I'm currently in my first year studying computer science, and my professor has assigned us to create a portfolio website. It needs to be secure with HTTPS and use www as its subdomain, and he insists that we must do this for free or we'll fail the lab. The problem is, we haven't learned anything about websites or hosting yet since we're just starting out, and I'm feeling a bit lost. How can I go about meeting these requirements? Any guidance would be hugely appreciated!
4 Answers
You might want to consider using platforms like Wix or Google Sites—they allow you to make a basic website without any hosting fees and they take care of the HTTPS for you. Just keep in mind that you may not be able to customize as much as you would like compared to hosting it yourself.
If you really need a free hosting solution, look into GitHub Pages or Netlify. They offer free hosting for static sites and can automatically provide SSL through Let's Encrypt. However, you would generally need to connect a domain you've registered. Finding a free domain might be tough, but it might be the best way to go if you want that www subdomain feature.
I see what you mean about needing a domain! I’ll look into those options and see if I can find a suitable way to meet the requirements.
It sounds like a tricky assignment, especially since you're just starting out. Typically, making a website with a www subdomain usually involves getting a domain name, which isn't free. If it's true that you have to stick to those requirements, double-check with your professor for clarification. Sometimes, students have to set up their own local environment, which doesn't require a public domain.
Yeah, I thought it was odd too! I’m really hoping I can explain it better if I get confirmation from him.
You could also check out Freenom—it offers free domain names for certain TLDs. After getting a domain, follow some tutorials online to set up a web server with a free SSL certificate using Let's Encrypt. This might be a bit complicated for your current level, but it could be a good learning experience!
A free domain sounds like a good start! I’ll give it a shot.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll check them out to see if they fit the assignment requirements.