Really basic website building questions

O

owen-b

Registered
Hi!

I've got some (probably REALLY basic) questions about websites, building them and hosting them.

I would prefer to try to build my own, as most templates online look just like that: templates. I may see the error of my ways but for now, I have Adobe GoLive CS. Is that a good start? Or should I get my hands on a different app?

I want it to be three sites in one really - a homepage that sends you to:
a) a page about my career as a TV cameraman, showing my CV etc
b) a gallery of my photography
c) my photoblog, currently hosted at Blogger, but I would prefer to have my own, possibly Moveabletype or something.

Are these things possible using GoLive or is it going to get messy?

When I have 'built' something, can I then send it to ANY hosting service? I'm in the UK - so I would prefer one that could answer tech queries in UK time, but it's not essential.

My domain name is registered with 123-reg.co.uk, so will I havde to host with them too, or can I host anywhere?

Cheers for any help!
Owen
 
Hi!

I've got some similar questions to you. But actually you are slighly ahead for me!

I have got a domain and sorted out hosting, all through godaddy.com.

I have text and pictures. What is the easiest way to turn them into a nice looking website? I'm good on computers but have never looking into the technology for websites other than knowing a few html tags.

How do I go about making my self a nice website?
 
GoLive is more than adequate to do what you want (though I hate it with a passion and find it ridiculously unintuitive).

As for hosting, likely any host will be fine with a site you make. Read http://www.tokyoshoes.com/blogclass/ for information on setting up MovableType.

You can likely host your site on any host you like, assuming your domain name registrar allows you to change the DNS settings for your domain (that is, if your domain name can be pointed to any server), which is the usual behaviour. It's probably best, though, to use the same company for hosting and domain names, since that means you'll only need to deal with one support team (who won't foist responsibility on any third party).

For your gallery, I'd look at iPhoto plug-ins such as Gallerie (there are a tonne of them on VersionTracker.com). You'll be able to quickly make a gallery, and you won't need to edit any code (it'll all be done within the plug-in).

The CV page etc. is all in the domain of GoLive. If you really want it to make an impact (and this goes for anything at all), employ a web-site designer. No matter how good your sense of aesthetics are, designers are trained to know things specific to web development. They also have experience and are likely to be able to avoid the pitfalls everyone falls into in their first sites.



BoyFarrell: Invest in some quality software to make the job easier. Think about what you want it to do; do you want it to be WYSIWYG, or would you prefer to learn the code (which will guarantee cleaner markup)? As a WYSIWYG solution, look at Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive (Both have their flaws, but are widely supported online). If you want to get serious about the code side of things, look into a good HTML editor such as "Tag" with AutoComplete functions, and a nice CSS editor such as "CSSEdit".
All of this will set you back a few dollars, but it will increase your capabilities exponentially (especially whilst starting out). You should read up on CSS at alistapart.com especially, and learn some of what makes the web work.
 
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