Free Image Hosting Sites
Many of the free image hosting sites are free only if you stay under a certain size and many restrict the number of people that can access your files per day. Some even go as far as hosting your files on an extremely slow system to encourge you to buy the professional package.
Those of you that have a web host and are not sure how to share your images are going to love this next part; those of you that don’t have a web host should check out something like 1and1.com‘s $3.99 per month plan. It puts the free image hosting sites to shame and best of all, you get as many websites as you like, free domain name, FTP accounts and more!
Regardless of the plan you have, here is how to do it for free.
You’ll create a directory on your website called downloads. Use your FTP program to accomplish this; FileZilla is a free FTP program and works great for transferring you images to your hosting site.
Then create a text file on your computer, call it imagehosting.txt; use notepad for this, not word.
Inside that file, add this line:
Options +IndexesSave the file and get out of notepad.
Now, with your FTP software, copy that file over to your downloads directory you created above.
Using your FTP software, rename imagehosting.txt (the one your just copied over to the server) to .htaccess [note, make sure to include the period in front]
That is it – Now, whatever you copy files over (using your ftp program), your friends will have access to those files by simply visiting [name of your website/downloads/]
Your friends will see a listing of all the files you placed in that directory.
No monthly fees, no hassle and unlimited file sizes and types (zips, jpg’s, tiffs, mp3′s, etc)
I created this tip because a friend called and asked how he could host images rather than send emails with massive image attachments.
Note: Many of those free image hosting sites will claim no fees, but when you reach a size or the image is viewed too many times, then you get billed or account is put on hold for being past due! So be careful and read the terms closely.
Most image hosting sites are a joke as well.
Think about this, when you view the image you have to deal with a LOT of ads and a bunch of FLASH that makes the page take a very long time to load.
This in return makes the visitor want to leave the site and never to return.
I found a site that is totally the opposite.
The images load fast, there is no bandwidth issue and it is FREE
And you get a 500mb account for free, and it is not on a slow system.
The site is also catering to the Social Networking part as well, as in.
You can create an online profile, add friends, post comments and add blogs, as well as have a favorites list of others images, and RSS Feeds and a lot of other really cool things.
The site is called: [snip] Image Hosting
[snip]
You should check them out, they also answer your messages if you have a question or concern, as they are new, they seem to be gaining quite a following for a new site.
Thought I would let you know.
Take Care
The Dream