New Member Introductions

**Jglisson** · 11-12-2007, 07:10 PM

Good evening all! My name is Jeremiah. I am fairly computer literate but I know absolutely nothing about website design. My church would like to setup a basic, simple website.

I guess I would first need to register a domain, then select a host. Any recommendations? We dont' need anything fancy, but would like for the site to have the following:

Bible search, 100 email accounts, site subscriptions (private party viewing for members only), video and audio downloads, etc.

I am really shooting in the dark here, but I don't want to hand this over to a church website building company. I want to learn what I can in the process. Anything would be appreciated. Thank you...

**joder** · 11-12-2007, 07:35 PM

Welcome to WT

Yes, you will need a domain and hosting. Most hosting companies can supply you with both. For search and a members only section, you will want a scripting language such as PHP or ASP. It's according to what you will want to learn. Check things out because the scripting language and hosting plan go together.

My advice is to post in the Web Hosting Forum
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/web-hosting-forum/
You will get more responses there than in this one. Be aware though. Some people will recommend companies they work for or are paid to recommend. They may be good companies, but just be aware.

**Jglisson** · 11-12-2007, 07:54 PM

Joder,

Thanks for the reply. All of the programming languages are scaring me. From what I understand so far, HTML and CSS are the easiest. Can I use a combination of the two or will I have to stick with one? I was considering going ahead and registering the domain as I fear it may be taken soon. Is there any problem with registering a domain now and selecting a host later?

**joder** · 11-12-2007, 08:04 PM

You will want both HTML and CSS for the layout of the page. They are not hard to learn if you are interested. This site http://www.w3schools.com/ is #1. Good material is found in the sticky threads at the top of the HTML and CSS forums.

You can go ahead and register a domain. Then, after you choose a host, you can point to it from the place you registered or use their hosting.

**serandfae** · 11-12-2007, 10:03 PM

Welcome to WT! Keep in mind that when registering a domain you should have a few ideas ahead of time for the name, and be prepared to register it right then if you find something open when you do the search. There are people who buy names they find in others' searches that didn't get registered right then.

**icyblue** · 11-13-2007, 07:47 AM

Hi Jglisson! You are sure to get all your questions answered, it'll be more comfortable to ask them in the proper sections, which is Hosting and Domain Section.

**Gx3 Grafix** · 11-13-2007, 08:09 AM

Hi Jeremiah. Welcome to WT. You've gotten some great advise already, I recommend using all of it. Like Joder pointed out, w3schools is a great learning tool and will take you through everything you need to know to get started with coding and scripting and if you have any questions there's always the coding/scripting forum here, so there's no need to be scared

.

As Tim said, be sure to have a couple of names picked out in case your's is not available and grab it if it is. Don't be pressured into hosting at the same place you buy your domain. I buy mine separate because my hosting company has a higher price on their domain names but the quality and price of my hosting can't be beat in comparison to where I buy my domain names. Make sense? Do what works for you - there are a lot of options!

Be careful that you don't get duped into buying more than you need with the domain name. A lot of services are offered. Privacy registration is one I would recommend.

Have fun and enjoy your stay!

**KML9870** · 11-13-2007, 06:50 PM

Welcome to WT Jeremiah! I see you have already gotten some terrific advice from some of our members. There is just one piece I would add. Don't get talked into hosting solely on price. Do your homework and find a reliable host. Ask friends, read posts here (a tip to whether or not you should believe someone's hosting claims on here is their talkupatation value. Give more weight to someone who has been here for a while and has a lot of green squares vs some one with 10 posts and one square), etc. I also run a site for my church (although it wasn't my first) and I host it with my reseller account. I went through a few hosts until I found one that was reliable for me.

Feel free to ask questions, we all had to start learning somewhere and we understand how frustrating it can be when you have been looking at the code for hours and can't find your mistake. Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes to look at it, sometimes you need someone with more experience.

Since nobody else has said it yet, I will ask you to be sure to read our rules.

I hope you enjoy the time you spend with us and we can help you make your church site all you want it to be!http://www.webmaster-talk.com/news-and-announcements/announcement-important-webmaster-talk-forum-rules.html

**Jglisson** · 11-13-2007, 10:20 PM

Thank you all for your advice! I went ahead and registered with Godaddy.com
I see my sites are already "parked" and are serving as an advertisement medium until I do something with them. I talked with a couple of I.T. technicians at my work today and they advised to copy code from existing webpages and modify it and make it look like I want. Is this considered illegal or unacceptable? They were basically recommending that I use another sites code so I can use the site as a template. Thanks again!

**joder** · 11-13-2007, 10:26 PM

This page lists sites with free templates
http://www.designvitality.com/blog/2...plate-sources/

**Gx3 Grafix** · 11-14-2007, 09:52 AM

It's dishonest. Like Joder pointed out there are a lot of sites out there with free templates.

I don't know about Joder but it's not very often I go back to the introduction forum to answer any questions. Not because I don't want to help but because I unsubscribe to the threads after posting.

To make sure you are getting the best experience possible from WT, please make sure you are posting in the correct forum. If you're not sure which forum to post in, pick the one that is closest to the subject you are dealing in and trust me someone will let you know if you're not in the right place, lol.

**joder** · 11-14-2007, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gx3 Grafix

I don't know about Joder but it's not very often I go back to the introduction forum to answer any questions. Not because I don't want to help but because I unsubscribe to the threads after posting.

To make sure you are getting the best experience possible from WT, please make sure you are posting in the correct forum. If you're not sure which forum to post in, pick the one that is closest to the subject you are dealing in and trust me someone will let you know if you're not in the right place, lol.

On this forum, I usually unsubscribe after the next person posts to the thread from my UserCP. But this person is nice so I thought I would help them out a little here

**Jeyce** · 11-16-2007, 12:03 PM

Hi jglisson! Welcome aboard!

**London** · 11-16-2007, 02:11 PM

Welcome to the community!

**Michelle Ü** · 11-20-2007, 04:08 PM

nice to have you aboard...welcome

**pushtiu_c** · 11-21-2007, 07:52 PM

Hello Jglisson and welcome to the forum ... I see you got many good replies until now that would help you a lot ... so here`s mine too

) ... I`m willing to help you if want. You`ll need a good design for your website and I`m willing to help you out on that as I`m a designer not really such a good coder, but I can help you with a design if you want. write me a mail and we can discuss... I`m not gonna charge you with absolutly anything, I just want to help, and if you don`t like what I make then you can use a free template

) ... I won`t mind

) ...

**Cecille** · 11-22-2007, 11:31 PM

Welcome to the forum.. Enjoy staying here...

**fastreplies** · 12-19-2007, 04:20 PM

Welcome and be nice to your brothers and sisters

fastreplies