At My Hollywood Dream we get asked to take a look at a lot of different types of websites, from websites for movies and web series, to entertainment sites, fashion and design, news, and even stuff like T-Shirt designers and gaming centric websites. Today I got a chance to take a look at OkayBlog.net (aka Free Blog Hosting @ Thoughts.com), a website that can be very useful to independent movie makers.

The website lets anyone that is interested come to them and easily create a free blog that Okay Blog hosts along with a short and easy to remember domain name. All of the blogs are powered by WordPress blogging software (this is the same software that keeps My Hollywood Dream running). First off, I went through the steps to creating a blog, which only took moments. The website is very efficient and lets you get right down to business. Before I get a head of myself, lets take a look at the website’s front page:

The design is very simple, with a blue theme along with blue links. The main box at the top of the page lets you sign up for your new blog, and under it is a mix of recent posts by people who have created WordPress blogs on OkayBlog.net. On the right side column is a search bar, under it are links for different sections of the website, including “Login”, “Create a new blog”, “Free blog directory”, “Recent Posts”, and “Contact”. Under those links are links for Site News, Updated Blogs, Most Popular Blogs.

All in all the site layout is very simple but effective. It lets you sign up directly for a new blog, while it also promotes blogs that are hosted for free on their website. I took the time to check out a few of the blogs with “Recent Blog Posts” that were featured on the front page. Two things to note… 1) all of the blogs that are linked to featured a unique design and theme, which makes me think that the website allows you to choose between multiple different looks. And 2) all of the “Recent Blog Posts” were a bit dated with the most recent being made in December of 2009. I’m not sure if the feed is just old or if there has been a bit of inactivity on the website. If you want to start a blog, this is a good place that can get you set up rather quickly. You might as well give it a shot.

Site sponsors help defer the costs of running My Hollywood Dream.

Are you looking for Cheap Web Hosting? Well, than it is a good thing that I’ll be reviewing the website 4 Cheap Web Hosting, an online guide to all of the best (and affordable) web hosting companies around the web. The guide’s description says that it has more than 200 approved web hosts and lists more than 400 cheap web hosting packages on its listing.

Lets start by taking a look at the website’s front page (click to enlarge).

The first thing that I notice is that there is so much going on that I have no idea where to look first. There are so many bright blue/underlined links, some actual content, other ads, but all sorta blend together. On the left side bar is a “Quick Search” that lets you look at web hosts by monthly price, disk space, and platform. Under the search is a menu of links that include “Home Page”, “Search Web Hosts”, “Top Rated Hosts”, “Web Hosting Tutorials”, “Hosting Glossary”, Add/Update Packages”, and “Contact Us”. Below this menu are two links for “Other Hosting Directories” (in case you can’t find what you are looking for here?). The middle space has a little information about the website sandwiched between distracting google ads. There is a link for an “advanced search” that should likely be on the left side bar instead. Under this are lists of “Cheap Web Hosting Packages” with different features. The right side bar is a list of the “Top 4Value Picks” with plan names, pricing details, host, and the host’s rating.

The real beef of the website is not the front page, but what visitors are using this guide for; information on affordable web hosts. This is what the detailed information looks like (again, you can click to enlarge):

Each review page lists basic features and cost right on top along with a “4Value” rating. Under this information are links to “View Host”, “See All Plans Available” [from said host], and “View Company Profile”. Below this is really important details on “Additional Features”, including Management, Ecommerce, Database, Scripting, Help, Misc, and Email. Under all the details is a time stamp of when this web host was originally added and when they were last updated. This is key because web hosts are always changing, adding and removing features. This lets you know how recent the review is.

Overall, even thought I hate the front page, the detail pages for the web hosts are really good and provide everything you need to know about the hosts.

Site sponsors help defer the costs of running My Hollywood Dream.

Welcome to the weekly recap for the past week (8/24 through 8/31). Here is a list (by section) of some of the news that we covered, just incase you missed something.

Film News

• Robert Downey Jr., from Hero to Villain? Master Mind
• She’ll Be Back? Hopefully! Terminator 4 News
• Maniac Cop 4??? Hell Yeah!
• Another Grease Sequel? Tell Me More!
• John Lennon, the Nowhere Boy

TV News

• Details on Smallville’s 8th Season and New Pictures
• American Idol Adds a Fourth Judge!
• Another Nathan Fillion Show Gets Picked Up, Castle
• The Countdown to the New 90210
• Gossip Girl, First 5 Minutes of Season 2 is Online!

Book News

• Being a Scot, a Book by Sean Connery
• Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer, Book Trailer

Filmmaking Resources

• Make-Up: How to Create the Two-Face Look, Batman
• Affordable Web Hosting, Powweb
• Helpful Book: Film and Video Budgeting

Trailers (Movies, Video Games)

• New Max Payne Trailer!
• Everybody Wants to Be Italian, Movie Trailer
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Video Game Teaser
• MadWorld, Video Game Trailer

Reviews

• DVD Review: Superman Doomsday
• Book to Film: Atonement (Archived)
• Book to Film: The Kite Runner (Archived)
  

Best Thing Ever

• Kermit the Frog and Christian Bale are the same person!

Looking to make a website for your film or production company? There are a lot of web hosting companies out there and it can be a very daunting task to find affordable web hosting that is reliable, dependent, and offers you exactly what you need. I have gone through multiple web hosting companies throughout the years and the one I use now, I’d highly recommend.

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