RSS Validator
This service tests the validity of an RSS 2.0 feed, checking to see that it follows the rules of the RSS specification. For advice from the RSS Advisory Board on how to implement RSS and handle issues such as enclosures and HTML encoding, read the RSS Best Practices Profile. This checker is also a validator of Atom and RSS 1.0 feeds.
Use this tester regularly to ensure that your RSS feed continues to work well in the wide audience of RSS readers, podcast clients and other software that supports the format.
Sorry
This feed does not validate.
<guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#infinity-free</guid>
^
In addition, interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendation.
Source: https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/rss.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><channel><title>Testing Free Website Hosts (Pixel Shannon)</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/</link><description>I test out as many free website hosts as I can, and share the results.</description><language>en-us</language><image><title>Testing Free Website Hosts (Pixel Shannon)</title><url>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/logo.png</url><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/</link></image><atom:link href="https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/rss.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>yay.boo</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#yayboo</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#yayboo</guid><pubDate>Tue, 07 Jan 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from yay.boo!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.yay.boo/">shannonkay.yay.boo</a> hosted by <a href="https://yay.boo/">yay.boo</a> - This was really fast and easy to use.</p><ul><li>I dragged the folder with my index.html and css files in it onto the uploader, chose a subdomain and typed in my email address. They sent me a "magic link" to manage the account. </li><li>They offer free websites up to 10mb for free on the yay.boo subdomain, and there's a little ghost icon in the corner of the site. </li><li>You can subscribe to support the site starting at $25/year to use your own domain names, upload sites up to 25mb, and remove the ghost mascot.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Neocities</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#neocities</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#neocities</guid><pubDate>Tue, 07 Jan 2025 22:54:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Neocities!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.neocities.org/">shannonkay.neocities.org</a> hosted by <a href="https://www.neocities.org/">Neocities</a> </p><ul><li>Signing up was pretty simple. Once signed in, I headed to the site dashboard. It had some placeholder files already there. If you don't already have a site made, you can edit the starter index.html and css file in their browser-based editor. I used drag and drop to upload the files from my test website folder, overwriting the default index page with my own file. </li><li>A free Neocities account gives you 1GB storage and 200GB bandwidth. The Supporter account for $5/month gets you 50GB storage and 3000GB, custom domain support, and some other things. </li><li>After updating my website, Neocities made a new thumbnail to add to their community gallery. I added a few tags on signing up for Neocities, including pink, coffee, and books. The next time I visited the Neocities main page, it showed me a bunch of other fun-looking pink websites to visit.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Nekoweb</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#nekoweb</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#nekoweb</guid><pubDate>Wed, 08 Jan 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Nekoweb!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.nekoweb.org/">shannonkay.nekoweb.org</a> hosted by <a href="https://www.nekoweb.org/">Nekoweb</a> </p><ul><li>Sign-up was easy. I signed in and went to the dashboard. There are some placeholder files, index and CSS, plus a couple of interesting other files like a custom cursor. I can edit the files that are already there with their browser-based editor. </li><li>Nekoweb has a nice file manager and editor combined. The CSS file that's included actually contains examples of how to style custom elements for Nekoweb, so don't overwrite it. My CSS file is named something different, so it won't be a problem. </li><li>There's an upload button, to browse for files and upload them. It's not obvious if I can drag or drop to upload or not, so I tried. It uploaded my CSS file, but didn't overwrite the default index file. I used the upload button to select my index file, and that worked to upload it and overwrite the default one. </li><li>Nekoweb has a 500MB storage limit for free accounts. Become a patron(starting at $3/month) to add custom domains, get 10GB max storage, access to FTP and git, and some other things. </li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Codeberg Pages</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#codeberg-pages</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#codeberg-pages</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jan 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Codeberg Pages!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.codeberg.page">shannonkay.codeberg.page</a> and <a href="https://codeberg.shannonkay.com">codeberg.shannonkay.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://codeberg.page">Codeberg Pages</a></p><ul><li>I first registered an account at <a href="https://codeberg.org">Codeberg</a>. </li><li>Using the instructions, I created a new repository and called it "pages". To do this, I clicked the + and selected + New Repository. I set the Repository name to "pages", changing no other settings. Then I clicked "Create repository".