So like...

[Xuzaf D]

I get bored on the internet, so I was wondering if someone could point me to some instructions as to how to create a website or forum or junk for the purpose of me getting my own website or forum or junk. That would be neat.

There is no specified plan as far as content goes, but it's not like my plan is to start a website (or forum or junk) as soon as I read some cliff notes. More news as it coagulates...

[Brunhidden]

for starters you need money

why? cause in order for stuff to exist on the internet someone somewhere has to have a big honkin server farm and purchasing a website is purchasing a small fraction of thier memory.

some places will give you a free site, but thats because that site comes with ads and banners that dont give you a dime and maybe make them thirty cents a month off of your free advertisement.

many of the people you can buy a website from wont charge you too much if its a small site, and the crappyer your web adress is the cheaper too. yeah, all the good names are taken and often are pricey when one thats half numbers and slashes is dirt cheap.

on the upside if you buy space from a website hoster they usually include thier own easy to use device to make the website pretty with images and buttons and all kinds of funcional stuff.

unfortunately i havent a clue what the adress is for any of theese webhosting providers are, i would suggest googleing "free webhosting" or "start your own webpage" or something which describes what you want to do pretty well.

The first step to knowing is doing, and the first step to doing is knowing.

[superluser]

(1) Register a domain.  I remember when Netsol was the only game in town and charged $70 to register, $35 to renew.

Now I think you can get one for pennies.

Choosing a registrar is kinda like choosing a used car dealership.  They're all kinda creepy and greasy, but you have to choose the one that is least creepy to you.  Dotster works for me, but believe me when I say that I'd never endorse them.  Register.com, GoDaddy and Network Solutions are three other popular ones.

Not all registrars can register all domains, and you can find the full list at ICANN's site.

(2) Get a webhosting service.  You can technically direct the DNS to any IP address, but you're probably behind a NAT (think of it as a firewall that makes you buy the more expensive service from your ISP).

Some DSL providers (like Speakeasy) let you use your home computer as a server, but this is generally a bad idea unless you know what you're doing, have a RAID set up for high-volume periods and DoS attacks, a nice firewall, and some other stuff.

Or you can just buy a service plan for a few bucks a month, and let somebody else deal with all of that.  I use Fuitadnet, which was at one point used by 8-Bit Theatre (this isn't the one that deleted their site), and it works for me.  I think I know the guy who runs nearlyfreespeech.net, but it's hard to throw a ping and not hit a value-priced hosting site out there, and they're all pretty much equal.

[Netami]

www.dreamhost.com has, once you've paid them, a bunch of easy one-click installs for their users. You just go to your admin panel, tell it what part of your site (i.e. /forum for a forum) and it'll install it for you.

I've done this for friends who wanted forums and blogs and it takes almost no time at all.

www.shakytable.com/valikorlia

www.shakytable.com/forum

Reputable software installed in minutes right there. Try to find a host that allows you to do this sort of thing, especially if you're not ultra tech savvy.

[superluser]

www.dreamhost.com has, once you've paid them, a bunch of easy one-click installs for their users. You just go to your admin panel, tell it what part of your site (i.e. /forum for a forum) and it'll install it for you.

Everything that I've ever heard about dreamhost has been from people complaining about it.  Of course, the things that they typically complain about are usually things that I really don't care about, so YMMV.

[Aridas]

<.<

>.>

get hosting from 1&1?

[Netami]

That's unfortunate, because I've been using Dreamhost for over a year and it's worked wonderfully for me... I've never noticed more than about ten minutes of down-time (and I check into it frequently) and the amount of space and bandwidth I have is almost unreal when compared to other plans at this price. Dreamhost can also register a domain for you, so everything is really kept together. I can't tell you how much of a pain in the ass it is to transfer domain name registrars.

[superluser]

That's unfortunate, because I've been using Dreamhost for over a year and it's worked wonderfully for me... I've never noticed more than about ten minutes of down-time (and I check into it frequently) and the amount of space and bandwidth I have is almost unreal when compared to other plans at this price. Dreamhost can also register a domain for you, so everything is really kept together. I can't tell you how much of a pain in the ass it is to transfer domain name registrars.

Well, you're probably like me, then.  I'm not hosting the Minuteman launch codes(*), here.  A little downtime is OK for me, and probably for most of us, and that's usually what I see the complaints about.


(*) 00000000, for those who haven't seen it.  I've got the same combination on my luggage.

[Netami]

Here's something I found on Slickdeals. Netfirms is pretty cool, but I dont know if they have the goodies like my provider does (it suggests it does). Of course, the only reason I initially joined Dreamhost was because of a deal like this (i.e. ten bucks a year for something HUGE). Worth a shot for ten big ones.

1. visit www.netfirms.com/max
2. enter promo code: MAX


Get your website online today! Netfirms provides the tools you need to make building and hosting your business website quick and easy.

