I want to be a webmaster!

[erwin1978]

So I woke up this morning and had an epiphany of some sort: I think I'm ready to become a webmaster and start my own hamster website. Well maybe not, but I want to start something.

I want to start my own forum. That's the main motivation for this topic. I need suggestions on which web hosting providers I should look into? There's so many to choose from. Basically, my budget is somewhere near $5/month. Is that good? I don't know how much webspace I'll need to begin with. Also, what's the minimum monthly traffic limit I should consider given that it's a forum? Do texts cost that much?

Also, is it better to get a server running Linux, Windows, Apache or whatever? Does it really matter? What kinds of extra service should I also look into? Pop emails is not that important to me at this point.

That's about it for now. I hope you enjoy answering my questions as much as I'll enjoy reading them.

 

[amdskip]

I'd say you are looking for linux based hosting (most common type there is IIRC). Just do a search for hosting and there will be an abundance of threads. $5 is alright, won't get you a whole lot. I may have some server space if you are interested.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

First off, I would reccomend Apache as it tends to be cheaper. There is one rule to remember above all: You get what you pay for. A good forum to check into would be WebHostingTalk (WHT). I personally use RealWebHost, but everyone has their reccomendations.

 

[Modeps]

Free forum software that rocks: www.phpbb.com

 

[TheKub]

www.surpasshosting.com

I have a forum site with them and have had very few issues. Get your domain set up, hop into your cpanel and with just a few mouse clicks youll have free forum up and running.

As for what you need in space and BW? The amount they give you for $5/mo will be more than enough for some time. My forum has been running over a year 12000+ posts (no pruning) and even with uploaded avatars, pics, and email I use less than 50Mb.

 

[RossMAN]

I might be able to get you an incredible deal for $50/yr (500MB/20GB) with e-mail, cPanel, auto installer scripts, etc. I'll find out and send you a PM.

You can auto install your own forums with about 3 clicks of the mouse.

It's a lot easier than you would think.

 

[amdskip]

I've messed around with those auto install forums and talk about easy. I installed a phpbb forum in under 5 minutes painlessly.

 

[erwin1978]

Is the fee for domain registration the same for all or do different companies charge differently? Can't I register on my own so I don't have to go through any middle-man? If I can, then where do I register?

Let's say I switch to another provider in the future; how does my domain know which server my new website is located?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
Is the fee for domain registration the same for all or do different companies charge differently? Can't I register on my own so I don't have to go through any middle-man? If I can, then where do I register?

A good place (from my experience and I believe RossMAN also reccomends it) is NameCheap. You will want to register your domain through someone OTHER than your web host. If you register it through your web host, there is a chance that either a) You won't really own it and/or b) They will hold on to it and not let you move web hosts.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts

Originally posted by: erwin1978
Is the fee for domain registration the same for all or do different companies charge differently? Can't I register on my own so I don't have to go through any middle-man? If I can, then where do I register?

A good place (from my experience and I believe RossMAN also reccomends it) is NameCheap. You will want to register your domain through someone OTHER than your web host. If you register it through your web host, there is a chance that either a) You won't really own it and/or b) They will hold on to it and not let you move web hosts.

DeathByAnts is correct.

erwin1978 - The fee for domain registrations vary between domain registrars and "you get what you pay for". If you want to register a domain DIRECTLY then you can but it will cost you $35/yr. Still interested?

Trust me.

Register a domain with GoDaddy.com or NameCheap.com both are affordable and reputable domain registrars.

If you decide to MOVE web hosts, you just go to your domain registrar's web site, login, you have total control over the DNS name servers (which tells your domain where to get it's web pages from).

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

What is your budget for web hosting?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

dammnit Rossman, stop changing your avatar, it's confusing!

 

[OZEE]

GoDaddy has a great deal on domain names this month. $7.95 for .com and $4.95 for .us or .biz!

As far as forums, phpbb or invision are the best of the free ones (and better than most pay ones, too!) You'll need a linux-based host for those.

I'm using HostPC to host my three sites and can't be happier with them. They've got a $25/year package that would most likely meet your needs (That's what I'm running on... with invision on one, soon to be the second, and coppermine image gallery on all three).

 

[erwin1978]

I did a little bit of reading. Just a little. Basically, I'm paying a company to put my domain name on their computer for a year? Can't I setup my own computer and put my domain in it? That way I don't have to pay.

 

[notfred]

Quite the epiphany. You've discovered that you don't really know what you want to do, but you're willing to invest barely over a dollar a week into it!

If you've got no goal and no budget, how successful do you really think this will be?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: notfred
Quite the epiphany. You've discovered that you don't really know what you want to do, but you're willing to invest barely over a dollar a week into it!

If you've got no goal and no budget, how successful do you really think this will be?

Thank you.

I give up on Erwin, tried to help him. Oh well nevermind.

 

[erwin1978]

My budget is less than $5.

I think my new website will be superduper. I don't know what to put up though. It will be amazing.

 

[RossMAN]

$5 per month, right?

 

[Ness]

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
dammnit Rossman, stop changing your avatar, it's confusing!

If he steals my Baghead, I'm not going to share my omlette secrets with him anymore. :-x



erwin: Welcome to a world that contains hundreds of millions of other people. To be flat out honest with out, if your budget is short enough to only be $5, then you need to reconsider what you are doing. From the sound of it, you have little to no experience with websites and such.

