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The Challenge of Web Hosting Once You're Dead

Posted by timothy on from the can-I-have-your-watch-after-you-fight-el-guapo? dept.

reifman writes: Hosting a website (even WordPress) after your death has a variety of unexpected complexities, from renewing your domain name, to hosting, security, monitoring, troubleshooting and more. It's a gaping hole that we as technologists should start thinking more about — especially because all of us are going to die, some of us unexpectedly sooner than we'd like or planned for. The only real solution I found was to share credentials and designate funds to descendants — you've done this, right?

13 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. I'll be dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'll be dead, so it won't matter to me.

    1. Re: I'll be dead by Radres · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Maybe you're hosting your family's photo albums, or perhaps some writing you'd like to someday share with your grandkids? The web is so ephermal. It would be great if I had a more reliable means of leaving something to future generations of my family. Even printing stuff out doesn't always work either.

  2. Forget about being dead... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What do you do with an old website that you're not adding new content and tired of keeping up with the endless WordPress updates, spam comments and nonexistent traffic?

    1. Re:Forget about being dead... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I turned comments off, myself. Wordpress will update itself nowadays, at least for minor updates.

  3. if I am dead by ganjadude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would I care what happens??

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    1. Re:if I am dead by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Third type of website is a public service. Maybe you're not making money off it, but people like it. An example of this would be: Capgeek. Its owner got sick and passed away. No one runs it anymore because he put a lot of work into it, and no one could maintain it.

      If the Internet is full of public service websites, maybe we should try and see them go forward even if we die. This like a mutual favor that people could do.

      --
      God spoke to me
    2. Re:if I am dead by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I just threw up in my mouth a little.

      It happens to me often when i read "("/.") religious Atheistic propaganda", but i don't usualy write about it. Thank you for your "Score:4 insightful" (!) comment, an answer to this (currently modded as "Troll") comment (which was an answer to the GP question "if i am dead why would I care what happens?"):

      "Two types of websites would be good after you die: The first is obvious-Your website makes a profit, and you want your family members to continue to profit in your absence. This is kinda like how life insurance works. The second type is for spiritual types like me- I believe in an after life, and I want people to have faith in Jesus. I might not meet you personally in this life, but if I helped your faith, it'd be cool to know you later. I'm not one who gets in arguments about what is the minimum for salvation, or what the minimum you need to do to get to Heaven. But I know it stokes God when we follow him, do good, be loving, and help people in their faith. So helping people to find Jesus even when I'm not around will be beneficial. In either regard, if it matters to you for your website to be up after you die, you should probably be sharing the credentials with at least one other trustable person now. [Third type of website is a public service. Maybe you're not making money off it, but people like it. An example of this would be: Capgeek. Its owner got sick and passed away. No one runs it anymore because he put a lot of work into it, and no one could maintain it. If the Internet is full of public service websites, maybe we should try and see them go forward even if we die. This like a mutual favor that people could do.]"

      --
      Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
    3. Re:if I am dead by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Third type of website is a public service. Maybe you're not making money off it, but people like it. An example of this would be: Capgeek. Its owner got sick and passed away. No one runs it anymore because he put a lot of work into it, and no one could maintain it.

      But this is exactly why a zombie site doesn't do any good. You need somebody to be your heir, which goes beyond simply the funds to keep the lights on. If you don't have any line of succession set up, make arrangements in your will to add a message to the site saying I've passed, here's a zip of the entire site, if you want to carry the torch feel free for your own name under your own domain. You can't just offer free money and a domain name, somebody will just take the money and use the domain for squatting for ad revenue. Or you could go the formal route and establish a trust, but I imagine that's overkill and the trust manager will take a fair chunk of cash for that.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  4. Try to be sufficiently interesting . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    . . . and the world will keep your content available. The works of Shakespeare are still around, and lots of lesser writers as well.

    Not all are so interesting. So there is a market for companies that keep content available forever, for a suitable one-time fee. Similar to those frozen brains . . .

  5. Simple approach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Get a domain name for the family. Every member can have a subdomain under that domain name. Hand off care and feeding of the domain and the hosting to your successor well before you die, with instructions they do the same when the time comes.

    It does mean you have to say good-bye to myfancyvanitydomainname.com, instead you get to use you.family.org. At the same time, this is exactly how DNS was designed to work.

  6. one possibility by Trepidity · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Use a webhost that lets you pre-pay for service, and prepay for a bunch of it. Register the domains through that host too, and set them to autorenewal. This won't get you indefinite service, but it can get you quite some years, if the host remains in business. Also you might want a static HTML website rather than something that might need upgrades.

    Nearlyfreespeech.net is an example of a host you can do that with. If you deposit, say, $500, they will keep hosting your website until you use up $500 worth of service, which for a modest static-HTML site with one domain should be many years.

    --
    10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
  7. Re:Renewing the domain name? No by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not being an asshole here, but "worst case" literally means "it could actually happen".

    If you explain it that way, it might help educate a few more people.

    "Worst case, I lose a few quid down the loo." Well, do you have anything else in your pocket like a phone or I.D. or more quid? Because worst case could be really devastating.

    Worst case is literally the worst thing that could happen within the realm of possibility. Meaning it is possible. Meaning you should try not to get to that point.

  8. Dying is all about letting go by rainer_d · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you're famous enough, you'll have a wikipedia entry.
    If not, well, that's it.
    If you have relatives, they will remember you. If you have kids early enough and they also have kids early enough, your grandkids will remember you, too.
    If not, maybe you should stop worrying about a f*cking website, for god's sake!

    --
    Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin