php beginner needs low cost hosting

[harrythehound]

Hello,

I have been thinking about learning php. However, my current web host does not include support for it in the package I have, they charge extra. So my first question is:

does anyone know of a web host (that I can use from the UK) that provides php support and is either free or very cheap?

I don't want to build a whole site with this host, I just want to play around with php and then decide whether or not to pay extra for it on my site.

Thanks for any help!

[cyanide]

It seems a little unusual that a host doesn't support php even in their most basic package.
php has become pretty standard nowadays, regardless of plan type.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any off hand in the UK, but do some googling and I'm sure you'll find lots

[paulhiles]

These guys offer a free service, but unfortunately it doesn't include PHP. Their 'enhanced' service however does.. and it's only £11.95 for the year!

Portland Communications
Enhanced Web Hosting - £11.95 per year
http://www.portland.co.uk/enhanced_webhosting.esp

For a yearly fee of £11.95 you will get the following features:

Disk Space, 25MB
Monthly Bandwidth, 250MB
Contention Ratio, 1:1000
CGI & SSI
PHP4
Escapade (ESP)
Stats, including raw log files
99.95% Service Level Guarantee (Jan2002 = 99.998%)

Hope that helps!

Paul

[redcircle]

If you are looking for something with a little more bandwith and space www.100megswebhosting.com

100mb storage
10gb xfer
10 email accounts
php/ssh/front page extensions/mysql
subsomains, free domain pointing.
they also have a reseller program.

$100 for 1 year.

don't know how many pounds that converts into.

[harrythehound]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I too find it hard to believe that I have to pay extra for php, but I'm reluctant to switch as they are very reliable.

Paul, I think I'll go for your suggestion, as you can't really turn your nose up at 11.95 a year.

I expect that you'll all be hearing from be again once I do get round to experimenting with php!

[geirolse]

Here you have a great one! Use it myself, and have nothing but positive things to say!

Cheap, reliable, and very userfriendly control panel which utilize "fantastico" (a bunch of self installing highly configurable php scripts)

http://1webhost4all.com/

[mrsmnm]

You may want to try Hostica http://www.hostica.com

Their cheapest plan is only $1.00 per month and then $2.95 per month for the PHP... for a plan that includes php it's $6.95 per month.

This is a very reliable host that not only has a great control pannel, but also has one of the best tech support teams I've ever run accross (yes they will even help with PHP problems) I refer all of my clients that are looking for hosting on a budget to them.

You may also want to try Silver Webs Hosting
http://www.silverwebshosting.com

This is another wonderful host that provides exelent hosting at a reasonable rate. They will also help with php issues.

Hope this helps

[bbannon]

I've been using (mod edit: no affiliate links / self-promotion, please)
to host my site for several years. They offer 600Meg of storage, PHP, MySql, server side includes, 1000 POP3 email addresses, etc. It's $99 for the first year, including a domain name, then $70 a year to renew.
I've been very happy with them. Very few problems but, any that do come up are usually fixed in a couple of hours.
Bruce Bannon