</li><li>On the next screen, I was brought to my repository named "pages"</li><li>I clicked the "upload" button, and was brought to a file upload with drag and drop support, or click to upload. I selected my html and css files and uploaded them, and clicked "commit changes" at the bottom. </li><li>That was it! The site is now available at <a href="https://shannonkay.codeberg.page">shannonkay.codeberg.page</a></li><li>I want to try using a custom domain. Based on the instructions, I created a new file in my "pages" repository by going to add file/new file, then named it <code>.domains</code>. In the "new file" text box, I typed the domain I want to use. I'm going to use a subdomain, <code>codeberg.shannonkay.com</code>. Scroll down and click "commit changes".</li><li>At my domain registrar(mine is Porkbun), I edited the DNS settings for my domain name. I created a subdomain by adding a CNAME record with Host: <code>codeberg</code>(.shannonkay.com) and Answer/Value: <code>shannonkay.codeberg.com</code>. </li><li>It worked! I can now access my test site at my custom subdomain, and going to <em>shannonkay.codeberg.page</em> forwards me to the custom domain.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Glitch</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#glitch</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#glitch</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jan 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Glitch!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.glitch.me">shannonkay.glitch.me</a> hosted by <a href="https://glitch.com">Glitch</a></p><ul><li>I clicked "sign up" and chose the "email magic link" option. After getting the code in my email, I was signed in.</li><li>There are several choices under the Projects header, all types of website projects including a link tree page and static site generator blog. You can also import projects from GitHub.</li><li>I'm choosing to Remix "Blank Website" under the "Website" header.</li><li>Clicking the link to Remix "Blank Website" led me to an in-browser project manager. The project has a ReadMe.md file open, and is populated with index.html, stript.js, and style.css files. </li><li>I can create and edit HTML and CSS files directly in the Glitch editor, but I have my files made already, so I want to upload them if I can. I clicked the + next to Files then selected "upload a file". It says you can also use drag-and-drop. I selected and uploaded my HTML and CSS files, overwriting the index.html file that was there with my own.</li><li>Now what? The project has a random name, so I changed it by clicking on settings and selecting "edit project details". I made the Project Name <em>shannonkay</em> and added a description, then clicked "save".</li><li>From settings, when I click "Go to project page", it opens the <a href="https://glitch.com/~shannonkay">project page</a> that has a little preview of my test site on it. Clicking the "Visit" link below the preview leads me to my test site at <a href="https://shannonkay.glitch.me">shannonkay.glitch.me</a>. </li><li>There is a way to <a href="https://help.glitch.com/hc/en-us/articles/16287558909965-Adding-a-Custom-Domain">add a custom domain</a> for free, but I haven't tried it.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Netlify</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#netlify</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#netlify</guid><pubDate>Sat, 11 Jan 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Netlify!</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<ul><li><a href="https://netlify.com/">Netlify</a> - I've used Netlify by deploying a blog through GitHub and I've also used their drag-and-drop uploader. Their free tier is plenty for most users, and they support custom domain names.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Infinity Free</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#infinity-free</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#infinity-free</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Feb 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test the free hosting service from Infinity Free.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I tried <a href="https://www.infinityfree.com">Infinity Free</a> without success.</p><ul><li>Set up had an extra step with creating an account at Infinity Free, then creating a "hosting account" to choose a tier. The free tier gives you 5GB of space and supports domain hosting. They have some low-cost paid tiers with php support, email, more space, and other things. I chose the $0 tier for this test.</li><li>I was prompted to create a subdomain with a selection of a few domains to choose from. I chose shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com </li><li>In another screen, I chose a label for this hosting account, and a different short password(apparently for use with ftp, etc).</li><li>I got a DNS error and tried again. I went back and picked a different domain for the subdomain, and got another DNS error. That's my limit of attempts.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Bear Blog</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#bearblog</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#bearblog</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Feb 2025 22:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test Bear Blog.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.bearblog.dev">shannonkay.bearblog.dev</a> hosted by <a href="https://www.bearblog.dev">bearblog.dev</a></p><ul><li>Signing up was simple. I chose a subdomain and entered a little bit of homepage text, then entered my email address and a password.