Hosting

To be online, the site's folder has to be on a server: a computer that is always on and connected to the internet. You could turn your own computer into a server, but it would have to run day and night, and setting it up isn't easy. That's why people leave it to companies that do just that: they keep your files on their servers and send them to every visitor. This is called hosting: the company hosts your site, the way a host has guests.

Our cinema is a static site: just files that the server sends as they are, the same to everyone. Sites like online shops or social networks also run programs on their servers and keep data in databases, and hosting them usually costs money. Static sites are much simpler to host, so many companies host them for free, and a free plan is plenty for a site like ours.

In this lesson, you'll use Netlify, one of the best-known hosting services for static sites. You drag the site's folder onto its web page, and a few seconds later, the site is online. You'll need a free account. Netlify's terms say that you must be at least 13 years old, or older where the law of your country says so. If you're younger, ask a parent to create the account. And whatever your age, it's a good idea to tell your parents where you're signing up.

The free plan has a monthly limit: every upload of the site uses up a part of it, and so do visits. For a small site, it's plenty, as long as you don't upload after every tiny change: collect your changes and upload them together. If the limit runs out, Netlify pauses the site until the next month.

Another popular choice is GitHub Pages. GitHub is the website where programmers keep their code, and GitHub Pages can publish the files you put there as a website, with an address like your-name.github.io. It's free too, and it also needs an account, from the age of 13. It takes a few more steps than Netlify, but it's worth knowing about: you'll probably meet GitHub again.

One last thing: anyone in the world can see everything on a website. Don't put anything private on yours, such as your address, your phone number or photos you wouldn't show to strangers.