I have one more question about beginning a website :)

Please understand that I'm very new, and I've read a lot, but after a time I just become more confused.

In selecting a host, I am given different choices as to how much space I need.

I envision a fairly active site, once it's up and running.
Mostly text, and a very active forum. Not a lot of pictures or fancy graphics. Linking to "like" sites, and I don't think I'll really need more than maybe 5-10 e-mail addresses at most.

What size should I choose, and, if I come to find that I don't have enough MB, what choices would I then have?
Thank you again for your help in my other posting :)
Laura

I posted this question on one of my other threads, but perhaps I should ask it here as well. I see that most hosting sites are for Windows2000. I run WindowsXP Pro, will this present any problems?

I would suggest you get the smallest plan at your chosen host. An upgrade is usually a easy process with no downtime, so when you are ready for a higher plan, you can get there. But you do not have to pay for more than you are using.

Your computers operating system has no relation to the type of hosting plan you use. You will see that most hosts offer Linux/Unix hosting. You can use this or a Windows hosting plan with a Windows desktop computer. Most of your interface with a webhost will be via a control panel, or your ftp program.

Good Luck.

Yeah I'm with SRL there, you wont need a big package right away, and most Hosting comapies offer easy and effortless transfer for growing clients with no downtime.

Start small, Grow BIG

Its overwhelming now especially for newbies. You have many choices and I would make "emailing potential hosts" a priority on your list, when choosing. See how well they respond to you, etc.
A small plan would be fine to start with as most hosts will allow you to upgrade should you need to.

Definitely use ALL support options and test the response times even if you aren't going to require a lot of support...

This is always critical and many people forget to do this before choosing a host.

You have to add up the sizes of the e-mail accounts, eg. 1 account needs 1 MB storage, so 10 e-mail accounts will need 10 MB.

A forum uses a database, and I suggest you go with a Linux/Unix host that uses MySQL and PHP, because it's easier when it comes to support and price, and you can always install MySQL and PHP on your windows computer at home for testing without having to pay for expensive licenses.
The database will take up space as well, so you need to add that too. The database grows when people post in the forum, so it will start out very small, maybe 1 MB.

Then you need space for your static webpages, images, css-files, and so on.
Something that will take up space in your account, are the statistics of your site. You can delete them after a while, but you have to think about it, as a part that will grow in size.
If you use frontpage for your design, you need to add up all the extra folders that are created with duplicates of ALL your webfiles. I suggest you avoid frontpage when you create your site. It gives you more problems than it solves.

Then as suggested, get a host that has more plans than one, so you can upgrade when you need it. Avoid unlimited space and bandwidth/transfer. It doesn't exist.