Help! My dad wants a website...

[thatbloke]

Ok so my Dad wants to register a domain name and set up his own website where old friends of his can keep in touch and post pictures and stuff like that. Kinda similar to what THN is actually...

Though I know my way around a computer actually going out there and getting a domain registered is something different.

Questions:

• What exactly does a domain get me? Is it something similar to what THN is? Or something entirely different?
  
• Alot of places offer free hosting and all this kind of other crap. What's needed? Do I need to get a server like saratoga or is that not needed for just a simple website?
  
• Is there a particular provider you would recommend and why?

I'll probably think of more questions at a later date...

 

[thatbloke]

Double post but still...

Another question I just thought of as I just thought that somethink like facebook could be used for this purpose...

What advantages/disadvantages would getting my own domain name and hosting my own forums/whatever have over using something like Facebook?

 

[Traxata]

Well, the cheapest registrar's i've seen are http://www.1and1.co.uk but they arn't exactly the best hosting service in the world ...

im sure you could possibly talk to ronin / haven and see if they can sell you some space if you buy a cheap domain name and forward it onto the servers.

A domain is just the web address btw blokey , nothing more, nothing less.

1&1.co.uk domains : XXXXXXX.co.uk = £1.99 for a year, minimum of 2 years, it totals to £5 after vat etc ..

 

[thatbloke]

Hmmm yea I'm thinking something like Facebook would be more useful and much much easier to set up and maintain...

 

[Ronin Storm]

• What exactly does a domain get me? Is it something similar to what THN is? Or something entirely different?
  
• Alot of places offer free hosting and all this kind of other crap. What's needed? Do I need to get a server like saratoga or is that not needed for just a simple website?
  
• Is there a particular provider you would recommend and why?

A domain name is literally just that: a name. It doesn't, by itself, actually do very much. I own a handful of domain names, including ronin.org.uk, bionicworlds.co.uk, and more. Some of them point to useful stuff and some of them don't. Some of them just have some email behind them. Others have multiple web sites, email, forwarders and more.

So, registering a name only gets you a name. It doesn't even get you those nifty sub-domains. To explain that last, consider that Haven owns the "thehavennet.org.uk" domain. You visit "games.thehavennet.org.uk", amongst others. That "games." part is a host or sub-domain.

The real question is "how do I get a web site with my own domain name on it?"

You need the following things:

1. A domain name. You get these from a registrar. 1and1 is one example of a registrar. 123reg is another registrar.
2. One, preferably two or more, DNS servers. You don't own these, for the most part, but you need them configured so that people know where to find information about your domain, where to send email, where the web sites are... that's what DNS is for. Most registrars offer a free DNS service.
3. A web server. For that you need a hosting company or a box of your own to run a web server from. I generally suggest a hosting company, especially if one needs to ask the question "how do I get a web site...". This is where you put your web pages. The DNS servers tell other people where your web server is.
4. Maybe an email server. Again, you'll probably want a hosting company for this; almost all of them offer an email service. Most offer POP boxes (that's your inbox). Some offer SMTP too (that's your outbox). You might skip this if you're happy with your ISP's email service and you only ever use email while connected directly to your ISP. Googlemail may be perfectly sufficient if not. Of course, those last two options won't use the same domain name...
5. Software for galleries, blogs, discussion boards, etc, etc, etc. THN uses Gallery2 for the gallery but I prefer Coppermine. I've used Wordpress pretty extensively for blogs and I believe one can host a very simple news/discussion forum using Wordpress. THN uses vBulletin for a fully featured bulletin board; I love vBulletin.

And then it's all a matter of how much you want to pay, how reliable you need the service, how many users, etc.

I've hosted with 1and1 before. They still hold my domain registrations but I get my DNS, hosting and email from HavenHosting as 1and1 was going downhill.

Finally, Google pretty much offers most of these services as a package, just tied up with Google's branding. They've got Blogger, Picaso (for galleries), Googlemail (offers POP and webmail), Groups (for mailing lists) and a bunch of other things. You might be able to do everything you want, in basic terms, from there.

 

[thatbloke]

Cheers ronin I knew I could count on you to simplify it all

 

[DeZmond]

I use http://www.virtualnames.co.uk/ as the host for my website, SSC. As a host they might not be glamorous but they have a most marvellous uptime - I've hosted my site with them since 2004, and never had a single problem. Likewise, my dad hosts his websites on them (many business ones) and several client websites also.

They're quite cheap for the service they provide, and as long as you can do the basics for web authoring then you can't go wrong.

For comparison, on their basic plan at £20 per year, you get 50MB of web space with 2.5gb traffic per month - plenty for a small website. Then factor in the domain renewal and for a .co.uk you're looking at £10 every two years. It's an absolute bargain!

There are many choices for webhosts, and a lot of it comes down to personal preference based on the features you plan to use and the amount of support you need. In terms of alternatives you've always got Havenhosting and my other alternative, 1&1, has already been mentioned.

 

[Haven]

Hokay firstly I have to pimp havenhosting ... ok so done that

Secondly, I am a UK domain name registrar i.e. I can register domains ending in uk for you (only registrar's can register domains). There are many other uk domain name registrars, who you choose to register domains for you depends on how much they cost and whether you want access to a spangly web interface or just a person on the end of a phone/email etc.

For a full list check:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/registrars/becomeregistrar/taglist/

The two I reccomend are myself (obviously) and UKReg who are very very good at what they do (registering domains ...).

Thats the how bit.

What are the advantages of using your own domain. Well look at thehavennet, its one of the domains I control and I self host everything so you can see the advantages there. In short "control". YOU choose where to host things and YOU choose what domain names to use for computers/websites/ftp domains etc.

The advantage is Control, the disadvantage is the effort involved. Facebook is hosted by someone else, they have worked for it and in return they get lots of lovely consumer info to sell onto marketing types as well as a huge chunk of advertising revenue.

It all depends how much work you want to put in as to what you can achieve.

Short but sweet, I believe Ronin has also answered many of your questions so I'll not go on. Chat on teamspeak if you want techie/geek details.

 

[Nanor]

If you want something easy (At least I think it is..) I'd recommend Mr.Site. You get:

Everything you need to get your website online is in the box - including one year’s hosting with a massive 150mb webspace for your website and email inbox.

This costs £34.99. Ain't tried it, but give it a whirl and see if it's good.