Thank you for visiting WebMasterKnowHow.com - If you can suggest things that should be added to the site I would like to hear about them. Anything regarding hosting, HTML, attracting traffic, problems and mistakes. I intend to make this site as useful as I can, and with that in mind I'm trying to add at least one new topic every week.
Don't make me think. Just tell me how to:
- Get my own domain name
- Get my domain hosted
- Make a simple website
And don't make me spend very much money. Less than $50 total.
That isn't too much to ask, is it? Actually, no, I can understand your desire
to have someone make the decisions for you, and tell you where to get the
best deal. I'll do the best I can for you. Of course I can't do it all. If
you want someone to do it all for you you'll spend a lot of money, and when
you decide you want a small change made you won't know how to do it, so you'll
have to spend a lot more money for someone else to do it.
If you can use a word processing program, and follow fairly simple instructions,
you can do it. Everything you need to do is listed here. I've figured out
the cheapest (most economical) and easiest way to do it. Trust me, I know
what I'm talking about. I have 40 websites of
my own. I've tried all sorts of methods, and helped lots of people get started.
You do have to pay attention, and you need to have an idea of what you want to have on your website. But if you
know what you want to do, I can show you how to do it.
BOOKMARK THIS PAGE!
You'll want to came back frequently to see what to
do next.
The first thing you need is a program to make your HTML code. I do my own
hand-coding, but I'm making this page with Netscape Navigator, just to see
how it works, and show you what it can do. Once you have played with making
a webpage, you'll want to get a domain name, and a hosting package.
- I recommend the free program "composer" that is included with the
free program Netscape Navigator. Visit http://netscape.com/
and click on "downloads" to get the free copy of the latest version. Follow
the instructions for downloading it and installing it. One you are
running the program, select "window" from the top bar, and click on "composer."
Then follow some more instructions. It's just a word processor that saves
your work as a webpage, and enables you to put it on your website
- You'll need to reserve your own domain name. Dotster.com is a good
place to do that. You can get any name that's not already taken, for $14.95
a year. You need to reserve your name first, then you'll be ready to get
hosting for it.
- For hosting, I recommend YourSite.com. You can
get a year's hosting from them for $60.00 -- $5.00 a month. A shorter time is also available.
- From the time you order your domain name and your hosting until
the public can see your site by typing your domain name into their address
bar can be up to three days. Usually it's two days. So if you're in a hurry,
get your domain and your hosting first, set your domain "name servers"
(get the information from your hosting company, and log into the domain name
registrar's website and put the information where they tell you.)
- If you're not in a hurry, download the Netscape Composer and play
with it for a while. Don't spend any money until you're sure this is really
what you want to do. Once you're sure, get your domain and hosting, and while
you're waiting for the domain name to resolve (that 2 or 3 days I mentioned
earlier) you can work on your site.
What you need to do:
- When you get to Dotster, you'll find
a box you can put your desired domain name to see it it's available. It's
probably taken, but you can play around as long as you want, and you should
be able to find something you like. Think about it for a few minutes, because
you may decide you want a different domain name. Once you've bought it it's
yours. Of course, it's only $14.95, so it's not the end of the world if you
change your mind.
- When you get to YourSite.com to order
your hosting, consider buying just 3 months service. I know they are a good
hosting company, but you don't know them. If you're confident that you'll
want to keep your website for a full year .... Well, it's up to you.
- When you order your hosting you have to tell them your domain name,
and that you already own it. Otherwise they'll try to register it for you,
and you don't want them to do that.
- After you order your hosting you'll need the 'DNS' (Domain Name
Server) information. They will tell you what it is. Take it to Dotster and find the place
to set it to what it is supposed to be.
- YourSite.com
will also tell you the information you need to upload your pages to your
website. You'll need to use that when you 'Publish' your pages. It will probably
be confusing the first time, but once you have it figured out it's easy.
- The main page of your site should be named 'index' -
Composer will call the file 'index.html' - trust me on that.
- Don't be afraid to try things and make mistakes. That's how you will
learn.
