I use both 1and1 with their website builder, and also TSOHost and use a CMS (Concrete) to build a website.

I have little experience of building websites so my take on the two options is:

1and1; very easy to use and get a website up and running very quickly. They are more expensive and customer service is by email. Although when I have had to contact them they have resolved the issue. Yes there do seem to be a lot of people with issues about 1and1, but they are also very big in this field so you would expect a certain amount - I have no idea whether the complaints about them are excessive or normal for the size of company.

TSOHost; needs a little more effort and expertise to get up and running, but if you can do that then you will end up with something more flexible and capable of development. They are also cheaper and, in my experience, the customer service is superb.

Basically it comes down to how much time and effort you are able to put into it. If it is important to you to have a small website, just a few pages that are easy to design but not too elaborate and that requires little maintenance then the website builder at 1and1 could be the best option. If you are able to give it a bit more time and effort and are looking to develop a more comprehensive site then I can thoroughly recommend TSOHost for this.

Looks and feels far too much like spam.

...what about the comments from pcologist?

In reply to a post by pcologist:

Incidentally in the 15 years I have been doing business with 1&1 I cannot remember them being down ... I have no hesitation in recommending them.

Can see you're happy with them. I found them (years ago) to fib (claiming Nominet did not allow a PO Box address, an outright lie, as Nominet had no rule preventing such use) and then charging annually while quoting monthly fees, and adding VAT with no mention it was not included. Also, initial bill was 30 days after order, but renewal fee charged at month 11, a month earlier than renewal date and before opportunity to cancel. Even cancelling was made awkward by hiding how to do it in help text.

They may have changed some policies, but I found it interesting they offered 3 years free web hosting when opening their N American data centre, but excluded Europeans from the deal. It was to get market share, clearly, but if they could afford to do that for USA/Canada, they could actually have dropped prices in EU and N America for everyone.

Back to the original question... as someone else pointed out, using a tool from a hosting firm may be OK for a small site, but (a) can prove more costly long term (esp if the design stays fairly static - one continuously pays higher monthly fees for a feature used just in the first few(?) months) and (b) troublesome if one wants to expand the site to include some feature not handled with the 'design tools' hosting... and (c) the code and images may be held in copyright so cannot be simply copied off to other hosting.

Loads of hosting firms (such as HostGator.com, Google's site builder, or Heart Internet, 1and1 - plus MrSite) offer tools and templates (though of course some may be using American English and have 'non-UK' images) so it can be an easy way to get up and running but doesn't always represent best long-term solution.

Yes, get a simple site knocked up with such tools, if one wants, but do invest some time and effort into examining the code with a view to building a similar or better site, from scratch, that is more easily moved and then get hosting with reliable e-mail servers etc, or go down the CMS route and get hosting with cPanel and Fantastico or similar (to install the package for you), but with hosting that also allows you full modification access to tailor colours, images, etc.

I've been registering my domain names with Easily.co.uk since 2000.

Never had any problems with them

I use Dream Hosting for domain registration and website hosting (see link in signature below), and KompoZer to write website. I have almost no knowledge about web authoring so my site is all contained inside tables, cells of which are used as menu items. To learn how to use KompoZer, there's GregTutors.

In reply to a post by rob54:

<snip> and KompoZer to write website. I have almost no knowledge about web authoring so my site is all contained inside tables, cells of which are used as menu items. To learn how to use KompoZer, there's GregTutors.

Rather than using software that has been abandoned to craft a web site, why not use one that is actively developed and supported? The last beta release of Kompozer was 0.8b3 in 28/2/2010!

DrT

In reply to a post by CathayPacific:

sorry to ask a simple question am new to this. How and where do i register a web site address ? Try to keep it simple and easy please. Next need to make a website with pictures and text which free and easy package for design do you recommend ?
Is there going to be a steep learning curve ?

Simple questions but very difficult to have dumbed down answers.
IMHO web site templates may inhibit you from going in a desired direction with your web site and it may be quite difficult to move to a different platform in the future. But the cart is before the horse as there are a number of steps to take before hand.

First you need to register a domain name of your choice and once one is found that domain name needs to be hosted somewhere. These two steps are best combined into one for the novice. Domain name cost are small if .co.uk is used but very much higher for something like .cc

On some sites you can just enter the name you want to use and you will be provided with a listing of the all the domain names that are currently available. Expect to be play around with this concept for quite some time as generally anything you would like to have is already registered. Here is somewhere where you can do just that: http://www.compila.com/domain-name-registration/doma... but there are very many different sites offering this service.

The next step is to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve in cyberspace. There is no point in spending hours on your masterpiece if the potential audience is less than a few hundred. Sketch out the planned web site on paper first!

OK what tools to use to create your masterpiece. My strong advice is to do it off line because you will always have a backup of your site on your home computer. At this point your friend and mentor is Google. A search like "How to create a simple we site" brings up loads of options and help especially if you look beyond the first page of results.

You asked if it was a step learning curve. Well that depends on the mountain you wish to climb. It can be easy or as difficult as you wish to make it, but a little understanding of what goes on under the bonnet of web pages will shine through onto your web site.

In reply to a post by CathayPacific:

..... Next need to make a website with pictures and text which free and easy package for design do you recommend ?
Is there going to be a steep learning curve ?

The CoffeeCup Editor has always been both simple and intuitive to use. The link is to the free version:

"The Free HTML Editor is a trimmed-down version of the CoffeeCup HTML Editor, and does not contain the CSS Menu Designer, FTP Upload (but you can sync with S-Drive), Image Mapper, and Website Color Schemer."

In reply to a post by DrTeeth:

Rather than using software that has been abandoned to craft a web site, why not use one that is actively developed and supported? The last beta release of Kompozer was 0.8b3 in 28/2/2010!

DrT

And what would you suggest?