</li><li>I was logged in and brought to the editor for the Home page. You can choose an emoji to be your favicon. I chose the two pink hearts emoji.</li><li>The editor supports Markdown. In fact, pretty much all the editing is Markdownish.</li><li>It looks like inserting media is a pro feature.</li><li>I pressed publish, and my website is working. </li><li>There's a choice of themes, and you can edit the CSS right in the browser.</li><li>You can upgrade and "keep the tiny internet awesome" to get custom domain support, media uploading, and some other things. The pro upgrade is $5/mo(or $49/yr).</li><li>I decided to put the same text from my homepage test on the homepage of my bearblog. I did this quite easily by copying from my website and pasting it into <a href="https://obsidian.md">Obsidian</a>. Then I copied and pasted the Markdown version from Obsidian into the bearblog.dev page editor.</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>GitHub Pages</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#github-pages</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#github-pages</guid><pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:30:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test GitHub Pages.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.github.io">shannonkay.github.io</a> and <a href="http://github.shannonkay.com">github.shannonkay.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://pages.github.com">GitHub Pages</a></p><ul><li>GitHub Pages will give you a <code>yourname.github.io</code> subdomain and has support for custom domain names.</li><li>You need an account at <a href="https://github.com">GitHub</a>. I already had one, so I signed in. The instructions are at <a href="https://pages.github.com">pages.github.com</a></li><li>I created a <a href="https://github.com/new">new repository</a> called <code>shannonkay.github.io</code>. Under description, I put <em>Shannon Kay's Website</em>. I left the <em>Public</em> radio button selected, left everything else in the default settings, and clicked the <em>Create Repository</em> button at the bottom of the page.</li><li>There's a quick setup thing offering advice for setting things up in GitHub Desktop or SSH, but I'm going to test doing this through the website. Below the quick setup thing, there is some text with links which says "Get started by <em>creating a new file</em> or <em>uploading an existing file</em>". </li><li>I clicked on the <em>uploading an existing file</em> link, which takes me to a drag-and-drop(or browse) uploader. </li><li>I dragged my two website files, <code>index.html</code> and <code>home.css</code> into the uploader. </li><li>Under <strong>Commit changes</strong>, there are two fields to describe the changes you made. I put <code>uploaded index and css file</code> and <code>first website files</code> in the two fields.</li><li>I pressed the <em>Commit changes</em> button.</li><li>It brought me to the project page for the repository.</li><li>Going to <a href="https://shannonkay.github.io">shannonkay.github.io</a> brings me to the website I uploaded.</li><li>To update your website, you can use GitHub desktop or another git client, or you can do it right on the website by using the <em>add file</em> button to upload or create files. </li><li>Going to my site's repo(short for repository), I can tell that GitHub wants me to make a ReadMe file. I clicked the green <em>Create ReadMe</em> button.</li><li>This creates a new README.md file opened in a browser-based text editor. Since this is a <a href="https://www.markdownguide.org">Markdown</a> file, I can use Markdown in the text box. I already have a copy of my test website's text in Markdown, so I'm going to paste that in and commit changes.</li><li>There's also a settings icon. Clicking it gives me options to enter a website address and a box to check for <em>Use your GitHub Pages website</em>. Choosing those options puts a link in the About section of your repo.</li><li><a href="https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site">GitHub Pages supports custom domains</a>, so I want to test setting one up. I'm going to use the documentation to <a href="https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site/managing-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site#configuring-a-subdomain">configure a subdomain</a>. </li><li>From my domain registrar, I made a subdomain called <code>github.shannonkay.com</code> by creating a CNAME record with Host: <code>github</code>(.shannonkay.com) and Answer/Value: <code>shannonkay.github.io</code>. </li><li>In my site's repo, I clicked on the settings icon near the top, then clicked <code>Pages</code> from the sidebar menu. Under the <strong>Custom Domain</strong> header, I typed the subdomain that I created into the box, <code>github.shannonkay.com</code>, and clicked the Save button. I got a message that said <em>Custom domain "github.shannonkay.com" saved.</em> The settings page now says <em>Your site is live at <a href="http://github.shannonkay.com">http://github.shannonkay.com</a></em> at the top. </li><li>Clicking the link brings me to my GitHub Pages site at the new subdomain I configured. </li><li>You can also <a href="https://www.pixelshannon.com/bluesky/handles/#github-pages">use a github subdomain as a Bluesky username</a>.</li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Infinity Free (updated)</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#infinity-free</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#infinity-free</guid><pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:01:00 PST</pubDate><description>An update of my Infinify Free test.