Was considering moving from GeoCities and ran across this free site which offers email and unlimited web space. http://www.crosswinds.net/ Sounds too good to be true. Was wondering if anyone knew if it would work as host site for PFO stuff. Found it using the list of free sites found here: http://www.thefreesite.com/

Well let's just say this...as others may well know I've got MORE than my fair share of websites throughout the net. Crosswinds happens to be one of my locations and sadly while they are a GREAT site which never requires you to use any ads or links to them whatsoever.....they will not let you link up to them from the funstuff section. Also keep in mind that when you are going to a site that has unlimited space (and there are a few out there) that unless you plan on pulling some serious bandwidth, be prepared to have bigger more visited sites take away from yours and cause your site to load up slowly to visitors. If you want a site that will give you your fair share...go with one that's not unlimited but provides about 20mbs. (I believe Fortune city does that) If you want to check out my site and see for yourself it's FEDERATION 21 PAN~

From what I've found it's not too bad...there are no outlandish hidden clauses like some sites and it is unlimited in almost all ways and having banners on your pages is not an issue...BUT the one problem I've found is that the site can almost come to a complete standstill on weekends due to the heavy traffic from weekend users, so it would probably be best to do all your uploading on week days. Other than that it's a lot better than some other sites I've seen. Eshal

I have a Crosswinds site, and I echo what PAN said, as well as adding it's slower than hell. Which brings me to a suggestion to the PFO for the FunStuff- Rather than linking to a file, why not have the link go to the persons web page instead, thus eliminating all of the link-up problems?

You read my mind...I have been arguing this case on deaf ears! Has anyone seen the funstuff section lately? How about the Bryce funstuff? All I see is either a broken link image or how wonderful it would be if I had a website on XOOM. Now I don't know about you but if we start dumping the funstuff section we are going to find VERY little in there. I say allow us to have a 3 times and your out type deal. Let us link to our poser / bryce related home pages and that alone. If we link to something non-related then it's 3 strikes and your out deal. No one will want to be banned so they'll link accordingly. It's because of that problem that I had to take half my stuff off the funstuff section to be able to put more up. I only have one site that allows me to post here and it's sadly not unlimited space. PAN~ Fighting for a better posed tomorrow...

Thanks for the feedback folks. Sounds like: the more the space - the slower the pace. Had not considered the bandwidth competition with other tenants on a "unlimited" site. Pan - I was just at your site for the first time just a few days ago and completely missed the fact that it was Crosswinds. Thanks for pointing it out. FYI- Just tried it again right now (12:15a EDT) and it loaded at a fairly typical speed - not too slowly. Bummer about the No Linking policy. RE: Linking to web pages Another feature this would allow, that I would appreciate, is the addition of lengthier descriptions than the current 24 or whatever characters that are allowed in FunStuff titles. Sometimes it would be nice to be able to see the Readme file before downloading the file. However - I realize Willow, Roy & the rest of the team didn't just fall off the apple truck! I just assumed they had tried it the other way, at some point before before I found the old forum, and had some problems. I can invision FS becoming reduced a collection of flashing neon banners screaming "COME TO MY SITE". When you've built something like this from nothing into the biggest & best, I can understand not messing with a successful formula. Anyway, thanks to all. The quest for the perfect host site goes ever on....

Sorry, can't resist this ... Remember, you ALWAYS get what you pay for! Free use web host can offer that because when folks come to your page, they hope to siphon off a certain number to their stuff and/or sponsors. If you work around this by loading graphics straight from their servers, you're basically cutting off the limb you're sitting on. In case no-one's heard, bandwidth ain't free. SOMEONE always has to pay for it. Free host are doomed to constantly be slow, unreliable and often changing terms. Not to mention leaving broken stuff all over fun-stuf ;-) A better solution, IMO, is to find a cheap web host that offers reasonable terms. My 2 cents - RJ

And I guess since that was merely your two cents we can't afford to get perhaps a few suggested hosts and rates outta ya? :) PAN~ Also part owner of an official url.

Pan, as it happens, I own my own server and pay big bucks for bandwidth because it's someplace that can handle high traffic without bogging down. I host a few folks but they are special cases. Usually non-profit folks who don't eat a lot of bandwidth. I know when I started out, I found best.com to be reasonable for average bandwidth use. Heck, now that I mention them, I think I still have an account over there running a site for my mom. I think someone else owns them but last I checked it was still quite reasonable. I didnt add my 2 cents to drum up business for me or anyone else, just to let folks know free hosting is always a compromise. - RJ

Thanks for the advice! I've thought of using one of those for my personal stuff such as my silly textures but ...I never figured I had anything up there worth paying a host to display ya know? I figure if people have time to sit and wait for me to load what the hey...then they must either really like my stuff or be at the wrong site. hahaha... I know you didn't mean to try and drum up business by your comment...I was just curious to know if you knew of any good deals. Thanks again for the name/advice. PAN

Pan, you mention it doesn't sound 'worth it' but let offer another way of thinking about it ... You're doing a lot of work and getting some good textures out there. You may be doing it for love but it's obvious you take pride in your work. So, your URL is on your work but whoops ... you change host and that's now a bum URL. Each person need to decide for themselves when it's worth it to switch from a free host that they stay agrivated with. It's been my experience that when you get to the point that you notice the drawbacks (slow speed, limited use, etc) it's a good indication to at least consider another option. Be well. - RJ