Get Yourself a Website - Without the Drama

Written by M6.net


Continued from page 1

Or is it? Way back when I bought my domain and signed up with a web host, I wasrepparttar typical "the internet is so wonderful" optimist. I was thrilled to find something that sounded just about what I kind of wanted - and bam, just like that, $300 poorer and with a useless chunk of web space that wouldn't even work properly. My domain addresses wouldn't connect, my content was being warped - things weren't looking too good for me.

A year later and muchrepparttar 134434 wiser, I know better. My site is working, I have a lovely, helpful support team, and I now know what I want. But, that's all well and good for me - I have hadrepparttar 134435 added advantage of working for a web hosting company. But what aboutrepparttar 134436 rest of you out there who don't have my experience, who see a world of opportunity and are about to jump intorepparttar 134437 cesspit of money loss and disappointment.

So, I figure, why not let you in on a useful hint, one that may save you from misfortune. What is it, you ask? Well, simply - know what you want! Sounds way too simple for me to be handing it out, right? I don't think so! Sure, you have a vague idea of what you want, but do you know what all of it means? The "mumbo jumbo", so to speak?

I didn't think so! Listen up, sit back, relax, and before you go jumping offrepparttar 134438 deep end, scroll down and read a bit.

MB of space - MB? Eh? Well, MB stands for MegaByte. This is basicallyrepparttar 134439 amount of storage space you will have. You can figure out how much space you will need if you spend a little bit of time thinking about what is going onto your site - how graphic intensive it will be, how many pages, any multimedia or music, etc. Make an approximation in your head and then add another 50. This will allow you to add on and expand. It's always better to have too much, rather than too little.

Pricing (Monthly/Yearly) -repparttar 134440 payment plans are generally either monthly or yearly. Make sure, even if you want a year or more of hosting, to start with a monthly plan! If you give them $3/400 for a year, and then they end up being useless, I'll bet you that you won't be getting that money back. If you start with a monthly account, you can always upgrade to a yearly account. And if you can't upgrade and you're really worried, add up how much it will be for a year, and set that money aside to slowly add back onto your credit card every month.

Domain Registration - do you already own a domain name? A domain name is basicallyrepparttar 134441 www.yourdomainname.com. Most of web hosts will provide domain name registration in their packages. If you already own your own, you will have to transfer it to their name servers. Make sure this is possible! Ask them if they will do it for you, or ask for directions on how to do it yourself. If you don't own a name already, though, how many will you need? Willrepparttar 134442 one be enough? Do you need redirects; do you want extra names attached to sub-domains?

And then you needrepparttar 134443 actual name! If you're completely stumped, have no ideas, there are some really good places online which will create a list for you.

http://www.1ststar.com/cgi-bin/fswiz/wizard.pl?show_wizard=1 & http://www.ecxmall.com/domains/

Make sure your name is relevant to what's on your site - people tend to get annoyed if your website is called "cool-cars.com" and it ends up being about cushion embroidery.

Email Accounts - there are quite a variety of options in this area. You have mail servers, mailing lists, redirects, catch all. If you're going to be getting a substantial amount of mail through your website, you might want a mail server - an actual site online where you have your own personal mail box. It would usually be mail.yoursitename.com. Mailing lists are sometimes offered and sometimes not - if you're going to be sending out a newsletter, promotional info, etc to a lot of people you might want to go with this option. A mail catch all basically does what its name suggests - catches emails with typos, wrong names etc, but have your domain written properly inrepparttar 134444 address, (i.e. typo@yourdomain.com). And finally, mail redirects, which give you an email address, but redirects emails sent to it to another mailbox - for example, if you have johnny@johnnyssite.com, it could redirect to your hotmail account.

There are many other added options as well, which you need to think about. If you want to have multimedia on your page(s), Front Page support, Access/database support, cgi-bin, custom 404 error pages, search engine submission. Sit down and make a list of what you need.

But before you do anything, sendrepparttar 134445 support team ofrepparttar 134446 web host an email. Ask them if they provide all of your specific requirements; describe what you are looking for. Be friendly and concise, and see how they react. If they are prompt and friendly or slow and unpleasant. You are always going to end up needing some sort of support during your hosting, and this will be a good indication of what kind of assistance you will get further downrepparttar 134447 line.

Basically what I'm telling you here is to think before you spend. So many people have tales of woe and disappointment; don't end up being one of them. There are no guarantees here, but make it as close to it as possible.



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Finding A Free Host - Part 1: Requirements for your host

Written by Elan Bechor


Continued from page 1

Scripting Languages Supported

Whether a webmaster is a programmer, or just someone who wants interactivity with their visitors, factoring in what programming languages a website supports may be important. All free web hosts allow HTML, images, and JavaScript. But to get features such as a message board, polls, and chatrooms, you have to have more powerful languages such as PHP, CGI/Perl, and ASP. The list of free web hosts that support some or all of these languages is very small. Hosts that allow this are prone to getting abused, and usually shut down quickly if they don’t take precautions to avoid abuse. If it isn’t absolutely necessary, do not make this a requirement in finding your host.

Various Other Features

Other things you may need to think about include length of your URL, and what type of uploading you have.

If you have a business site that you want to be easily remembered, http://www.freewebhostwith50megsnoads.com/sites/users/you might not be a good web host. Length is an obvious factor, as it is hard to remember a long URL. Another problem might berepparttar domain hosting you. If you are a business or a professional site, do you really want to haverepparttar 134433 words “FREEHOSTING” or “ALL4FREE” in your URL? Think about this when finding your host. Redirection services may seem like a good solution, but often to pay for this service, they too must have pop-ups or banner frames.

The method of uploading is important too. If you are comfortable with FTP programs, you may want to require your host to have an FTP account provided to you. This might not berepparttar 134434 best tool if you aren’t very technical and have to update your pages a lot. Try looking for an “Online File Manager” as a feature.

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you figure out what features you need to look for when deciding on a free host. Next article in this series will tell you how to actually findrepparttar 134435 host.

Elan Bechor

Elan Bechor runs The Internet Library (http://internetlibrary.vr9.com) and writes various articles about getting things free on the internet. The Internet Library also is a directory of free information.


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