Need advice on how to create a website, please.

[nork]

Thanks in advance for your help.
I know absolutely nothing about creating a website.
I would like to create a website where people can talk to each other, like a forum or blog, perhaps more like a blog, and allow links to other sights.

I would also like this site to have a section for me to buy and sell older pc parts. The reason is that i do charity work, refurb older pcs that go to schoolkids who dont have a pc at home. So i figure i could get rid of some parts i dont need and help me acquire other parts i do need to get another pc out the door and in someones home. I dont need a store for this, it would only be a very small and very simple part of the website and its only a whim, not the main reason for the website, only an add-on feature.

I probably will come up with other wants but thats all i can think of right now.

Is there anyone out there with enough time on their hands to help me out? To be honest, i would really require a lot of help because really know nothing about this. On the other hand, I can put a pc together and make it work, lol. And i am patient, i can wait til
you have the time.

I see there are also many other posts where people are asking for similar help. I made my own post as i feel i will need a lot of help and my needs may be different from others.

thanks

[Tony.b99]

Just for your information I am going to try this site. I need to get back into the design aspect after not doing it for a while. http://www.nvu.com/ please let me know what you think. Also a publisher or word program can convert to internet quite easy...

[Redcore]

You're going to need to secure a host (server - I go through HostGator.com) and a domain name (GoDaddy.com has good rates) first.

http://wordpress.org/ - great blog software. It has lots of plugins. There are lots of very professional sites that are built with it - so it's not just for casual bloggers.

HostGator provides a tool in the control panel called Fantastico - which basically installs a number of software for you instantly on your server. It has many blog softwares ready to install - including WordPress (which has a plugin named "WP e-Commerce" that you can install really easily for selling computer parts).

So realistically you can do this yourself without any web design knowledge. I'm here quite a bit to help - I can help at any point you need it - but I'm not really into doing things for people for free to this extent. I'm a consultant and I do donate my time quite a bit, but doing a whole site for somebody is time/money out of my pocket that I'm not really even able to give. You might get someone with enough knowledge and the time to do what I outlined here for free as long as you obtain a server and domain, though. :)

[nork]

Tony.b99 - sorry, but i cant let you know what i think of nvu.com's prog as i dont have a clue what i am doing at this point. Maybe you could let me know what you think? About the publisher or word prog being able to convert to internet, what do you mean? I told you i know nothing about this, lol at myself.

Redcore - thanks for the info. I will have a look at hostgator and godaddy. I didnt realize i would have to pay for things. Guess i am too used to downloading whatever i want for free (p2p). Is there any way around this? I mean the paying part. Although, if i recall, its not a lot of money. Guess i can check that out myself.
And thanks for the offer of help. I see your dilemma. To a smaller extent, of course, but everyone hits me for free pc work when their pc is acting up.

[Redcore]

You can get out of the hosting issue by signing up for Xen Web:

http://xenweb.net/forums/hosting.php

Post there 5 times and you'll get a free hosting package with a control panel and fantastico (which is what I was talking about in my previous post). The downside is it's only 50 MB and 1 GB bandwidth - for starting off, that should get you by just fine. The more you post, the bigger your hosting packages get - so you'd have to be active in the forum to keep up with the demands placed on your site if it gets popular enough. Chances are good that you'll fair fine.
The downside is that the space is limited (700 MB is the max - and requires 220 posts) and you have no control how they run your server or if they decide to get rid of people/servers/shut down/etc. Since it's free, that's the kinda service you can expect. If you ever want to install something on your server that requires your host to install a package or whatever - you can't count on them doing so (if it's FREE, they probably will). Beyond that, it's free and for being free you sure get some good stuff.


As far as the domain, you could just use a subdomain of xenweb.net (ie: nork.xenweb.net). A .COM domain from GoDaddy is something like $10/year if you did want to look more professional, though.

[nork]

Thanks, Redcore, for the info and advice. I am further off now than i was before.
If anyone has any other info\advice to add, please dont hesitate, i can use all the help i can get. As i said, i know nothing about this and nothing about getting started.
thank you

[KoosHopeloos]

@ nork: I think the best thing you can do is to go to the library/internet and learn how to use the markup languages (X)HTML and CSS to be able to create webpages. But doing is better than learning so download Nvu and try things out that you've just learned.

Once you know the basics, you can go to the next step learning PHP, Javascript ect.

[carsey]

get domains from FXdomains. Its only about $2.95/yr for a .com and even cheaper for .info and other.

http://www.fxdomains.com/

[Redcore]

I'm seeing 6.95 a year - and when I tested a domain out, it looks a TON like GoDaddy. I think they're just a GoDaddy reseller.

[gistek]

That xenwebs site looks interesting, and sounds like a good place to start the type of website you are interested in. I didn't see anything regarding having an online store through their site, so you might want to check that out.

Top level domains always cost. There are a few sites where you can get them for minimal cost, but they always have some sort of catch. You might be required to put a link to the domain manager on your site, or may only have support for a limited number of hours each day.

