# Geocities is closing. Dammit! Replacement suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467 "2009-04-27T04:28:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/1 "2009-04-27T04:28:13Z")
So Geocities is closing this summer, and they’ve kindly offered to let us have Yahoo business sites instead. Gee, that’s swell of them considering they’re $10/month and up until October when they raised rates by two dollars a month Geocities Plus was just $5/month. I can’t really justify paying $120/year for a fanfiction website, so I’m hunting for a new home for my archive. So are a lot of other people in the fandom ☹ You guys are smart and savvy, so maybe you have some suggestions for us? - I’m willing to pay up to the $5-7/month for 500mb of storage space that I have been up until now. (I’m only actually using 70mb, but I like the space to grow, you know?) - **I need a web host with liberal TOS**. Some of the stories are erotica, and the very paternal 50Megs boots people for such scandalous words as “penis” and “sperm” so nothing that restrictive, obviously. This was one of the nice things about geocities, they didn’t care about swears or anatomic terms… I think this requirement is going to be the hardest to meet. - I don’t need a web host that handholds you through creating a webpage. It’s okay if they offer it as an option, but I know how to use HTML very well, and like to customize using it. Some people mentioned sites that don’t allow you to edit in HTML, and that’s no good for me. Make it obvious how/where to upload the txt docs, give me an html editor for the actual web pages, and I’m good. - I’d like a web host, if at all possible, that allows you to see how many hits each of your pages gets per day. Geocites method wasn’t perfect, but I found the information valuable. - It’d be nice if your recommendation has been around a while and has a good reputation. And you haven’t heard any rumors about its impending closing… So, got any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/2 "2009-04-27T05:08:39Z")
I pay $6/mo for unlimited (I’m sure it really is limited, but close enough) hosting space at [http://www.hostmonster.com/](http://www.hostmonster.com/) I’m sure they have stats (I don’t bother) but you can always embed google tracking code if they don’t, that’s free. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/3 "2009-04-28T02:21:32Z")
This thead definitely needs a bump, and more responses - I’m going to have the same problem, except I cannot justify spending any hosting money what-so-over (it’s a site for a local singles group, and I already spend enough of my own money as coordinator on incidentals etc.). Someone in another thread mentioned [000webhost.com](http://000webhost.com), which seemed rather good to be true, but if it’s good or somebody has other free hosting ideas, lets hear them…here. Important to be able to upload html files (I chopped it down recently to 4 files, as it was just too big and boring), one page being an event calendar which I need to update each month. Well, does anybody do something like this using Myspace (which I suppose you cannot upload html files) or equivalent, maybe a cut 'n paste deal, but very easy? ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/4 "2009-04-28T03:21:14Z")
I’m really not trying to be rude, but I had no idea geocities still existed. I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of alternatives ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/5 "2009-04-28T04:14:40Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > I’m really not trying to be rude, but I had no idea geocities still existed. > > I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of alternatives What he said. I bailed on them back…yeesh… I think the Republicans were very annoyed that Clinton had won reelection, there was an upgrade to Windows95 that the PC users were looking forward to, and Geocities had started embedding intrusive ads and additional/new geocities logos right in the middle of your own HTML pages without asking. I just checked the folder containing website files from my old geocities location, and one of them is a resume. Last job listed: 1997 ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/6 "2009-04-28T04:41:01Z")
Crap, Geocities is closing? > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! That was my dad’s life’s work, and no paper records remain. I don’t have the login info for his Geocities account and it makes me oddly sad to think that all his work is going to vanish in a puff of smoke when Geocities closes their doors. I hadn’t given it any thought for ages, but it was always kinda nice that Googling his name brought up his efforts. Any ideas how to save all of that stuff for posterity? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/7 "2009-04-28T04:52:40Z")
> [@Soul](#): > > Crap, Geocities is closing? > > [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/7281/Perry.htm](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/7281/Perry.htm) > > That was my dad’s life’s work, and no paper records remain. I don’t have the login info for his Geocities account and it makes me oddly sad to think that all his work is going to vanish in a puff of smoke when Geocities closes their doors. I hadn’t given it any thought for ages, but it was always kinda nice that Googling his name brought up his efforts. > > Any ideas how to save all of that stuff for posterity? I don’t know what browser you use, but if you check under the “File” tab there will likely be a link that says something like “Save Page As…” That will let you save the files from the webpage to look at or upload to another more secure location. Good luck with preserving it. I know how important little things like that can be 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/8 "2009-04-28T05:06:34Z")
Is that something I’ll need to to page-by-page, or is there a way to download the whole thing at one pass? And thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Enigma\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Enigma\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enigma_X)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/9 "2009-04-28T06:42:39Z")
