Creating your own website???

[Nick The Man]

Well from some of the things I've read online so far, it seems there is a ton of shit to do when you want to start your own website. I want to help my friends that are in a band called Aqueous. So from the small amount that I know right now, first i need to get a domain name, correct? So obviously I would want it to be aqueous.com. Maybe it's already taken?

Then I need to find somewhere to host the site, am I still good? Which I'm sure can be many of places. I know some of you guys have your own sites on here. NL5 I know you got one!

So, when you sign up for a hosting site what do they give you? An "empty" site?

How much cash does it take to get a site like www.aqueous.com?

Really any information on this topic would be very helpful to me.

 

[Vagodeoz]

You have to create the website by your own and then upload it to the server.
Some web hosts have an online web builder, that is very basic.
As for the .com domain I suggest www.godaddy.com I bought mine there for 9$ per year.

 

[Nick The Man]

You have to create the website by your own and then upload it to the server.
Some web hosts have an online web builder, that is very basic.
As for the .com domain I suggest www.godaddy.com I bought mine there for 9$ per year.

I see, not too bad. Where do you host your site?

I want to attempt to make a full flash site. So would that cost more to upload?

 

[danny.guitar]

GoDaddy is a great place to get hosting. From there, you can use one of those site builders if you don't know HTML, or you can learn yourself, it's pretty simple.

There's also a bunch of free website templates that you can use and just change the content. A google search for "Free website templates" will get you a bunch of results.

You can always ask me if you need help with something. If you want to learn HTML quickly, or pretty much anything web-design, go to the place I did:

http://www.w3schools.com/

Their tutorials are very straight-forward and quick to go through.

 

[Nick The Man]

GoDaddy is a great place to get hosting. From there, you can use one of those site builders if you don't know HTML, or you can learn yourself, it's pretty simple.

There's also a bunch of free website templates that you can use and just change the content. A google search for "Free website templates" will get you a bunch of results.

You can always ask me if you need help with something. If you want to learn HTML quickly, or pretty much anything web-design, go to the place I did:

http://www.w3schools.com/

Their tutorials are very straight-forward and quick to go through.

EXCELLENT, thanks. I'll most likley be giving you some questions soon! I'll have to see what kinda money its gonna take to get up and running.

 

[danny.guitar]

I see, not too bad. Where do you host your site?

Once you get the domain, you can get hosting anywhere. In fact, I can get you good hosting for WAY cheaper than GoDaddy. My friend has his own hosting plan. Sometimes the servers can be a little slow but no big deal.

I want to attempt to make a full flash site. So would that cost more to upload?

I wouldn't recommend a full flash site, mainly because:

a) Some (decreasing number) people don't have flash at all
b) Can run very slow on older computers
c) Can take a long time to load especially on slower internet connections

At least make an HTML alternative for those with any of the above.

Uploading flash content is the same as uploading any kind of content to your website. It will not cost any extra money.

 

[Nick The Man]

Once you get the domain, you can get hosting anywhere. In fact, I can get you good hosting for WAY cheaper than GoDaddy. My friend has his own hosting plan. Sometimes the servers can be a little slow but no big deal.



I wouldn't recommend a full flash site, mainly because:

a) Some (decreasing number) people don't have flash at all
b) Can run very slow on older computers
c) Can take a long time to load especially on slower internet connections

At least make an HTML alternative for those with any of the above.

Uploading flash content is the same as uploading any kind of content to your website. It will not cost any extra money.

right right, those are some good things to think about. I really don't know how they charge you, by the more space you upload on their servers? I know theres some thing with bandwith (which is how much content you allow to be uploaded and downloaded???) I'm clueless at this point.

Do you have a site? I would just like to see what you have up and running at this point.

 

[danny.guitar]

right right, those are some good things to think about. I really don't know how they charge you, by the more space you upload on their servers? I know theres some thing with bandwith (which is how much content you allow to be uploaded and downloaded???) I'm clueless at this point.

Do you have a site? I would just like to see what you have up and running at this point.

My site is a huge work in progress.

http://www.dannydotguitar.com/20/
(old one is this
http://www.dannydotguitar.com

I prefer a really clean, easy-to-navigate site even if it looks oversimplified.

Just starting to put content on there, most of the stuff doesn't work yet (shoutbox, guestbook, etc.).

Whoever is hosting your site will give you a set amount of storage space. If you want to go above this limit you will have to upgrade your account.

Bandwidth is also a set limit. This is how much is downloaded/uploaded to your website. Uploading content to your website counts towards your bandwidth limit but usually doesn't take a big toll.

Whoever hosts your site will tell you how much storage space and bandwidth you get. Bandwidth usually goes by-the-month, so it resets by the next month.

GoDaddy's hosting is plenty for just about every site.

 

[Nick The Man]

My site is a huge work in progress.

http://www.dannydotguitar.com/20/
(old one is this
http://www.dannydotguitar.com

I prefer a really clean, easy-to-navigate site even if it looks oversimplified.

Just starting to put content on there, most of the stuff doesn't work yet (shoutbox, guestbook, etc.).

Whoever is hosting your site will give you a set amount of storage space. If you want to go above this limit you will have to upgrade your account.

