Some Questions

[nicktendo]

1. How can I make a forum with HTML? I am lost and confused.


2. Where is a good place to host a site for free?


3. Does my site have to be valid to be good?


4. Is it legal to charge people for a site that was made for free?


Thanks! I know these probably sound like stupid, oddball questions, but I need help... quick. Thanks!

[AdamGundry]

1. The browser will only see HTML, but you need a server-side language such as PHP to run the forum script. There are plenty of premade forums available in many languages.

2. There are many free hosts available, but few are perfect. Search for one with the features you need. There are also directories such as http://www.freewebspace.net/.

3. "Good" is a very subjective term, and depends on the individual. I would say a good website should be valid XHTML 1.1 or HTML 4.01 Strict, valid CSS and complies with accessibility legislation. You can validate your markup at http://validator.w3.org/, CSS at http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ and test accessibility at http://www.contentquality.com/.

4. I don't understand this point exactly - could you elaborate, please.

Hope this helps

Adam

[Aronya1]

1. You're going to need more than pure HTML to make a forum site.

2. IMHO, although others will disagree, there is no such thing as a good place to host a site for free. There is always advertising to put up with, multiple pop-up windows, etc, and as a user, I leave those sites immediately.

3. Charles (you'll meet him if you hang around) will no doubt say Yes, but validation & a "good" site are not necessarily bound together. Again, my opinion.

4. Why not? Just because you get something for nothing, doesn't mean you have to give it away for nothing. You will have put work into it, right? - Just to cover my *#s: this is not intended as legal advice...

[MotherNatrsSon]

Answers to your questions:

1 no

2. Many places just do a search

3 No but it sure helps to make sure it renders properly in all browsers and will eventually need to.

4 Not sure I understand what you mean. It was built for you for free and you want to charge members or you want to charge somone else for a site that someone built for free.

MNS

[starrwriter]

The best free web host is http://www.brinkster.com.
No banners or ads of any kind.

[iniquity101]

1. No, but for a free one click here (http://www.teemz.com/)

2. The best place i found is freewebz (http://www.freewebs.com) , as it has no popups or anything, just a small text banner you can put anywhere on you site. And its completely free.

[spykemitchell]

And Brinkster is free How???

[iniquity101]

another good free hosting site is Web Matrix Hosting (http://europe.webmatrixhosting.net/) as it supports Asp.Net and its free because Microsoft sponser it.