Praises to Angelfire

No serious, where would we budding web designers be if not for the free webpage givers out there. Here's to the kind people at Angelfire, Geocities, and Crosswinds. I know there are several more, I've hear of Xoom, X-drive (tho' I don't think they're webpage people) and the list goes on. But these three I know intimately.

Angelfire-
Pro-50 MB of space!! That's a lot!! Easy-to-learn basic editor for the absolute beginner. Games offered to put on pages. The Transloader rocks! I had to transload an entire account of HTML that I'd worked hard on when I needed to delete the account to shake a harasser. Fair-sized JavaScript script library (that actually shows you the script! No external CGI-caller scripts!!) CGI offerings, you can build your very own poll, have working forms that send info right to your mailbox, have random quotes or pictures appear, or just about anything. Each CGI script has a walk-thru that lets you get any info you want out of the script. It's set up so the Angelfire server cooperates and you get your results without needing extensive Perl know-how(read, anyone can do this.) Choice between pop-up ad and a banner, and it's very easy to switch between them.
Con- the basic editor doesn't give much flexibility... at all. The pop-up ad is a separate window, meaning that it's appearance will cancel full-screen set-up. Can't preview a page without leaving the editing form.
Comments- This is where the "action" is as far as my web sites go. This is my newest, since I started it as the webmaster for an infant guild. The guild had been named Keepers of the Crystalized Dagger, hence the strange URL. Alas, the guild was short-lived, and now I have 50 MB going to waste. I even kept all the old guild files and made an e-card to a friend, and still used maybe 1/4 MB.
Update- man did this site come in handy! I needed an emergency backup of my Zelda fanfic and my various notes ASAP, since my computer was going haywire (it wouldn't even read a floppy, yikes!) Used this site to store an mp2, an mp2!!!! the only one I've ever seen. (I know, they used to be big, but I'm a newbie) Still have my backup files here, though the computer is acting normally again. Also used as a portable floppy for stuff given to me in Vegas, when I didn't have my disks. And I'm glad I did, seems I accidently deleted one of my most important notepad files! Now up to 7.5 MB of the 50MB limit. Ok.. a little higher. Started archiving Vampire characters here, tho' I don't know if the story I will eventually write will be here or Geocities. I am still willing to let any baby guild live here!! Gimme something to put up here!!

Geocities-
Pro- 15 MB space, that's plenty for the average person. Basic editor, PageBuilder, is drag-and-drop, very flexible for even beginners. Advanced editor lets you preview your page without leaving the editing page form. The preview simply loads in the top half of the window, with the editor underneath. Choice between pop-up ad and a banner, and each page can be edited so only it has a pop-up while the rest have banners, or vice versa, or any combination thereof, and pop-up somehow stays within the original window. But my favorite feature....the *Save and Continue Editing* button!!!Excellent setup, Geocities.
Con- PageBuilder takes some loading time, seems to be an applet, won't work on all browsers(doesn't work on mine at home).
Comments- Here's where my very first webpage was made. Nostalgia Central. I knew these guys before they merged with Yahoo, when the PageBuilder was still the old GeoBuilder. In fact, my index page was by GeoBuilder, and I haven't converted it to PageBuilder, just went into the code and added a single link to the new index page. I wanted to keep a hint of the old Builder. I kept all the Builder pages, and I'm trying to find the pretty pictures that I had on some of them! Where did the faerie collection go? WAAA!!!! Anyway...
Here's where I first learned HTML, when I found that PageBuilder wouldn't load on my home computer(I bear them no ill will for that). Geocities is home, always. I have a simple setup there that holds my Zelda fanfic and a few other writings.

Crosswinds-
Pro- I have found no limit to the space offered. Serious!!!! Advanced editor easy to use. Simple text form.
Con- No basic editor (often better to use your own anyway). No preview option (as of yet, anyway). Servers sometimes down for a few hours.
Comments- I don't actually "own" a site here, my boyfriend does. When he saw that I knew some HTML he made me the webmaster. These guys seem to be fairly new. Servers are sometimes down for long periods(and I mean, it can be long)but it is getting better. Only just recently added pop-up adds, and they were loathe to do so.
Nice people. Read their privacy statement, they make no claim whatsoever to anything you put on their server. They don't claim the right to reproduce your material because it's on their space. That's pretty cool.