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dsp
I've decided to begin the daunting task of creating a web site in order to show my photography to a wider audience - and have registered a domain name. Now I seem to find myself extremely confused as to what happens next - I need a host I presume?
All I want is a basic site with photography displayed - nothing else (yet) but the capability to expand would be good. I dont want to pay a lot, but the sites needs to be prof looking and not run like a dog. I've read the forums, checked out various sites but am still in the dark. Also I read somewhere that now I have paid for my domain - it might not actually belong to me, but to the domain registration site...???? Now I am really lost. Can anyone give me a push in the right direction? I registered with me4uweb - any experiences with them? Are they bandits or angels?
Thanks
All I want is a basic site with photography displayed - nothing else (yet) but the capability to expand would be good. I dont want to pay a lot, but the sites needs to be prof looking and not run like a dog. I've read the forums, checked out various sites but am still in the dark. Also I read somewhere that now I have paid for my domain - it might not actually belong to me, but to the domain registration site...???? Now I am really lost. Can anyone give me a push in the right direction? I registered with me4uweb - any experiences with them? Are they bandits or angels?
Thanks
I, Brian
I remember what that was like. 
You need to be able to build you own pages, as well as have a decent webhost.
I don't have time to explain everything here at the moment, so I heartily recommend you visit
http://www.sitepointforums.com
and check out the higher board - "starting out", as you can get detailed advice, and erference to very good onsite artiles. It's a general webmaster forum, btw.
You need to be able to build you own pages, as well as have a decent webhost.
I don't have time to explain everything here at the moment, so I heartily recommend you visit
http://www.sitepointforums.com
and check out the higher board - "starting out", as you can get detailed advice, and erference to very good onsite artiles. It's a general webmaster forum, btw.
Martie
I agree with I, Brian about sitepoint.
You are on the right track with getting your domain name registered first. Once you choose a host, all that will need to be done is to modify your domain name record to point to your host DNS. This info should be included in your welcome letter which would contain your account info.
A good host IMO will guide you along the way if you need help.
I made a quick few suggestions here for newbies:
http://forums.webhostdir.com/showth...=&threadid=5972
Most will allow you to upgrade/downgrade your account if you need to.
Hope this helps point you in the right direction.
?? Ive never heard of me4uweb ?? url??
You are on the right track with getting your domain name registered first. Once you choose a host, all that will need to be done is to modify your domain name record to point to your host DNS. This info should be included in your welcome letter which would contain your account info.
A good host IMO will guide you along the way if you need help.
I made a quick few suggestions here for newbies:
http://forums.webhostdir.com/showth...=&threadid=5972
Most will allow you to upgrade/downgrade your account if you need to.
Hope this helps point you in the right direction.
?? Ive never heard of me4uweb ?? url??
e3servers.com
Okay let me jump in here...
There are four parts you are going to need to display your pictures:
1. The domain name
2. A Web Host
3. A Web Site
4. Gallery Software to display your pictures (optional though)
As for the domain name it appears you have it. When you register a domain name it is yours. Period. Unless you had someone else register it for you such as a web host who is actually in control of the domain name. If you can control the domain name (such as log into a screen and change information; transfer the domain name to another person, etc.) then it is yours. There are a few places out there which say you are buying a domain name but then they keep it and you can't control anything. These are bad, so try to stay away from them. If you registered with one of the big places, register.com, dotster, etc. there should be no problems.
A domain name is only the first part and is only the name of the site. You need several more items in order to show your pictures on the web.
The second item you need is a place where to put the pictures so the world can see them. This is a server. To put your pictures on the server you need a web hosting account. Now, there are thousands of companies willing to do this for you and a wide variety of prices. What you want to look for is a place which offers a free trial or money back guarantee first. This way you can try before you are locked in. Also look for monthly hosting; not yearly. You don't want your hosting company to go out of business and take your money.
Once you have looked at a few hosts think about how much space you will need. Space in a web hosting account is generally listed in MB. The easiest way for you to figure out how much you need is to add up the size of all your pictures and then add 30%. You add 30% because you want a little room to grow and add pictures and there is other things which are going to take up your space as well.
