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  • 1.  website

    Posted 01-26-2016 07:59

    WV Thespians is looking to move our website to a new host. We are currently paying a little over $300 yearly and we know there are less expensive options. I'm curious to know what web hosts everyone else uses and how you like them. I need one that will be easy to set up, as I will be doing the work. Thanks!

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    Martha Louden
    West Virginia Chapter Director
    Jefferson County Schools
    Shepherdstown WV
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  • 2.  RE: website

    Posted 01-27-2016 06:29

    Martha,

    Our website domain (Lake Central Theatre Company) is hosted through Godaddy.  However, our website is actually a Google Site.  It's really nice since our email is powered by Google at school, that I have one log in for both.  I find it to be a pretty easy interface.

    Our state website (INDIANA THESPIAN CHAPTER) is also powered by Google, with site hosting at Godaddy.

    Hope this helps!

    Google remove preview
    INDIANA THESPIAN CHAPTER
    Home of the Indiana Thespians, an official chapter of The Educational Theatre Association.
    View this on Google >

    ) is also powered by g

    Google remove preview
    Lake Central Theatre Company
    The purpose of this site is to keep the Tri-Town community aware of the activities of the Lake Central Theatre Company.
    View this on Google >

    )

    ------------------------------
    Raymond Palasz
    English/Theatre Faculty; Thespian Troupe Director
    Lake Central High School
    Schererville IN



  • 3.  RE: website

    Posted 01-27-2016 10:38

    Yikes, you're paying a lot, Martha. Between YouthPLAYS, the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and all of my different endeavors, I run about a dozen different websites. At this point, they're on Bluehost. They're not perfect--nobody is--but their uptime is generally pretty good, and what is important to me about them is that they have 24/7 phone (and chat) support. (I went through Lunarpages and another company that I don't even remember at this point, but both had issues either with customer service or uptime.)

    PC Mag recently did a "best web hosting for 2016" article, and among the top choices were InMotion, HostGator, DreamHost (but they only recommend this one for more experienced users). HostGator was their top choice for novice webmasters, and it looks like if you click on a link from the article, you can score a special discount. GoDaddy is another good one.
    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424725,00.asp

    Depending on what you spend, many companies will pay for domain registration for your domain for the year. There's really no reason for a site that isn't high traffic to pay much more than $100/year for hosting, if that.

    Feel free to message me if you need more advice!

    Best,
    Jon

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    Jonathan Dorf
    Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
    Los Angeles CA



  • 4.  RE: website

    Posted 01-27-2016 12:56

    I've chosen to use Weebly to create & host our school's theatre website. The service is free (with an upgrade option). This would require you to recreate your site within Weebly, but it's free & easy/fast to update.

    http://nhstheatrearts.weebly.com/

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    Susan Nieten
    Theatre & English Teacher
    Noblesville High School
    http://nhstheatrearts.weebly.com/
    @NHSTheatre @mrsnieten



  • 5.  RE: website

    Posted 01-30-2016 23:01

    We use Weebly, rated one of the more user-friendly options. I'm not skilled enough to know how the previous poster got it for free, which shows how much I really know :) but I am extremely satisfied with paying just under $130 for a two year service and my own domain name. It's very user friendly, updates instantly, and looks beautiful.

    Chump Change Theatre

    Chump Change Theatre remove preview
    Chump Change Theatre
    December 3rd and 4th, 6.30pm 'Woman at a Threshold, Beckoning' John Guare 'Postcards from Shakespeare' Allison Williams 'A Christmas Carol' Doris Baizley 'Check, Please!' Jonathan Rand Lennard...
    View this on Chump Change Theatre >

    Which reminds me, I need to update this thing....

    I have used Wix in the past, when I was still teaching English, but found it a little too cumbersome (for me, and this was also 5 years ago), but the finished site also looks professional and inviting. Still, I really do rate the Weebly. Have fun!

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Ruskin FL