The Free Web Project

Pushing for a world wide web in which everyone can have their own personal website, not just the rich and nerdy.

[freeveloper]

"Whilst attempting to replicate the equivalent for a larger logo, I discovered limitations with the starburst effect. Luckily, I found Starburst Creator which does exactly what it says on the tin."

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"A quick search for an online logo making tool presented me with Flaming Text."

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"While tweaking my Tumblr account I saw the option to link to a Twitter account. So, I headed over to Twitter."

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"I figured a blog, detailing my progress, would be a good idea and, of course, proceeded to Tumblr."

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14-09-2013 - Day 2 - Freevelop!

Upon reflection, it seemed like, for now, a CO.NR domain name was not going to suit my needs. Consequently, the decepti.co.nr name, Gmail account, Amazon AWS account and Free DNS account all seemed useless.

I decided that I needed a name independent of my choice of domain name provider to avoid falling into this trap again. After typing every combination of words resembling The Free Web Project in Gmail and finding all of them taken, I ended up with Freeveloper as a user name and Freevelop! as a site name.

I then proceeded create a new online presence. This time, via social media. I figured a blog, detailing my progress, would be a good idea and, of course, proceeded to Tumblr.

While tweaking my Tumblr account I saw the option to link to a Twitter account. So, I headed over to Twitter.

Customising the look and feel of my new social media accounts led me to realise that a logo and a general visual theme are a necessary part of any successful website and simply hosting and serving content would not suffice.

A quick search for an online logo making tool presented me with Flaming Text.

I created small logo with a transparent background and another with a starburst background. Whilst attempting to replicate the equivalent for a larger logo, I discovered limitations with the starburst effect. Luckily, I found Starburst Creator which does exactly what it says on the tin.

[freeveloper]

"Now, DNS was a term I recognised, but not one I understood. A little background reading led me to Free DNS."

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"I had heard of free hosting in the Amazon Cloud and went there without further consideration."

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"If I was going to be setting up accounts all over the web, a dedicated email address was a necessity. Easily done with Gmail."

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CO.NR

"I looked at a few websites offering free domain names and eventually settled on CO.NR."

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12-09-2013 - Day 1 - Decepticonr

So, inspiration hit me when a colleague sent me a link. It was to a Java app he had written, and hosted, on one of the company servers. It occurred to me that, having done this for free, all he needed was a friendly URL and he'd have a website. The result would only be visible inside the company network, but the idea was there.

I looked at a few websites offering free domain names and eventually settled on CO.NR.

My immediate thought was ba.co.nr! However, it seems that the domain name has to have a minimum length of "greater than 3" (so 4). A couple of colleagues suggested kevinba.co.nr and sarah.co.nr. But, alas, both were taken. Finally, I settled on decepti.co.nr and set about creating my new web presence.

Next step, email. If I was going to be setting up accounts all over the web, a dedicated email address was a necessity. Easily done with Gmail.

Now, CO.NR requires an up and running website for registration. So, despite wanting to grab decepti.co.nr while it was available, I had to put it aside. First I needed hosting. I had heard of free hosting in the Amazon Cloud and went there without further consideration.

I managed to get an "endpoint" up and running and thought things were going rather swimmingly. However, I ran into troubles when trying to register a CO.NR domain against this endpoint. As far as I could determine, I needed a domain with DNS services included, which CO.NR charge for. Now, DNS was a term I recognised, but not one I understood. A little background reading led me to Free DNS.

I ploughed on and entered the details of my endpoint into Free DNS and ended up with decepticonr.ignorelist.com. It was at this point I realised that Free DNS connected sub domains to endpoints and was not what I needed for my CO.NR domain. So, I gave up.

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The Free Web Project

Having never had anything worth talking about, a regular blog has always alluded me. Then came the idea for The Free Web Project and inevitably, the talking and the consequent blog have followed.

I am a developer, Java mainly and almost exclusively back-end. Although officially working on a website for a large company with a household name, I've never really understood the real nitty gritty of setting up and running a website. Yet, I've always wanted one of my own.

So, being reluctant to spend my own hard earned money on an experiment, I devised the idea for The Free Web Project. My attempt, to establish and maintain a credible online presence, for free, and with and with a relatively lay man's perspective of web services.

I hope, assuming that I'm successful, people can use my experience as a guide and push for a world wide web in which everyone can have their own personal website, not just the rich and nerdy.

Wish me luck...