Because of a project that Linda and I have in the works, I decided to research where to buy cheap domain names and/or hosting.

Domain Name Discount Code Source

After reviewing prices from many different places, I decided to run a search to see if there were discount codes for any of the domain name registrars or hosts.  I found Retail Me Not‘s domain name discount code page.

Great Discount on Domain Names and Hosting

I think you will have to agree that I found a great deal.  Sign up for one year of hosting through Netfirms Advantage plan, enter the coupon code MAX (all caps is a must), and receive 2 free domain names along with your year of hosting – all for just $10 for the first year.

Forget the hosting for a second; that comes out to $5 for each domain for one year – a good deal.

Worth a Try

I researched and read review after review about Netfirms’ hosting.  Although reviews are mixed, that was the case for every web host I researched.  Serious hosting reviewers generally gave Netfirms the thumbs up.

My conclusion is that I am excited about having purchased 2 domain names for $10, and I am even more excited to see what kind of experience I have with their hosting plan.

What Do You Think?

What domain registrar and/or host do you recommend?

How about when you tried to leave a URL in a blog comment, but it was too long for the entire address to show?

Today’s Featured Friday (yeah, I know it’s Saturday) gives you the solution to that problem – Snipurl.

This free tool is simple to use.  Just enter the long URL in the box on the left, enter any optional information desired in the right, and click Snip It!

Presto!  You have a short URL that actually takes you to the long URL.

Do you have a favorite URL snipping tool?

I’ve got good news for you. Today’s Featured Friday shares with you a way to quickly and easily encrypt your e-mail address to protect it from the spambots.

Quickie Profits has a free tool to make your e-mail address invisible to spambots.  It’s very simple to use.  Enter your e-mail address in the appropriate field, and enter the text you want people to see (I often use “contact me”) in the other field.  Copy the code that appears in the big box, and paste it in your site where you want to use your e-mail address.

Quick, free, and simple.  Now that’s my idea of a good tool!

Do you have a way for visitors to contact you by e-mail?

MorgueFile’s images are free for both commercial and personal use, and no registration is required to download images; however, if you’d like to contribute images to morgueFile, you will need to register to do so.

Why is it named morgueFile?  Morgue File is actually the term used by artists and publishers to store reference materials.  The site creator wanted to create a morguefile for the world wide web.  Thus, morgueFile was born.

Do you have a favorite free stock photo site?

SyncBack is freeware that helps you easily backup and synchronize your files.  It has been around since 2003 and has won many awards.

SyncBack is free for personal, charity, government, educational, and commercial uses.  It is available in 12 languages.

I will always have backups of my files now, and I will rest easier in the knowledge that if something were to happen to my business files, I can immediately restore the lost information from my backup.

If you don’t have a way to backup your files, why not try SyncBack?  After all, it’s spyware/virus free, and it won’t cost you a cent.

If you have ever stored passwords, account information, or other private personal information on your computer, you need a program like eraser to make sure that no one else can ever gain access to that sensitive information.  When you erase a file from your computer by putting it in the Recycle Bin, the file can still be recovered by easily available recovery tools unless the file is overwritten.  That is where Eraser comes in.

Eraser has received Chip Magazine‘s Best File Shredder award for good reason.  Because Eraser completely overwrites the unwanted files, even with sophisticated programs those files can no longer be recovered, ensuring that your private data remains just that – private.

What file eraser program do you use and/or recommend?

You never know what will be offered through Giveaway of the Day, and you need to check every day because the free software is only free if you download and install it that day.

This is a win-win site: the software creators get people to try out their software, which could result in increased sales, and we downloaders get free programs.

Recent giveaways, which are no longer available to download, include the Wondershare Photo Collage Studio 4.2.8 (helps you create photo collages and digital scrapbooks for print), Double Safety 4.2 (n automatic data backup program), and many more.

Take a look at Giveaway of the Day; I bet you’ll love it!

This week, I want to introduce you to a great online design resource which is also free.  After all, why pay for something when you can get it for nothing, right?

About.com is a website that is absolutely stuffed with useful, free information on a wide variety of topics. Jennifer Kyrnin‘s Web Design/HTML Blog is no exception.  There, you will find news, tips, and products relating to web design and HTML.  (It’s a whole blog of nothing but Featured Friday posts! *smile*)

Not only does Jennifer offer valuable information through her blog, but she also offers a complete section on Web Design Basics and has another section titled Learn HTML/CSS/XML.  In this section, you will discover what HTML is, what CSS is, what XML is, and how to use them.  Best of all, you can even sign up for three free courses: HTML, CSS, and/or XML.

I love free stuff, and I love learning more about web design, HTML, CSS, and XML.  About.com offers both the free part and the technical part.  I hope you take a look at this valuable and helpful resource.

It was only two weeks ago that I finally visited my county’s public library for the first time. We moved here two and a half years ago, and since I absolutely love reading, I am shocked that I hadn’t been to the library long before. My children and I returned for our second visit on Monday of this week, and I had a light bulb moment when I realized that, “hey! this library probably has some design books that you could check out!” Lo and behold, they did, and I did. *smile*

I checked out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating and HTML4 Web Page (by Paul McFedries), Sams Teach Yourself to Create Web Pages in 24 Hours (by Ned Snell), HTML for the World Wide Web (5th edition) with XHTML and CSS (by Elizabeth Castro), and Web Design on a Shoestring (by Carrie Bickner).

I started reading the last listed book first because I am in the middle of some large (for me) web design projects, and my budget is definitely a shoestring! I found this book to be most helpful and highly recommend your reading it whether you only design your personal blog/website or whether you are in the web design business, like I am.

The book is divided into two parts: Production and The Tools. In first section, Ms. Bickner talks about:

• The Secrets to a Successful Shoestring Project – use resources you already have, limit the number of decision-makers involved in the project, have a clear focus, and dare to do less
• The Pound Wise Project – write out your project goals, document the functional requirements, create a technical requirements document, keep all documentation nearby
• Usability on the Cheap – thrifty user testing, keep it simple, build a reusable HTML library
• Why Good Copy Counts – words matter more when you have few resources, good copy can elevate a low-budget site, write in a way that is honest and straightforward, keep it simple but not simplistic, avoid spelling and grammatical errors
• The Design: Looking Good with Less – limit the number of fonts you use, stick to only two or three good fonts, don’t waste money on bad fonts, save time and money with well-formed markup and external Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), stick to only two or three good colors, reduce the cost of photography and illustrations while still achieving a polished look

The second section covers The Tools:

• Content Management on a Tight Budget – determine what you really need, be creative, do-it-yourself CMS, automate as much as possible, consider open-source CMS
• Save Time and Money with Web Standards – do invest time and money in making your site standards-compliant; separate between structure and presentation, build one site well, take advantage of the design strengths of CSS
• Bang-for-Your-Buck Hosting and Domains – sometimes cheap does mean disreputable, watch out for hidden costs, compare bandwidth limits, and consider hosting your own site

What coding or design book would you recommend? Why?

Bluehost offers hosting services and ranks highly for customer service and satisfaction. (If you wish, you can even view their impressive array of awards and read customer comments.) Bluehost offers their clients welcome features such as unlimited disk storage, unlimited domains on one account, 2,500 e-mail accounts, free domain with a 12- or 24-month subscription (as long as they host your site), free e-commerce/Cart, free blog/forum/message board, and more. If you already own your own domain name or website, bluehost will help you transfer it.

If you are looking for a hosting provider, bluehost could well be the one for which you are searching. If you are ready to make them your host, click the link to sign up with bluehost now.

What host do you recommend? Why?