I sure hope someone has some good answers for this! I just made a wedding webpage last month for my new husband and I (we just got married March 31 and I wanted to share all the stuff with friends and family who couldn’t attend). I tried a few days ago to make another webpage for our new family, but then I saw the news that geocites was closing. Now I’ll have to find a new place to put my wedding pictures and information… I’d hate to have to pay money for a webpage that’s just for my friends and family! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/10 "2009-04-28T07:07:10Z")
**Soul** , I googled and found [this](http://www.surfoffline.com/) for downloading entire sites - there’s a 30-day free trial which might put a watermark or something into downloaded pages, but I’m sure there are ways around it. For hosting I use [www.dreamhost.com](http://www.dreamhost.com), recommended by **Kal**. Dirt cheap, no worrying content policy that I can see, lots of freebies, and the most exemplary, helpful customer support I’ve ever encountered with any company, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Rolken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Rolken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rolken)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/11 "2009-04-28T07:07:38Z")
> [@Soul](#): > > Is that something I’ll need to to page-by-page, or is there a way to download the whole thing at one pass? And thank you! [HTTrack](http://www.httrack.com/) is a solid tool for archiving entire websites, but if those letter indexes are all you need and you’re not good with computers then it could be more trouble getting it set up right than doing it manually. It’s been a long time since I needed the program so I couldn’t tell you how user-friendly it is. That website looks like it was generated automatically from a [genealogy database](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEDCOM). If you have any computer-savvy family members and any idea where your dad’s computer stuff would have gotten to, that database might be more useful anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rolken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Rolken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rolken)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/12 "2009-04-28T07:26:58Z")
Actually, here, I did it for you. [Download](http://www.soniccenter.org/rolken/sdmb_genealogy.zip), unzip somewhere, open Perry.htm. Be sure you save it somewhere as it’s liable to disappear from my space arbitrarily. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/13 "2009-04-28T22:47:06Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of alternatives Well, so far I haven’t had much luck, which is why I’m hoping to hear some more recommendations for free (Please note: NOT CHEAP; NOT DIRT CHEAP - FREE only) hosting (yeah, I know I get what I pay for - that’s why I was perfectly content w/ Geocities - I had a simple little site which got the info out as needed, no worries since it was well under 4G a month, and they had to go and muck things up). Sorry, I’m a bit irked right now. I’ll behave… ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/14 "2009-04-28T23:09:16Z")
[http://www.allcheaphosting.com/mfeelist1.phtml](http://www.allcheaphosting.com/mfeelist1.phtml) - cheap hosting review site [Free Web Hosting - Page 1](http://www.free-webhosts.com/webhosting-01.php) - free hosting review site. You may have to try a few to find one you like. If it’s fanfic, why not put it up on [Adultfanfiction.net](http://Adultfanfiction.net) or another site like that? (Admittedly you don’t have as much control. On the other hand, more people may see it. Livejournals are also good for that.) Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/15 "2009-04-28T23:50:27Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > If it’s fanfic, why not put it up on [Adultfanfiction.net](http://Adultfanfiction.net) or another site like that? (Admittedly you don’t have as much control. On the other hand, more people may see it. Livejournals are also good for that.) It’s not my stories that are the problem, it’s other people’s: I’ve just archived the stories for them. Currently the archive is handier and more user-friendly for people to search than live journal or [fanfic.net](http://fanfic.net). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/16 "2009-04-29T00:08:01Z")
[Angelfire](http://www.angelfire.com) is still alive and kicking and they offer free webhosting with the option to add more hard drive space and dump the ads with a paid subscription. I haven’t logged into my Angelfire account in years (and I just checked, it’s dead Jim), but I remember it being very easy to use back in the late 90s/early 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/17 "2009-04-29T05:37:17Z")
> [@Rolken](#): > > Actually, here, I did it for you. [Download](http://www.soniccenter.org/rolken/sdmb_genealogy.zip), unzip somewhere, open Perry.htm. Be sure you save it somewhere as it’s liable to disappear from my space arbitrarily. THANK YOU! Wow, really, thanks! This was very nice of you 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/18 "2009-04-29T06:27:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > For hosting I use [www.dreamhost.com](http://www.dreamhost.com), recommended by **Kal**. Dirt cheap, no worrying content policy that I can see, lots of freebies, and the most exemplary, helpful customer support I’ve ever encountered with any company, ever. How long have you had your site with them? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/19 "2009-04-29T06:49:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > How long have you had your site with them? Since 2003 I think? I also use it to host three or four of my freelance clients’ sites. They have a really handy register domain + host site piece on the user control panel, so the last time I set up a site (to raise money for the Burmese cyclone victims), I went from nothing at all to a site with a new domain name within three hours. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467/20 "2009-04-29T08:39:37Z")
Wow, I had completely forgotten about Geocities. To show you how long ago it was since I last went there, they used to have it in tables format…I think maybe six or eight squares per page in bright colors …and you clicked on them to see what people had posted. Can it be that I remember that from about 1994 or so? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geocities-is-closing-dammit-replacement-suggestions/494467.md?page=2)