Hi,

Couple of questions:

I am going to register a new domain and I am wondering if I should use a free host or not.

If I use a web host which requires the url:

websamba.com/yourname/

but have a domain name registered and redirecting to the above, which url will appear as the address?

:confused: I've got my-self quite confused about this, could someone briefly explain how the domain / hosting relationship works?

Many many thanks.

*IF* you REDIRECT, then websamba.com/yourname/
would appear after redirection and not your domain name unless you use frames or something similar to redirect.

yes, lots of places let you redirect but that is you type yourdomain.com, but when it loads it will change to domain.com/yourname

Motto, you can register your domain through godaddy and use their domain masking feature.
That way all that should show is the domain name you register.

Thank you very much for your help everyone.

If redirection isn't the answer, what is the normal way to go about hosting a site (e.g. test.com) so that my url is always: test.com. Sorry but I'm still confused as to the relationship between a domain name and what the hosting company does.

Thanks.

A domain name doesn't do much if it doesn't have a home (host). You can find a lot of free host that will be willing to host your domain but in return for advertising banner etc. If you want don't want any unsightly banner or pop up on your site, it is best to get a paid host. With the drop in hosting price, you should be able to find a host below $5 a mth to host your site. After getting the domain and a host, all you need is just change the nameservers option of the domain to reflect the nameservers of your hosting company. I am sure your new hosting company will be glad to help you along the way. By the way websamba.com doesn't offer domain hosting.

Thanks very much Peter, much appreciated.

If you want free..

your best bet would be to look at www.freewebpsace.net/forums for a host that offers free domain hosting :)

Paid, just find people on here and search.. :)

Good luck! :D

Motto, you can register your domain through godaddy and use their domain masking feature.
That way all that should show is the domain name you register.

But will the search engines be able to use this corectly? Does it affect the spiderability of the site? Link popularity goes to domain.ext or to hostingco.com/account?

I'd say it's safer to find a free host that allows domain hosting or just get paid hosting. Just my opinion...

I know of one www.portland.co.uk

check clickhereforfree.com

Thanks again everyone, this is one helpful site. Just to add another problem though, I am building my site with ASP, so obviously I will need this facility from the host. I doubt there are any hosts out there that provide free ASP AND domain hosting?

Cheers.

Free ASP and Domain Hosting seems to be difficult though you might get some cheap ones....

some free ASP hosts
http://www.brinkster.com/AboutSolutionComparison.asp

http://www.1asphost.com/

http://www.aspfree.com/asp/freeasphost.asp

cheers domainwala.