tend to be a crapshoot. However, being that I'm penniless for the moment, I was thinking of digging in and seeing if I could find a decent webhost on the free side. So far, there are two in particular that seem good to me from my findings:
www.stonerocket.net -- requires 10 quality posts on their forum before eligibility for a free account -- been around a few years.
www.hosthelpers.com -- no forum posts required, but free registration is locked at the moment. -- been around since May '09
Both are probably more than suitable for my needs, and I'm leaning towards hosthelpers, since they have a pretty active forum with web design tutorials and such. They're young yet, but they seem to be pretty good from what I've seen so far.
I've looked at a lot of other possibilities, including 110mb (started forcing ads on the free sites) blackapplehost, byethost, etc. etc. But the two above seem to stand heads and tails above some of the other "popular" free hosts.
I guess the only thing is to dig in and see what happens heh. After I land a job, I'll probably dig in and get hosting with HostPC, and register my own top-level domain.
Hmmm, gonna need a title/name though. I'm thinking either Byte-Mix Sounds, or Byte-Mix Sound Design or something along those lines.
Wish me luck. I'll attach a screeny of a mockup WIP that I've been messing with in SciTE. I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far.
-J
edit: here's the mockup:
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Sep 22, 2009 09:49 am Free hosts are a crap shoot, and I know many people that have lost everything due to the company going under without warning, stealing domain names and so much more...ya know, if you need hosting, hit me up, I'd like to help if I can.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 22, 2009 02:17 pm Sure thing dB. I wouldn't mind that at all. Just let me know the details. My e-mail is in my profile. Only issue, is I don't have my own top-level domain yet, and money is a little tight right now with the wedding and honeymoon not too far off on the horizon. Might be able to figure something out though.
I'm building the site as a self-learning venture: i.e, building a portfolio and trying to improve my web design abilities (though I'm no graphics guru any way you cut it) And I figure it would be good to have a site I can call my own as an artist. You know, generate interest in my work, and possibly get my name out there on the mixing studio side. Possibly posting some tips on mixing and general thoughts on that end as well. Not so much a guide, as "this is how I do things, and what works for me" sorta deal.
Having a place where if people want to try me for free, they can send me some sample works for me to touch up is another thought. Still working out how they'd get them to me though. I figure sftp, or modify/re-write my http-based file-transfer script.
Anyway, I don't have the facilities to actually record anything right now, but in a few years, I hope to save up for some decent gear, and go ahead with opening a studio.
Sep 22, 2009 04:08 pm I hit you up via Facebook.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 22, 2009 05:48 pm Byte_Mix sound Design sounds good. Either name though sonds pretty good really.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 22, 2009 10:52 pm Okay, just registered a top-level domain with Moniker.com, and everything looks like it's filtered through now. I'm now the proud owner of bytemixsound.net hehe. And I responded back on facebook again.
NightcapVeni, MIDI, ViciMember
Since: Jul 02, 2008
Sep 22, 2009 11:14 pm Congrats J-bot! A first step towards realising a dream.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 22, 2009 11:42 pm Ya, now don't do like I did and take 10 years to start thinking about using it.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 22, 2009 11:59 pm Hehe no worries. Now that I've got some more ideas brewing, we'll see how much of it I can realize ;) At least by having a presence on the web, I can possibly pick up some potential future-clients...or something along those lines at least heh. I wouldn't mind starting to work with tracks other than my own: good way to build some more experience. Doing single tracks for free or favors or something along those lines for starters would be good for me. Possibly taking paid work down the road if they what I do.
Then, if I can ever save up enough, getting my own studio going will be a must hehe. I've already planned on what to get gear-wise. But that's a ways down the road yet, considering I'd like to wait until we're settled in a permanent place before moving in that direction.
But yes, certainly a first step on what will hopefully be a very long road :D
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 24, 2009 01:53 am Okay, Byte-Mix Sound Design is up and going...well, what I have so far at least.
bytemixsound.net or www.bytemixsound.net will getcha there. Some things still need some work as I'm learning my way through the Drupal CMS (which isn't too hard to figure out)
For firefox users, there is a known bug with the theme I'm using atm where the tabs don't display properly. And far as I can see, the only way around it is to directly edit the css files for the theme.
