I have decided to set up a SharePoint User Group in Ireland, the first thing I did was create a free site based on SharePoint to share details. First meeting will be in the new year in Dublin, just waiting for my broken arm to heal. More about that in 2008.

OK, how to set up a free (or $6 if you want a custom URL) in 25 mins. Just go to this address and register:

http://enroll.freesharepoint.com/uddi/freesharepoint/

The URL www.freesharepoint.com works too.

And here's a tip, in Site Actions, click Site Settings and under Look and Feel click "reset to site definition" to get a clean site with no extra branding.

Also, set the regional settings here, and the site theme. Then do your lists, web parts, pages navigation etc.

If you want to make the site allow anonymous access, like I would need for memebers of my user group, in Site Settings go to Advanced permissions, settings, anonymous settings. Set this to entire website.

Then from http://www.godaddy.com I bought a domain name for about $6 and redirected it to my free site.

I created a free group in facebook to give me a forum and track members of SUGIE.

Thus, I created www.sugie.org in about 2o minutes. I did the logo in 5 mins in Photoshop. Easy when you know how.

Note, if you use a redirect URL, be careful when logging in, because the real URL has to be in the address bar, not the masked one, in other words, http://2375.freesharepoint2007.com not http://www.sugie.org