I am a web page virgin, so to speak. I registered a domain, have someone designing my site, but need hosting. Two questions. For one, I'm not sure how the whole thing works. How do I get the hosted pages to my web site? How do I get it so all the pictures, etc. come out all right? Number 2: What is the best (read: cheapest) host for a newbie such as myself?

I'll grab your first question.

If the site is being designed by someone then you can either give your ftp information to the designer once the site is finished for them to upload it for you, or you can grab some software and do it yourself.

http://www.ftpplanet.com/download.htm

WS_FTP LE is a good free piece of software.

In a nutshell, you enter your domain name or the server's IP address, give it your username and password, and upload the files (ascii for html pages, and binary for images).

Nothing more to it.

You should confirm the details with your webhost of course as to the correct place to upload the files to, and make sure the front page of your site is named index.html (though the designer's probably taken care of that already).

Regarding your second comment, be careful here. The lower cost the provider you choose, the more likelihood there will be for reduced technical support (e.g. most hosts offering web hosting from $6.95/month tend to offer only e-mail support). If you are a new webmaster, paying a little extra per month, so that you can have access to phone support may be well worth the money.

Well, either you want "best" or you want "cheapest."

I can tell you that by going with the cheapest host you can find, will only lead you back here looking for hosting again.

What you should be looking for is something in the middle. Something that is affordable, but offers quality.

An addition to your first question which might be left out. After you have your domain name registered and you finally found your host, you then have to change the DNS entries of your domain to point to that of your host's DNS info.

Originally posted by idoogleceo
Well, either you want "best" or you want "cheapest."

I can tell you that by going with the cheapest host you can find, will only lead you back here looking for hosting again.




listen to idoogleceo he is wise and speaks the truth here.........

Ok guys. Thanks a lot. I've decided on Ideal-Hosting.net for now. The owner is incredibly helpful and nice; he helped me set up my splash page, e-mail, and FTP.

kingb123 Thanks for the good feedback :) I hope you are happy with your plan and I am glad to hear the compliment.

-Jason Aron
Owner Of Ideal-Hosting.net
www.ideal-hosting.net