Website creation

Glen

Glen

Uncle Glen
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Glen
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I know there are a few threads floating around but I've got just a few questions if anyone can help.

Firstly being from a design background I've not a problem with ideas or how I want a site to look. I initally want to display pics, info have email facilities, then progress later on. What would you recommend is the best programe to create the site. I've got the full version of CS1 e.g Golive, Illustrator etc. Is it best to keeps things simple rather than any 'Flashy' stuff.

What are the correct steps to getting your .co.uk name and buying, where's the best place. If you buy a name for 2 years say, can anyone take it away from you?

I know jack about hosting etc...so again where, who, costs, how do I go about this.

Thanks for any help you can give.
 
I'm sure you will get plenty of informed replies.

I'll start you off with an uninformed one :) . I registered my own domain at http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ cost about £6.50 for 2 years (a .co.uk one). You log in to their control panel page and you can set up where emails go and where the web site is hosted. I just use my ntl homepage space. oh and you do get to renew the domain name unless you choose to let it expire

If I was trying to attract people then I'd look at proper hosting which could deliver the content reliably but for sharing a bit of info and having an email address that won't change with isp its worth the few quid it costs. Its a cheap option while you learn and develop your site.

I'll be watching these threads with interest as i have a lot of pictures i'd like to host on a dedicated site so former employees of my business can get to them and maybe share their own too.
 
Most domain sellers now will protect your domain name for you. These days I think you have to actively say "this name is mine gerrof" or someone 'can' take it off you. Whichever seller you choose should advise you how to do this. My domains are registered with http://www.ukreg.com/ and hosted by www.jaguarpc.net
 
RobertP said:
I'll start you off with an uninformed one :) .
Click to expand...
And I'll follow on ;)
I'm doing mine with dreamweaver. No particular reason other than I happened to own a copy anyway which was bought at work. I'm finding the way you can do a lot of things on the screen (Edit: as in WYSIWYG) a big help as my knowledge of HTML is non existent. Getting a layout and design sorted is actualy fairly straighforward. Getting everything do do what you want it to do is a bit more difficult, for me anyway as even with the help and hints the guys gave me I'm struggling with it. I've had a few efforts tonight for example to integrate a gallery and it's not happening right :banghead:

For a domain name I resorted to what I knew, I bought a .com from www.registron.co.uk this afternoon. £7.99 + VAT for a year, probably not the absolute cheapest but I already had an account with them so it was handy.

Hosting I'm not sure about yet. There are a lot of links in my other thread here for hosts. HAvent had time to check them out yet and I might just go back to tsohost.co.uk, the guy is really helpful, answers emails on a sunday night, that sort of thing.
 
Ok for you to display pictures in anything other than a list you will need some form of gallery software. You have choices from free stuff like simpleviewer, Gallery, Coppermine or even Photoshop has the ability to create simple galleries that you can upload to some web space. All of these are free options but some, like Gallery and Coppermine require databases and for that you will need to pay a host. Doing a google search for “free gallery software” may return lots of options.

Hosting comes in all shapes and forms, but for your requirements you will only need a basic package which virtually any host can supply. They usually come with a bare minimum of one database, about 10 email addresses, 500mb of storage and a monthly bandwidth from 2gb upwards. All this can usually be found for about £15 a year.

You will also need a domain name, again you can have almost anything providing it is free. If you do a quick search of the forums there have been a few threads with people recommending both hosts and domain registrars. 123-reg I have used myself and have found them to be excellent and just last week I bought some new domains through register1.net, who after searching round for ages came up as by far the cheapest and were also highly recommended by existing customers. Once you find a registrar that you are happy with you are able to search for potential domain names on their site. The one thing that most people do recommend is that you buy your hosting and domains from separate companies; it just gives you more flexibility and is a safer option in case the hosts turn out to be poor.

Hosting is usually paid for on either a monthly or yearly basis depending on the hosts you chose, domain names are usually registered for 2 years and you have the choice at the end of that period to re-register, no one can take your domain unless you allow it or do not renew at the end of your term. Good registrars will automatically notify you a few months before.

Obviously once all this is set up you will need to design a website. If you have never done any web design before then you may struggle a little, I would recommend learning how to do a little html/php coding. Both are fairly easy to pick up the basics in, and rather than start from scratch trying to build your own site, do a Google search for “free website templates” and then browse the many that will be availible. Find something that you like and then customise it to change and make it suit your needs. A basic site can be made very individual and professional looking without too much effort, plus you will be learning along the way. Once you become more confident with coding, you can then design your own.

HTH :)
 
Sorry I've not replied to these any quicker, had lots on at work. Thanks for all the replies and I will have a good read Sunday. TA! :thumb:
 
may i 'highly' recommend www.surpasshosting.com, yes they are US based, they are extremely good value for money, i think i paid £30/year for the oc5 plan (5gig space/ 100gig traffic) and i've used them for the past 3 years with no problems whatsoever, i challenge anyone to find cheaper and as generous :D
 
A friend from work recommend these

http://www.streamlinenet.co.uk/index.php

What do you think would be the best package to start off with?

There support and customer service is in Derby just down the road, If I had any probs I could just bang on the door.
 
There prices are good, and include a free domain name. I would go unlimited for the £33.99 a year and includes PHP, CGI and 5 databases as well.

I might just have to sign up as well at that price.
 
Also if you want some templates let me know i have 100's of them. I can send them through at the end of the week once my broadband is fixed.
 
Cheers Mark, thats very kind of you.

I'm just about to sign up, I've noticed a bit further in in the wizard partvthey also have a lot of templates etc. should you need any more.
 
i'd be interested in some templates for my site as i have zero imagination to design my front end :(
 
markgray said:
There prices are good, and include a free domain name. I would go unlimited for the £33.99 a year and includes PHP, CGI and 5 databases as well.

I might just have to sign up as well at that price.
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Thats a great price for UK hosted , with PHP, CGI, and 5 databases etc :)

added to my bookmarks for any future websites :)


Mark.
 
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