Cost of maintaining website via iWeb '09

You do not need to upgrade iWeb every time a new version comes out. Updates are on Apple.com for whatever your current software package of iLife is. Do you have any of the iLife versions now? If so, try using iWeb in the current version you have now, to get used to it and to wait for the bugs that are in '09 get worked out by Apple.

1. You should be able to upgrade iWeb 06 to 08 from the Downloads section of the Apple website. However, at the present time and because iLife 09 has only just been released, if you want to upgrade to this, then you would need to order it via the Apple website. You would have to pay for this.

You could start by upgrading from 06 to 08 for a start and then consider 09 when all the bugs have been fixed in it.

2. To be able to use iWeb, no, you do not need to have a MobileMe account. If you wish to publish, you need to select the Publish to a Folder option from within iWeb and this will publish your site to the Sites folder and then you can upload this to your chosen server using Cyberduck which is free ftp software program.

You can sign up for a MobileMe account and it would cost you $100 per year for which you get hosting space and you can also link your domain name to your site too. If you decide not to purchase a domain name however, you MME url will be http://web.me.com/username.

To download iWeb updates, go to the Apple home page and then click on Support and then choose iWeb. When you get to this page on the right hand side there is a section that has Software Updates and under there are iWeb 2.0.3 and 2.0.4. Try clicking on these and seeing what happens.

The whole point of using iWeb is that you can create a blog yourself and you can add photo albums to your website and then upload it.

If you want a domain name, then you won't get it for free. You have to go somewhere like GoDaddy and purchase a domain name.

There are free hosting services, but most of them contain lots of adds and do not provide a very good service. If you want web hosting, then it is better to look around for a good deal and pay for it. Again, look at GoDaddy.

If you just want blogging without a website, then try E-blogger. You don't need a domain name for that and you can create it from anywhere directly online, which you can't with iWeb. Also, if you create your blog in iWeb and then don't publish it to MobileMe, then you loose the comment facility too.

Software updates for the iLife apps are version specific and you can't upgrade from iLife '06 to iLife '09.
You must purchase a newer version or stick with what you own.