Hi, just wana run this by you guys to gather your opinions.

I've just completed developing my site and i thought of looking for a free host to test the visual and technical aspects of it.

I've a couple of php/mysql scripts that i need to test before allowing my site to go 'live'. I'm still a very very big newbie at php/mysql hence i dont have the skills to troubleshoot quickly. Therefore a free host might come in handy until i'm confident enough to move everything to paid hosting.

Also, will there be a problem transfering my domain name from the free host to the paid one?

Thank you

The domain shouldn't be a problem if you have control of the nameserver settings - it will just be a case of swapping them over when you change from free to paid.

As for using a free host to test on: this is all well and good but you want to be careful especially when testing PHP/MySQL. This is because the host you test on may have a different config or setup to the host you eventually move to.

As I'm sure you can imagine, you could spend ages getting everything working then it would be a nightmare to go through all the scripts altering bits to work on the new host.

I gave up with free hosts a few years ago.

They're great when learning and playing around, but the reliability of most leaves quite a bit to be desired.

If you're just after something to test - why not try Portland (http://www.portland.co.uk) - they're fine for testing things out and run with no ads - however, they have a traffic limit of 100mb per month so when you plan to launch; you'll have to move. Their reliability also leaves something to be desired for launched sites (as with most/all free hosts).

--Shaun.

Originally posted by Blues
Hi, just wana run this by you guys to gather your opinions.

I've just completed developing my site and i thought of looking for a free host to test the visual and technical aspects of it.

I've a couple of php/mysql scripts that i need to test before allowing my site to go 'live'. I'm still a very very big newbie at php/mysql hence i dont have the skills to troubleshoot quickly. Therefore a free host might come in handy until i'm confident enough to move everything to paid hosting.

Also, will there be a problem transfering my domain name from the free host to the paid one?

Thank you You can get PHPTriad from SourceForge, and run Apache, php, and mysql, on your Windows box.

You may, also, want to post a request in the Web Hosting Requests (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=32) Forum. You may be able to find a host that will let you test with them for free while you try out their services. Would make the moving process a lot easier if you found something that way, as well. ;)

Thanks for all your help guys. relly appreciate it.

Actually, i've got a paid hosting company in mind. I just wasnt too keen on paying for a months worth of testing. (at my present experience, i hope it wont take longer than that.) Anyway, from the advice given, it might be a better idea to just sign up and get accustomed to the final host management panel.