Need A Purpose For My Website

MichaelLC · August 2008

So I've got a domain, registered it, and paying for hosting; all for several years now. Trouble is, I have no damn idea what to do with the thing.

I registered my last name: a pretty uncommon name. My aunt is a photographer with her first+same last name. So no 4chan stuff, in case her clients Google the last name.

Otherwise I'm open to ideas - I've got Dreamweaver and FrontPage, I can code HTML, and maybe CSS if I read the DW help...

Cyvros · August 2008

Some people use sites just for backing-up or sharing files. A lot of people these days have their blogs on their own domains. I generally find the best method is to pick whatever interests you a lot and go with that. And, if you have the time, pick a lot of things that interest you and go with those.

Also, and this is just out of curiosity, if it doesn't have a purpose, why do you have it?

FirstComradeStalin · August 2008

What do you do for a living?

ANTVGM64 · August 2008

Well if your name is kind of odd, I'd recommend making the site odd. Maybe focus on the Absurd.

For example how about some re-action photos of people being supposedly Flashed, but in actuality have the flasher be carrying a large picture of an adorable kitten under their Coat.

Hilarity ensues.

shutz · August 2008

Aren't doing things a bit ass-backwards? I mean, you actually paid for something you have no idea what to do with? Was that last sentence actually grammatically-correct?

I can understand registering the domain name. You don't want some cyber-squatter using it and giving you a bad name as a result. But why pay for hosting when you have no idea what you need to put up? If you've got money to burn, I'll be glad to take some of it off your hands.

Anyway, in order to actually try to help you, I'll say some of the others here have the right idea: just install Wordpress or some other blogging software on there, and start up a blog. There've been multiple "what should I blog about" threads here in the past, you should read those and see if it sparks any ideas.

I would stay away from starting a blog that's just about "your life" and "what happened to you today", unless, for some reason, your life is way more interesting than the average person. I would also stay away from starting a blog that's about "whatever I like, whatever strikes my fancy", or about "whatever's currently on my mind", as you will likely lose focus, then interest in that blog fairly fast.

Pick a specific subject, while making sure it's a wide enough subject that you're not likely to exhaust anytime soon. Having a particular subject will give you focus, and might even guide your thoughts towards posts you would never have thought of if your blog had no specific topic. Sometimes, your topic will even guide you towards a formula that lets you post regularly, with one post leading naturally into the next one.

My blog may not be the best example (I haven't updated it in a while) but it had a pretty good formula: I would come up with one new game design idea every week, and post it. I used to come up with ideas like that all the time, so for a while, it was easy to do this every week, but I grew tired of it after a while. It's not dead yet, but it's on life support for now.

Lewisham · August 2008

Just use Tumblr and have it as a personal site.

I use http://chris.to for that purpose.

thej3w · August 2008

Lewisham wrote: »

Just use Tumblr and have it as a personal site.

I use http://chris.to for that purpose.

Lewisham, if you had that site setup 2 years ago it would be have been a lot easier to find an awesome gift for you for the secret santa.

I'd suggest doing a blog as well, but don't make it be like a journal. Sure a few posts about your day and what you did every now and then is great, but making actual posts with content people can discuss and comment on is much better.

Lewisham · August 2008

thej3w wrote: »

Lewisham wrote: »

Just use Tumblr and have it as a personal site.

I use http://chris.to for that purpose.

Lewisham, if you had that site setup 2 years ago it would be have been a lot easier to find an awesome gift for you for the secret santa.

Nuh-uh, there's literally no content of purpose on my personal site

It just pulls down stuff I digg and my del.icio.us bookmarks and stuff automagically. That's why I like Tumblr; I do nothing to keep it ticking over.

My PA posting record is a much more accurate jigsaw for stalkers

MichaelLC · August 2008

FirstComradeStalin wrote: »

What do you do for a living?

I'm a training manager. So I could be a computer tip site, I guess.

shutz wrote: »

Aren't doing things a bit ass-backwards? I mean, you actually paid for something you have no idea what to do with? Was that last sentence actually grammatically-correct?

I can understand registering the domain name. You don't want some cyber-squatter using it and giving you a bad name as a result. But why pay for hosting when you have no idea what you need to put up? If you've got money to burn, I'll be glad to take some of it off your hands.

