"How To" Guides > Sharing Images

Sharing Possibilities Expand With Digital Images

By R. Anderson - 2/2009

Websites to Share Your Images

Online albums and share sites are a great way to get started, and provide plenty of power and flexibility to share your favorite images. Before you take on the challenge of designing your own website or use one of the many web host offered templates, I suggest that you give Shutterfly.comshare site approach a try. This capability is actually more powerful than many web host templates. It costs nothing to build the share site, you can upload a few of your digital images, decide who you want to give access to, and add many interesting elements (visitor comments, a calendar with event notification, a message board, links to other related sites, etc.)

If you have the urge to have your own domain name and website, it is more challenging, but probably easier than you think. Many web hosting companies offer a range of services to help get you started. Web hosts walk you through the steps, including allowing you to select a domain name. Most also provide website templates for different purposes, and you may adjust styles, fonts, colors, and sections. Web Hosts offer tiered packages depending upon storage needed, number of domains hosted, and other bells and whistles. Depending on which package you select, monthly charges will range from about $4 to $20+.

If you are ready to try your own website and domain name, I suggest that you start by exploring templates at GoDaddy.com. GoDaddy is the #1 register of domain names and has a strong offering of templates for many uses. To get a feel for template choices, look for a tab marked "site builder" on the www.GoDaddy.com homepage. Once there, click "Learn More", and take the "Product Tour" to explore their website templates.

Another site worth exploring is Yahoo Small Business. Building a website is now easier than ever with Yahoo! Web Hosting. Although oriented toward small business, Yahoo provides a friendly user interface that can be used to build a personal, family, or business website.

If you have an interest in having your own website for sharing images, or for any other purpose, these sites are good places to learn more about pricing and options.

If you are really ambitious, and want to try your hand at web site design, I recommend Microsoft's web design software, Expression Web 2. This software also comes with several website templates to get you started. However, beyond the templates, web design software is powerful stuff and takes a fair amount of time to learn your way around. Unless you are very serious about learning web design, I recommend that you stick with web host templates or online printer share sites.

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