Key Post: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

All
Please advise where this topic is as I need to set up a small business web page and an associated email facility.

All info appreciated
F116 :eek

Re: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

Flash116 - there are two angles to this. One is getting someone to host your website and email, while the other is actually getting something up on your website so that people have something to read.

For the first you could try www.host.ie who seem to provide good service for a reasonable fee. All the other ISPs (Irish and otherwise) will provide the same service, but it looks like host.ie is geared towards the smaller types of clients. Other ISPs providing this type of service include ESAT.whatevertheyarecallednow, IOL and Indigo. I'm sure there are others out there too. On a related point to this you will also need someone to register your domain name (whatever.ie, whatever.com, etc . . .) and it is just as easy to get an ISP to do this for you as it is to do it yourself. As per an earlier post, don't let them charge you anything like £100+ for a .ie or $100+ for a .com as they will be able to register them for much less.

For the second you are really probably better off either 1) doing it yourself, or 2) getting someone who is doing a web design course to do it for you. If this is your first site and you go to one of the web design houses (if they haven't already gone bust) they will charge you a lot of money for something which (as above) either you or a student could do. They have a place, but not at the entry level of web site design due to cost issues. At the simplest you can fire up Word (ack, spit . . .) make up a document as normal and then click on 'File.Save As' and select HTML document.

z

cheap website

I'm trying to get a portfolio together and will do a website for you at a bargain basement price.
If you want to see some examples of my work email me at SarahMc@ivenus.com

Re: cheap website

Hi Flash,

If you're into a bit of DIY, there are loads of combined web hosting and design packages around. Two that I've actually used and found to be pretty good are site.yahoo.com and

Regards,

Liam D Ferguson
www.ferga.com

Re: cheap website

Flash,

I use Host.ie and I find them pretty good. They just host the site for me and registered the .ie domain name. I have about a 20 page web-site with 4 e-mail addresses attached.

I know that the package I'm on can hold more but that's just the size of my site. It also comes with an excellent tracking facility. It tells me to the tiniest detail how many have visited the site and from where, the most common search word used etc. etc.

It costs me about £150 + VAT per annum, which isn't bad. The only problem is that like most Tech/computer/web companies they are frightened of the telephone. Everything has to be done on e-mail. This can be a little frustrating because 30 e-mails back and forward could easily be covered by a 3 minute 'phone conversation.

They tend to send replies to my queries with one line answers, such as

'download the FTP extensions from the routed subdirectory of www.blahblahblah.com, and install them in the tcp/ip.dll folder in settings'

But that's just techies for you.

As for designing, to get started, if you are totally wet behind the ears as I was and you just want a basic brochure site to begin with, you'll do well to beat D.I.Y. with Microsoft Frontpage.

I know plenty will disagree and say it is no use for X and not compatible with Y. But for a starter web site I found it brilliant. It did everything for me. As time goes on I will become more proficient in all things computer, but to get things started Frontpage is 'your only man'!

Re: cheap website

Devils Ad - I beg to differ, but using Front Page to design a basic homepage is a bit like using a hammer to crack a nut. Did I just say that ? Apart from anything else - it costs money. Sure, it works, but it add several layers of complexity to the picture.

In the good old days it was possible to write a page in HTML by hand. It's not complicated. That's the idea behind the web - make it easy. At the simplest you just type in type in the text you want and put in little markers like and to do things like turn bold on and off, and <centre> and </centre> to turn centering on and off. You get the picture. Speaking of pictures, inserting a picture is pretty simple too. the same concept applies - just insert the marker and put in the URL of the picture you need and bingo the picture appears on your page.

z

Re: cheap website

I designed my own site earlier this year with Frontpage 2000 (FP) and found it to be an excellent product. When I launched it, I expected that I would have problems making the site compatible with Netscape and other non-Microsoft or older browsers but thankfully the glitches were very minor and easily solved.

I suspect the reason was that I kept the site fairly simple. Although its a big site (several dozen pages with maybe 200 photos in total) I resisted the temptation to include potentially troublesome gimmicks such as frames, animations, moving text feeds etc.

I also found FP to be great for maintaining the site.

If you do decide to construct a website using FP, spend a few evenings learning the basics of HTML code beforehand. There isn't that much too it. Buy a book on HTML, learn the 7 or 8 main commands and then use the "View, Source" option on your Internet Explorer browser to see how other sites are constructed using this code. When you have some sort of grasp of what's going on, then buy a book on Frontpage and you're laughing.

By the way, the price of Frontpage 2000 seems to have dropped dramatically recently. I saw it in PC World for about £60-80 last week. I paid £180 for it less than a year ago.

Another thing - if you are worried that your FP homepages isn't compatible with non-MS browsers, then have it checked out for free at Web Site Garage [broken link removed]

They will give you a report on whatever is causing the glitches.

Re: cheap website

Oh, oh, I just have to respond to this. I accept that FP can do all the things that Tommy says and it is probably a good tool at the end of the day, but some analysis of the last statement is needed.

'if you are worried that your FP homepages isn't compatible with non-MS browsers' - think about this one.

The idea behind the web is to use open standards to enable people to share information easily. What has happened is that some companies (not just Microsoft) have created custom versions of the 'standards' to make their browsers that bit more appealing to people who concentrate on the shiney glittery things on web pages instead of on the information contained on the page. This has given rise to the situation whereby some websites cannot be viewed with some browsers because they (the pages) are not truly standards conformant. However, those sites that comply with the standards (I actually can't remember the body which formulates the standards, but www.w3.org is as good a place as any to start) are viewable by all browsers.

The only reason that FP pages might not be compatible with non-MS browsers is that the non-MS browsers comply with the open source standards and not with the closed source, proprietary standards used in creating FP pages.

I will now cease my non-financial postings on this subject. If anyone wants to continue this discussion with me they can PM me. I have already sent this on a bit too much of a tangent already. If anyone wants a good read about the history of the development of the web and the very distinct ethos behind it (which has to a large degree been hijacked by commercial enterprises) then check out a book called 'Weaving the Web' by a guy called Tim Berners-Lee (the guy who came up with the first concept behind the web).

z

Re: cheap website

Zag,

'Devils Ad - I beg to differ'

I did say plenty will disagree - it's simply a personal view of having used the software.

'Apart from anything else - it costs money.'

Actually it didn't cost me anything extra as we already had Office 2000, which includes Frontpage.


'Sure, it works, but it add several layers of complexity to the picture.'

It couldn't have been simpler - at the time I had no clue about how to apporach a web site, knew nothing about html and still don't really. ( I've just tried bold for the first time thanks to your response ) I just used the wizard and it did it all for me. You see I didn't have the time to learn how to design a web-site and then design it, nor the funds to pay someone to do it. So Frontpage solved both of those problems.

'Speaking of pictures, inserting a picture is pretty simple too. the same concept applies - just insert the marker and put in the URL of the picture you need and bingo the picture appears on your page.

You see what I mean about techie speak!!! )

While we're on the topic, If I include a link to another site, how do I change it so that it reads 'Look here' and still points to the site instead of a big long URL??

Re: cheap website

You see!!!!!

I still can't get the hang of Bold All I can do is that bloody smile

And I have a perfectly good 20 page website in existence for over a year - it was even given three shamrocks by Doras!!

And I owe it all to FP. (I'm even getting to terms with the lingo now!!)

Re: cheap website

Devils Ad - if you enable messaging in your profile I will mail you with the details. I don't get to see your email address - the system takes my message and mails it to you without telling me what your address is.

Ho hum, just in case you don't enable the messaging, here's the answer -
Your link text goes here

If you include this in your page it will allow a user to click on "Your link text goes here" and have them sent to www.askaboutmoney.com

By the way, most message boards (including this one) have disabled html in messages, which is why the bit doesn't work. I could go in for more MS-bashing by saying that this is due to the number of security problems which can be exploited by executing particular pieces of code in a web page when using an MS browser, but I won't.

z

Re: cheap website

Thanks Zag,

You see the long and short of it is I'm an awful eejit when it comes to this sort of stuff. You'd think I'd be all set up from your insructions above but of course I'm stuck on the first instruction. (and the rest)

How do I enable messaging in my profile. I looked at my profile and all I could see was 'pulicise e-mail' I don't particularly want to do that...

'If you include this in your page it will allow a user to click on "Your link text goes here" and have them sent to www.askaboutmoney.com'

What do you mean by this?? (See - awful eejit) I'm not sure this is the answer. what I want to do is put an acticle from the irish times, say, into this posting without rish-times/articleblah.bl...h/news/htm and just say for the acticle go HERE. Where HERE points to the url above. does that make sense??

Re: Setting up private messaging and links

Hi Devil's ad

To set up private messaging: Go to Control Centre, My home and click on Edit preferences. Under Other Options, tick the "Accept Private Messages" box

To use the other features which you desire, go to the window where you type in your post. On the left hand side you will see a hyper link for "Use EzCodes". In here you will find all the information you need.

(I tried to type in the actual information here, but it kept hyperlinking on me.)

Regards

Marion :hat

PS: anybody with a brain in ones head will know that you are not an "eejit". Your posts are extremely informative. Thanks.

Re: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

Oh, it's all getting very complicated.

It appears that *most* html is disabled in posts in ezboard, except for the bit for linking to pages with different text, so I can't type it in here without it being converted to a link. As we can see from above.

I just had a search around on the web for 'html tutorial' and came up with this (and hundreds of others) - [broken link removed] and in particular the bit that deals with links to documents and images - [broken link removed]

Have a quick read and try a few bits yourself. By the way, you don't need a web server to test out your handiwork - just save the file to disk (with a .html or .htm extension) and double-click on it and it will open in your browser.

z

Re: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

Thanks Marion,

I am now able to receive messages (I think)

The link for html tutoring should be [broken link removed]

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> And this should be in bold<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Thanks for all the help. zag I'll have a look at those links, cheers.

Re: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

Hurray,

Your right Marion, not such an eejit after all!!!

Dev.

P.S. Now how do I make the smiley face above wear a hat and glasses and smoke a cigar???

Re: Cheapest method of getting a website + email address

Don't worry I think I figured it out all by myself

:hat

p.s. I promise this is the last stupid, dumb-ass posting I make :lol

Dev.

Websites

Yes, you can develop a fully functional site using FrontPage (its only in Office Permium, not Office standard), or with freeware such as HomeSite.

However just because you can develop your own site doesn't mean you should. There are heaps of really badly designed sites out there (www.websitesthatsuck.com) designed by people with no concept of design at all. Just because you have Word doesn't mean you design all your own letterhead/businesscards/brochures. A good site requires someone with an eye for design and creativity.

Re: Websites

I wholeheartedly agree,

But as I said above, the reason I was praising Frontpage was because its wizard designed the whole thing for me.

Once FP designed the site, I was very happy with it. Had I not been I would have gone another way, but it perfectly suited my needs, all I had to do was fill in the content.

and as I said, Doras gave it 3 shamrocks, which isn't bad at all.

In time I will develop it and make it more interactive, but as a start-up site to have our products and services neatly presented on the web with minimal effort, i'm delighted - thanks to FP.

cheap domain names

In a rush so don't have time to read all other posts in this thread...so hope I'm not repeating same info!
Try uk2.net for a start.
Merry xmas to all at AAM...gotta finish my shopping now!