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Personal/Family Websites -How to Build ThemPersonal websites come in all sorts of flavours, however there are two main types that I've noticed.
Both types of website have, in the last few years, been replaced by Blogs and popular social networking platforms like Facebook. Free blogging platforms and social network sites offer a great way of creating a personal site but I consider them to be temporary sites only. Currently (2009) Facebook is incredibly popular, but a few years ago so was MySpace. Many years ago many people and small businesses put their faith in Geocities, Yahoo even paid several billion dollars to buy it in 1999 , and yet in 2009 they closed it. The type of site we are discussing here is a site that you intend to keep, and that you have full control over. Any site that you host on someone else's domain name is not under your control, and therefore you will need to register your own domain name. Personal domain names are becoming more common, and one day we may all have one. Website Building OptionsThere are several different ways of building a website. Choosing
For a personal websites that will have more than 5 pages and especially if they will be edited by more than one person then I recommend using WordPress but it does require some work on your part. The easiest option is probably the Flash/online site builder option but it is not as flexible. For small cv/portfolio type sites then a simple one page HTML site may be more appropriate. You may want to take a closer look at the site building options in more detail before you decide on your approach. Should You be Blogging?Many personal sites take the form a personal diary and this is what blogs were designed to do. If this is the type of site you have in mind then I recommend a self hosted WordPress blog. However if you are building a hobby type site, a family site then I recommend that you Configure WordPress as a standard website. Both option are covered in Building websites and blogs with WordPress. Personal InformationAlthough you may be placing personal information on the site you should be careful when sharing details like birthdays, mother name, pets names etc. Your personal Information can be used for identity theft and you would be surprised at how little is required see putting personal information on your site. CostsIf you use paid hosting then approximately $8-$16 per month. Most hosts include a free domain name so I recommend you purchase/get the domain name from the hosting provider. I use :
Blue Host Web Hosting - $6.95/mo!
One and one -UK- various package levels supports multiple domains. Free UK domain names depending on package. Because with a personal site you don't need to worry about
where in the world your host is located Blue Host
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