I haven't used Wordpress but Blogger is free and I think its really good.

Oh blimey no... I can't stand Blogger, this blog used to be hosted there and the constant downing of the service and the handling of the posts drove me bonkers.

The reason why I want to use Wordpress is because of the utter customisation and plugins that it allows.

hmm, only seem to be able to reply to a previous comment for some reason. Anyhow. I can recommend Dreahmhost. I#'ll come clean- you use that link and don't have a promo code, I get credit as refferer. However, I've not set up a promo code yet (if you search google or digg you'll find codes for up to $97 off a single year). I'm very much open to negotiation- $97 is the amount you get for a refferal, and if you use a personal refferal code, that comes out of the refferal.

As for service, they are US, not UK, but the only major problem I've had was that they previously were based in downtown New Orleans. I think they're now in a facility similar to NORAD. Setting up Wordpress and a whole host of other software (mediawiki is one of them) is excruciatingly easy to do. You don't HAVE to use the web panel though, you do have full ftp access. And the customer mailout once a month is "hilarious".

Oh yes. The amount of diskspace and bandwidth they offer is quite, quite crazy.

The customisation options are good and the themes are just beautiful but some of those themes go utterly pear shaped with some add-ins when you look at the pages with internet explorer on a PC, probably because they were created with a Mac or something using Firefox to preview them. Things shift around on the pages with some add-ins when you look at them in internet explorer and unless you mess around with the style-sheets to fix it, or you look at the pages on a PC to find the theme that works on all browsers.

It sounds really complicated - sorry it is not really, just the way I posted it...

Somehow I feel like a complete amateur :-( Oh wait a sec, I AM a complete amateur!

Dreamhost. Wonderful support, wicked sense of humour, great pricing. They even have a support rss feed to keep us up to date. Have nothing but raves about their service. Host my wordpress blog through them, among other services. Contact me if interested, my husband has some sort of discount scheme available that should make it even cheaper, (thats not why I think they are great, they truly sell themselves). And finally, I delurk:)

http://www.w2s.net/

Is very good for hosting and I will set up wordpress on there for you (it is easy and would taken 15 minutes to do - no problem. They are really good - I have emailed some details to you.

A footnote. Was wandering through Digg, found this: How to migrate your Wordpress Blog to a new host.. Looks like something you may find handy!

The codex is pretty good for Wordpress tips and some excellent guides that hold your hand through all the set up and fiddling around (Which has really helped me anyway).

Wordpress Codex

I recommend "Nearly Free Speech . Net" at https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/. The customer service they offer is absolutely superb, and the prices beat any other offers I've seen - they charge you per byte, rather than giving you imaginary bundle deals that you won't benefit from. (A lot of hosters will kick you out if you actually use up the bandwidth they offer.)
NFSN.net is in the US, not the UK, unfortunately.

www.tdmweb.com - UK based, v.reliable, superb helpdesk response. They have a lot of different packages available. If you find one you like I can set it up for you (including wordpress). For nowt obviously. Stu.

I use http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html dreamhosts for other stuff. they seem rock solid and have '1 click' installs of various software including wordpress (and media wiki and other stuff)

cheap, loads of bandwidth and storage, i've found them very good.

vk5dh

How about wordpress themselves? I know they're not in the UK, but still might be worth it.

Hello

I can heartily recommend LaughingSquid.Net (they're the guys that host BoingBoing). Their customer service is superb, they have wordpress install instructions to the Nth degree and I've never had a single problem with them. They're US based, but in a happy, hippy, flaky Bay Area kind of way. Drop me a line if you need any more info, I've hosted a bunch of sites with them.

Ah yes, The Moomins....................Sweden's - um - Finland's version of The Teletubbies ;)

http://www.ecwhost.com are worth a look - UK based, Fantastic Support and they have an automatic wordpress installer (meaning less work for you).

Their prices are also rather decent too :)

http://www.warrenellis.com/ uses wordpress and he recently changed hosts, can't remember who it was to but it'll be in his archives somewhere. And as you know, people wouldn't dare f#ck with Warren so he must be with a reliable host

I have a vague thought that it may have been dreamhost that caused him trouble with one or more of his plugins - I'll need to check through his archives.

My other half is a Tech for Essex. He gets referred to by his surname mostly, and "The Boy" as he's the youngest on station. People only have to say to me "How's the boy?" now and I know they're asking about him.

I use dreamhost.com - excellent value for money (rediculous amount of space and bandwidth!) - and can autoinstall wordpress for you :)

Personally I'd recommend 34sp - I host a whole bundle of sites with them, the prices are reasonable, and the support stuff is top-notch.

Well worth the effort, IMHO.

I followed on of the links from the wordpress site "(funnily enough in their hosting section!) to AN Hosting, they are very good, very cheap, but unfortunately thay are based in the US, the link is here:
http://www.anhosting.com/?camp=EXCLUSIVE-SPECIAL-OFFER

Good grief, I really need to make an effort to proof read now and again!

Take a look at United Hosting - small, friendly, great customer service. Take a look at their forum here - a great community :) (and no, I wasn't paid to say that!)

Try www.names.co.uk... reasonable prices, UK based tech support PHONE line with great guys n gals, has an auto install for Wordpress used them for various sites and stuff for about 8 years never let me down. If you exceed bandwidth they don't take your site down they charge you extra and end of month and soo on. Personally I wouldnt use anyone else now.

I use a company called Cyberhost Pro. (www.cyberhostpro.com) They've been pretty reliable but more importantly when there have been problems they get back to me in about 10 minutes, even on a Sunday. When there was a slight problem at registration they phoned me up to sort it all out on the phone, all within a few minutes of regostering.

They have a wordpress auto-install, but I'd recomend doing it manualy as you get the latest version.

Note also, its a full host, so can provide your own domain name, Email etc.

Tom, I imagine you get a whole lot of traffic with your new found popularity... with that I figure the best thing you might want do with any host is get dedicated hosting as that should cover the excessive bandwith this site probably uses! I know it sounds scary and all, but you can get a plan where everything is set up and maintained for you, and you just get and go. These plans can range from 30$ US and up.

Eug

PS- I use hostdime.com to do my hosting... they've been good to me, but they tend to be a tad pricey

Shouldn't she really be the Snork Maiden? Oddly enough I was reading Finn Family Moomintroll last night. It's very calming if you've had a wound up day.

http://wordpress.com

Free blog, great support (that's me!)

Email support @ wordpress.com with any questions at all !

I can offer you some free hosting and a fresh WordPress install. Should be everything you need, and I can also offer support.

Let me know if you're interested (matt @ mattdavis.co.uk)

Thanks,

Matt

Evohosting.co.uk are brilliant. I would use no other. For around £25 a year, I get Unlimited Sub-Domains, Unlimited E-Mail Addresses.

Also, request that you want Fantastico when registering, which enables automatic instalation of things like Wordpress, Shops, Forums and PHP Site Templates if you need them.

to save 20%, enter "hostme" in the promotional code box when you register.

I fully transfered my domain to them, but you can only Edit DNS or even get a new domain