Signing Up

1.  First go to SPhosting.com to sign up.  Scroll all the way down and click on "Sign Up" under package #1.  You will then choose your website's name and register your personal information.  Remember, only the items with red asterisks are mandatory to complete.
     NOTE:  I had trouble receiving the confirmation email with my Hotmail address and my Yahoo email address, but I received the confirmation email right away with a FREE email address from my Fastmail email address.
     Scroll down and put a check in the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions", then click the button that says "Click Here To Create Your Account". You may now close all open browser windows and proceed to step 2.

Managing Your Free Website

2.  Go to the email you registered with, and and click on the confirmation link within the email. You will automatically be redirected to the page to manage your new free website.  For now, click on the "Manage my website" link under Account Actions in the middle of the page.  If you are a beginner, then click on "WYSIWYG" under Create a new file in the middle of the page. wysiwyg stands for "what you see is what you get", and is the easiest of all methods to build a free website.
     If you get an alert window that says your activeX settings may prevent the page from functioning properly, read on.  If you get an alert window that just says "An ActiveX control on this page may be unsafe to interact with other parts of the page" click "YES"  and proceed to step 3.

     IMPORTANT:  Microsoft Windows Service Pack 2 by default disables some important ActiveX website building tools.  I will show you how to change your internet settings so this function is not disabled.  You will not be downloading anything, you will be prompted from now on (when the situation arises) to allow or disallow ActiveX functions instead of it being automatically disabled by the Windows Service Pack 2 default settings.  This is perfectly safe and I had to do it myself.

     To change the ActiveX settings in Internet Explorer: Open your internet browser and click on "tools" then click on  "internet options". Click on the "Security" tab at the top, then the "Custom Level" button.  Scroll down and where it says "initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe" change that to "prompt" (this means internet explorer will ask you if they want to or don't want to run an "unsafe script"). click "OK" then "OK" again and proceed to step 3.   

3.  You will now be able to build your page without knowing any HTML knowledge, however the page will start completely blank.  You may type and add images and experiment with the top toolbar to add backgrounds, etc.  Be sure to save your work by clicking the icon on the top left.  Your main page of the site has to be named index.html. The other pages can be called whatever you want, as long as the file extension ends in .html.

Logging In To Your Site

4.   It is easier for me to explain how to navigate sphosting.com from the same page every time, so log out of the site, then log back in to your site using your user name and password. The login page is http://sphosting.com/homepages/user/user.cgi, and you should save it to your favorites. This is the main page of your website's information. You will see your user name, nickname and you will have access to your account information and upgrades.  You will also be able to choose the different methods of editing your website.

Starting With Free Web Page Templates

5.   I have designed a series of free web page templates that you can use at sphosting.com.  They require no download, you just copy the script and paste it to your site.  The following step will show you how to use the free templates.  Go to http://free-templates.org and check out the pages of free templates.  If you see one you would like to use, highlight the html script under  the thumbnail and right click on the highlighted area and choose "Copy". 
     Now log into your website, and choose "Manage my website" link under Account Actions in the middle of the page.  Now, halfway down the page under "Create a new file" choose "standard html".  Next to "Create the file:"  type in "index.html".  You must name the main page of your site this, all other pages can be anything as long as you don't use spaces and end it with .html ... for example, you could use: aboutus.html for pages other than the main page of your site.
     Now right click in the big box and choose "Paste".  Click the "Save file" button at the bottom.  You will then be transferred to the File Manager.  You should see the title of your page(s) listed.  Put a check in the box to the very left of the file name and click the icon.  At first you will see the HTML code again, but click on "WYSIWYG" to the top left of Edit via html editor and you will now be able to edit your template without  HTML.  You may get the activeX alert again, click "OK".  You will now see the template and may edit it just by changing and adding text.  Be sure to save your work!

Inserting Images

6.   To insert a photo or image into your webpage, you may upload your images while in the "File Manager" (you may upload 5 at a time).  Or... open your page in the WYSIWYG page editor and click on the page where you want the photo to appear, and then click on the (photo) icon at the upper right.  You may now click the "Browse" button to find the individual images on your computer.   Make sure to save your work by clicking on the (save) icon.

Tech Support

7.   If you need tech support, from the main login page click on "Help Desk" at the top.  You will then be taken to a page where you may need to log in again to the support area.  Type in your user name and password and click the "Login" button.  You will then need to click "Log a Ticket".  Enter your name and from the drop-down box, choose the type of problem you are having and choose the "Priority" of the ticket.  Then type in the subject of your problem and under comments, describe in detail the problem you are having.  (You could even capture a screenshot of the problem and send it as an attachment.)  Click the "Submit" button.  You may check the status of your support ticket, or add to it from the help desk  Be patient, this is FREE webhosting, and they get a ton of support inquiries.