The Tribe of Adminsa home for wayward admins

You’ve chosen and purchased your domain name, and you’re about to choose a host. STOP. Before you do that, you have to think about how you want to create the actual website. There are many ways to do this. If you have no experience and don’t want to learn software to code it from scratch, I recommend taking one of three paths:

1) Go with the packaged “website in an hour” version offered by your host. The strength of the out-of-the-box website is it’s simplicity. The weakness in the plan is that these tend to be inflexible, often require you to buy the domain name (the name of your site)  from the host, and are difficult if not impossible to transfer if you decide to change hosts. The host may own the name and just let you use it – as long as you remain a client. Think of it as renting. If you love your domain name, check out the policy on transfers before you click OK.

Vocabulary Review: The host is where your website lives. If you just put it on your computer, no one could see it…you need to put it on a server that other people can see. Servers that you or I would use are owned by companies referred to as web hosts.

2) Use a content manager, like Expression Engine. You’ll need to buy it, but they’ll supply templates and support. The downside is that it costs money. The upside is – it bears repeating – support and a professional product. You can see some examples on their site; click on “showcase” and “templates,” or look at this one: http://www.einsteinthepuggle.com. (I have no relationship to this site and categorically deny all responsibility…but he’s a cute little bugger.) I decided – after much agonizing and bugging the tech-savvy owner of the aforementioned puggle site – not to use Expression Engine because I wanted to bend my pennies into quarters, but it seems to be an excellent piece of software.

3) Use free software. This site is created on what may be the largest free website creation software: WordPress. I like it because it was the most flexible of the free software that I found and there were no strings attached – but I’m no expert; feel free to do your own research. Since it’s completely free, you can’t expect to always find technical support, but the forum is huge and well-attended, and there are bazillions of free plug-ins (enhancements to the software for specific purposes) and templates (to control the way the site looks and the links work). I thought it was all Ancient Greek and managed–with forum support–to figure it out, so you definitely will.

Tip: There is a hosting site specifically for Wordpress. This is their “.com” site as opposed to the site of the free software, the “.org” site. I haven’t chosen to use that service because it’s fairly limited. If you want to create a commercial site, I don’t think it’s the host for you.

Are you worrying about your platform (Windows, Mac, etc.)? Don’t. The website software runs on the host, not on your computer. You can download it and manually load it onto the host, but 1) you’re not going to and 2) all the software I’m telling you about works on either platform. However, if you use a Mac, check out the FAQs to see if the host supports Mac. Also do a quick Google search of the host name +Mac. The problem isn’t that the Mac has any problems, but the host might – they are suspicious of the “Other” – and as soon as you have a support issue, they will blame your Mac. Find a ’support-ive’ host.

The other option is to buy DreamWeaver and build it from scratch. You can try it for free with this link and see if this is the route for you. The upsides are complete control over your website and a new skill. I think Adobe has made it as simple as possible, but it’s if your first time with HTML or XHTML, you probably want to start with one of the earlier options. I tried it, pronounced it completely doable and moved on to something free and faster – but sometimes I wish I’d built it from scratch so I’d know what was lurking in here. Other days, I’m grateful not to have to think about it.

Now that you’ve decided what software to use (what took you so long?), look at your host’s specifications. You’ll find much mumbo and more jumbo. Focus on what you need to know:

• Do they support the software you want to use? You want to see it in the list of supported programs, or see something like “WordPress enabled.” (Or Expression Engine – whatever you choose). If you can’t find it, ask your host if they support the software. Don’t be embarrassed to be a newbie. Just say, “I’ve never done this before and I was thinking of using…” The speed and quality of the response will tell you a lot about the host.
  • I spent a few weeks working with a completely willing and helpful host who didn’t really know WordPress or Expression Engine and had old versions. Even though he was so helpful and I felt guilty, I went with a host who was completely conversant and up to date. I’ve thanked myself daily ever since. Sometimes I even send me flowers.
• What’s their policy on ads? A lot of free services implant ads on your site. All revenues for those ads go to the service. Fair enough since it’s free, but is that what you really want? You have no control over what your audience will see and no opportunity to earn income. Do they allow you to put your own advertising on your site?
• If you want to sell a product, you need to know if they provide (free?) or support a shopping cart and checkout system. GoDaddy.com Quick Shopping Cart®, for example, has a panoply of carts. Just be sure to choose a plan that includes them. Note: it costs a little more to buy a hosting plan that includes all the bells and whistles for a store – about $10/month – so you might consider a couple of alternatives: 1) choose a minimal plan and upgrade when you’re satisfied with it or 2) choose a basic plan, set up a free store at eCrater or Etsy and link to it. Once you get really good at it, you can seamlessly redirect a link to your store. Keep in mind that you will pay a commission on sales made this way.
• You might want email addresses at your domain. If so, look for the number of included email addresses.
• Do you want to host a forum? Make sure they support forum software – it’s separate from the website software. I like phpBB3. You can see an example in our currently not-very-active forum. How about a wiki? If so, make sure they support wikis. Will you want to do a bunch of sites? Make sure you can add on domains or sub-domains. My recommendation with all of these things is to make sure they’re available in case you want them, but don’t sign up for a plan with all the extras. Do the basic plan and upgrade as you need it.
• There’s one last thing you might look for while you’re investigating at the host’s advantages: Fantastico. This is a piece of software that installs all your website software for you. It saves you from having to learn what a config file is and how to edit php. High volume hosts tend to have it. The downside is that it doesn’t always work. If you have problems and go hunting for a solution, the first thing you’re going to hear is, “get rid of the Fantastico installation and do it manually,” but we can blow up that bridge when we come to it.

You’ve done enough for one day. Go walk the cat.

Related posts:

1. And What *Else* Do You Do?
2. A New Webhost and Winning an iPad