Author Topic: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?  (Read 7248 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« on: September 07, 2011, 12:44:52 AM »
Hi, all!

I'd like to create my own personal website, but know next to nothing about initial set-up procedures. Does anyone have any suggestions as to whom I should purchase the domain from and with whom I should host the site? It's not going to be crazy elaborate and I'm not selling anything; I expect it'll look sorta like this site: ConsciousCat.net.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I'd like to get this right (or as close as possible) right from the start.

Thanks!

AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Offline Lola

  • Global Moderator
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 11790
  • Country: us
  • Spay or Neuter
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2011, 08:39:17 AM »
Everyone I talk to hates GoDaddy. That is who I use for this forum...for now.   Bumpurr1

The site you referred to is using wordpress.org.

Check out wordpress.com It is for blogging, but may have all the features you want...without having to buy hosting.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 01:26:33 PM by Lola »
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Lola

  • Global Moderator
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 11790
  • Country: us
  • Spay or Neuter
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2011, 01:02:13 PM »
Not knowing what you know or don't know....  Consider buying the domain name you want, so you will have it.  (I'll use "ACCatSite.com" as an example.)

Check out wordpress.com.  It is free.  You could putz around with it..see if you like it.  If it works for you...you could then direct your domain name to your wordpress.com site.  Directing the URL would "lose" the lengthy www. ACCatSite . wordpress . com url.  (Had to space it, so it wouldn't turn into an URL.)

Meaning...if you tell people about your site or link to it, all you have to mention is  ACCatSite.com... and people will automatically be taken to www. ACCatSite . wordpress. com

Google also has free blogging that you MAY be able to use for what you have in mind.  

Down the road, you may have an interest in TOTALLY setting up a website from scratch...you would still have the domain name...so all you would have to do is discontinue the use of the redirect.  

As far as what the above recommendations would do to SEO (search engine optimization)...you are on your own there. ;)
« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 01:11:07 PM by Lola »
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Lola

  • Global Moderator
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 11790
  • Country: us
  • Spay or Neuter
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2011, 01:22:09 PM »
Guess I should answer your original question.  I got side-tracked thinking about starting a website, totally from scratch, being a huge learning curve.  

consciouscat.net is registered via GoDaddy.  What the person probably has done is...bought domain, hosting, and Wordpress, through GoDaddy.

« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 01:27:35 PM by Lola »
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Middle Child

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 9556
  • Country: us
  • Just say No to declawing
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2011, 03:23:56 PM »
AK49BWL may have some in put for you next time he checks in. :)

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2011, 03:32:28 PM »
Guess I should answer your original question.  I got side-tracked thinking about starting a website, totally from scratch, being a huge learning curve.  

consciouscat.net is registered via GoDaddy.  What the person probably has done is...bought domain, hosting, and Wordpress, through GoDaddy.

Thanks, Lola! How did you figure out the host was GoDaddy? I could see that it was "powered" through Wordpress, but couldn't find any host info anywhere.

I bought my domain name through name.com last night. I know a smattering of information here and there related to Dreamweaver, HTML, FTP transfer, and a few other odds and ends, but I've never done the kind of thing I'm currently planning; I expect the learning curve to be both sharp and painful.  ::)  However, I'm well-stocked on Ibuprofen, my sleeves are rolled up and I'm ready to rumble. :-}

I've also heard a lot of negativity around GoDaddy, so I'm trying to stay away from it if I can. Any other host recommendations?

Thanks again!

AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Offline FurMonster Mom

  • Charter Member
  • Gabster
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 713
  • Country: us
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2011, 03:40:14 PM »
I'm keeping an eye on this thread....

Hubby keeps muttering about putting up a website for our new business (not really new, we've been DBA for-freakin-evah).

I know absolutely nothing about the process.

.
meow meow meow meow meow meow? -woof!
Translation: "I can has my raw food? -please!"

