Setting Up A Website Questions

[trying2win]

I have a few questions:

1. Does it cost a lot of money to set up and operate a website?

2. Can one set up a simple one by oneself, or does it take an expert in this area to do it?

3. Is it a good idea to get legal, accounting and tax advice first if there is any kind of commercial selling of products or services online?


--The reason I'm asking some of these questions, is because of the possibility of making some extra money with links to a motivational site. Of course,I'm assuming the motivational site would have to have referred customers buying their products before someone like me could make any money for the referrals.

Thanks,

T2W

[michiken]

It can be done very inexpensively:

You will need a domain name. GoDaddy will register them for about 10 bucks.

You will need web hosting. Depending on the packages you choose, I have seen it range from 2 to 20 dollars per month.

If you choose a Linux based web host, it will come with a plethora of open source scripts (i.e. guestbook, forums) and may include a CMS (content management system).

The CMS will get you going faster because you do not need to know html. In fact, every time you post on PA you are using one.

Most hosts also include control panels that allow you to manage/ftp and configure your website.

Back when the web was relatively young, I was participating with the web affiliates. I was earning 2-4 grand extra per month. Now with the search engines charging for top rankings, it is almost futile to try and get traffic unless your site targets a specific niche i,e. PA caters to us handicappers.

Good luck if you dive in.

[trying2win]

MICHIKEN:

Thanks for the helpful advice. Another question. Where would one find a reliable web hosting company?


Thanks,

T2W

[douglasw32]

Maybe This...

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=pages&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fpages.google.com%2F&ltmpl=yessignups

[Dave Schwartz]

Trying,

I am building a new website for HorseStreet and have decided not to host it ourselves. I went to Network Solutions and have been just thrilled with their tech support.

They offer absolutely free, unlimited, 24/7 tech support.

Since I am a desktop programmer and not a web programmer, I do not have the experience/knowledge that most people would assume I have. I have chosen to use FrontPage as my development tool because there is no shortage of learning materials and help available. There are limits to what I can do in FrontPage but there are way more limits on me as a web coder.

Anyway, these guys have been a huge help and I would highly recommend them.


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[trying2win]

Doug and Dave,

Thanks a million for your suggestions.


T2W

[michiken]

Um Dave,

Real webmasters don't use Front Page. It generates way too much extra, useless code and may not display properly in any other browser than IE.
MS will also be dropping support for it in 2007.

Check out NVU (http://www.nvu.com/index.php)

Instead of writing each page by hand, why not use install a content management system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system) which will allow you to use dynamic templating? You can change the view of the entire site by skinning it with CSS (cascading style sheets).

Here are a few free examples:

http://drupal.org/
http://plone.org/about/movies
http://www.joomla.org/
http://typo3.com/
http://www.mamboserver.com/
http://www.etomite.org/
http://www.cmsimple.dk/
http://www.zope.org/

[Dave Schwartz]

Real webmasters don't use Front Page. It generates way too much extra, useless code and may not display properly in any other browser than IE. MS will also be dropping support for it in 2007.

Yes, I know this. Kind of the point - I am not a Real Webmaster.

It is a simple case of me remembering which business I am in - web development or software development.

I live in a city where web programmers want $125 an hour - and still don't show up.

Dave

[gjones6794]

Dave,

Microsoft is dropping Front Page. They are replacing it with Microsoft Office Share Point Designer 2007 and Microsoft Expression Web.

I verified this by googling Microsoft Front Page and I ended up on the Microsoft
http://office.microsoft.com section of their Web Site.

This is part of the Microsoft Office 2007 software product line.
However, since you are a programmer, you may find it too confining.
We have a Web Server for our business, and Front Page was just too confining for my wife (our web site developer). Just using HTML, she has put together a pretty good web site that accommodates down loads. etc. Since she programs in Basic, it wasn't too steep of a transition. However, she is not 100% happy. Probably around 90%.

We are using Microsoft XP Home edition with Apache 3.1 for Windows.
We like Apache better than IIs. Also, IIs web servers require windows XP and Apache runs just fine on XP home. The 64 AMD computer I bought came with XP Home so I didn't have to buy XP. Since it is all Windows, we can run it in house without learning Linux.

Just thought I would pass on what our experience was. The new Microsoft products may offer a better solution than Front Page.

And Yes, I still have Drive H. I'm like Scarlett, I will think about that tomorrow. The AMD web Server (identical box to the one with H only) has 2 hard drives one is C and the other is H.

[bigmack]

Can one set up a simple one by oneself, or does it take an expert in this area to do it?
A number of people that I know started their sites from scratch and it looked like it. I always recomend templated structures to give you a professional look from the get go. Web design is not for people who have little skill in the way of color design and layout. A good source of templates from around 50 clams is: http://www.templatemonster.com/ Including some nice flash designs.

For less expensive site hosting with great cust serve is:
http://order.1and1.com/xml/order;jsessionid=4ED4642EEEEAB63B4BC7D90E955FB6B2. TC61b

GL/

I have chosen to use FrontPage as my development tool
I don't know how far you are in it's develpment but FP is friendly to start and a real pain down the road

[JustRalph]

Dave, I use FP too......... for the same reasons as you stated.

they get $100 bucks and hour around here too........and they all want to load you up with tons of crap you don't need. Everybody thinks they are a friggin Picasso of the Web.

With FP I can fix just about anything, even though it throws up tons of code that you don't need. Who cares.........ever heard of the delete key?

[Dave Schwartz]

Microsoft is dropping Front Page. They are replacing it with Microsoft Office Share Point Designer 2007 and Microsoft Expression Web.


Dang...

I think I've got that stuff around here in beta somewhere, too. (MS Action Pack - If you've got a business, you need it.)


Dave

[MNslappy]

By default I had to learn how to design websites and take care of the hosting and even design graphics, the whole ball of wax, a few years ago because I was the youngest in our little company of 6 people by about a decade and was the most comfortable with the web. It's been a great experience, I've done 5 or 6 now, though nothing too fancy. You can see a few here (http://fatemag.com/)and here (http://galdepress.com/)and here (http://www.trinity-catholic.org).

I've been seriously contemplating starting up my own service on the side, the prices they charge are just out-fliipin-rageous, I think I'll undercut the local company by oh, about 100 dollars an hour....

The host I've been using for years now, after a few less than stellar experiences with a local host and a national host called Website Source, is called WestHost (http://www.westhost.com/). I absolutely love them.

[JPinMaryland]

trying: Here is the best place that I know of to learn all this stuff. It is used by experts to beginners alike:

http://www.webmasterworld.com/

THere are lots of forums, scroll on the right hand see under "Webmaster World" and then there's a forum for beginners or some such. They have lots of stuff archived, like lessons in HTML or CSS etc. Invaluable.

Also most experienced web people will tell you it's better to learn the barebones programming language e.g. html and css rather than using a short cut like Front Page, you will be better off for future development so its better to just learn it. That web site can teach you step by step.