Smoky Hosts offers numerous plans powered by forum posting, participating in contests, etc. Some require that you do monthly posting. I will NOT cover these. If you want to look at those plans, visit their site. I WILL, however, show the features of the “Beginner’s Package”, which requires 25 posts once, but no monthly posts. They offer more than hosting. If you feel up to it, you can get a free domain name by posting a certain amount each month. That’s too much work though, isn’t it?

• 100MB storage
• 1GB bandwidth
• 1 domain allowed
• subdomain included
• Unlimited email accounts
• Unlimited MySQL
• Unlimited FTP accounts
• cPanel
• More on their site…

10 posts on EJ.AM’s forum gets you a hosting account. No mothly posting is required.

• 1GB storage
• no ads
• cPanel
• 2.5GB Bandwidth

CyberToad Networks is a free host that seems to be pretty good. They’re targeting their service at innovative people who are starting out-of-the-ordinary sites. They’ve been around for an amazing 10 years (as of June 2, 2007). Here are their current stats:

• Up to 5 GB Space
• 65 GB Bandwidth
• cPanel
• PHP Version 5.2.2
• MySQL v5.0.27
• phpMyAdmin
• FTP and Web File Uploads
• No Filesize Limits
• Daily Backups
• Traffic Reports
• Custom Error Pages
• 24/7 Tech Support

BePlaced is yet another free webhost. This one’s a little…different from other out there. I haven’t experimented with them much, though.

Features:

• FTP and Online file manager
• 100MB of storage
• Subdomain
• Free unlimited hits — as many as your site can get! [NOTE: Site not clear if it's unlimited bandwidth or not.]
• Online File Editor
• Site Statistics
• Instant activation

I like Awardspace. They’re a great free host, which hosted The Site of Requirement for about a year (currently it resides on a paid host). There are some small annoyances, but you can’t beat the price! As with a lot of free hosts, their service can be a little…spotty at times, but Awardspace is one of the best.

Features:

• 200MB storage
• 5GB
• 2 domains
• 5 subdomains
• 5 email accounts
• FTP and online filemanager
• CGI
• PHP and SSI
• 1 MySQL

3000MB has a nice free hosting package put together:

• 3GB storage — that’s gigabytes, not a typo!
• 3GB bandwidth — could be a little bit more, I suppose, but it’s still good.
• PHP
• 1 MySQL database
• Subdomain (http://you.3000megs.com)
• Site statistics (www.3gn.be)
• 1-click forum install (uses 1 MySQL database)
• Online editor
• FTP and online file manager
• Instant activation — requires Flash to view security image during activation

Zeroweb is a great site with a lot of layouts, some of which require a link back to their creator’s sites. Also included in their databases are clipart and background images. I like the layouts by NodeThirtyThree, which look great (and are CSS-based). You can find some great templates on Zeroweb…you just have to sift through al the bad ones.

Layouts, tutorials, technical assistance, need I say more? WebDesignHelper.co.uk has plenty of stuff to keep you busy for a while. The site’s little too ad-heavy, unfortunately. They offer a ton of stuff, including a directory of web hosts.

Need professional-looking templates? Don’t mind them being a little graphic heavy? Try Templates Box. Their layouts look pretty good and aren’t too much work to set up. One of my favorite layout sites. They give you HTML, PSDs, JPEGS, and even the fonts they used.

Bravenet has quite a few good templates. My favorites are the basic ones with the solid colored sidebar. They are really easy to modify, and you’ll have a working site in minutes. They have WAY more than just templates, though. In addition to layouts there are polls, banner exchanges, password gates, redirect pages, and other useful scripts to add to your site. They offer basic hosting as well (not reviewed due to forced ads on all pages).