Setting Up a Website

[dr_mabeuse]

Everyone I know has their own website, so it can't be that hard to set up, and yet I have no idea how to do it or where to start.

Anyone know of any Idiot's Guides to getting your own site online? Do you really have to be good with HTML to do it?

Thanks in advance.

---dr.M.

 

[Weird Harold]

Everyone I know has their own website, so it can't be that hard to set up, and yet I have no idea how to do it or where to start.

It all depends on what you want from your website. Most webhosts have generic templates for websites they host. It's just a matter of cut&paste into sections of the templates labeled [Insert xxx here] and [insert yyy here].

The place to start is with your ISP and the "free webspace" that most ISPs include in the basic price of internet service. They should provide "web-pages for dummies" level intructions for getting started.

Anyone know of any Idiot's Guides to getting your own site online? Do you really have to be good with HTML to do it?

I think the is an actual Webpage Design for Dummies and an actual Idiots Guide to Webpges, but no, you do NOT have to be a whiz at HTML because programs like MS's Frontpage are WSIWYG webpage editors. (WYSIWYG == "What You See Is What You Get")

Knowing HTML doesn't hurt, but it's far from necessary.

 

[Melesse]

Well, you need two things. Space to put something up, and something to put in that.

As for the first, you can get it for fairly cheap, do a search for webhosts in google. Most decent ones will provide a http upload so you can move your pages up via a web browser like Internet Explorer.

Second, for content, you can get something like Microsoft Frontpage that comes with a bunch of templates that you can add whatever you want to. It would be the easiest way to start, and then pick up a book on HTML and start editing them from there.

Once you have the pages, use the websites control panel (The host will give you the link when you sign up), and there should be a part called uploading, where you can select your pages and send them to the web!

That was of course the reader's digest version, but a book would answer more of your questions in a complete way. So get one! lol

Melesse

 

[flawed_ethics]

When I was a young pup (1998-ish) getting into the whole internet thing, I stumbled across HTMLGoodies . It's a fairly decent site that has a 'Basics' tutorial that gives a good overview of how a .html file is interpreted by a browser. It covers the basics, like links, text alignments, images and wrapping text around them, tables, and all the other good stuff. Even if you plan to use a program to set up your page, I recommend checking the tutorial out (or something similar if you come across it while googling for help). It's kinda like those tedious math theorems in high school - you ultimately may have no use for the proof, but it's nice to go over why something works the way it does.

 

[done_got_old]

I have one site that I did using Frontpage and I'm working on another one in Dreamweaver.

You have already been given some very good advice. I'd start with the homepage provided by your ISP. Once you have the hang of what you want to do, then move on to a hosted site.

When there was something I wanted to add to my site, I learned how to do it. I do know HTML and it is needed when you want to make subtle changes and some of the beyond basic things.

 

[bobcat533]

Free Web Hosting

http://www.tripod.lycos.com/campaigns/landing/toolbar.html

I have a friend who uses this. You can set up your own free. He says it is easy.

 

[Grizzman]

if you get into anything beyond basic sentences and pictures, make sure you use java based commands and not M$'s "virtual" java. too many people rely on M$ and stuff written with the virtual java often do not run correctly on other browsers.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Try Mambo. Mambo is a content management system that is great for people who don't know php and html and crap, like me

You can choose the way the site looks by a downloading one of zillions of free templates on the web eg. http://www.mambohut.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,75/
http://www.mambotemplates.com/

And then you use mambo to manage the content. Here is a demo so you get an idea what mambo is behind the scenes: http://demo.mamboserver.com/
Go to administrator on the side bar, and login in as admin (password: admin). Then you are in the control panel - ie no html code crap!

There are lots of articles & free tutorials free online, for instance http://www.mambohut.com/content/category/1/10/58/

Just get your head around the difference between mambots, add-ins and components, and it should be smooth sailing.

Some other websites:
http://www.mamboserver.com/
http://mambforge.net
http://mambo.webraydian.com/component/option,com_weblinks/Itemid,4/catid,40/

Cheers, WT

 

[SkyyAngel]

I love using Dreamweaver MX but it's way too expensive for me to buy.... I just got a month trial offer free with my college... just enough to whet my appetite! lol.

 

[done_got_old]

I love using Dreamweaver MX but it's way too expensive for me to buy.... I just got a month trial offer free with my college... just enough to whet my appetite! lol.

If you're still in school, try http://www.journeyed.com/home.asp and get the student discount. Also check your college bookstore. They might be able to order it for you at a substantial savings. There are several other sites that offer teacher/student discounts. Of course you could always ask a teacher to order for you.

I started my new site with Dreamweaver, but went back to frontpage......old habits die hard.

 

[Lavared]

Html software can be found at http://www.tucows.com/htmledit95_rating.html

Here's a link for learning HTML http://www.w3schools.com/
Go to the learn html link in the top left corner.

 

[Lavared]

But this one is the best (sorry, took me a minute to find it)

http://www.virtuallyignorant.com/index2.htm

It really is like Websites for Dummies and humorous to boot.

 

[herecomestherain]

Doc, depending what you want to do, you might consider using a blog template like blogger.com. Free and easy to use. You can go in and adjust the template when you feel a bit more confident with some basic html. Just an idea. I've been using it for a while , I chose a busy looking template and I'm too lazy to change but they have some nice clean styles to choose from.

 

[random_identity]

Portland has been the free server of choice for me for a long time. It has 15mb of space (more than enough for a personal website), no ads of any kind, and is almost only up. It is kind of slow sometimes, though, and there is a time difference if you live in the US like me (they are based in the UK) so my FTP client always says "The file you are replacing is newer than the file you are uploading, do you wish to proceed?" And they don't support PHP anymore because of "abuse," but that isn't a real problem for a beginner anyway...but they are still really good, and worth checking out.

Big Nose Bird has a lot of good tutorials, including some stuff that sounds complicated but are easy to use and implement (htdocs and SSI, in particular, are extremely useful).

And if you do want to get into the more advanced stuff, this page is a great page for learning PHP and MySQL. I'm teaching it to myself right now, and it is pretty easy.

 

[Mogwai7]

[Removed]

 

[Brinnie]

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