Seeking input on free website hosts.

As retirement from the day job grows nearer, I'm planning on selling some of my woodworking projects through a website that I hope to have soon. Can anyone that has done this help guide me to the right free website host that will best meet my modest needs. I'd like to have a home info page, a photo gallery of past projects,gallery of current projects for sale, ability to take orders online, ability to take credit cards, pay pal, etc. There seem to be dozens of web hosts, and I'm a bit techie challenged, I just need clear plain English explanations on the merits of one site over another. Any Help please?

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Originally Posted by Jon Grider

As retirement from the day job grows nearer, I'm planning on selling some of my woodworking projects through a website that I hope to have soon. Can anyone that has done this help guide me to the right free website host that will best meet my modest needs. I'd like to have a home info page, a photo gallery of past projects,gallery of current projects for sale, ability to take orders online, ability to take credit cards, pay pal, etc. There seem to be dozens of web hosts, and I'm a bit techie challenged, I just need clear plain English explanations on the merits of one site over another. Any Help please?

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Look at Weebly. I think it just match your needs.

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Originally Posted by Jon Grider

As retirement from the day job grows nearer, I'm planning on selling some of my woodworking projects through a website that I hope to have soon. Can anyone that has done this help guide me to the right free website host that will best meet my modest needs. I'd like to have a home info page, a photo gallery of past projects,gallery of current projects for sale, ability to take orders online, ability to take credit cards, pay pal, etc. There seem to be dozens of web hosts, and I'm a bit techie challenged, I just need clear plain English explanations on the merits of one site over another. Any Help please?

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you could google "best free web hosting" and see what you get. Also you need to know some HTML if you are coding your own site. A better way will be to buy some software that can set up what you need visually and then just upload this to the site. Ideally you want a free site with not too many advertisements to get in the way.

Nothing is really free. I suspect you'll get better performance and service when you need help if you go with a paid site. They're not that expensive.

Mike

I agree about knowing some html and going with a paid site if you really want a web site. You don't have to buy any software products to "roll your own". I'm maintaining a moderately complex site entirely with free products, especially the Bluefish html editor. The site is hosted on GoDaddy, which would not have been my choice but it's OK. There's an annual fee.

There seem to be a zillion free web hosts out there. I'm sure they all have something to help you produce your site or you can pay somebody. You will probably find that it's a time sink. If you have the time and enjoy it, great. If you're paying someone else and don't know enough to really evaluate what they're doing - not good at all.

Google "sell crafts online" and see if there isn't something that will work for you. More like participating in a forum than developing a website. Depending on the scale of things, you could even look at Amazon. I believe some members here sell on Amazon. Good luck to you.

Sounds like you want an online store , asking for paypal and able to take CC's for free is a big ask. I've never seen a free host that would do all you want. WIX has free hosting but you don't get all the things you want but for 60 bucks a year you can get some of those , thats 5 bucks a month and every year they ofer 2 free months to reup early so you get 14 months for 60$ pretty cheap.

It looks like I may need to do more research and expand my knowledge before making an informed decision. I guess I was dreaming when I envisioned a "free" site that would meet the criteria that I need. I thank you all for taking the time to try to steer me in the right direction, it's just become evident to me that I may have to clarify to myself what direction I'm needing to head.

John, yes you need to do a bit more research. What you are describing is a commerce site. One in which you can sell your wares. I don't know of ANY commerce sites that are free. Not saying that they don't exist though.