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com">shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://www.infinityfree.com">Infinity Free</a> | <em>updated</em></p><ul><li>Set up had an extra step with creating an account at Infinity Free, then creating a "hosting account" to choose a tier. The free tier gives you 5GB of space and supports domain hosting. Infinity Free includes php support, which is rare for free website hosting. They have some low-cost paid tiers email, more space, and other things. I chose the $0 tier for this test.</li><li>My first attempt at testing infinity free was not successful because of DNS errors. I was encouraged to try again. Maybe there was something going on the day I first tried, because I had no trouble this time. Here are my revised results. </li><li>I had already created an Infinity Free account, so I logged in.</li><li>You also need to create a "Hosting Account", so I clicked on <em>Create Account</em>.</li><li>I chose the InfinityFree Tier and clicked <em>Create Now</em>.</li><li>The next page asks me to choose a subdomain. I chose <code>shannonkay</code> as the Subdomain, and <code>infinityfreeapp.com</code> as the Domain Extension, then clicked <strong>check availability</strong></li><li>On the <em>Step 3</em> page, I chose an account label and an "account password" which is less complex and I think used for ftp access.</li><li>Account created! This is the place where I got the error last time. Maybe there was a problem the day I first tried it. </li><li>There's a warning about DNS taking up to 72 hours to propogate, which is pretty standard language. It varies.</li><li>I'm now at the account page for this "Hosting Account" that I labeled <em>shannonkay test site</em></li><li>I'm going to try the File Manager. It looks like it's a web-based ftp client logged into my account. There's a file in the root folder named <code>DO NOT UPLOAD FILES HERE</code>. </li><li>I clicked on the <code>htdocs</code> folder. </li><li>Inside <code>/htdocs</code> there is a blank file named <code>files for your website should be uploaded here!</code> and an <a href="http://shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com/index2.html"><code>index2.html</code></a> file, which has a bit of instruction.</li><li>This is where I want to upload my test site, so I clicked the <em>upload</em> icon in the bottom left corner and selected <em>upload file</em>.</li><li>I browsed to my <code>html</code> and <code>css</code> files, selected them and clicked <strong>upload</strong>.</li><li>My test site is now accessible at <a href="http://shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com"><code>shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com</code></a>.</li><li>This host supports php, so I'm going to try testing it with my <a href="https://web.pixelshannon.com/aguestbook">guestbook</a>.</li><li>Still in the <strong>File Manager</strong>, I created a guestbook folder by clicking the + New File/Folder icon at the bottom, selecting <em>New Folder</em>, and typing in <code>guestbook</code>, then clicking <strong>OK</strong>.</li><li>I opened the <code>guestbook</code> folder and uploaded the files for my guestbook. I need to give one of the files permissions. I right-clicked on it and selecting CHMOD, but there's no response. I wondered if free accounts can't change file permissions, but there's nothing about that listed on the website. I felt like the web client might be the problem, so I connected with a desktop ftp client(<a href="https://cyberduck.io">cyberduck</a>), and was able to CHMOD the file to <code>666</code>. </li><li><a href="http://shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com/guestbook"><code>shannonkay.infinityfreeapp.com/guestbook</code></a> is now working, and I made a successful test guestbook signature.</li><li>I started to test the custom domain support, but it doesn't allow adding a subdomain as a custom domain. Since I don't want to devote a base domain to this test, I stopped there. Other than that, it was going fine, and I'm confident that people will be able to use their domains at this host. <a href="https://forum.infinityfree.com/t/how-to-add-your-own-domain-to-your-account/49227/1">They have documentation about custom domains here</a>.</li></ul><p><a href="https://leilukin.com">Leilukin</a> is the one who encouraged me to give InfinityFree another chance, and shared some additional feedback at <a href="https://32bit.cafe">32-bit cafe</a>.</p><blockquote><p>Being a free web host, InfinityFree has its own limitations, mainly by implementing <a href="https://forum.infinityfree.com/docs?topic=49356">their own security measures</a> on websites on their free hosting plan to ensure <a href="https://forum.infinityfree.com/docs?topic=49353">only regular browsers can access these websites</a>. The most notable drawback from this security measure is that it blocks feed readers from being able to read RSS feeds from websites hosted on InfinityFree, even if the website owner decides to provide an RSS feed.</p><p>However, given the lack of options for free web hosts that support PHP, I would still recommend it to PHP beginners.</p></blockquote><p><a href="https://discourse.32bit.cafe/t/testing-free-web-hosts/2198/18">link to original post</a></p><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p><p><a href="https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/">Testing Free Web Hosts</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Web1.0 Hosting</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/#web10-hosting</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/#web10-hosting</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:19:00 PST</pubDate><description>I test Web1.0 Hosting.