Offline AK49BWL

  • PF's Cat Daddy
  • Administrator
  • Gabster
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 730
  • Country: us
  • The Cat Guy
    • My website
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2011, 04:23:28 PM »
I used GoDaddy for my site's domain registration, but my server is right here in my basement... I don't trust remote hosts, and I like being able to just jump on my server whenever I feel like it, whether I have Internet access or not, lol. Let me know if you decide you want to go this route, as I'd say I'm a pretty good study in that realm.. My site's been up for nearly 3 years now. As for remote hosting.. I really can't be of much help due to my lack of having ever used one... However a good friend of mine hosted his site on 1and1 http://1and1.com/ and said it was pretty easy to deal with and the customer service was good.

Auntie Crazy, finding out the domain registration and host is as easy as http://www.who.is/ ... Assuming registration isn't private ;)

Lola, you can use the [nobbc] tag to keep your links from turning into URLs. Ex; [nobbc]http://www.who.is/[/nobbc]
« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 04:27:32 PM by AK49BWL »
Brandon

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2011, 04:46:03 PM »
I used GoDaddy for my site's domain registration, but my server is right here in my basement... I don't trust remote hosts, and I like being able to just jump on my server whenever I feel like it, whether I have Internet access or not, lol. Let me know if you decide you want to go this route, as I'd say I'm a pretty good study in that realm.. My site's been up for nearly 3 years now. As for remote hosting.. I really can't be of much help due to my lack of having ever used one... However a good friend of mine hosted his site on 1and1 http://1and1.com/ and said it was pretty easy to deal with and the customer service was good.

Auntie Crazy, finding out the domain registration and host is as easy as http://www.who.is/ ... Assuming registration isn't private ;)

Ah, I knew about whois, but thought of it in reference to the individual owner's info, not to the site's info. Good to know!

I hadn't considered hosting it on my own server. I do have an extra computer I could use, but wouldn't I also need to seriously upgrade my internet bandwidth to support access to the site? Not to mention, I'd have to leave the computer on 24/7, wouldn't I?

AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Offline AK49BWL

  • PF's Cat Daddy
  • Administrator
  • Gabster
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 730
  • Country: us
  • The Cat Guy
    • My website
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2011, 04:59:04 PM »
Yes, the computer would be on 24/7 .. Mine has been for a little over 164 days straight now; it does go down for maintenance when needed. Internet bandwidth depends entirely on what the server will be used for. I started mine on a .5mbps upload/3mbps download Cable connection shared by four people.. And not much has changed since then. If you're just running a forum and have very few pictures (smilies and forum images don't count; they're small) on the site, you'd be fine with just a regular cable connection. DSL wouldn't be ideal, as your IP would change too often.. You'd be constantly having to update your domain name's IP pointer (what directs the domain name to your server's IP address). Another consideration of home-serving, is whether or not your ISP blocks incoming port 80 (http) requests or not... If so, then you literally are given no choice but to remote-host, or change ISPs... You can use http://canyouseeme.org/ to see if port 80 is blocked for you once you get the software to run your website (called httpd, Apache from http://httpd.apache.org/ is the most well-known http serving software out there).
Brandon

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2011, 05:05:31 PM »
Yes, the computer would be on 24/7 .. Mine has been for a little over 164 days straight now; it does go down for maintenance when needed. Internet bandwidth depends entirely on what the server will be used for. I started mine on a .5mbps upload/3mbps download Cable connection shared by four people.. And not much has changed since then. If you're just running a forum and have very few pictures (smilies and forum images don't count; they're small) on the site, you'd be fine with just a regular cable connection. DSL wouldn't be ideal, as your IP would change too often.. You'd be constantly having to update your domain name's IP pointer (what directs the domain name to your server's IP address). Another consideration of home-serving, is whether or not your ISP blocks incoming port 80 (http) requests or not... If so, then you literally are given no choice but to remote-host, or change ISPs... You can use http://canyouseeme.org/ to see if port 80 is blocked for you once you get the software to run your website (called httpd, Apache from http://httpd.apache.org/ is the most well-known http serving software out there).

Yeah, I'm thinking this is way too much for me. I don't want to have to do all that work - I know nothing about it and the Lord knows I'm reluctant to spend time learning and doing it.

Thank you very much for taking the time to write all that out, though! It was a good thought!

AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Offline AK49BWL

  • PF's Cat Daddy
  • Administrator
  • Gabster
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 730
  • Country: us
  • The Cat Guy
    • My website
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2011, 05:19:03 PM »
No problem.. This is where I thrive, talking about computer stuff... I do love cats, but my brain is more full of computer data than cat data lol.