IE and I think Opera don't have the issue and everything displays correctly. I do have one or two more things I want to try, since everything appeared inline using the Suckerfish Menu without issue. So I might be able to conjure up a workaround of sorts.
Still playing with things, but the site is coming along decently enough. Feel free to have a look.
-J
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 24, 2009 09:01 pm I"ll be checking it out a in a bit. I'll let ya know what I think.
NightcapVeni, MIDI, ViciMember
Since: Jul 02, 2008
Sep 24, 2009 10:17 pm Looks great already J-bot! I know that it is a work in progress, but I hope you won't mind a few tips.
The text next to the picture on the "Home" page needs some attention. You could resize the picture to give the text more room or keep text and picture completely separated maybe?
On the "About Me" page, consider breaking up the long text into a few paragraphs. That makes a more inviting read.
The "Studio Profile" needs a nicer list of your software and gear. I'll say it again; it's all about making visitors really read what you have to say.
BTW It's nice to see that you are using Musescore too.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 24, 2009 11:01 pm Yeah I know whatcha mean. Eventually on the Studio Profile page, I'm hoping to eventually place some smaller pictures next to the equipment list (colored of course hehe) to give a better idea of what I'm talking about. I'd like to get a better image of the room itself, but it's so tiny, it's really hard to get a good shot unless you're in the doorway or a little outside.
I agree on the front page, the pic is a little on the massive side compared to the text. And I'll take another look at the "about me" page to see if I can avoid the "wall of text" I'm notorious for writing long sections. I'll have to keep that in mind too when I start thinking about the guides/tutorials.
And yeah, I do really like musescore, it's very easy to get into using, and the interface is nice. However, I do have issues of things not displaying properly when my printer is disconnected. I think it's a known bug though. Some sorta connection between the fonts and the printer service if I remember right.
Thanks for the feedback.
Edit: DOH! I just checked those tabs you mentioned. Apparently in my mucking around, I managed to wipe out the formatting. Originally they were seperated and spaced neatly. -sigh- Lemme go see if I can restore them lol.
Edit2: Okay fixed the spacing, so everything should look like it originally did again.
NightcapVeni, MIDI, ViciMember
Since: Jul 02, 2008
Sep 25, 2009 10:18 pm That's what I was talking about! Looking good. :-)
The picture and the text on the home page are better balanced now. I like the atmosphere in that shot, sorta relaxed with the beer (?) and the cat on a pillow looking outside. Good vibes!
Bookmarked the site so I can check in from time to time, just out of curiosity. Hope you don't mind.
Yeah Musescore has some peculiarities (nice way of saying bugs), but for what I am using it for, something like Sibelius is way over the top. That may change in the future but for now Musescore lets me do what I want to do just fine. Basically that's setting up melodies and play around with the notes and tempo and such. Nothing stunning although I surprise myself sometimes. LOL
I've been looking into Drupal to see if it's something that can be useful to me. I've developed sites in HTML and Flash, but I'm always keen to explore new possibilities to improve the work flow. Since your site looks very nice, I think I'll give it a go and download it. The hands on approach works best with me.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 26, 2009 12:48 am OH ya dude, that looks great now. I was gonna mention the italicized text being hard to read but you got that sorted as well.
Looks really nice now. Straight ahead and to the point. I like that.
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Sep 26, 2009 01:10 am Thanks for the feedback guys :) And it's a local store-brand soda ;)
Yeah, drupal is pretty good from what I've experienced. And if you install/have control over it, then you can play with the files for the themes and change things up as far as color settings and such. Of course, since this site is hosted elsewhere, I don't have direct access to those files, but usually the themes are flexible enough within the CMS to let you position things how you want. The admin menu is very straighforward and easy to navigate. There's a little bit of a learning curve dealing with menus and blocks, but it's really not hard to get into tinkering with it. I've dealt with worse, and this was my first time within drupal, and I think I've gotten this set up pretty quickly myself ^_^
I've got other ideas on "prettifying" the site, but I'm not in too much a rush. The google bots haven't even picked up/indexed the site yet. It's going along pretty well though. I just need to get off my duff soon and take some more pics of my gear and such, and put some graphics to go with the links to the outside sites.
I like to keep things straight and to the point. I don't beat around the bush, and I'm not thrilled with the concept of being politically correct. I call it like I see it, and I tend not to sugar-coat the subject matter =]
