explain in extremely simple terms about creating a website!

[sassandfaff]

I want to set up my own website. I am totally clueless.

So far from reading past threads I have gleaned the following;

WordPress /go daddy/ I something?

But you can combine these? How? Why are they different?

To set up a website you need to buy a domain name, select a web host (they provide the space you are going to use) then set up the site with software to manage it and allow you to change it easily.

WordPress is software that will determine how your website looks and allows you to add, remove and edit content easily. GoDaddy is a hosting company that will sell you a domain name and host your site. If you want to keep it simple GoDaddy will provide a basic site including domain name, hosting and WordPress software as a single package so all you need to do is go to their site and buy one of their WordPress Hosting packages.

prh thanks that's the closest I've come to actually understanding it.

Some more questions for clarification.

Do all hosts, sell domain names?

Do all hosts use wordpress packages?

What are the other types/names of packages?

Can you tell me some more hosts' names please? (For comparison)

Tia

Also, if I fell/fall at the first hurdle and decide I'm just not cut out for technology who could I pay to do it for me?

By that I mean, if I were to go on peopleperhour are the like, what would their job title be? What qualifications should I look for?

Sorry, another question!

I typed in my website name into go daddy and it is available.

What is the difference between;
.com
.co
.net
.org

?

Do you want the website to sell things or just publish information?

.com .co.uk etc are all called top level domains - think of them as like the country codes you use to telephone other countries, although not all like .org are country specific.

Go daddy will try and sell you every variation of a website name, i wouldn't bother with more than just a .com or if you are selling products to a local audience in the UK .co.uk

Dummies books are good for learning the basics, I would have a read through of a couple of those also perhaps.

I recently swapped from godaddy to siteground - they worked out cheaper and their site support I find is a lot better. So do shop around.

petallic it would be a website that you would need to pay, to access the information.

I will look for a dummy book- it is rather fitting.

Do they all offer chat live facilities?

Or are they separate?

In a teacher/counselling capacity- before anyone starts raising

When you buy a domain name check you actually own. Often, when it's included as part of a package, the hosting company are only leasing it you. If you stay with them it's not a problem, but if you ever decide to move to a new host you either have pay quite a bit to have the ownership transferred, or lose the domain name.

Don't be put off by the book names - they really are a good starting point for anyone

What you want sounds quite specific. You need a website that can hold your information (easy bit) can process payments - so some form of e-commerce cart/paypal. You then need logins for your paying customers - this also may mean you will be holding some kind of personal data I think so you really need your site to be secure then. None of it is difficult but getting it all to link together smoothly and quickly might be if it's your first attempt at building a website. If your customers were happy to have their payment processed and then you manually email them their logins this would be more straightforward than having a user registration process that ends with payment and then access to your paid for content.

You could look into whether hosted commerce sites offer this model already which I think would be better (like Wix) otherwise there will be templates somewhere set up that can do what you want (normally the better ones you have to pay for, google theme forest for some ideas) but you'll need to install Wordpress/magento/whatever onto your hosted domain and then apply the template and plugins over the top - it's all straightforward but there's a learning curve. Perhaps a local uni student might want the work for their portfolio and could give you a guiding hand?

Another option of you are going to have ongoing dialogue with your clients if you are teaching/counselling would be a forum set up so each user has access to one sub forum each - this is easy, as the admin you can set this up. You then have your ongoing dialogue with your clients in their individual forums, all secure, no one else has access to the information other than who you have granted permission to access. You can also have another sub forum that all clients have access to if you have resources you want to share like hand outs / forms etc. Payment can be processed totally separately through a paypal plugin on your website and you then just send the client their forum username/password. This would give you a really easy website to set up and once you are up and running you can upgrade it into something fancier if needed then.

Right I'll stop spamming your thread now here's a You tube video tutorial of how to set up a membership website - I think this would get you on your way m.youtube.com/watch?v=kLo_Vpv--w0

No petallic I totally appreciate you spamming my thread.

Thank you very much.

I have read it, but it is whooshing over my head right now. I will read it again tomorrow, and you on spot on with the individual private posts and forums for everyone: that is exactly what I want.

*are spot on

Petallic, just lurking and thank you that is very helpful.

If you want to do teaching / counselling, is live chat really what you want? It relies heavily on the written word (obviously...).

Have you had a look at Skype? You can call, video call and chat (write) on there for free. Might be a lot cheaper and less complicated than setting up a dedicated website.

One more thing: if you get someone to help you, make sure you get the spec spot on.

Before you talk to anybody, write down all of the content and functionality that you want, and where you want it.

pippi I see what you're saying, and I think that might be an option for a 1:1, but it's going to be more like a self help group (think alcohol anonymous type) so wlcould potentially be a big group. Plus, some people may just want to read/lurk. I'd like it to be a similar way to how mumsnet is, everyone logged on, can comment, read, not comment, start new topics etc.

If mnhq are reading - it's not a social networking site! It would purely be for people in need of my services.

Thanks pippi I will read the dummy book, research website designers(?) And make a very big list.

These questions may already have been answered but since you asked me...

Do all hosts, sell domain names?

Most do, possibly all. Its been a long time since I've seen a host that doesn't. I see someone has highlighted the risk that you may only lease the domain name if it comes free as part of the package. Personally I always buy the domain name from one company then get the web hosting from another.

Do all hosts use wordpress packages?

No. Some of the budget hosts offer deals including WordPress. Some hosts give you an empty server but make it easy to install WordPress. Others target more experienced users by giving an empty server and leaving you to install whatever software you want on it.

What are the other types/names of packages?

WordPress was built to handle blogs although many people use it for websites. Others include Joomla and Drupal but there are many more.

Can you tell me some more hosts' names please? (For comparison)

Search Google and you will find loads.

What is the difference between;
.com
.co
.net
.org

They are all top level domains. They are supposed to be used as follows:

.com - a business
.co - a Colombian website
.net - internet service providers, network operators and similar
.org - non-profit organisations

In practise they are often used for other purposes. For example, .co is often used by businesses, particularly technology startups. I would go for .com if it is available and ignore the rest. However, if you only intend to sell in the UK I would go for .co.uk (which is the UK equivalent of .com).

Given what you want to do with your website you may need to pay someone to set it up for you. What you are proposing is more complex than the kind of thing you can get by simply using a WordPress hosting package.

Thanks prh47 you are very good at explaining so that i understand.

This has been very helpful.

.co.uk (which is the UK equivalent of .com)

.com is a generic TLD, always has been; it's not a country code TLD.

I would actualy ask for a quote from a couple of website developers.
If they quite a lot itvwill give you an indication oc complexity of technology involved.
There are ready made templates of websites with forum included, payment options etc. Worth investigating that too.

Sadly the level of complexity may make little difference if asking for quotes, because there are firms offering websites at 100 to 500 and others at 2000 to 50000. What they charge sometimes bears little relationship to real complexity, but in the belief (and knowledge) that some think that you "get what you pay for" and therefore they charge a lot, and some businesses will be sucked into feeling that someone charging less will do a poorer quality job.