Hence the call for H/A. I did have a basic site, moslty set up for employers to check out, but didn't like the design, so trashed it.

Yeah, I want to stay away from being another emolog site, "I ate a sandwich today. It was a turkey and swiss on rye. My friend Cassandra likes rye too..."

The Tumblr thing sounds interesting, I'll take a look at that.

Tomanta · August 2008

I've had my own domain for several years, it was originally set up with a purpose but that purpose vanished and with it the site. I kept the domain for my email, occasionally trying out different things (mostly blogs) but could never stick with it.

I sent a cancellation request about a month ago, not seeing a point in continuing to pay for it, and switched my emails over to my gmail account (am still waiting for it to actually cancel, but I think I'm paid up through October or something...).

Point is... ok, two points:
1) You don't have to use it for anything. My domain was almost solely for my email address for several years.
2) Take an idea and run with it. If you don't like it, trash it and find another idea. It's a lot of time/work to make something popular enough that people will notice if you do that (but be advised that the internet is potentially like Vegas: What goes on the internet, stays on the internet)

Grenn · August 2008

I like coming across weird, fun-but-ultimately-pointless sites like:

http://www.sewerhorse.com/
http://www.turnofftheinternet.com/

and a couple of my own such wastes of space:

http://www.icannotbekilled.com/
http://www.armyofcats.com/hello

Lewisham · August 2008

Tomanta wrote: »

I
I sent a cancellation request about a month ago, not seeing a point in continuing to pay for it, and switched my emails over to my gmail account (am still waiting for it to actually cancel, but I think I'm paid up through October or something...).

Why wouldn't you keep the domain and forward all mail to gmail, so you don't have to worry about lost email or notifying everyone of your change of address? Domains are so cheap now that it's worth it; I run chrislewis.co.uk purely for historical reasons (as I haven't properly lived in the UK for many years), but I still get emails sent to it sometimes.

Basar · August 2008

Tomanta wrote: »

I sent a cancellation request about a month ago, not seeing a point in continuing to pay for it, and switched my emails over to my gmail account (am still waiting for it to actually cancel, but I think I'm paid up through October or something...).

Uh domains are like what, $9/year? I have about 30 useless domains, 5-6 of them variations of my first and last names but I also own a few good ones which are probably worth something to someone hopefully... I would just keep them. I think with some domain managers you can lease it at a discount if you pay x years in advance.

So I guess I would like to squeeze my own question here. Back in college I had purchased filehost.org to store files... yeah, not the legal ones. I can't think of anything to do with it these days... any suggestions? Maybe a free image host? Are those image hosts profitable?

Tomanta · August 2008

Lewisham wrote: »

Tomanta wrote: »

I
I sent a cancellation request about a month ago, not seeing a point in continuing to pay for it, and switched my emails over to my gmail account (am still waiting for it to actually cancel, but I think I'm paid up through October or something...).

Why wouldn't you keep the domain and forward all mail to gmail, so you don't have to worry about lost email or notifying everyone of your change of address? Domains are so cheap now that it's worth it; I run chrislewis.co.uk purely for historical reasons (as I haven't properly lived in the UK for many years), but I still get emails sent to it sometimes.

A couple of reasons. I don't get much legitimate mail, so no one to really notify - all I had to do was switch over my bills and a few sites that I was registered on for forums and what not. I do, however, get enough spam to feed a large third-world country, even with a halfway decent filter. It wasn't much of a hassle and I just didn't see the need in keeping it.

EDIT: My domain doesn't expire until next March or April, so I may look into moving it to a domain manager to hold onto it anyway. I definitely don't want to keep paying for hosting, though.

Rye · August 2008

Do something fun/interesting with the spam emails. Write poetry using only the spam titles. Maybe have a funny photograph that goes with certain funny spam titles (ala "spamusement"). Or maybe just take screenshots of funny consecutive emails in your inbox, using both real and spam titles for juxtaposition?

"Make her moan all night long!" From hphlksd on 2/5/08
"I heard Kate was having a baby" From Steve on 2/5/08

or

"Don't let ED ruin your night! Get Cialis!" From kjashfjk on 2/5/08
"Hey man, are we still on for Saturday?" From Ed on 2/5/08

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