My advice to you.. coming from the standpoint of someone who has done this all.. is to open up an account at a place like tripod, especially if you don't need the email accounts. It's absolutely free to get all the space you would need when you are first starting out. Learn web design, build a fan base for your site, and most importantly, get a purpose for a website. It makes me want to cry everytime someone has a website that more or less just says 'this is my website, isn't it great!'... and 2 seconds later there is either nothing there I haven't seen or nothing worth seeing. Sure, with Tripod you won't be able to have forums on there, but in all honesty, starting up forums is next to impossible if you don't have regular vistors to your site. There will be about 2 messages on your forums for an entire year... one of you saying hi, and one of your friend that you told about the site saying hi. If you think about it, having only two messages on there is costing you $60 dollars a year... bad investment.

Who knows how long it could take you to get comfortable with web design, and if you are on that tight of a budget, then you'd be throwing your money away every month and wasting what you paid for. It's like buying a brand new car for a 10 year old. Perhaps if you saved your money for a year, and learned on some free webspace, then next year you would be able to afford double that budget, which nowadays, $10 a month is a good budget for the average website.

 

[bmacd]

I've had little downtime with Dixiesys and i've just transferred from an Ensim (control panel software) server to Direct Admin (other CP software). If you're on Dixiesys, do whatever it takes to transfer to a Direct Admin server...it's awesome!

-=bmacd=-

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: bmacd
I've had little downtime with Dixiesys and i've just transferred from an Ensim (control panel software) server to Direct Admin (other CP software). If you're on Dixiesys, do whatever it takes to transfer to a Direct Admin server...it's awesome!

-=bmacd=-

When I was with dixiesys I had plesk, didn't like that much, and switched to ensim, bettter, but have since switched hosts, and have cpanel and love it

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: ness1469

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
dammnit Rossman, stop changing your avatar, it's confusing!

If he steals my Baghead, I'm not going to share my omlette secrets with him anymore. :-x



erwin: Welcome to a world that contains hundreds of millions of other people. To be flat out honest with out, if your budget is short enough to only be $5, then you need to reconsider what you are doing. From the sound of it, you have little to no experience with websites and such.

My advice to you.. coming from the standpoint of someone who has done this all.. is to open up an account at a place like tripod, especially if you don't need the email accounts. It's absolutely free to get all the space you would need when you are first starting out. Learn web design, build a fan base for your site, and most importantly, get a purpose for a website. It makes me want to cry everytime someone has a website that more or less just says 'this is my website, isn't it great!'... and 2 seconds later there is either nothing there I haven't seen or nothing worth seeing. Sure, with Tripod you won't be able to have forums on there, but in all honesty, starting up forums is next to impossible if you don't have regular vistors to your site. There will be about 2 messages on your forums for an entire year... one of you saying hi, and one of your friend that you told about the site saying hi. If you think about it, having only two messages on there is costing you $60 dollars a year... bad investment.

Who knows how long it could take you to get comfortable with web design, and if you are on that tight of a budget, then you'd be throwing your money away every month and wasting what you paid for. It's like buying a brand new car for a 10 year old. Perhaps if you saved your money for a year, and learned on some free webspace, then next year you would be able to afford double that budget, which nowadays, $10 a month is a good budget for the average website.

Excellent post (with the exception for the comments about my avatar and omelettes - I will seek vengance!).

For around $10/mo you have several choices:

• AddAction.net hosts PlanetHzl.com and has been great
• LunarPages.com
• midPhase.com
• Search the WHT web hosting offers forum for others

If you want maximum bang for your buck it's hard to beat RippleHost.com for $9.99/yr.

Whichever you choose I can help you install forums (AddAction.net includes an auto installer where you can install any of those scripts with a few clicks of your mouse).

 

[erwin1978]

Are you Alan, the ambassador for ripplehost.com? I was checking that forum and I was wondering how come it's so cheapo: $10/year while others would charge every month.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
Are you Alan, the ambassador for ripplehost.com? I was checking that forum and I was wondering how come it's so cheapo: $10/year while others would charge every month.

Nope.

Alan Reid owns RippleHost.com I just promote them heavily because it's the best bang for your buck when it comes to web hosting. They are currently offering a FREE DOUBLE UPGRADE for $9.99/yr you get 200MB/4GB. Alan also owns the popular reseller and VPS web host SplashHost.com

Edit - Another reason it's so cheap is the support is forum based only where as others have 24/7 tech support via helpdesk.

 

[erwin1978]

Once I have a domain, can I change it later on without paying for another one?

 

[DonIsHere]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
<blockquote>Quote
Originally posted by: erwin1978
Are you Alan, the ambassador for ripplehost.com? I was checking that forum and I was wondering how come it's so cheapo: $10/year while others would charge every month.

Nope.

Alan Reid owns RippleHost.com I just promote them heavily because it's the best bang for your buck when it comes to web hosting. They are currently offering a FREE DOUBLE UPGRADE for $9.99/yr you get 200MB/4GB. Alan also owns the popular reseller and VPS web host <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.splashhost.com">SplashHost.com</a>

Edit - Another reason it's so cheap is the support is forum based only where as others have 24/7 tech support via helpdesk.[/quote]

When you say 4GB bandwidth, is that per month or per year?