The Web Projects page in the HostBarrel Hub is where you follow a website our team is building for you. You open the preview, click on a page to leave comments, and approve the website when it is right. It goes live only after you approve. This guide covers free website creation projects, our free design and build of a static website.

Who Sees Web Projects

Web Projects is in the left sidebar for anyone whose role can view Sites.

Part of the Hub sidebar with the Web Projects item marked by an orange outline, between Other Products and Migrations

With no project yet, the page says No web projects yet and offers an Ask about a website button that opens Support. To ask for a build, send the free website creation request form.

Web Projects page saying No web projects yet, with the Ask about a website button marked by an orange outline

Any role that can view Sites can read a project. Commenting, sending messages, starting a round and approving need permission to manage Sites. With a view-only role, Your review and Messages each show a note that your role can read but not write, and the page says who can.

The Project List and Stages

Each project card shows five steps and a status:

  • Brief (Getting started) - We are gathering what we need from you
  • Building (Being built) - Our team is building your site
  • Your review (Waiting for your review) - Open the preview, comment, and approve when it is right
  • Approved - The work is approved and we put it live next
  • Live - Your site is live

A cancelled project shows Cancelled instead. The Free build tag marks a free website creation project, a red new tag counts unread messages, and Waiting for your comments shows how many comments are still open. Click a card to open the project on the tab that needs you.

Two project cards. The Harbor Lane Bakery website card, marked by an orange outline, has the Free build tag, a red 1 new tag, the status Waiting for your review and 3 open comments. The second card is at the Building step

The Project Page

The top of the page says what happens next, with the five steps below it and one button when there is something for you to do. A Target date may appear beside the title. Target dates are estimates, not a guaranteed delivery date. Below that are three tabs:

  • Overview - THE PREVIEW, THE BRIEF, YOUR OFFER, DETAILS and HOW THIS WORKS
  • Your review - The preview with comments pinned to it
  • Messages - The conversation with the web team and any support tickets about the project
Top of the project page with the title, a Target date of Nov 20, 2026, the five steps with Your review as the current one, a Review the preview button and the tabs Overview, Your review and Messages

The Preview

When the preview is ready, THE PREVIEW shows a small view of your site. Open in a new tab opens it full size. It sits on a private address, and search engines are told not to index it. Until it is ready, the card says so.

Overview tab with a small view of the bakery website under THE PREVIEW and the Open in a new tab button, THE BRIEF below it, and the cards YOUR OFFER, DETAILS and HOW THIS WORKS on the right

Leaving Comments and Pins

Step 1: Open the Your review tab

Open the Your review tab. If it says The preview is ready for your comments, click Start commenting. That opens your first round.

Project page with the Your review tab marked by an orange outline, showing a red 3 for the open comments

Step 2: Click the spot you want changed

With Comment selected, click the spot on the page you want changed.

Your review tab with Comment selected and marked by an orange outline, the bakery website in the preview with pins numbered 1 and 2, and the list of comments beside it

Step 3: Type your comment

Type in the What should change here? box and click Add comment.

New comment box beside the preview with a comment typed in and the Add comment button marked by an orange outline, and a blue plus pin on the seeded rye picture in the preview

The comment gets a number and a pin on the page.

The same preview with a red pin numbered 5 on the seeded rye picture, comment 5 open in the list beside it and the count now reading 4 open

Browse and screen sizes

Switch to Browse to use the page normally, such as following links and opening menus. Desktop, Tablet and Phone change the screen size.

Preview shown at phone width with the Phone button marked by an orange outline and the comment list beside it

Replies and resolved comments

Comments are listed beside the preview. Click one to read the replies, write your own, or click Resolve when it is done. Reopen brings it back, and Show resolved lists the resolved ones. The drop-down at the top opens comments from earlier rounds.

Comment list with comment 1 open, showing a reply from Nina of the web team, a reply box and the Resolve button marked by an orange outline

If a note says clicking on the page is not available, send your changes in Messages instead. The team sees them the same way.

