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drnkn_stylz · Dec 10, 2003, 04:10 PM

How is .mac for making your own webpage? I want it to be a personal one with some desktops available, and some themes if I get into that. The tour at Apple doesn't say too much. You can upload your own .html files (ie: a page I made in Dreamweaver) to it yes? I will want to make it into a Flash site soon too as I am learning how to use it right now in school.

Anyways, just wanna know what y'all think of .mac. Thanks!

Turias · Dec 10, 2003, 04:21 PM

If you don't know how to code and want a simple place where you can upload files, photos, webpages, etc, then .Mac is great.

Personally, I hated it. I wanted to code my own site, and as soon as I tried to incorporate it with a .Mac file sharing page, everything went to hell.

So, I dropped the file sharing page and decided to go completely with my own code. I wrote a .php file, and WHAM, learned that .Mac doesn't support php or MySQL databases. Also, I found the 100MB limit to be very limiting.

Now I use Dreamhost, where I get 1.6GB of space (compared to the 100MB on .Mac), 80GB of monthly bandwidth, php/MySql support, my own domain, lots of subdomains, shell access, and really nice mail support for $10 a month (only $20 more than .Mac each year).

So, you have to ask yourself: what are you going to use it for? .Mac starts to become more worth the money if you use all of the extras involved (iSync, backup, etc). If all you want is to code your own website, there are much better places to do it.

Oh, and this probably should have gone in the Web Developer forum.

brazil · Dec 11, 2003, 12:20 AM

While compared to other Apps / Progs .Mac is a childs toy . But it can be a very good place for someone / anyone to learn a few basics that might help you understand some very basic rulels . You could certainly build a very passable site for anything . You just can't make it too deep . Many people just want to post writing , personal data , personal pictures and such for family and friends . You also can password protect all or any pages to keep personal files within the family not every creep on the net . It is a very fun perk for new Mac owmers .

NetworkShadow · Dec 11, 2003, 12:39 AM

.Mac is ok, but over priced for what you get. For that price you could get a good server with a domain name, email, SQL, php and the works. .mac is really good for people with no clue how to design or code a site.

Right now my friend hosts my site on his G4 cube running Panther server, so I get about 4gig of space ^^. I've got a weblog and I've got a gallery php script too, so I don't have to update that manually. I have no need for .Mac

phillryu · Dec 11, 2003, 05:24 AM

Anyone know if .Mac has a bandwidth limitation? I think I remember seeing some really popular sites go down before, yet Max's themes used to be hosted there right?

drnkn_stylz · Dec 11, 2003, 05:41 PM

Thanks for the help. For now I'd have mostly a personal site, but when I decide to make something bigger and better I'll just get a better domain.

quietjim · Dec 11, 2003, 09:10 PM

I used .Mac for a fairly extensive site for a year or so. Movies, photo albums, etc. The site was done in Dreamweaver. I didn't bump up against the 100 MB limit but I wasn't trying to share files. And I do use iSync, Backup, email, etc. So that was helpful. I also got some benefit from some of the stuff in the Software folder. I know I could have gotten these elsewhere, but it was easy to do it there.

When the site got going, I also looked for a real host, in my case Dreamhost. I do think it was a good plan to get some experience with .Mac first. On balance, I'd say it was worth it. In fact, we've kept the .Mac account for this year at least.

I also think Homepage, the web authoring part of .Mac is good for people who are just starting out or for a personal site that you want to fling together fast. It gets criticized by people who say "buy Dreamweaver". I own Dreamweaver, but it's a lot for someone just starting out to pay and learn.

I'd go with .Mac for what you described. You can always use other apps to do the web editing if you don't like Homepage and when you're ready...move.

Jim
United Congregational Church

Scifience · Dec 23, 2003, 05:27 PM

1&1 (http://1and1.com/) is offering three years of free hosting to try and break into the US market.

I signed up with them just to see how it was and it works great. They don't ask for a credit card or anything and give you 500MB of space, PHP, MySQL, etc.

The only drawback for you would be that they require a domain, but they tell you how to register one for $6 a year.

*I am in no way affiliated with them, just trying to point out a deal.