* Special offer for Maximum PC readers -
$10 for one full year of Netfirms Advantage Hosting!
* 2 FREE domain names
* 750GB data transfer per month
* Host up to 3 websites with a single account!
* Support for PHP, Perl, and MySQL
* 24-hour technical support

Easy Setup and Management

* Simple one-click installation of e-commerce and blogs
* Share your photos online with Netfirms Picture Pro
* Easy to use web-based account management with Control Panel XL6
* Website visitor statistics, raw log files, access management

E-mail and Security

* 100 e-mail addresses that match your domain
* Spam and virus filtering
* Web-based e-mail (WebMail) and POP3 e-mail (Outlook)

Technical Features and Reliability

* Your website hosted on an enterprise class clustered platform
* Multiple data centers ensure that your website is always available
* Same trusted infrastructure that keeps millions of websites up and running

[Xuzaf D]

Yeah... getting the actual domain and hosting isn't my worry here. I'm just wondering how the hell it is one makes a website. These TV-Typewriters confuse me.

[Netami]

Oh. Well, that's a whole different can of worms.

If you want just a website, maybe some flashy graphics and a nice space on the web for you to ramble, share images, writing, etc...  My honest suggestion would be to buy an HTML manual and read through it. It's probably the easiest computer language to learn and tinker with... Of course, I've been playing (poorly) with programs like frontpage since I was little, but you wouldn't believe how much more savvy you become by just understanding the HTML basics. From there you can obtain a program like Dreamweaver and see how you'd like to make a website, but you really have to ask yourself what you want a website for.

If you want somewhere to write down your thoughts, that isn't livejournal, then blogger may be for you. It's easily customized (if you know html) to look like a whole ton of things, and can easily replace a website with similar goals.

If you're looking for a place to post images, like a gallery, well... My biggest suggestion is to use DeviantArt or something similar since I've yet to come across a dynamic picture-sharer on par with that caliber. If the software used to run stuff like FurAffinity was free like Blogger and the forum stuff, I'd look into that.

If you want a forum, well, you can't really program those from scratch within any limit of ease. You can get the software, like PHPBB, install it to your webserver and then edit it to the way you'd like it. You can also just register a free forum from places like boardnation.

See, the mistake a lot of people make is that they don't differentiate between websites, webhosting, domains, and then the whole to-do regarding databases. But for anyone who wants to put up anything online, a deal like this is something important; even if you have a barebones website in mind, it'd be best without annoying ads like those put on there by geocities or other free hosts. Just like building a house, you're going to need to purchase some property to put it on. 

http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/ is a nice tutorial if you want to learn about HTML in your spare time and dont want to drop any cash or attend a class. I reccommend anyone that uses the internet regularly should learn HTML so they can handle themselves better. You'd be amazed how closely related forum codes are to HTML.

[Xuzaf D]

Thanks, that's the advice I need.

TO BARNES & NOBLE!

[LionHeart]

Oh. Well, that's a whole different can of worms.

If you want just a website, maybe some flashy graphics and a nice space on the web for you to ramble, share images, writing, etc...  My honest suggestion would be to buy an HTML manual and read through it. It's probably the easiest computer language to learn and tinker with... Of course, I've been playing (poorly) with programs like frontpage since I was little, but you wouldn't believe how much more savvy you become by just understanding the HTML basics.

*nods* Very true.

From there you can obtain a program like Dreamweaver and see how you'd like to make a website, but you really have to ask yourself what you want a website for.

Or, instead of Dreamweaver, look at one of the many free alternatives around, like NVU. (I personally have found this one to be a bit flaky at times, but YMMV.)

If you want somewhere to write down your thoughts, that isn't livejournal, then blogger may be for you. It's easily customized (if you know HTML) to look like a whole ton of things, and can easily replace a website with similar goals.

If you're looking for a place to post images, like a gallery, well... My biggest suggestion is to use DeviantArt or something similar since I've yet to come across a dynamic picture-sharer on par with that caliber.

DeviantArt also has the advantage of being free, at least for the basic accounts. As long as you don't mind the ads...

See, the mistake a lot of people make is that they don't differentiate between websites, webhosting, domains, and then the whole to-do regarding databases. But for anyone who wants to put up anything online, a deal like this is something important; even if you have a barebones website in mind, it'd be best without annoying ads like those put on there by geocities or other free hosts. Just like building a house, you're going to need to purchase some property to put it on. 

I just use the webspace provided with my ISP account. Yours may have something similar - check it out.

I reccommend anyone that uses the internet regularly should learn HTML so they can handle themselves better. You'd be amazed how closely related forum codes are to HTML.

Very much so - in some cases, about the only difference is that the HTML uses angle brackets, instead of the square brackets for the forum codes.