Student looking to make a portfolio site

[theirisnetwork]

Hey guys and gals, after spending a decent bit of time using sites like Flickr and Behance to host my portfolio I think that it's time for me to get my own domain and host my website myself (Also additionally posting a link like http://www.behance.net/theirisnetwork doesn't look too attractive on a resume).

When it comes to the design aspect I can safely say that I am proficient, but I know almost nothing when it actually comes to hosting my material online.

What I'm looking for is just a host that will allow me to upload my work and a blog. From doing the research from the forums I see that some good ones are HostGator, GoDaddy, ASmallOrange, 1and1 and MacHighway.

The one issue that I do have is that I will be working solely on my Mac, so in my readings I found it confusing that most hosting was Linux based (correct me if I am wrong on this).


tl;dr Noob Design Student needs help starting up his website

I apologize if a similar thread has been posted already

 

[angelwatt]

Yes, most are run on Linux. They are well designed to be server machines. Macs are built on Unix, so have the same underpinnings. The fact that you have a Mac and the host is Linux makes no difference whatsoever. Even if you were using Windows, it wouldn't matter in the least.

There are plenty of good hosts and pretty much all of them will be able to support the type of site you want. You just need to find one that has costs you're OK with paying.

You may want to take a trip through the stickies in this forum. There's a ton of info in there to keep you busy and answer your questions. If you have specific questions just let us know.

 

[theirisnetwork]

Thanks for the response and clarification on the servers!

As when it comes to pricing, I guess my budget would be about $100 for the year, would that get me a decent host?

 

[angelwatt]

As when it comes to pricing, I guess my budget would be about $100 for the year, would that get me a decent host?

Yea, that's reasonable. I'm with DreamHost and if you sign up for a few years you can get that kind of pricing. The longer you sign up for, the lower the monthly/yearly fee will be. That's true for almost all hosts.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Yes, most are run on Linux. They are well designed to be server machines. Macs are built on Unix, so have the same underpinnings. The fact that you have a Mac and the host is Linux makes no difference whatsoever. Even if you were using Windows, it wouldn't matter in the least.....

does it make any difference if its Windows hosting instead of Linux? For example, I see that 1and1 offers both, so for a basic portfolio site like the OP describes, for Mac users does it really matter which should be picked? Or avoided?

 

[angelwatt]

does it make any difference if its Windows hosting instead of Linux? For example, I see that 1and1 offers both, so for a basic portfolio site like the OP describes, for Mac users does it really matter which should be picked? Or avoided?

I'd personally go Linux, but for the type of site you're doing it won't matter. They may offer some different technologies, but not ones you'll likely end up using.

 

[dvince2]

If you're going to be paying $100 a year, why not just go with a Mobile Me account?
I have my webpage hosted there, then purchased a domain name from GoDaddy for like... $1.37 USD (http://www.derekvince.info).

This gives you a top level domain name, and all the benefits of a mobile me account.

 

[theirisnetwork]

If you're going to be paying $100 a year, why not just go with a Mobile Me account?
I have my webpage hosted there, then purchased a domain name from GoDaddy for like... $1.37 USD (http://www.derekvince.info).

This gives you a top level domain name, and all the benefits of a mobile me account.

My main reasoning towards not getting an MobileMe account is that I don't have a mobile phone which can utilize the service, and when it comes to syncing up all of my services I usually don't use any of the Apple services; also while I do like the website builder that Apple offers I'm looking in the future to design and code the website myself

Basically I do enjoy MobileMe's service but I feel that there are too many services which I do not think I will be using

 

[Les Kern]

If you're going to be paying $100 a year, why not just go with a Mobile Me account?
I have my webpage hosted there, then purchased a domain name from GoDaddy for like... $1.37 USD (http://www.derekvince.info).

This gives you a top level domain name, and all the benefits of a mobile me account.

Good idea and works well, and I'd add that it's so easy to start up fast... modify these to save a huge amount of time.
http://www.free-css.com/free-css-templates/page1.php

 

[theirisnetwork]

Good idea and works well, and I'd add that it's so easy to start up fast... modify these to save a huge amount of time.
http://www.free-css.com/free-css-templates/page1.php

If I get the MobileMe account, does it offer tools like FTP and Cpanel?

 

[-Ryan-]

If I get the MobileMe account, does it offer tools like FTP and Cpanel?

No. If you're seriously looking at putting a portfolio site online I'd avoid Mobileme. It's just not a proper webhosting solution. I've said before, the best I've come across is ASmallOrange. Really cheap, good support and good service with great features. I think you'd probably only need the basic package at $25 a year for what you'll be using it for anyway, which would save you quite a bit.

 

[andrew086]

What I'm looking for is just a host that will allow me to upload my work and a blog. From doing the research from the forums I see that some good ones are HostGator, GoDaddy, ASmallOrange, 1and1 and MacHighway.

You did some terrible research, my friend.

 

[lucidmedia]

I have been very happy with Bluehost.

In terms of design portfolios, I am seeing a lot of my students moving from a traditional static portfolio site to using a portfolio-centric CMS like indexhibit. Its free and makes your portfolio a lot easier to edit.

http://www.indexhibit.org/

Personally, as long as the person is not trying to get a job in the web / interactive field I don't really have a problem with a coroflot or behance link.

 

[adamvk]

I'd STRONGLY suggest X10Hosting. (http://x10hosting.com/) It's free, you get 500MB, and you can add more space for cheap if you want. You had FTP, easy access to your server, web disk, and several other features. Its just a nice company.

I use X10 for 2 of my sites, and it works great.