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I am getting ready to start putting together a web presence for the business I will start after I retire form the military next year. My big question I guess mostly goes to Donnie and Phid because you both abviously have webpages. One thing I want to avoid is getting scammed or overcharged for web-hosting. I am not too concerned about site design since a friend of ours who does it for a living is willing to do the work on the side for me. This is what the site he manages for aliving looks like.http://www.hoodmwr.com/I am more wondering if it makes more sense to find a local hosting company or to host through someone like GoDaddy or 1&1. I am pretty sure the cheapest way to register the domain name is through one of the big registrars rather than a l9ocal company who has to go through them anyway.I am not setting this up for a few months at least but just want to know if you guys have any insights on what mistakes I can avoid.
I am getting ready to start putting together a web presence for the business I will start after I retire form the military next year. My big question I guess mostly goes to Donnie and Phid because you both abviously have webpages. One thing I want to avoid is getting scammed or overcharged for web-hosting. I am not too concerned about site design since a friend of ours who does it for a living is willing to do the work on the side for me. This is what the site he manages for aliving looks like.http://www.hoodmwr.com/I am more wondering if it makes more sense to find a local hosting company or to host through someone like GoDaddy or 1&1. I am pretty sure the cheapest way to register the domain name is through one of the big registrars rather than a l9ocal company who has to go through them anyway.I am not setting this up for a few months at least but just want to know if you guys have any insights on what mistakes I can avoid.
I won't lie to you, maintaining a website is difficult at first. You have to understand html markup code, ftp server access, mysql commands (well a few anyway). If you don't want to learn all that right away, find a web host with pre-installed software that requires little to no knowledge to run. Still you will have to understand how to use the admin back end to publish your content and upload your files. Since you are in Germany, 1and1.com is located there and I recommend them (and that's who I use).
Since you are in Germany, 1and1.com is located there and I recommend them (and that's who I use).
I thought the same thing. I went ahead and bought my domain names today (from 1&1 no less) and started playing around with their website builder a little bit. I am going to have to learn FTD and some MySQL, I figured that out already. I just got the beginners package which only lets me have eight pages per domain for now but will probably upgrade later so I can have unlimited pages. I do not really have to go live with this for a year or so but wanted to get my feet wet and have it looking professional by then. I am just playing for now as I am focusing on finishing my MA. I imagine I will get serious about it after a while. I will definitely put links to both WesternCiv and WoH on the front page once I figure out how to do it. I will probably also use this thread to bounce questions off of you as I run into problems if you don't mind. I am computer literate but have never done anything like run a website. Office and internet surfing are about it.
I am a web developer and SharePoint Administrator in my day job… if you have questions, feel free to ask. The only problem with 1&1 is it limits you when you are ready to expand, and quite honestly, they are expensive compared to others. If you do a bit of research you can find other host providers considerably cheaper with a LOT more features. I ahve been using a company called QualityHostOnline for almost 6 years now and get service and have had little to no down time. I also have a LOT more features than places like 1&1, GoDaddy, etc provide, so I am not restricted. Reliability, features, and expandability are what you need to look for in your cost analysis.Domain name registration is fine through either of those companies (I use GoDaddy) but hosting is not so good.
I will probably switch to a local company for hosting when I get closer to actually launching the site for real. I guess I am mostly using it right now to play with. I also wanted to lock up the domain names while they are available. From what little I have seen today, their web hosting is not the best and is pretty inflexible. The only good thing I can say is the UI is pretty good for novices like me.I will no doubt be hitting up plenty of folks when I really stat getting my feet wet. I mostly shoot people and blow stuff up in my day job so web design is not my string suit. I have decided that if I start a business I have to have a web presence or it will probably fail right out the door.
I am a web developer and SharePoint Administrator in my day job... if you have questions, feel free to ask. The only problem with 1&1 is it limits you when you are ready to expand, and quite honestly, they are expensive compared to others. If you do a bit of research you can find other host providers considerably cheaper with a LOT more features. I ahve been using a company called QualityHostOnline for almost 6 years now and get service and have had little to no down time. I also have a LOT more features than places like 1&1, GoDaddy, etc provide, so I am not restricted. Reliability, features, and expandability are what you need to look for in your cost analysis.Domain name registration is fine through either of those companies (I use GoDaddy) but hosting is not so good.
