Getting Started On Your Web Site
Note: This page is for clients who have hired us to build their sites. We need your domain name and hosting set up before we can begin, so we're asking you to complete a few simple steps:
Every Web site needs an address (domain name like mywebsite.com) and a hosting account (a computer on the Internet where your site is stored and served to the public). In the first two steps you must purchase a domain name and hosting account. You pay for these by the year, and I feel it is important to use a credit card so they can be automatically renewed. That helps insure you won't lose your Web site when they expire.
Typically the domain name and hosting together cost less than $ 100 per year. We will bill you for creating and customizing the site at our regularly hourly rate. The part I do is a one-time charge, although I am always available to make changes or add features if you want me to.
The final steps are to determine the look and feel of your site. Once I have all this information I can build your site, usually quite quickly.
A domain name is the address people type to go to your site. We are a reseller for a large company that offers domain names. Please go to our site www.star1domains.com/ and choose the name that you want. When you purchase the name you will create a Star1Domains account. Once completed, please e-mail me your account number and password. I will need this to attach the domain name to your Web site.
A hosting account is the computer your Web site is stored on. It is specially set up so that people can access your Web site when they type in your domain name. You can buy hosting on Star1Domains or on Hostgator. I recommend Hostgator because I think it works better and more reliably. Hostgator is the one I chose for my own Web sites. But either one will work.
If you choose Hostgator go to Click Here to purchase your account. Yu get much better prices if you buy three years at a time, so decide what you want and make the purchase.
If you choose Star1Domains Click Here and log into the account you created when you purchased your domain name.
On either host you will want Linux hosting. If you will only have one Web site ever pick a 'Hatchling' account on Hostgator, or an 'Economy Plan' on Star1. If you plan to have more than one Web site choose a 'Baby' plan on Hostgator, or a 'Deluxe Plan' on Star 1.
Whichever hosting company you choose, you will recieve an email detailing a lot of technical information once you have signed up and paid. Please forward this email to me. I will need it to get your Web site onto the Web.
I build Web Sites using a Content Management System called Joomla. With Content Management Systems we can easily change the look of the site without having to redo all your content -- stories, articles, information, polls, pictures, and so on. All we have to do is change the template that determines how all of that looks.
To get started I need you to come up with your choice of a template. There are many free templates available. Click Here for a good place to start. Or use Google to search for "free joomla 1.5 templates".
There are two versions of Joomla, 1.0 and 1.5. Unless I have told you otherwise we are using 1.5. Be sure the template you pick is for 1.5.
Some templates are not so great to work with -- you get what you pay for, right? -- so pick a second and third choice just in case. Once you have chosen a template email me to tell me where you found it and what its name is. It really helps if you include a link to it.
Remember the template is just a start. I will put your art into it and adjust the look of it to best suit your needs. It is just a starting point.
Some Web sites have thousands of pages. Some have only a few. We will talk about the skeleton of your site -- what pages you need and what menus you want to present. I may ask you to create an outline. Most sites have the 'Front Page', an 'About Us' page, and a 'Contact Us' page. You will probably have ideas about other pages you want on your site.
Think it through -- you want the front page to be sparky, to draw the visitor in and make him or her look at the rest of your site. it is the one place where marketing is most important. Don't try to put too much information on it -- focus on a succinct message.
Also, you will be able to have your own email addresses such as This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Let me know what they should be (and a password for each).
I always like to say that nothing on the Internet is ever written in stone. So have fun choosing your template and thinking about what your site will look like.
Once I have the pieces I need I can usually get a site up and running within about a week. If your site has more complicated requirements it may take longer. I can let you know that once we have talked about exactly what you need.