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starting a website
moniker
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I wish to start a website, but don't know where to begin. I mean, I know what it is that I need, but I don't know how to go about getting them or doing so in a way where I won't have some foolish pitfalls that will cost me later on. I've checked and the url which I want to use is available, but where should I register it and would I have ownership of it or would it be more like renting? I don't have a server, hell I don't even really have any of it coded out but that's mainly because I'm a lazy sob, nor do I know if I should get a separate one or would it be best to get it as a package deal with the domain name. It's going to be a rarely frequented site to hold what would essentially be an online version of my portfolio and an external, external harddrive of all my most important documents and porn. I figure storage space and bandwidth size wouldn't need to be too large, but if I'm only saving a few bucks I wouldn't mind going 'big' but I don't even really know what 'big' would be.
In short, help.
Also, is it worth it to make an offer on an already existing domain name? There's nothing there, it's been 'under construction' since '02. I mean, I do have a url that'll work it's just my #2 pick instead of the best one.
In short, help.
Also, is it worth it to make an offer on an already existing domain name? There's nothing there, it's been 'under construction' since '02. I mean, I do have a url that'll work it's just my #2 pick instead of the best one.
moniker on
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Personally, I've subscribed to Dreamhost because I found that the storage and bandwidth you got for the ammount you pay is very good. I just use a program like Filezilla and upload whatever I want to my site. Simple as that.
EDIT: Didn't put a link to Dreamhost to not look like a sitewhore or whatever.
Why don't you just buy an external hard drive and post your portfolio on monster?
I don't see why a "website" is needed.
That's also true.
Because most employers in my field don't look at monster, and the ones large enough to have an HR department which would tend to prefer you send them a copy of your portfolio anyhow. Just having it referenced on my resume and/or business card would be superior. (Especially if I'm networking.) It also gives me much more control over the content, layout, etc. which is the whole point of having a portfolio. Having a website would be more professional overall, and, thanks to the domain I'm using, a hell of alot simpler to communicate directions to.
Web design is not an easy discipline to master, and HTML/CSS isn't something you can pick up overnight. You mentioned a portfolio, so I'm guessing you're an artist of some sort, but there's a huge difference between making something look good in static form (be it print media, digital art, whatever), and making an effective web page. Browser compatibility, code validation, accessibility, ease of navigation... there's a lot more to web design than just aesthetics, most of which is completely unnoticed - at least on a conscious level - by the average viewer. But if there's something wrong, it will stand out like a Stormtrooper at a furry convention.
My advice: if you're serious about wanting to have an effective online presence to showcase your portfolio, pay someone else to do it for you. Your professional reputation is going to be out there for the world to see; make it count. Yes, you could probably do it yourself, if you applied enough elbow grease and borrowed enough code from other sites, but... it wouldn't look nearly as good as it could. And you would still need to worry about hosting, and domain names, and all that.
If it's important to you, hire someone who does it for a living. They'll take care of all the technical details, they'll work with you to come up with a design that both looks good and works cleanly across a variety of platforms, and you'll end up with a standards-compliant site that you can be proud to associate with your name.
Of course, the flipside: it'll cost you. A fair bit. Maybe more than you're willing to spend. A good website, though, is an investment. It's like owning a good suit you only wear to interviews: spend enough on it up front, and it will impress potential employers for years.
tl;dr: online portfolios designed by professionals can be things of beauty, but most DIY jobs just end up looking tacky. Don't half-ass it; either pay to have it done well, or content yourself with posting your portfolio on Monster or something like it.
Do you really want to put your portfolio and your porn in the same area?
Fair enough; I had sort of assumed that somebody who knew nothing about hosting didn't know much about HTML either, since there tends to be a correlation between the two <_<
If you're confident that you can make it look good, the hosting part isn't too complicated. Djiem already recommended www.dreamhost.com - they offer more space than you'll ever use, their prices are reasonable, and while their uptime draws the occasional grumble from people who try to run entire 24/7 businesses on a $7/month shared hosting plan, it's plenty good enough for the kind of use you have in mind. If you google "Dreamhost promo code," you'll easily be able to find one that gives you $97 off your first year of hosting, which means you'll end up paying about $25 total for one year, including one domain name. You can do domain registration directly through them, too.
Their user control panel is a little wonky, but actual file management is all done through FTP, which is dead easy. You can have your portfolio in the root directory for easy reference, and keep all your porn in a nice buried .htpasswd protected directory elsewhere. Dreamhost's upload speed isn't great, though, so if your collection is unspeakably vast, you might want to just burn it to CD or something.
You know, that's a pretty lousy attitude you've got, there. You didn't mention anything about having any markup knowledge (in fact, you mentioned specifically that you had no idea where to get started), and you're asking questions about the bare basic fundamentals of getting a website up. Kate of Lokys offered you some extremely sound advice, you could use a softer tone in responding to it.
If all you want is a cheap domain registration and a cheap host, GoDaddy.com will meet your needs. They're more than reputable, and they'll offer you more space and bandwidth than you'll know what to do with.
You seem to have made a point of not telling us what line of work you're in, but I'm getting really strong "graphic designer / photographer" vibes off of you. If that's the case, you should read Kate of Lokys' post again, for the good of your career.
Actually I mentioned quite specifically that I knew what it is that I needed to start up a website. I simply am ignorant of some of the more logistical information as well as lacking in any experience with the various hosts and/or registrars that people here may have had so as to avoid making any simple or known mistakes. I'll have to look into Dreamhost and see if it'll fit the bill.
So sorry that you intoned my post the wrong way. And no, I'm not a graphic designer nor am I a photographer. But that is all rather immaterial to my requests anyhow.