Help! I am a newbie to webmaster stuff.

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rsnellma

Gawd
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Jul 17, 2002
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I would like to know the steps I need to take to create my own website and host it myself.

I have Windows XP Pro, which I heard has IIS built in and I also have FrontPage 2000. I am looking at purchasing an affordable PhotoEditor, like Adobe PhotoShop Elements 2.0. Any suggestions would be of great help.

I also want to have my own domain name. If you could help me at least figure out the steps to setting up my PC to host a site I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Bob2001
 
do you already have IIS installed?

open a browser and put 'localhost' for the address

if that works then it will take you to your website. If not then IIS isn't installed.

After you've made your website (in notepad or dreamweaver or whatever) put the files in the IIS wwwroot directory (probably c:\iis\wwwroot i think). Then you can go to http:\\localhost\mywebsite.html or whatever your file name is and *poof* you should see your site.

That's a pretty basic explaination.

To use a domain name you just have to register it somewhere and point the name servers to your IP address.
 
Having your own domain name is going to be difficult unless you have a static IP (which I HIGHLY doubt you do), but to setup a webserver is rather easy.

www.apache.org will get you started because IIS sucks. Apache is pretty self explanitory.

Are you using a router?

If you really want a domain name, then I'd suggest going with a hosting company and paying 9 bucks a month for hosting, it'll be faster than you can provide with your connection from home (I'm just assuming that your running this from a cable or dsl connection from your house). <plug> I own a hosting company if your interested in hosting PM me </plug>
 
Sounds like you want a comprehensive guide in becoming a Webmaster. I'll see if I can give you the basics, and perhaps point you in some directions to let you find more in-depth advice.

Domain Name
The first thing you'll want to do is get a domain name--the something.com or somethingelse.net or somethingotherwise.org. To do this, you need a domain registrar. They're the company who actually does the setting-up of your domain name on the DNS (Domain Name System) servers across the world. (It's more complicated than that, but this will suffice.) My favorite registrar is www.godaddy.com--they're pretty cheap and the process is quite simple.

No matter which registrar you go with, they'll ask you about name servers and IP addresses. For now, you'll just want them to "park" the domain for you. You'll come back later and set things up.

Finding a Host
A Web site needs to be on a reliable connection. That is, of course, unless you intend to just have a simple site that your friends can see every now and again.

Do you have a cable or DSL connection? If so, you can certainly host at home. If you do, though, you're going to need to remember that the computer it runs on (the Web server) will need to be on 24/7 for best results. I strongly recommend against using your main PC for this task. Instead, set up a second computer--it doesn't need to be powerful--with Windows 2000 or better and Apache. Don't use IIS unless you're the type of person who likes to pick your scabs and rub them on other people. (That's the best analogy I can come up with for now.)

Even better is to find affordable hosting services. I'll leave that bit to you, or to others on this forum, since I do my own hosting and don't really know of anyone in particular. Remember one thing, though: You'll probably see "500MB storage!" or some other seemingly small number. Ignore it--my biggest site doesn't take up much more than a few megabytes. (You'll learn about optimization later.)

Connecting Your Web Server
If you've decided to host at home, then you'll need to configure your router to forward Port 80 to your Web server. Again, I'll leave that to you to figure out. Don't have a router? You'll need one to be online at the same time as your Web server.

Now you need to set up a DNS provider. My favorite is DynDNS, but there are others. Again, this is left as an exercise to the reader. Basically they're the ones you tell your IP address to, and they tell the rest of the Internet. Pay the couple bucks to DynDNS and get their Custom DNS solution, as I have, and you'll be a happy camper.

No matter which server you use--home-based or hosting service--you'll now go back to your registrar (GoDaddy or others) and tell them to point their name server entries to DynDNS's DNS servers (DynDNS will tell you what these are). Then go back to DynDNS and key in your Web server's IP address (check your router to see what your WAN IP is, and that's the IP you need).

Connecting to Your Site
Now, when you enter your new domain name into your address bar, you'll be greeted with some sort of default Web page. If not, check your settings each step of the way and try again.

Building a Web Site
This is the part of the guide where I leave you to go out on the Internet and learn about XHTML 1.0 Strict/Transitional, Web graphics, and the horror that is FrontPage. That's right, don't use FrontPage. People will tell you that it's okay to start out with. They're lying to you. If anything, get a copy of Dreamweaver and use that. Or, best yet, learn XHTML and design by hand. It's what the pros do, and so should you.

You'll also need to learn about FTPing your pages to the server, setting up permissions, and all that other fun stuff. And it really is fun, believe me.

Epilogue
So that's a brief guide on what you need to do. It's purposely brief because there are so many variables. Whatever you do, make sure you think things through to the end. Don't do anything halfway if you intend to have a good experience.

And come back if you need any more help.
 
Thank you to all and a special thanks to carl67lp for a superb basic guide. I have set things up correctly all I need to do now is get a domain name. I can see my webserver after forwarding port 80 on my cable router by entering the IP address.

Now I need to register(purchase) a domain name and take my chances with current IP Address or I can go to dyndns.org and use their service for dynamic IP Addresses. Correct? I have thought about using Dreamweaver instead of FrontPage, but was concerned that it would be too advanced for a novice like me to figure out. Thanks for the advice though.

So, when I get it completed I will invite you to check it out. Thanks again and take care.

Bob2001
 
Dreamweaver is a great editor. it caters to intermediate and pro web developers alike. however, it's rather expensive.

you really should start learning XHTML using a simple text editor first. Once you know the basics of coding (x)HTML THEN editors like Dreamweaver will actually make a lot more sense to you. DW is really designed to streamline the workflow of building and maintaining websites. sure it can be used by the total novice, but i guarantee it's not the best tool to start learning with.

It's akin to a someone just learning photography..start out with a simple manual camera, don't buy a $5000 professional camera if you don't understand basics like lighting, aperture, and composure.


oh yeah.. stay away from FrontPage. that thing is EVIL.
 
Originally posted by redd38
To use a domain name you just have to register it somewhere and point the name servers to your IP address.
Click to expand...

Does GoDaddy give you nameservers to use???
 
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