Next you need to figure out how busy your site is going to be. If it is not going to be very busy then look for bandwidth transfer at about 1-2 GB. Bandwidth is the amount of files, emails, etc. you can transfer each month on your account.
The other items to look for when looking for a host are what are the hours of the tech support; how easy is it to control your site; what other offerings are there etc. (This is where you can get lost so don't worry too much about this stuff--concentrate on the disk space and transfer initially. This is just the gravy on the meat and potatoes.)
After you have the domain name and the web hosting account you are going to need a web site. The web site is actually the pages which are displayed on a person's computer when they go to your site. As the previous two posters mentioned sitepoint is a place to go to learn about how to create web pages in a lot of depth. Starting out you just might want to look at a computer program which does it for you though. Look at Microsoft's Frontpage & Macromedia's Dreamweaver. They can create simple web sites and complex ones. They do cost money though. For a cheaper (but not necessarily worse) solution go to download.com and search for web site creation software. Try a few and see if you find one you like.
Once you have created the web pages you will put them up on the server (this is where your host can tell you how to do that) and then you are off an running.
The fourth item I mentioned is specific software which displays lots and lots of pictures. Some software will create thumbnails for you site automatically. I will leave this up to you to search for a few of these programs. But look at this after you have completed the other three steps first.
There are four parts you are going to need to display your pictures:
1. The domain name
2. A Web Host
3. A Web Site
4. Gallery Software to display your pictures (optional though)
As for the domain name it appears you have it. When you register a domain name it is yours. Period. Unless you had someone else register it for you such as a web host who is actually in control of the domain name. If you can control the domain name (such as log into a screen and change information; transfer the domain name to another person, etc.) then it is yours. There are a few places out there which say you are buying a domain name but then they keep it and you can't control anything. These are bad, so try to stay away from them. If you registered with one of the big places, register.com, dotster, etc. there should be no problems.
A domain name is only the first part and is only the name of the site. You need several more items in order to show your pictures on the web.
The second item you need is a place where to put the pictures so the world can see them. This is a server. To put your pictures on the server you need a web hosting account. Now, there are thousands of companies willing to do this for you and a wide variety of prices. What you want to look for is a place which offers a free trial or money back guarantee first. This way you can try before you are locked in. Also look for monthly hosting; not yearly. You don't want your hosting company to go out of business and take your money.
Once you have looked at a few hosts think about how much space you will need. Space in a web hosting account is generally listed in MB. The easiest way for you to figure out how much you need is to add up the size of all your pictures and then add 30%. You add 30% because you want a little room to grow and add pictures and there is other things which are going to take up your space as well.
Next you need to figure out how busy your site is going to be. If it is not going to be very busy then look for bandwidth transfer at about 1-2 GB. Bandwidth is the amount of files, emails, etc. you can transfer each month on your account.
The other items to look for when looking for a host are what are the hours of the tech support; how easy is it to control your site; what other offerings are there etc. (This is where you can get lost so don't worry too much about this stuff--concentrate on the disk space and transfer initially. This is just the gravy on the meat and potatoes.)
After you have the domain name and the web hosting account you are going to need a web site. The web site is actually the pages which are displayed on a person's computer when they go to your site. As the previous two posters mentioned sitepoint is a place to go to learn about how to create web pages in a lot of depth. Starting out you just might want to look at a computer program which does it for you though. Look at Microsoft's Frontpage & Macromedia's Dreamweaver. They can create simple web sites and complex ones. They do cost money though. For a cheaper (but not necessarily worse) solution go to download.com and search for web site creation software. Try a few and see if you find one you like.
Once you have created the web pages you will put them up on the server (this is where your host can tell you how to do that) and then you are off an running.
The fourth item I mentioned is specific software which displays lots and lots of pictures. Some software will create thumbnails for you site automatically. I will leave this up to you to search for a few of these programs. But look at this after you have completed the other three steps first.