Hosting Your Site - Dancing on the Web

Hosting Your Site
Dancing on the Web

PROCESS ISSUES
	Get Organizational Support
	Clarify Your Goals
	Define Your Audience
	Assess Your Resources
	Design Your Site
	Publish Your Site
	Maintain Your Site
TECHNICAL ISSUES
	Website Authoring
	Design Tips
	Icons and Images
	Hosting Your Site
	Site Promotion
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
	10 Commandments of Web Design
	10 Ideas to Get Started
	Church Website Template
	Related Links
ADMINISTRATION
	Main Index
	About this Site
	Contact Information

In this section, we explain the details of finding a place to host your website. The basic concepts behind website hosting are explained in the publish your site section.

United Methodist Resources

The General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) has been offering free web space to United Methodist churches since 1996. GBGM offers up to 5 MB of space to churches, UMW & Volunteers in Mission groups, district and conference offices. Once you apply for space, you should receive all the information you need within four weeks. Be sure to read the Terms and Conditions and keep them in mind as you design your site. GBGM has also developed some pages to help deal with using their system at http://gbgm-umc.org/churches/.

Local Resources

Many communities have developed "community networks" which provide free web space to non-profit organizations. The Organization for Community Networks maintains what looks to be a comprehensive list of world-wide community networks. You might check this list to see if your community is on it.

Other Possible Resources

Probably the best-known free resource is GeoCities. The Homesteading section at the GeoCities site explains the procedure for applying for a free home page and e-mail address. Read the Guidelines for details about what is and isn't allowed on these sites. Disadvantages of this system include mandatory advertising, a fairly long and somewhat complicated URL, and a somewhat unreliable server. If you're willing to pay an extra $4.95 per month, you get the option of no advertising and a shorter URL.

Net Ministries provides limited free web space for Christian organizations. You have the option of supplying your own HTML (up to 16,000 characters, single page, limited graphics) or using a generic fill-out form. Updates (within the above limitations) are free. Customization is available for a fee.

Other options are listed at Creating and Housing a Church Home Page - Web Servers and Page Storage, in the "possibly free" section.

All content in Dancing on the Web is made available by United Methodist Communications for United Methodist Church use. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Š2001 by United Methodist Communications. Please direct comments to websupport@umcom.umc.org