The only limitation I see with 1and1 services is that they do not have PHP setup for video sharing. They also frown at using chat programs on shared servers (which is understandable). My up time is very good, but they don't update PHP that often (which can be good if you're lazy, but if you like to keep your software current it's not).
I will probably switch to a local company for hosting when I get closer to actually launching the site for real. I guess I am mostly using it right now to play with. I also wanted to lock up the domain names while they are available. From what little I have seen today, their web hosting is not the best and is pretty inflexible. The only good thing I can say is the UI is pretty good for novices like me.I will no doubt be hitting up plenty of folks when I really stat getting my feet wet. I mostly shoot people and blow stuff up in my day job so web design is not my string suit. I have decided that if I start a business I have to have a web presence or it will probably fail right out the door.
I hope you chose the Linux package over the Windows one. 🙁
I just got internet service in my home after moving into my new place, so I had been online only sparsely for the past week or so. Anyway, there are a lot of web hosts out there who want your money, and there are some pitfalls out there if you're not careful. There are some web hosting review sites out there which are somewhat helpful, like hostsearch.com, but if you know someone personally who likes a particular web host, that may be the best route in finding who you should use. Just make sure that the host you use has all the features that your friend (the web designer/developer) needs to make the site correctly.
If you're going to just do a blog, install WordPress. You can't find anything better unless you pay for it. If you want a message board, this software is probably the best free discussion board there is other than Phpbb3. If you want to do a wiki, Mediawiki is the best software for that purpose. Trust me, I've dabbled in just about every open source software imaginable and I keep going back to those I just listed.
I am actually looking at putting something together that looks similar to these: http://www.battlefieldtours.co.uk/index.htm, http://www.inthefootsteps.com/, http://www.oldcountrytours.com/. It is supposed to be the Web address of the company I plan on starting after I retire. I essentially want it to describe the company, the tours I offer and the pricing and payment. I want it to be simple because I think most of the sites out there are actually a little confusing. I also aim for the tours I offer to play to my strengths, i don't want to make a promise on knowledge that I dont have. I want to start now so I have some time to tweak it before I actually go live with it. (I don't actually retire until November 2011, so I have some time)
I think most people would agree that using WordPress for your site would be the best bet. While the software is normally used to create blogs, it can also be used to create standalone sites, and it's quite easy to use, and it's quite customizable. Donnie and Notch would probably second this (I think 😮 ).
If you are not using WordPress you are missing out. I actually use that for many websites I deal with now, because it can be configured to work, look and act just like a regular website and all the coding is already done for you (short of minor tweaks). Plus WordPress places VERY high on the SEO radar which is a very good thing if you want people to viit your site.As for 1&1 the problem I have with them and GoDaddy is placing a limit on pages as opposed to just limiting your bandwidth and disk quota and letting you go from there. If they say I get 8 pages, unless I am cramming that full of useless images and stuff, it would barely make a dent in the alotted disk quota I have.
If you are not using WordPress you are missing out. I actually use that for many websites I deal with now, because it can be configured to work, look and act just like a regular website and all the coding is already done for you (short of minor tweaks). Plus WordPress places VERY high on the SEO radar which is a very good thing if you want people to viit your site.As for 1&1 the problem I have with them and GoDaddy is placing a limit on pages as opposed to just limiting your bandwidth and disk quota and letting you go from there. If they say I get 8 pages, unless I am cramming that full of useless images and stuff, it would barely make a dent in the alotted disk quota I have.
I have the Developer's Package and trust me, I'll never use it all and it's not that expensive. My only gripe is I can't host a video sharing site because they won't configure PHP to play flash video format. I did briefly use Glowhost for that purpose, but I let that domain go. Glowhost is a very good web host though and I recommend them.
I will have to look at options. I definitely want my site to be up there in the Search algorithims. I have a package through 1&1 that gives me unlimited pages, the ability to change the html code, and I have 10 GB of storage which I will probably never even approach. I also bought my domain under dot com, info, net, and org so i could set up satellite sites under those domains if I had to. I think I am good with what I have for now. It is early yet though. We will see.Thanks for all the advice. I am such a tory at this there is probably all kinds of functionality I am missing because I don't even know it exists. I am mostly familiar with the user end of the web not the developer side.
The good news is, because you are with 1and1, I am completely familiar with how you setup your databases through their admin panel. If you need me to do anything for you, all you have to do is grant me access to your ftp account and I can install any type of software for you and configure it to your desire. 🙂
