Crash course in website development....HELP!

[cld12pk2go]

The situation is as follows:

I need to get a website up the next 4 weeks.

It doesn't have to be polished by then but functional.

Steps to completion as I see them:
1.) check to see if the domain is available

2.) register it

I believe I can do both of these at www.godaddy.com. (better places?)

3.) Then I have to determine how much storage and bandwidth would be required. I think the storage space will be minimal (probably less than 100 MB). However, this site will be serving lots of pictures of automobiles (~30,000 hits a month, assuming 100k picture sizes (.jpeg) and 10 pictures per hit = 28.6GB / month bandwidth required). Any comments/suggestions?

4.) Find a provider with good service/price. Suggestions?

5.) Determine what platform to run on. I have my personal sight on a Linux server and I use cpanel to access it. I am using www.zesthost.com for this. However, I have never progressed to the point of actually putting up a webpage, I simply use it for my email. What would be the best way for a beginner to approach this?

6.) Develop the website. The entire point will be to list cars for sale with associated details and pictures. I require the ability to search by vehicle type/price/ location etc. These will require a database I of some type (Access/SQL?). What would be the best approach to develop this type of site? I have lots of software from FrontPage to some more professional packages (DreamWeaver and etc); however, I am not familiar with them. I have some PhotoShop and Access experience but no SQL, FrontPage, DreamWeaver.

I am looking for recommendations on how to proceed coupled with the books/training manuals that will allow me to obtain the skills required.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pack Rat 24]

The Fastest way, I've found, is to use frontpage...It's WYSIWYG, so it's not that hard at all, and you'll get a functional site out of the deal as well...

Bandwidth will get eaten up by pictures, so you may need to buy more then you think you need...maybe 5-6 GB's

I hope this helps...

 

[brainchasm]

As far as high-bandwidth hosting on the cheap, check http://www.just-hosting.com


BC

 

[berky]

what server-side scripting language are you gonna use? php? asp? perl?

 

[cld12pk2go]

berky

This is something I have to understand. Can FrontPage do it all for me or do I have to use one of the scripting languages? I see lots of providers support "Frontpage extensions"; however, I do not yet possess a firm understanding on the overall requirements of building the web site. This is something which I am in the process of rapidly coming up to speed on.

Educate me please!

Thanks.

 

[cld12pk2go]

brainchasm

Thanks for the link; however, I certainly am willing to pay more for quality support. Do you have any other recommendations?


Thanks everyone!

 

[Lethal]

Originally posted by Pack Rat 24
The Fastest way, I've found, is to use frontpage...It's WYSIWYG, so it's not that hard at all, and you'll get a functional site out of the deal as well...

FrontPage outputs some notoriously horrid code.

If you want WYSIWYG, best bets are DreamWeaver or GoLive, IMO.

 

[berky]

Originally posted by cld12pk2go
berky

This is something I have to understand. Can FrontPage do it all for me or do I have to use one of the scripting languages? I see lots of providers support "Frontpage extensions"; however, I do not yet possess a firm understanding on the overall requirements of building the web site. This is something which I am in the process of rapidly coming up to speed on.

Educate me please!

Thanks.

i don't know for sure what FrontPage extensions are and what capabilities they have, but to access a database, you pretty much need to know a scripting language. most people suggest (and i agree) using php and mysql. there are tons of tutorials out there.

i'm just curious, did you take this on as a side job with no knowledge of how to do it? i dont ask to be mean or anything, but it seems to me like you are not prepared to get this done in 4 weeks.