Creating a web site

[Melf]

Ok, so I've started working on the Genesis site I've mentioned a few times. I'm using Dreamweaver (I just want it to look decent. I know squat about html, etc) and have all the following done:

- All major pages done and linked to one another (home, reviews, features, codes, contact)
- 21 Genesis and Sega CD reviews done (they look great with pics!)
- backgrounds and fonts (all Sega) and some gif here and there.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with how its coming out. I don't want to code some huge beast or anything, just a simple little site for me to post my reviews and stuff about the Genesis.

I do have some questions though:

- I need to buy a domain name, right? How do I do that and what does it cost?
- What do I do to upload it? I know it has to be posted but how do I do that and what does it cost? Can I make changes to the site from Dreamweaver and update it while it's online?

Thanks in advance.

[Diff-chan]

I need to buy a domain name, right? How do I do that and what does it cost?

Shop around. Nowadays its really cheap to get an all-in-one solution with domain name service and file storage. Like $10 a month.

- What do I do to upload it? I know it has to be posted but how do I do that and what does it cost? Can I make changes to the site from Dreamweaver and update it while it's online?

With Dreamweaver you set up the FTP information and there's a button above the file tree that lets you connect. Once there, you can use the "put" command to, well, put stuff on your FTP server. This works really well and its how I update my site. No fuss.

[Rich]

You can register domains for like $5-7 a year if you shop around. Just search google.
Check www.whois.com to see if your domain is available, then go purchase it.

As for uploading, that's FTP. I personally use SmartFTP (free) to do all my FTP uploading. Only thing with uploading everything to FTP for your site is that when you make edits, you'll have to reupload the editted page to overwrite the old page.

[lithium]

dont worry about the domain name. Just about any host you go to will have that all integrated into their package, just tell them what name you want and they will do the rest.

And you can find stuff for even less than $10 a month, but you usually need to commit to a year at a time or so. My host comes to about $6 a month for 800MB of space and 40GB/month of bandwidth.


www.register.com is another good place to see if a domain is available.

[Melf]

Thanks everyone. I just need to do some more tweaking on it and up it goes! I thought uploading it would be more expensive. That's pretty cheap overall.

It's nothing fancy, like I said, just something to do for fun. I'm having a blast getting it going.

[lithium]

websites are really cheap. Unless they become popular, then the price really rises.

[Melf]

I don't think I'll have that problem.

[Rich]

Melf, I definatly recommend the 1and1 hosting that was available for free at it's launch. It's really pretty damn good for the $5 a month, and should be more than enough for your needs, and you can get a domain from them for $6 a year, too. I've been using them since they offered the free 3 years, and I've been pretty damn happy with them, and will without a doubt pay the $5 a month after my free time is done.

http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/MsH...b?__frame=_top

Should be perfect for what you're looking for, though you might need to upgrade to business class @$10 a month if your site becomes popular as hell. 5GB/month should be more than enough, though, as long as you're not hosting any videos which 1000s of people are DLing.

[Melf]

1&1 seems to be for Front Page. Would I be able to use it if my site is done in Dreamweaver? I like the price and the options, but don't want to have to start over in FP.

[lithium]

frontpage extensions are offered by pretty much everyone, you dont have to use them.