Revision Rounds

A revision round is one batch of changes to the agreed design. Free website creation includes up to five rounds. Review rounds under YOUR OFFER shows how many are used, and a Round tag on Your review shows the current one. When the web team starts a round for you, you get an email and a notification in the Hub.

Starting the next round

When the web team has worked through your comments and closed the round, Your review says Start a new round of comments and which round it would be. Have a look at the updated preview, then click Start a new round and comment as before. See your earlier comments opens the closed round, read-only.

The Your review tab between rounds, saying Start a new round of comments, that this is round 3 of 5, with the Start a new round button marked by an orange outline and a See your earlier comments link under it
  • Seven days to respond. You have seven days to respond to each round. A round with no response in that time is closed and counts as one of the five.
  • When rounds end. The free rounds end when you approve the website or when the fifth round is finished, whichever comes first. Later changes are quoted before we start.
  • A different design. Replacing the design with a different one is a new project.
  • Paused rounds. Paused by the web team while they make changes means you cannot add comments or approve until they resume the round. Your comments stay there.
  • Thirty days of silence. If we receive no response for thirty days, we close the project, and we reopen it on request. We email you before that happens.

The Project Conversation

The Messages tab holds your CONVERSATION WITH THE WEB TEAM. Use it to send your logo and photos, say what your site should say, or ask anything about the build. The team answers there, and you get an email when they do.

Step 1: Open the Messages tab and write your message

Click Messages and type in the box at the bottom. To add files, click the paperclip. A message can carry up to 10 files of up to 10 MB each: images, PDF, Office, text or zip. Files are scanned for malware before they open.

Step 2: Click Send

Click Send. Your message joins the conversation.

Messages tab with the conversation with the web team, a message typed in the box with a file named walnut-loaf-notes.pdf attached, the Send button marked by an orange outline, and the Open a support ticket button on the right

Take back removes your own message within 15 minutes of sending it. For something that needs its own thread, use Open a support ticket. Tickets about the project are listed beside the conversation, each with its number, full subject and status; click one to open it.

Approving the Website

Step 1: Resolve every open comment

Resolve every open comment on the current round, so your approval covers everything that was raised. While comments are open, the panel says so and Yes, approve cannot be clicked.

Approve the website panel with a red message saying there are still 3 open comments and asking to resolve them first

Step 2: Click Approve the website

On Your review, click Approve the website. It appears while a round is open.

Top of the Your review tab showing Round 2 of 5 and the green Approve the website button marked by an orange outline

Step 3: Confirm

Read the panel, then click Yes, approve, or Not yet to go back.

Approve the website panel explaining that your name, the time and your IP address are recorded and that this cannot be undone, with the Not yet button and the Yes, approve button marked by an orange outline

Your name, the time and your IP address are recorded with the approval, and it cannot be undone. If your role cannot approve, the page says A company owner or admin approves the website.

What Happens at Go-Live

After you approve, the project shows Approved and there is nothing more for you to do while we put the website live. A website you have not approved stays on its private preview address and is never published. A website you have approved stays live while your hosting plan is active.

Project page with Approved as the current step and the words Nothing to do: we are putting your site live

At go-live the project moves to Live, we email you, and Open your website appears on the project page.

Project page with Live as the current step, all earlier steps checked, and the Open your website button marked by an orange outline

YOUR OFFER then shows the dates for your hosting plan: Went live, Free months, First invoice and Commitment.

YOUR OFFER card after go-live showing the WP Essential plan at US$18.99 a month on monthly billing, the date the site went live, the free months, the first invoice around Jan 26, 2027 and the commitment until Oct 26, 2027
  • The website runs on a hosting plan with a minimum term of twelve months, starting on the day it goes live.
  • On monthly billing, months one to three are free and months four to twelve are billed monthly at the plan's price.
  • On yearly billing there are no free months, and the yearly price is paid on the day the website goes live.
  • If you cancel before the end of month twelve, the remaining months up to month twelve become due at once. Once they are paid, the website stays online until the end of month twelve.

See How to Cancel Your Hosting Plan and the offer terms.