Hosting Photos

[nerrak]

Where do you host your Photos for posting?

[ianacole]

HERE (click on the "here"), or, you can use http://tinypic.com

[Jon]

On one of my servers...

[Rokcet Scientist]

Photobucket.com, Putfile.com, FlickR

[jfrancho]

I use smugmug (http://www.smugmug.com/). Here is a coupon code to save $5: stxIahsNGCmyU. I've been using it for two years. It works great and offers lots of options for control and security of your stuff.

[Paul Shields]

I like Flickr. I mostly ignore the forums and image feedback stuff, but the image management tools both via a browser or via their apps are first rate.

[Max@Home]

The PhotoCamel-gallery



...and PBase for me



Max@Home

[Blinky]

I have a website hosted with ixWebhosting. With there basic Linux hosting plan they will register a domain name for you, serve HTTP and FTP, host a bunch of email accounts and provide 20G of disk space and 250G/month of bandwidth for $3.95/month.

They have lots of little extras to help you get going and the customer service is surprisingly good considering the call center is in India. Been with them 2 years and never had a problem. When they upgraded their plans with more disk space and bandwidth they upgrade my account at no additional charge.

Top notch.

Chip

[JDArt]

You know, setting up your own domain and having it hosted has gotten quite inexpensive, to the point where it makes much more sense to do that than it does to pay another service to host pictures for you.

Not only will you get plenty of space to upload your photos, you'll also get unlimited e-mail accounts for which you won't have to search for good addresses (i.e., you can easily create yourname@yoursite.com for each member of your family) and the opportunity to build your own web site (resume, photo galleries, more).

Here's a Q&A on the subject that I wrote:

Q: How do I get my own dot-com address?

A: A dot-com, dot-net, dot-name, or dot-anything-else address is what's commonly referred to as a domain name. Getting a domain name these days is easy - and inexpensive.

You need to visit a domain registrar online. There are plenty of them available, such as GoDaddy (http://www.godaddy.com) and Yahoo (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains). My personal favorite is NameCheap (http://www.namecheap.com). You can register a domain name for as little as 2 dollars per year.

You can register a domain name for one to 15 years, and you can choose to have your domain name automatically renewed, if you desire. If you sign up for a one-year period and you have not chosen automatic renewal, you'll probably receive a notice from domain registrar shortly before your domain expires. At that point, you can choose to renew the domain manually or let it expire.

Q: I had several domain names in mind when I visited an online registrar, but they were all taken. Is there a quick way to find domain names that are available or ones that are similar to the one I'm interested in?

A: Yes. NameBoy (http://www.nameboy.com) and Domainit.com (http://www.domainit.com) both have handy search tools that allow you to find available domain names based upon the name you would like to have. Domainit is perhaps the better search tool for finding international domain names.

Using these tools, you type one or more words into domain name search boxes, select options such as that he would like domain name suggestions that rhyme or that include a hyphen, and then let the tools do their jobs.

These days, you'll have to purge the domain name finding task with some flexibility, as many common words have already been used as domain names. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't come up with some catchy domain names.

In addition, remember that a domain name itself does not guarantee that people will come to your site. Just as important as a memorable domain name is the position that your site ends up having in search engine results. Searching using a tool such as Google or Yahoo is the primary way that people find web sites these days, not by typing a domain name itself into the Address bar of a Web browser.

Q: Does it make senese for me to get my own domain name just for e-mail?

A: Absolutely. Having your own domain name means that you have the ability to get the e-mail address you want - as in hermann@hmonster.com. And you get to keep that e-mail address for as long a you have the domain registered. So if you decide to change Internet service providers over the course of the next five or ten years, you can do so without having to worry about migrating your e-mail or notifying all of your e-mail contacts that your address has changed.

What's more, if there are several members of your family, you can give them each a personalised e-mail address at your domain. No more worrying about how many e-mail accounts your Internet service provider metes out.

With your own domain, you're also free to create "junk" e-mail addresses that you give out freely over the Internet, knowing full well that these will probably end up being inundated with junk e-mail and eventually discontinued.

Q: I have my domain name. Now what do I do?

A: Once you have your domain name, you need a web hosting service - a place to put your domain. The same company from which you purchased your domain name probably offers web hosting as well. Or you can go shopping for web hosting. Yahoo! offers very reasonable web hosting packages, as do services such as AlwaysWebHosting.com (http://www.alwayswebhosting.com), which places an emphasis on customer service. In the beginning, you'll need plenty of help from customer service to answer questions that you'll inevitably have, such as how to transfer files to your web site, how to set up e-mail accounts, and much more. But before long, you'll indeed be the master of your own domain, and you'll probably find that having your own web site and accompanying e-mail addresses were well worth the effort.

[Paul Shields]

Very good advice JD, though I''ve personally yet to find it cheaper to host my own shots compared to the online photo hosts like pbase, flickr etc. Running your own website with your own domain would definitely be a good move for those who want to present a more professional 'shop window' of their work, and I'd also suggest that anyone who hasn't registered their name as a domain should think of doing so. As Jay says it's only a few dollars per year to keep hold of it, and you never know when it may come in useful...

[JDArt]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Very good advice JD, though I''ve personally yet to find it cheaper to host my own shots compared to the online photo hosts like pbase, flickr etc.

Well, the thing to remember is that you get so much more than picture hosting with your own domain. I think many folks are now ready for multiple free, customized, permanent e-mail addresses and for the ability to set up a site when ready.

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by Max@Home

The PhotoCamel-gallery

Môge!

(Was 't nou Bergen of Egmond a/z?)

[Paul Shields]

I always thought Heineken was strictly for export in the Netherlands - always seemed to have Amstel on draught when I was over there.

[Rokcet Scientist]

I always thought Heineken was strictly for export in the Netherlands - always seemed to have Amstel on draught when I was over there.

Well, as Max shows, that is only partly the case.
Looks like a vigorous new inspection round is in order, Paul!* *

BTW, the 'Quote' button still doesn't work in Safari. A white window appears with the message "Retrieving quote", and effectively freezes the procedure right there, including access to the Camel.

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist

BTW, the 'Quote' button still doesn't work in Safari. A white window appears with the message "Retrieving quote", and effectively freezes the procedure right there, including access to the Camel.

Hmm, I'll make a mental note of that. Planning on getting a MacBook when they update the processor, so will check that out. If any other Safari users are reading this and have found a solution then please let us know. btw - are you using quick reply? If so, try disabling it and see if the problem goes away.

[Rokcet Scientist]

And, oh yeah, Nerrak: I just heard a good review of http://www.vox.com/. It's new, and still free. You (and our fellow humpbacks, of course) might wanna grab an account while that lasts.