Website/Shrine Question

[wavesagainstrocks]

Hello! I'm hoping someone here could answer my admittedly really silly question.

I've dabbled in coding and have used websites like Neocities to host my site in the past, which was all fine and well! But I had come across an entry here on DW regarding a Shrine Challenge. I looked through a lot of the published shrines and they all looked like they had "multiple" sites under the same domain (not on anything like Neocities). Is this something you pay for? Are there any free hosts out there able to do this too?

I can give some examples if this question doesn't make sense, haha! I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I didn't wanna just post someone's site link without permission or anything like that!

Thanks so much!

Comments

[toothpastepancake]

Yep, unfortunately you gotta pay for domains like that, and I am not aware of any free hosts that allow it sadly (I could be wrong!)

[wavesagainstrocks]

Aw that's a bummer! :( Thanks for answering though!!

[kissed]

Those are called subdomains! They have one main domain and then the other domains are nestled into it (website.com to subdomain.website.com).

The only host I'm aware of that will host you with unlimited subdomains is Leprd if you own a domain (judging from their info page, but who knows after inquiring). That might be more cost-effective for you depending on your domain than paying for your own hosting (for example, I pay like $10 a year each on the two domains I own, then an additional $60 a year with my host) if you just want more web space to play around with.

[wavesagainstrocks]

Hiya' thank you for the info! This helps a bunch!! I've been wondering how people are able to make tons of different "pages" like that... Neocities only seemed to offer so much space/storage to work with if you had a free account, so I was confused on how it worked, haha! Thanks again!

[axolotls]

I've not heard of being charged extra for subdomains, but then I've only seen other people use remote hosts (I self-host at home, so I just pay for the domain name and can do as many subdomains as I like), though they don't seem to have had issues... So it's likely it depends on the host.

[wavesagainstrocks]

I see! Thank you so much for replying!! Did it take a lot to learn how to self-host? :0

[axolotls]

Depends a bit on where you're starting from (command line experience mainly), but mostly it's about a tolerance for needing to Google/go to StackExchange a lot, hah. It also helps to find some good guides! I started with a Debian Linux VM and just fiddled for a while, followed some installation guides for software that looked interesting, then set up a web server and got a domain and automatic SSL/TLS through Let's Encrypt set up (if you want things to be accessible publicly, there will be changing router settings and hopefully your ISP doesn't have any bothersome limits – that's another reason people rent server space, aside from not needing to deal with networking headaches).

Basically, if you like learning new computer skills, fiddling a lot and looking things up a lot, worth trying out! Though if you're worried about getting security stuff right (there are a lot of guides, but sometimes people disagree on best practices), then a remotely hosted solution is safer. It can be a fun hobby! But at times quite involved, hah. (If you want to get started with any kind of server stuff, check out Fandom Coders if you haven't! Lots of very supportive people there for newbies and advanced folks alike.)

[wavesagainstrocks]

This is such good information, wow! Thank you so much!! I do enjoy messing with computer-related things despite my knowledge being a little mediocre, haha. So perhaps I'll check it out in the near future! 0v0 Thanks again!!

[axolotls]

No problem! I'm the same, so starting to mess with server stuff was a natural new hobby for me, heh. Just remember, don't be afraid to look stuff up and ask for help! o7

[nepenthee]

Judging from the (understandably confused and inexact) phrasing of the post, and the range of topics in the thread, I think that it first needs to be cleared up what exactly the question is: the usage of domains (or subdomains), webhost limitations, or actual websites along with their content? I have asked Waves per PM what they mean (see the end of this). I'd like to leave a more thorough reply here though, just so shrines and the community around it don't come across as a financially inaccessible and therefore exclusive activity, particularly to anyone just starting out with site-making.

Shrine makers often link to their shrines on a main site referred to as a collective, which serves as a hub to all of their web projects. The shrines themselves are typically standalone websites, so you may be familiar with someone's shrine to a specific subject without having visited their collective or knowing of their other shrines.

Most people have their own domain for their collective nowadays (mycollective.net), but some may simply have subdomain hosting without a domain of their own (mycollective.leprd.space, mycollective.neocities.org).

As for the individual shrines, some people may set up subdomains for them (shrine1.mycollective.net, shrine2.mycollective.net), while others choose to go without and simply leave it at the directory path (mycollective.net/shrine1). (Subdomains allow for more freedom in directory structure because the subdomain can point to any designated page.)

As has been said in this thread, domains cost money. They need be registered at domain registrars like porkbun.com. Whether or not you can use a domain you have registered, and how many, depends on your hosting package. Additional domains are referred to as "add-on domains" or "aliases"/"parked domains" depending on what they're used for. (Example: Leprd allows the usage of your own domain only from tier 2 onward, and a different amount of additional domains between tier 2 and 3.)

Whether or not you can set up subdomains also depends on how you're hosted. For example, if you get shared hosting (such as with Leprd) with the possibility of using your own domain, you may set up subdomains through the control panel. As axolotls said, setting up subdomains shouldn't come at an additional cost, and there shouldn't be a limit on how many you can create.

With regard to Neocities specifically, you can use your own domain if you're a supporter. The free 1 GB of space is plenty if you want to make multiple individual shrines (or any other type of website) though. I suppose that many who use the service for free, however, will find it more appealing to just create an additional Neocities account to have a distinct Neocities subdomain for each project.

That's the technical (and cultural) context of my reply.

In terms of content though, whether a shrine's official URL is a subdomain or just the direct directory path is irrelevant to its qualification as a standalone website in the shrining sphere. (I do in fact do both.) If you don't see "multiple sites under the same domain" (in the literal sense) as often on Neocities, that's because the most visible part of Neocities' community seems to have adopted a different definition of shrine, that of (sub)pages that are expressly part of one larger website (namely a personal website rather than a shrine collective), not standalone fansites. That and because, as mentioned, it may be more appealing to make a separate Neocities account for each site project.

That said, it turns out that Waves simply meant the usage of different domains (not subdomains) by the same person within the same collective, and presumably all as part of the same hosting package. If you've read up to this point, you'll know that means that the person has a hosting package that allows the usage of multiple domains, and paid for multiple domains. Some webmasters do that to keep their projects distinct (especially if they have multiple shrines to one fandom, among other shrines) and, more importantly, because they love domains! :D But it costs $$$.

Sorry this got so long, but I hope that clears things up (if not, do ask again). If I'm technically incorrect anywhere in my post, corrections are very welcome.

Lastly, if I may add: You don't usually need someone's permission to link their site, unless it's, say, their private site/blog whose URL they only wish to share with select people, or you're waltzing into a group they're part of. In the case of shrines and collectives specifically, the sites are available to the wide public and even listed in public directories such as Cloudplane and Emotion, so you can freely link them.

[wavesagainstrocks]

You have no idea how much I appreciate this! This was so in-depth and easy to understand!! Thank you so much!!! I especially appreciate the reassurance on what qualifies a shrine as a shrine. I have only ever made two shrines since learning coding and put them on my old Neocities site, but was a little worried it was... inauthentic doing it through them? If that makes sense?

I knew on some level having your own domain costed a little something too, but seeing so many different shrines from one person(s) made me raise a brow, haha! Thanks so much again for all this info!! I'll be bookmarking it to use as reference for the future :D You're awesome!