I'm interested to see what everybody is looking for. Of course we all
want a free domain name with 10GB of disk space and 100GB of bandwidth, but what about the other features and options that you
need?
I've got my new site setup and just working out on the plan specifics before releasing it. The only thing I know is I hate both banners/ads and "post to host" ideas so I decided to pass on both options.
Ad free is always good, i think alot of people just want basic hosting with no ads and PHP/MYSQL support so they can run a small blog. Being able to use your own domain is also good. I have recommended
http://www.000webhost.com to a couple of people for blogs. It is basically everything i said above but unfortunately these hosts are hard to come by and usually don't last long
Oh, Ps. a short sub domain is great and i think 100-200 meg is heaps for free hosting without ads. I would also offer a way of switching to paid hosting easily without having to move their site.
Thanks for the insight. I was considering offering paid hosting as an option but opted to allow then to upgrade disk space and/or bandwidth instead to allow them some control and keep it as cheap for them as possible since my goal is free after all.
Ya most sites that can run on free hosting don't need more than a gig space at max and most likely a lot less.
The more important things like PHP set up so you can actually use it
. Of course a MySQL database or two. Then great uptime and speed with no ads.
Free hosting has actually gotten pretty good if you look hard enough.
Also, i would say maby 5 to 10 gig bandwidth and an easy to use Cpanel. I would definatley also have the paid option that can be paid yearly and via paypal for say $40/yr with maby 500gb bandwith, 10 gig space, 50db's etc. I say this because some people arn't sure that their site will succeed at first but they will want to move to paid hosting if it does.
Well right now as it stands the only paid options I am offering are 500MB disk space, 10GB bandwidth (double the free plan) for $3 and double that for $6.
I'm looking at strictly doing low end hosting mainly because of 2 reasons:
1) I have some extra space on my server going to waste and I just want to optimize it.
2) Because I've always appreciated the small community sites and most of them shouldn't need to cough up money just to have a home that's barely a few MB a month.
To be honest. I would never use a free host again. Basically I can pay like $10.00 per year for a perfectly working paid host.
However if I had to have a free host. I would look for one that offers a decent amount of space, and bandwidth. Also adding domains.
Don't want to be using free sub domains.
I know free hosting isn't for everyone. But it's a step better (atleast is should be) than the free forum hosts out there. My weblife revolves around forums and after having worked for a free forum provider and seen how badly the end user gets treated and shafted left and right for a buck, this project of mine is an attempt to save some forum owners some hassle.
Keep in mind my experience and opinions only reflect the handful of free forum providers I've dealt with, which so far has been 0 MyBB providers which I'm hoping are nothing like the others.
Here's what I've come up with so far:
Disk Space: 250MB
Bandwidth: 5GB
E-mail Accounts: 100
Sub Domains: 100
FTP Accounts: 10
MySQL Databases: 10
(No addon domains)
My server is currently running:
PHP 5.2.5
MySQL 5.0.45
cPanel 11
eAccelerator 0.9.5.1
IonCube
ZendOptimizer
What do you think? I'm not planning on this being a highly advertised host (I'm actually only going to tell the members of my sites and post it on here for those interested). So depending on how fast the original batch of accounts fills up I may adjust accordingly.
Thats sweet, i would include a mybb install on all hosting packages :p Do they have the ability to park a domain so they can use their own?
Can't say I look for much. I've never had a really reliable free host.