You can also check with the ISP you use to go online. Many offer webspace and will permit you to use your personal website for your business as long as your business income is below a particular amount. (this amount varies between different ISP's)

Bravenet offers a lot of free web services, including guestbook, forums, and business services.

You can also set up a test site somewhere and post a link in this forum and folks here will critique it for you.

[Redcore]

That xenwebs site looks interesting, and sounds like a good place to start the type of website you are interested in. I didn't see anything regarding having an online store through their site, so you might want to check that out.

XenWeb provides cPanel - which includes Fantastico - which installs quite a few free e-commerce stuff as well as blogs (what he was looking to have for his site). :)

[nork]

Great info guys, thanks!
Its a bit out of my league right now (some of the info, that is) but i have to start somewhere.

Is godaddy bad? I dont even know what it is but i will check it out providing its an ok place to go.

gistek, what you said has made me think. Perhaps i can start with my isp and a personal website there. You see, as i said, i know absolutely nothing about this. I dont have a personal website at my isp.

One thing, though, after reading what gistek said makes me re-thing, or rather re-state my initial needs.

I only mentioned "blog" as, in my mind, it seems to be an easy thing to do, maybe to easiest way for me to get started? But if other ways are better and just as easy, then a blog is certainly not a must. Its more of a thought from someone who doesnt know what they are talking about, lol. Again, i am pc capable in that i can build a pc and i know win xp pretty well, but i know nothing about websites, personal web space, building a website, etc.


And as for a store, i see now that i didnt really mean that. I should have stated my needs more clearly. I have older parts and i figure i could buy and sell a few older parts now and again, nothing to really consider as i figured on listing a few items i have for sale and whatever items i need. I figured i would post my name, phone number, email addy and if anyone wated to trade we could go from there. But not anything like an online store, just a list and contact info. Then i figured i would give out some info as to my online trading record under my name of nork, which is a very good record. That would enable people to want to trade with me.
But, again, this is something more along the line of just one area of my website, but only a very small part of it.

My isp, cogeco.ca, does allow a person to have a personal website so is that maybe the place for me to start?

All comments welcome. The more comments, the more i can learn about this.

Thanks

[gistek]

I would start with your personal ISP. The main reason for having a top level domain is to make it easy for clients/customers/visitors to type it in, but if you choose a clear page title and add meta tags so search engines will find your site, folks who want to find it easily will bookmark it. You can also e-mail the link to people you already know and they can bookmark it.

Then check out Bravenet for a forum you can use for your visitors to meet and start a thread for items for sale.

[Redcore]

Originally Posted by nork

Is godaddy bad? I dont even know what it is but i will check it out providing its an ok place to go.

They're good. I register all my domains with them.

Originally Posted by nork

My isp, cogeco.ca, does allow a person to have a personal website so is that maybe the place for me to start?

As long as you can install a blog software (Wordpress would be a good option) on that space and you're not paying money for the space itself (typically ISPs give you 100 MB or so of free space, though).

I do think, for what you need, a blog software would probably be best. They're quick to install and would be more powerful than what you can do yourself...and you can just add content on your site from anywhere rather than making a new page and uploading it (also people could not post on the page, ect). So you're on the right track with that thought.

[gistek]

And if you can't add your own blog software, you can start a blog on a site that doesn't require membership to read blogs then provide a link to your blog from your main website.

[Redcore]

LOL that's right - if you JUST want a blog...you can always set one up on a free Blog site

https://www.blogger.com/start

I don't know why I didn't throw this idea out there earlier - I guess it's obvious I'm not a blogger! :P If all you want is just a blog - that's what I would do.

[gistek]

I do a lot of outsourcing with the websites I manage.

One cadet wanted a thread specifically for the unit's ES program, so I told him to go ahead and set it up, and I added a link to it from the unit's main page.

I also use Yahoo Calendar for the meeting and events schedule for one squadron and will be adding a Yahoo calendar to the other. That way I can permit some members to add events without compromising the main website.

One thing I make absolutely certain of is the ability to restrict membership and/or access to the outside sites. With most I like the site to be readable by anyone, but there has to be a way to restrict participants to approved members only. There also has to be a provision for hiding the site managers' e-mail address so we don't end up with a ton of spam.

[Jlbawsome]

ok you may have already gotten your site up by now.. but I have found this program/video on how to create a website http://www.download.com/A-to-Z-Website-Creation/3000-2650_4-10637313.html?tag=lst-1 I'm not sure how good it is since I havn't actually watched all the videos in the program..

[nork]

Hey, thanks a lot. You know, i never did get around to it. I will at some point, just dont know when. I think i am a bit hesitant as i dont know how much time its gonna take and if i can do it a bit at a time instead of all at once. I dont have big chunks of time in one place, just half hours here and there. Can i do it that way?
Thanks very much for your interest.

Course now i see these are the questions i should have asked at the beginning.

[Jlbawsome]

Yeh you could do it that way.. it gets pretty easy once you get the hang of it