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.w10.site">shannonkay.w10.site</a> and <a href="http://shannonkay.pixels.pink">shannonkay.pixels.pink</a> hosted by <a href="https://web1.0hosting.net">web1.0hosting.net</a></p><ul><li>Web1.0 Hosting is in Helsinki, Finland. They give 100mb of space for free, or 500mb if you join their community by joining their forum or chat.</li><li>This website has some really interesting looking things, but I'm going to stick with trying to upload my test site for now.</li><li>I clicked the <em>Get a domain and website space</em> link at the top and filled out the form.</li><li>The next page says "Your request has been sent successfully. Wait the answer regarding the website registration during 24 hours. <br /><strong>Also check your SPAM folder, most of the mail servers put our emails into spam due to the links in the letter.</strong>"</li><li>I had a little trouble with my email address because it was hosted by iCloud. I tried a gmail address, and that went through.</li><li>I got an email with some ftp login credentials. </li><li>I opened an ftp client to connect to the server by entering the server, username, and password from the email. I used <a href="https://cyberduck.io">Cyberduck</a>. Web1.0 Hosting also has a <a href="https://web1.0hosting.net/net2ftp">web-based ftp client </a>available. </li><li>I uploaded my website files using the ftp client.</li><li>That's it, my test website is now working at <a href="https://shannonkay.w10.site"><code>shannonkay.w10.site</code></a></li><li>Check out the <a href="https://web1.0hosting.net/faq/">Web1.0 Hosting FAQ</a> for how to use their HamsterCMS and their built-in scripts like guest book, blog, and photo gallery.</li><li>Custom domain hosting is supported, but there are some specific requirements. According to the FAQ, your custom domain must match your username "to the left" of the dot. This means that <code>username.tld</code> or <code>username.domain.tld</code> should work. An IP address for setting up an A record is provided, or you can use a CNAME record pointed to your subdomain.</li><li>With my domain registrar, I set up a <code>CNAME</code> record for one of my domain names with <strong>host:</strong> <code>shannonkay</code><em>.pixels.pink</em> and <strong>answer:</strong> <code>shannonkay.w10.site</code></li><li><a href="http://shannonkay.pixels.pink">shannonkay.pixels.pink</a> started working immediately after creating the CNAME record.</li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Test of tiiny.host</title><link>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#tiinyhost</link><guid>https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/index.html#tiinyhost</guid><pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:10:00 PDT</pubDate><description>I test tiiny.host</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://shannonkay.tiiny.site">shannonkay.tiiny.site</a> hosted by <a href="https://tiiny.host">tiiny.host</a></p><ul><li><a href="https://tiiny.host">tiiny.host</a> promises to be "The simplest way to host & share your work online" and the Website begins with a file uploader. </li><li>Scrolling down gives a little "How it Works" summary and animation. Upload, Customize, Publish. Scrolling down a bit further shows pricing information. The free plan offers 1 active project, 3MB upload limit per project, and 5,000 visitors/mo. Custom domains start at the $13/mo plan. </li><li>I scrolled back up to the top to try it out. </li><li>I typed <code>shannonkay</code> in the <em>link-name</em> field.</li><li>The file uploader is just below the link-name field. I noticed that "Documents" is selected, which seems to be meant for things like PDF and Doc files. I selected the "Code" tab instead which is for HTML and CSS files, which is what I want to upload.</li><li>I can only upload one file at a time. I could make a zip file, but I'll start with the HTML file. </li><li>I clicked the <em>upload file</em> button and selected my <code>index.html</code> file, then clicked <em>upload</em>. </li><li>There is now an <em>add more files</em> button. I clicked on it and selected my CSS file to upload.</li><li>I entered my email address below <strong>please verify your email</strong>, and clicked <em>continue</em>.</li><li>I'm brought to this message; "Success! shannonkay.tiiny.site is nearly live..."</li><li>I checked my email for the verification. It's there. there's no code or anything, I just have to follow the "verify" link in the email. I would say that I clicked the link, but I actually copied the link, opened a new browser tab, and pasted it into the address bar. It looked about like I expected, so I pressed enter. </li><li>Following the link leads to a short survey. <ul><li><em>What are you using Tiiny for?</em></li><li>I selected <em>personal website/project</em> and pressed <strong>Complete</strong></li></ul></li><li>Success! <a href="https://shannonkay.tiiny.site">shannonkay.tiiny.site</a> is now live. It looks as expected, and has a tiiny.host banner at the bottom.</li><li>The linked subdomain from the <em>Success</em> page has some extra things at the end of the url, and when I click on it, it shows my website with an upselling side banner added to it("only visible to you"). </li><li>The uploader works nicely. There are probably good uses for this as custom file sharing for businesses, resumes, or portfolios, but I wouldn't recommend it for website hosting. </li><li>Especially for personal websites, there are better choices. If you want something that's fast and easy to get started, and you just upload files without signing up first, check out <a href="https://web.pixelshannon.com/freehosts/#yayboo">yay.boo</a>.</li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Test of Netlify Drop</title><link>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/netlify.html</link><guid>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/netlify.html</guid><pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2026 18:00:00 PDT</pubDate><description>Netlify Drop is a super easy way to upload your files and get your website on the internet fast. You can upload before making an account. Netlify lets you add your own custom domain names at no cost, and gives free .netlify.app subdomains. It's a especially good for those looking to use their own custom domain name.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3><a href="#netlify">Netlify</a></h3><p><a href="https://netlify.com/">Netlify</a></p><ul><li><a href="https://netlify.com/">Netlify</a> has a generous free tier and support for <a href="https://docs.netlify.com/domains-https/custom-domains/configure-external-dns/#app">custom domain names</a>.<li>You can use their <a href="https://docs.netlify.com/site-deploys/create-deploys/#drag-and-drop">drag and drop uploader</a>, or deploy with git.<li>I've used Netlify by deploying a blog through GitHub and I've also used their drag-and-drop uploader. Their free tier is plenty for most users, and they support custom domain names.</li></ul><section id="netlify-drop"><h3><a href="https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/netlify.html#netlify-drop">Netlify Drop</a></h3><p><a href="https://pixelshannontest.netlify.app">pixelshannontest.netlify.app</a> and <a href="https://netlify.pixelshannon.com">netlify.pixelshannon.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://netlify.com">Netlify</a>, using <a href="https://app.netlify.com/drop">Netlify Drop</a></p><blockquote><p>Netlify Drop is a super easy way to upload your files and get your website on the internet fast. You can upload before making an account. Netlify lets you add your own custom domain names at no cost, and gives free <code>.netlify.app</code> subdomains. It's a especially good for those looking to use their <a href="https://yourownwebsite.org/domain/">own custom domain name</a>.</p></blockquote><h4 id="netlify-drop-upload"><a href="https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/netlify.html#netlify-drop-upload">Uploading your website</a></h4><ul><li>I visited <a href="https://app.netlify.com/drop">Netlify Drop</a>, and was greeted by a by a big box to drag and drop into. You can upload a folder, html file, or zip file. </li><li>I grabbed my test site folder, and dragged it in. The files upload.</li><li>My project is live! A randomly generated subdomain leads to the website. I have 60 minutes to claim the website I uploaded.</li><li>I click the <em>Claim this site</em> button. </li><li>I need to log into Netlify to continue. You can sign up for a new account, or log in if you already have one. </li><li>Logging in leads me to my <em>Projects</em> page on Netlify, with my newly uploaded project at the top. I click on the project's row.</li><li>I'm at the <em>Project overview</em> page. </li><li>I click on the <em>Quick setup</em> button. </li><li>From here, I can change the project name, giving me a subdomain of my choosing instead of the random one. </li><li>I type in my name, <code>pixelshannontest</code>, which gives me a <code>pixelshannontest.netlify.app</code> subdomain, and click <em>Update project name</em>. </li><li>My website now works at <code>pixelshannontest.netlify.app</code> </li></ul><h4 id="netlify-domain"><a href="https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/netlify.html#netlify-domain">Add a custom domain or subdomain</a></h4><ul><li>The next page has an option to set a custom domain. I click the <em>Add a domain you own</em> button. </li><li>On the <em>Set custom domain</em> page, I type in a subdomain I want to use, using a domain name I already have registered. I type <code>netlify.pixelshannon.com</code> and click the <em>Verify</em> button.</li><li>I get a message instructing me to <em>To verify ownership, add the following TXT record to your DNS provider at the root level.</em> with settings to use for the DNS record.</li><li>I go to my DNS management, which I have at my registrar, and go to the DNS settings for the domain name I'm using. I add a TXT record with the <em>Host</em> and <em>Value</em>(Answer) given to me by Netlify.</li><li>Back at Netlify, I click the <em>Add subdomain</em> button.</li><li>At the <em>Project overview</em> page again, I have my uploaded website listed with the project name of my choosing, and the netlify subdomain to match, and my custom subdomain.</li><li>My custom subdomain doesn't work yet, though. There's another DNS record to add. </li><li>From the Netlify <em>Project overview</em> page for my project, I click on <em>Domain Management</em> from the sidebar. </li><li>Under the <em>Production domains</em> header, my project's subdomains are listed. I have <code>pixelshannontest.netlify.app</code> and <code>netlify.pixelshannon.com</code>.</li><li><code>netlify.pixelshannon.com</code> has a <em>Pending DNS verification</em> link next to it, which I click on. It tells me to <em>Add a CNAME record for <strong>netlify</strong> that points to <strong>pixelshannontest.netlify.app</strong></em></li><li>I go back to my domain's DNS management to add a CNAME record with </li><li>Host: <code>netlify</code>.pixelshannon.com </li><li>Target: <code>pixelshannontest.netlify.app</code> </li><li>I go back to Netlify and refresh the <em>Domain management</em> page and refresh. The <em>Pending</em> message is gone. </li><li>My custom domain appears to be working, but the SSL certificate doesn't match. It may take some time for the DNS settings to propagate, but once they do, go to the <em>SSL/TLS certificate</em> section of Netlify's <em>Domain management</em> page.</li><li>Click on <em>Verify DNS configuration</em></li><li>If your DNS has propogated, you should get a <em>Verification was successful</em> button, and your SSL certificate should be there. This allows visitors to connect to your site with <code>https</code>.</li><li>I can now visit my test site hosted with Netlify at <code>https://netlify.pixelshannon.com</code></li></ul></section><hr><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Testing Vercel for Free Web Hosting</title><link>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/vercel.html</link><guid>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/vercel.html</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 07:00:00 PDT</pubDate><description>Vercel is a host for web apps and other projects with a $0/month Hobby tier. Vercel is good for people who have created their websites and have files ready to upload. The custom domain support makes it especially good if you have a domain name. It's similar to Netlify.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Vercel</h3><p><a href="https://shannonkay.vercel.app">shannonkay.vercel.app</a> and <a href="https://vercel.shannonkay.com">vercel.shannonkay.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://vercel.com">Vercel</a></p><blockquote><p>Vercel is a host for web apps and other projects with a $0/month <em>Hobby</em> tier. Vercel is good for people who have created their websites and have files ready to upload. The custom domain support makes it especially good if you have a domain name. It's similar to Netlify. </p></blockquote><h4 id="uploading-your-website">Uploading your website</h4><ul><li>I started by going to <a href="https://vercel.com">vercel.com</a>. I clicked on the <a href="https://vercel.com/new">Deploy Now</a> button.</li><li>There are a few featured actions, like importing a git repository or clone a template, but I focused on this relatively small text; <em>You can also drag and drop your project, or choose a file or a folder</em>.</li><li>I grabbed my html and CSS files and dragged them onto the page.</li><li>The next page says <em>Your first deploy is just a sign-up away</em>.</li><li>I'm choosing to <em>Continue with email</em>, but there are other login options like Google, Apple, and GitHub.</li><li>I typed in my email address and logged in with the code they sent to my email. </li><li>On the <em>Choose a Plan</em> page, I have a choice between <em>Pro</em>("commercial projects") and <em>Hobby</em>("personal projects"). I chose <em>Hobby</em>, filled in my name for <em>Team Name</em>, and clicked <em>Continue</em>. </li><li>The <em>New Project</em> page shows the files that I drag and dropped to upload.</li><li>Under <em>Vercel Team</em>, I selected the team named <em>Shannon Kay</em>, which is what I had entered for the <em>Team Name</em> in the previous step. I entered <code>shannonkay</code> for the Project Name.</li><li>Click <em>Deploy</em> button.</li><li><em>Congratulations! You just deployed a new project to Shannon Kay</em></li><li>Below the message, it says no screenshot is available, but clicking on it does open a web page that looks as I expected at <a href="https://shannonkay.vercel.app">shannonkay.vercel.app</a>. </li><li>We could call it done right there. I've got my page hosted. </li></ul><h4 id="adding-a-custom-domain-or-subdomain">Adding a custom domain or subdomain</h4><ul><li>Scrolling down, there's a <em>Next Steps</em> heading with an <em>Add Domain</em> option. </li><li>I clicked <em>Add Domain</em>, and Vercel suggest setting up 2FA with an authenticator app. That's probably a good idea since I didn't even set up a password and just got a code in my email. Set up 2FA or skip it. That's up to you. </li><li>Ok, now I'm at a dashboard with a <em>Domains</em> page selected. <code>shannonkay.vercel.app</code> is listed.</li><li>There's a search box at the top, and I clicked the <em>add existing</em> button next to it. </li><li>I'm at an <em>Add Domains</em> pop-up. It says <em>Add one or more domains to this project and choose one destination for all of them. Domains connected to an environment are aliased to the most recent deployment in that environment.</em> </li><li>I typed in a subdomain to use, in my case, <code>vercel.shannonkay.com</code> </li><li>Under <em>Connect to an Environment</em>, I selected <em>Production</em>. </li><li>Click <em>Add Domain</em> </li><li>Now I'm back at the <em>Domains</em> page again. Now <code>vercel.shannonkay.com</code> is also listed.</li><li>I clicked on the red <em>Verification Needed</em> under <code>vercel.shannonkay.com</code>, which showed me the information I needed to create the DNS records with my domain registrar.</li><li>I created a CNAME record with <ul><li>Host: <code>vercel</code>.shannonkay.com</li><li>Target: The <em>Value</em> given by Vercel</li></ul></li><li>On the Vercel <em>Domains</em> page, the domain verified after trying the <em>Refresh</em> button a couple times. </li><li>I can now visit my test page at <a href="https://vercel.shannonkay.com">vercel.shannonkay.com</a> and <a href="https://shannonkay.vercel.app">shannonkay.vercel.app</a></li></ul><h4 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h4><ul><li>How do you update your website in the same manner that you uploaded the files in the first place? It's not obvious, but it's easy. In the dashboard, click on <em>Projects</em> and click on your project's name. It should bring up a <em>Production Deployment</em> Overview page. You'll see things like <em>Source: Vercel Drop</em>.</li><li>Drag your updated files on top of that page. You should see it become the drag and drop file uploader as you do this. Click the <em>Deploy</em> button to deploy the new upload as the updated version of your project. </li><li>Vercel is a good choice for people who have created their websites and have files ready to upload. The custom domain support makes it especially good if you have a domain name. It's similar to Netlify. </li></ul><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Testing pages.gay for web hosting</title><link>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/pagesdotgay.html</link><guid>https://yourownwebsite.org/freehosts/pagesdotgay.html</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 22:00:00 PDT</pubDate><description>pages.gay is part of git.gay, a fork of Forgejo, which is the same software that powers Codeberg. Have your website at the .pages.gay subdomain, or bring your own domain name.</description><category>free web hosts</category><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>pages.gay</h3><p><a href="https://pixelshannon.pages.gay">pixelshannon.pages.gay</a> and <a href="https://dotgay.pixelshannon.com">dotgay.pixelshannon.com</a> hosted by <a href="https://pages.gay">pages.gay</a>, at <a href="https://git.gay">git.gay</a></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://pages.gay">pages.gay</a> is part of <a href="https://git.gay">git.gay</a>, a fork of <a href="https://forgejo.org">Forgejo</a>, which is the same software that powers Codeberg. Upload through the website, or use git. Have your website at the <code>.pages.gay</code> subdomain, or bring your own domain name. It's similar to Codeberg Pages or GitHub Pages, but is a small service. Check their <a href="https://gitgay.pages.gay/policy/">terms of use</a>. Having a variety of small platforms is important to the small web. It's nice to <a href="https://donate.git.gay">donate</a> if you are able. </p></blockquote><h4 id="getting-started">Getting Started</h4><ul><li>I signed up for an account at <a href="https://git.gay">git.gay</a> by clicking on the <em>Register</em> button in the top right corner. It was a basic registration process, and I confirmed my email address to activate my account.</li><li>I'm now logged in and at the dashboard, but I don't have any projects yet. Basic instructions to set up a website are on <a href="https://pages.gay">pages.gay</a>, with <a href="https://pages.gay/docs/quick-setup">more documentation</a> available.</li><li>The first step is to make a public repository called named <code>pages</code>. To do that, I'll click on the <code>+</code> icon in the top right, and select <em>New repository</em> from the menu.</li><li>Under <em>Repository name</em>, I typed <code>pages</code>. For <em>Description</em>, I entered <code>Pixel Shannon's test website.</code></li><li>I changed no other settings, and clicked <em>Create repository</em></li></ul><h4 id="uploading-the-website">Uploading the website</h4><ul><li>Now at my <code>pages</code> repository, I clicked the <em>Upload file</em> button. </li><li>I can drop files or click to upload. I clicked to select my html and css files. </li><li>The files upload and the page shows the files as uploaded in the file drop area. </li><li>Under <em>Commit signed changes</em>, I typed <code>uploading my test website</code> in the first text field. You can add more description, or leave it blank. </li><li>Making no other changes, I clicked the <em>Commit changes</em> button.</li><li>My website is now available at <a href="https://pixelshannon.pages.gay">pixelshannon.pages.gay</a></li></ul><h4 id="add-a-custom-domain-or-subdomain">Add a custom domain or subdomain</h4><ul><li>Instructions for using custom domains are available on <a href="https://pages.gay">pages.gay</a></li><li>I created a <code>.domains</code> file in my <code>pages</code> repository. </li><li>To do this, make sure you are in the same directory with your website's <code>index.html</code> file. Click on the <em>Add file</em> button, and select <em>New file</em>. Name the file <code>.domains</code>. At the top, it should say <strong>pages</strong>/<code>.domains</code> </li><li>In the text field, I typed the domain I want to use on the first line, with nothing else. I'm going to use a subdomain, so I typed in <code>dotgay.pixelshannon.com</code></li><li>If you want to, you can add a comment about your change under <em>Commit signed changes</em>. I put <code>Adding my subdomain</code></li><li>Changing no other settings, I clicked the <em>Commit changes</em> button. </li><li>Now I have a text file added to my repo(short for repository) that is named <code>.domains</code> and only has my custom subdomain in it. </li><li>The next step is to change my DNS settings for the domain name. My DNS is managed by my registrar(Porkbun), so I headed over there to add a record. </li><li>Documentation says to add a DNS <code>CNAME</code> record on your domain pointing to <code>[branch].[repo].[user].pages.gay</code></li><li>My branch is called <code>main</code> and my repo is called <code>pages</code>, so I created a CNAME record like this. <ul><li>Host: <code>dotgay</code>.pixelshannon.com</li><li>Target: <code>main.pages.pixelshannon.pages.gay</code> </li></ul></li><li>The first time I tried to go to my custom subdomain, it didn't load, but I tried again a few minutes later, and my website was available at <a href="https://dotgay.pixelshannon.com">dotgay.pixelshannon.com</a></li><li>I haven't tried setting the pages.gay subdomain as a Bluesky handle yet, but I expect it would work with the <a href="https://www.pixelshannon.com/bluesky/domain/#no-dns-panel">No DNS panel</a> method, as I have gotten <a href="https://www.pixelshannon.com/bluesky/handles/#codeberg-pages">working with Codeberg Pages</a>. </li></ul><hr><p><a href="mailto:reply25@pixelshannon.com?subject=%5BReply%5D%20Testing%20Free%20Website%20Hosts%20(Pixel%20Shannon))">Reply by email</a></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>
Software created by Sam Ruby, Mark Pilgrim, Joseph Walton and Phil Ringnalda
