are there any free domain name sites available anymore?

[The Penguin]

The ddns service is still a subdomain of course ( I'm sure you know that).

That true. They do still have a decent selection to choose from for the free version listed on this page Free Dynamic DNS Domains offered by No-IP

Out of all the ones form the list, I find making a subdomain off serveblog.net might be a good chose for a blog like WP.

 

[WereBear]

One nice thing about having a domain of any kind is that you have a permanent email address from it; as long as you can keep that domain, anyway.

 

[Questella]

thankyou questella! i keep forgetting about these.
can you just buy one from a shop? if so,i will get one from monday onwards, ive spent most of my weeks money this week on art supplies,thats partly why my dad doesnt like me.

Yeah I think many convenience and grocery stores sell them.


Man I really wish having a domain, maybe next year I can get things figured out enough to get mine back. :./

 

[Full Steam]

I used to make websites on Freewebs, now known as Webs but to my knowledge is still free. (Not sure if it's domain though... actually not sure what domain means. But it's a free website tool.)

A domain is basically a friendly name that humans understand that gets mapped (through a service called DNS) to an IP address which computers understand.

That allows you to go to www.google.com (domain name), instead of 216.58.196.132 (IP address).

You can buy domains and map them to IP addresses, and shared IP addresses.

You first choose your top level domain (TLD), .com, .net etc, then choose the name you want and register it.

 

[Full Steam]

There is a question I forgot to ask. If your using the service from WordPress.com, if you want to use your own custom domain, you will need to use the $3.99 monthly plan to have this support. WordPress required their service to be prepaid yearly.

With the WordPress free account, your domain would end with wordpress.com. So if you wanted a domain called mywebsite with their free account, it would be mywebsite.wordpress.com.

There are also web host providers that will host WordPress for you. Normally their is a fee. Some might be free with or without ads though I never used a free web host provider. There many web hosting providers have around the same monthly fee as WordPress. The advantage of a web host provider you would also get email with your custom domain. However, you might be responsible maintaining software updates for WordPress. If you went directly with WordPress.com, they will take care of the updates for you.

All well put and true.

For most blogs mapping their domain into wordpress.com will be much easier, cheaper and safer.

I've used free hosting, back in the bad old days of SEO blog networks, and they are not worth using in my opinion.

Self hosting also opens you up to problems if you don't know what you are doing. Wordpress MUST be kept up to date with secure passwords and security plugins, or you WILL get hacked.

WP is secure if looked after, but a liability if it's not.

If you have the cash and want self hosting, wpengine.com would be a safe bet, but they are not cheap.

 

[The Penguin]

If you have the cash and want self hosting, wpengine.com would be a safe bet, but they are not cheap

First time learning about them. I see they host sites for a lot of well know brands including for Canada. I also see they would provide better support on WP than most web host providers. Good recommendation.

 

[Mr Allen]

Free website and Blog.

I host my Blog on there (to which there's a link in my signature) and it's free and works great.