Once you actually get a host set up to show the site, the real fun is learning and effecting the code behind the website.. HTML, CSS, and PHP are the big ones. If you have even some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, you can build a really nice and functional site. Add PHP into the mix and you can have environmental variables change the way the site looks from one page to the next :D .. In fact, all forum softwares I've ever seen run on PHP... This one for instance. Simple Machines Forum software basically taught me PHP, lol. I've got links all over the place to sites that will help you to be a better and more organized website coder and runner, if you're interested :)


But for now, I really must get to sleep.. Going on my 27th hour awake, LOL
« Last Edit: September 07, 2011, 05:20:54 PM by AK49BWL »
Brandon

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2011, 05:37:12 PM »
No problem.. This is where I thrive, talking about computer stuff... I do love cats, but my brain is more full of computer data than cat data lol.

Once you actually get a host set up to show the site, the real fun is learning and effecting the code behind the website.. HTML, CSS, and PHP are the big ones. If you have even some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, you can build a really nice and functional site. Add PHP into the mix and you can have environmental variables change the way the site looks from one page to the next :D .. In fact, all forum softwares I've ever seen run on PHP... This one for instance. Simple Machines Forum software basically taught me PHP, lol. I've got links all over the place to sites that will help you to be a better and more organized website coder and runner, if you're interested :)

But for now, I really must get to sleep.. Going on my 27th hour awake, LOL

Very interesting.

Will you pop back in when you wake up? I'd like to talk a bit more about this. There won't be a forum on my site, but there will be a blog. Actually, it's going to be structured almost identical to this site: ConsciousCat.net. The only difference is that I won't be selling anything.

Thanks!

AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Offline AK49BWL

  • PF's Cat Daddy
  • Administrator
  • Gabster
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 730
  • Country: us
  • The Cat Guy
    • My website
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2011, 04:51:29 AM »
"Powered by Wordpress" well that's good, it'll be pretty easy for you to set up.. http://wordpress.org/download/ .. I played with Wordpress on my site for a couple hours before deciding I'd never use it.. I don't blog much lol. The nice thing is, it's highly extensible, and the theme they use is called "Ocean Mist 2.0" (http://www.tenbytwenty.com/ocean-mist.php) which you can get and modify pretty easily.

I'll be around. I get emailed as soon as there's a reply to the thread, so if I'm on the computer, I'll be back.
Brandon

Offline Auntie Crazy

  • Charter Member
  • Chatter Bug
  • Join Date: Aug 2011
  • Posts: 118
  • Country: us
    • CatCentric - Your place for all things cats!
Re: Anyone with domain registration / site hosting expertise?
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2011, 08:49:57 AM »
"Powered by Wordpress" well that's good, it'll be pretty easy for you to set up.. http://wordpress.org/download/ .. I played with Wordpress on my site for a couple hours before deciding I'd never use it.. I don't blog much lol. The nice thing is, it's highly extensible, and the theme they use is called "Ocean Mist 2.0" (http://www.tenbytwenty.com/ocean-mist.php) which you can get and modify pretty easily.

I'll be around. I get emailed as soon as there's a reply to the thread, so if I'm on the computer, I'll be back.

What do you think of Host Gator? Have you ever been a customer?

I've spent hours browsing the Web Hosting Talk forum and, among a ton of totally useless facts, I discovered that the owner of Host Gator, Brent, answers requests for help personally. It's actually embedded in the ToS that anyone at anytime can reach out to him. I find that a pretty doggone high level of commitment. And his responses on the (few) threads complaining about various issues were respectful and - far more importantly - resolved every issue.

- - - - - -

Structurally, my site will be very similar to ConsciousCat, but artistically, it'll be very different. So, I'll be using Wordpress to build it, but won't be using the Ocean-mist theme. I've created a very rough draft in powerpoint... what do you guys think of this, from an artistic perspective? (This is how it looks on a widescreen monitor.)



AC
AC's Crew: Allen, Rachel, Meghan, Spencer, Heather & Ralph

CatCentric.org: A feline nutrition, raw feeding, cat care, health & behavior blog & resource site.

Tags: