Website Workshop - Your Home

Now that you have decided on a website name it's time to buy some space online. But before you do that, let's learn a few terms. As you probably know, there is an alphabet-soup of technical terms you see online. You don't have to know all of those to setup a great website. We will limit this discussion to the few, most important terms you need. Don't worry, it will be over soon.

Web Host

In order to run your website you need a computer that will store your files and will show them to people who visit your site. It would be best if this computer is on all the time, so if your fans want to check up on you at 2 am they can. It would also be good if that computer was protected against hackers and viruses and other bad stuff online. Now, if you have mad skillz, you could setup a computer in your home to do this. (And if you have skills like that, why are you taking this class?) But, you don't have to. There are companies who will do all that for you. Those companies are called web hosts.

A good web host will provide you with the following:

Let's break a couple of these down.

Space for Your Files

Every file on your computer takes up space, from the tiny text file with your notes to the 100,000 word masterpiece you've been working on to the huge movie you've been watching instead of writing. Your website also needs space. How much? That can be a tricky question, but we suggest you find a web host who offers unlimited space. How can they offer that? Because no matter how much space they give customers, most people use very little.

The amount of space you are given is often called your Web Space or Hosting Space or File Space.

Email Addresses

Along with giving you space for your files, a good host will allow you to setup email addresses. For example, Bob@ArthurRunsibleCavendish.com. We will not cover setting up email addresses in this class, but a good web host will have instructions to guide you through the process.

File Transfer Quota

Think of your cell phone bill. You purchase so many minutes that you can use at any time. This is your cell phone minute quota. If you hit your quota your phone will either be shut off for the rest of the month, or you will have to pay for the extra minutes at a premium.

Web hosts have quotas as well. Every page of your website has a size, and when a visitor visits that page it is transferred from the web host to the visitor. The web host keeps track of all the sizes of all the pages for all the visitors to your site and when you reach your quota they either shut down your site until the end of the month or ask you to pay extra.

So, how big of a quota do you need? This is also a tricky question, and again, we recommend you find a web host that offers unlimited transfer. (I bet you didn't see that coming.)

Databases

Don't worry, you don't need to know how to setup or run a database these days, but almost all of the software to help you run your site requires a database. Just make sure your host provides you with 5 or more of them.

A Jumble of Acronyms

A good web host will also list pages of TLA's (Three-Letter Acronyms) in the hope that technical people can scan the list for the two or three features they want, and non-technical people can look at the list and say, "Wow. That's a lot of letters." For your first website, don't worry about all the acronyms. Just make sure that the host supports a product called WordPress. If it does, you're good.

Cost

Web hosts offer a range of services at a range of prices. There are free services that have restrictions or force your site to display advertisements. And there are high-end hosts that charge thousands of dollars a month and give you a setup that will make all your geek friends drool.

If you are just dabbling with the web and don't know if you want to make a commitment you can start with the free services. You can create a blog for free at BlogSpot, LiveJournal, or just use Facebook. Or setup a simple website using Google Sites. If you want to have your own author website keep reading.

You should be able to find a good host for around $100-$200 per year (in 2010). The costs keep coming down, but that is a good rough number to start with.