Q. How do I set up a website? Is it free?

To create a website, you will need to know a few basics about how Web (HTML) pages work, or use a website service or blogging service that gives you templates and allows you to create a web site just by filling in information.

If you want people to find your site with a name of your choosing like  www.mygreatsiteidea.com then you have to purchase the domain name (mygreatsiteidea.com) and then host that domain on a server at a hosting company. This will cost from $10 per year to much higher, depending on the services you need.

There are some hosting companies that provide a limited amount of web server space for free (as long as you agree to them putting on advertising)
The easiest way might be to go to Google Sites sites.google.com and use their site building wizard. You will need a Google logon to use it.  Step by step instructions from eHow

HTML Tutorials
www.w3schools.com/
www.htmlcodetutorial.com/
www.2createawebsite.com/

For paid tutorials, the most well respected site is Lynda.com
www.lynda.com/Developer-training-tutorials/50-0.html 

The International Webmasters Association offers instructor-led online courses
iwa-hwg.eclasses.org/

Templates
www.freewebsitetemplates.com/
www.templatemonster.com/

Free (open source and shareware) Web page creation/editing programs
sixrevisions.com/tools/30-useful-open-source-apps-for-web-designers/
Windows
Free web design software at Download.com
Nvu Win XP
HTML editors Win 7
Mac
Free HTML Editor software at Download.com
Nvu Mac

Free Web Hosts
Google Sites sites.google.com
List of free hosts  www.free-webhosts.com/
Webs.com www.webs.com/
Freehostia.com www.freehostia.com/index2.html
Weebly www.weebly.com/

Commercial web hosts (not an endorsement):
dreamhost.com
1and1.com
godaddy.com

Blogging sites are also a way to get a website online without needing any special software or training:
Wordpress  wordpress.org/
Google Blogger www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

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