Domain name/web hosting etc etc

[marz]

I am finally deciding to take the plunge and after getting broadband, am wanting to get my very own website but more importantly email adresses.....
However, am relatively ignorant to all of it so please could anyone shed some light!
Ok...so I need to find a name and then chose a site to "host" for me....have found the following:
easyspace.com
ukreg.com
123domainnames.com
So the big question is....how do I decide who is best and what I need?
And then, how does it work?
I buy me.com and then they forward any email to [email protected] to my current email address? Or how does it get to my computer, do they hold it on their own server????
Oh...someone please shed some light and give me some recommendations before I drown in all this!!!
HAve not even thought about the web design yet!!!

[marz]

thankyou! In the meantime, have just investigated and realised that I can still send mail through virgin, which was my problem with not wanting to change email addresses, so therefore I do not have a problem anymore, and will leave the domain name business till I grow up a bit!!! (Still feel like it is all a bit over my head....not sure why when I know I am so good at everything else!!!!)

[SenoraPostrophe]

domain registration is just that - buying the right to use thisismywebsiteandIlldowhatIlike.com or whatever. Some provide very basic free hosting too but not all (not all the companies you have listed do anyway). Some make it easy for you to change hosts, others don't.

Free hosting is generally a bit rubbish in that support is crap and sites often run slow - you get what you pay for!
However it would be fine for your pics. If you're going to do that then i'd use ukreg.

[marz]

Thankyou so much everyone for the responses...
But...Senora....what is the difference between hosting and domains?
I thought you bought a domain name and then found someone to "host" which meant that they would allow you to put your website there. Thinking of that..I am with BT so they provide 20 Mega somethings...I think! So that means I do not need a host?
The website, well to be honest I was probably just going to (TRY!! to ) put pics on it, as I want to learn about web design and want to just do something simple to start with b4 I come up with my "new moneyspinning career idea" (from whcih you will all get to earn some commision for the help you are providing now!!!)
My reason for all of this is that I had dial-up with virgin and now have got broadband (for free thru dh's workand this is where I want to put in a smiley gnasher face...but don't know how to!!!) and am not wanting to keep changing email addresses, so I decided that getting my own domain name would enable me to just keep the same email address constantly from now on...

[katierocket]

zen.co.uk are good

[SenoraPostrophe]

had problems with 1and1 too (inflexible)

never tried perfect hosting.

[SenoraPostrophe]

easyspace - don't touch with a barge pole
ukreg - part of fasthosts - OK and certainly good for domain registration, support is an arse with fasthosts hosting
123 - registration service OK, no idea about their hosting

You can have your mail forwarded but if it's for a business you should set it up in outlook (it's quite easy).

DO NOT get a catch-all account, it's an invitation to spammers.

If you CAT me I can set up a hosting account for you. Alternatively I suggest you look at hosting packages rather than domains initially - you can always register domains through the hosting company and it's easier. What sort of website are you going to have?

[lilaclotus]

i used perfecthosting . it's a company in cornwall. they give you 60 days free and you can pay monthly. if you decide to cancel the account, it's very easy. i've been with other hosts and this one was definitely the best.

hth

[TrophyWife]

i do belive that the web page is held on the sever of the the supplyer of the web space.
we have ours on a sever under the stairs but thats because dh is a pc geek..
when you buy web space/address you have step by step guild on what happens ( i belive).

as for the host, i have heard of "easyspace" and "ukreg" but not the other one.
i do belive we have used our broadband supplier as our host, so you could try seeing if yours acts host.

can i ask what program you will be using to design your web site?

[mrsflowerpot]

You need to decide exactly what you need from a host in terms of support - ie how much tech support do you want, is it available 24/7, over the phone, only by email etc. You also need to know how much bandwidth you will be using each month - they nearly all say it's unlimited but in the small print it usually says that if you use a lot of bandwidth they reserve the right to cut you off, and this is at their discretion. Shouldn't be a problem if your site will be medium traffic without too many big downloads. Then you just compare service levels and costs - Easyspace is pretty good incidentally.

You will have to set up your email addresses and set up mail forwarding from the host so it comes directly to you. You should create a 'catch all' address at your domain to pick up any mails with errors and spelling mistakes in the first part of the address.

Most hosting companies will hand hold through all this so don't worry too much about it - first thing is to find a service that will suit you and give you the help and support you need.