Bandwidth is also a set limit. This is how much is downloaded/uploaded to your website. Uploading content to your website counts towards your bandwidth limit but usually doesn't take a big toll.

Whoever hosts your site will tell you how much storage space and bandwidth you get. Bandwidth usually goes by-the-month, so it resets by the next month.

GoDaddy's hosting is plenty for just about every site.

Wow, that looks good man. Is that all HTML?

I can't imagine myself using more than what the economy pack has to offer.
-5GB
-250GB transfer (bandwidth?)


did you host yours at godaddy?

Also, I went on to the free website templates and downloaded a Template and it gave me a "index" which was opened with internet explorer, a photoshop file of the site, then a file that was openable with my free trial of dreamweaver, so it would open with notepad too. So this let me in on a little about how a site could be created. I could make a image in photoshop, then what do you do? Create invisable buttons (hotspots) that link to different parts of the site.

sorry about all the questions but im just getting started.

I've always wondered how sites adjust there size for different computers that the site is being viewed on. For example, i have widescreen monitors (1440X900) so sites stretch to fit my screen and match my resloution. Is there something you have to put in the code for this to occur?

If I photoshop the site layout what size should i make it? The template i downloaded is set at 778X732

 

[Nick The Man]

this is what im seeing, Is there anything to insert in the code so that it centers the main part of the page and then continues the gradient background?

 

[Nick The Man]

another question

I don't know if you know alot about image file types and the web, but I exported some work as a .png image file because i want to put it on the web and it has transparency that needs to stay. .png preserves transparency, so when i uploaded them and put them on a site they work how I planned on my computer and several of my friend's computers as well. Then I go to my mom and dads computer and look at the site and the transparency has been replaced by white. My only thought thusfar has been the fact that I have the newest version of Internet Explorer and they have the previous version so maybe the previous IE does not support .png files???

 

[danny.guitar]

There are 2 types of designs. "Liquid layout" and "fixed size". A liquid layout is done in percentages. Meaning, it will stretch as the screen resolution changes, so it is always proportionate. These are harder to make, and even harder to make using images. Fixed size is always the same, so you need to pick a screen resolution to make it for.

When I do my sites, I design the entire thing in Photoshop first. I design around the old 800x600 resolution. I want it to fit the whole screen without having scrollbars (having to scroll to read the width of the page sucks).

So when I start a new image in Photoshop, I make it 850 (width) by 650 (height). This gives me a little extra so I can design the background.

I make the actual border of the content about 780 pixels wide, sometimes a little less.

I do all my websites by typing all of the code manually. I'm a perfectionist and I don't like all the extra code that programs like FrontPage and DreamWeaver add that is usually unnecessary.

I use the free program called PSPad (easy to find on Google) which is like NotePad but it colors the code so it is easier to read.

Once the entire design is done in Photoshop, I cut up the page into separate images that can be used in an HTML page (this is very hard to do when first starting).

To answer your question, the templates you download will usually have an "index.html" page. This is the main page that will be put on your website.

Example, typing this:
http://www.MySite.com/
is the same as:
http://www.MySite.com/index.html (or index.php depending on the site).

You should be able to open the site up in DreamWeaver and edit the content and resave.

 

[danny.guitar]

another question

I don't know if you know alot about image file types and the web, but I exported some work as a .png image file because i want to put it on the web and it has transparency that needs to stay. .png preserves transparency, so when i uploaded them and put them on a site they work how I planned on my computer and several of my friend's computers as well. Then I go to my mom and dads computer and look at the site and the transparency has been replaced by white. My only thought thusfar has been the fact that I have the newest version of Internet Explorer and they have the previous version so maybe the previous IE does not support .png files???

Exactly. There is a fix but I have yet to get it to work (a google search for "Internet explorer PNG fix" should bring up the results).

I have refrained from using PNG images in my designs for this very reason. Internet Explorer 6 does not support PNG transparency which is a damn shame.

 

[Nick The Man]

Exactly. There is a fix but I have yet to get it to work (a google search for "Internet explorer PNG fix" should bring up the results).

I have refrained from using PNG images in my designs for this very reason. Internet Explorer 6 does not support PNG transparency which is a damn shame.

.TIFF? (10char.)

 

[danny.guitar]

.TIFF? (10char.)

I've never used a .TIFF image before in my websites so I'm not sure how that would display or not.

Most of the "fixes" use JavaScript (which doesn't do any good if the visitor has JavaScript disabled) or CSS. I've never dug too deep in trying to fix it. When I first discovered the problem I just ditched PNG images all-together.

There are apparently fixes that work though, but being inexperienced in web design may make them hard to use.

Here's one example that I haven't read through completely but at a glance it looks like a better solution to the others I've seen:
http://koivi.com/ie-png-transparency/

And a lot more results:
http://www.google.com/search?client...=internet+explorer+png+fix&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Somnium7]

I see, not too bad. Where do you host your site?

I want to attempt to make a full flash site. So would that cost more to upload?

Man Flash websites are not a good idea if you are just starting out. Actually a Flash only site is never a good idea.
Learn your HTML and basic graphics. It isn't that hard and you'll be able to create stuff that is accessible to a wider audience and easier to maintain.