Webmaster Guides & Tutorials
Before starting a Website you need to get prepared and assemble the necessary tools and skills. There is very little required to start building a Website, if you have your own personal computer, then you probably have the necessary tools already. If not most of the tools can be obtained for free on the Internet.
When starting a website there is no need to spend huge sums of money purchasing expensive web design software packages or web server space. You need to start small and build.
As you start building your Website you will gain experience and your requirements will change, you may then decide that you need to buy a web design package or rent web space, but by then you will be in a better position to evaluate the products.
Here is a list of tools and skills that you need to start:
- Access to a personal computer.
- Access to the internet.
- Basic computer skills Ability to create simple documents like letters using a word processor (Microsoft Word etc).
- A Web page or HTML editor .
- A place on the world wide web to publish your pages.- A Website
What is a Website
Websites are simply folders (directories) stored on a web server. If you have an account with an ISP (Internet Service Provider) then you already have your own Website as almost all ISP's provide limited free web space as part of their package.
This free web space is ideal for starting your Website and gaining experience and I recommend you use this at the start before purchasing web space. It can also be used for your website (personal/hobby) and this is covered in making a free website (below).
In reality you don't need a website on the Internet until the very last stages and I would strongly advise you against registering a domain name and purchasing web space until you are very happy with the basics. By this I mean that you are able to construct simple pages containing images and tables and link the pages together.
Many websites recommend that you purchase a domain name and web space very quickly. Most people who do this then go on to abandon their project as they struggle to get to grips with HTML, Web pages editing etc. My approach is to to carefully plan it first and build the necessary technical knowledge and then when you are ready to go ahead and purchase what you need.
Making a free Website
Making a free Website is possible! In fact most of the tutorials and articles on this site use free resources like Trellian WebPage editor. There are many components involved in making a website and in order to make a free Website then each of these components must, obviously, be free.
Here we will look at each of these components in turn and particularly at any problems that may arise when making a website using free components and tools.
Making a Free Website -The Components
There are five main ingredients or components to making a free website:
- Time and Commitment
- Free Website Domain Name
- Free Website hosting
- Free Website building tools
- Free Website Promotion
Time and Commitment
Making a Website, free or otherwise, requires a substantial investment in your time and energy. Everything has a cost whether in money terms or in terms of time. Nothing in life is entirely free.
You will find that making a free website will cost you more time and require a greater commitment than a simply buying a pre-packaged Website. In general the lower the cost the more work is involved on your part and the higher the cost the more work has already been done for you.
Free Website Domain Name
Every website requires a domain name. If you want a free domain name then you are limited to a domain name provided by your ISP (Internet service Provider) or your hosting provider. In either case your domain name will have a form similar to this www.isp.com/yourname , or www.yourname.isp.com . Because of this free domain names are unsuitable for a business and should only be used for personal websites.
Domain names aren't expensive and if you want an almost free website then consider purchasing your own domain. Low cost domain names are available from.
Free Website hosting
There a many free web hosting providers available on the Internet. The two main sources of free Website hosting are:
ISP Web space
An ISP (Internet Service Provider ) is the company that you use to access the Internet in the UK BT, Onetel , Tiscalli and FreeServe are some of the well know ones. Almost all ISPs offer free Web space (10-50MB) with your monthly subscription the domain name is a sub domain of the ISP and looks either like yourname.ISPdomain.com or www.ISPdomain.com/yourname .
They don't usually have banner ads like the free Web hosting providers and so are more suitable for clubs and private use. They offer limited service depth and tend to be limited to standard Web pages and perhaps a few standard scripts, however this doesn't need to be a problem as there are many websites that offer these.
The none personalised domain name is usually the main limitation but it can be overcome using the technique of Website forwarding:
Website or Domain Forwarding
Domain forwarding is also known as :
- Website Forwarding ,aliasing or redirection
- URL redirection or forwarding
- omain redirection
It is deployed normally when you have an existing Website provided on an ISP server or free hosting provider which is reachable on a non personalised Domain name i.e. www.ISP.com/yourname or www.yourname.isp.com .
You want to have a personalised Domain name and so you purchase the Domain name and associate the new domain name with the existing Website. As an example let's assume that we have an existing Website provided on our ISP's server that is reachable using the domain name www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub . You purchase a new Domain name called www.Therunningclub.co.uk . You now forward all requests to domain www.Therunningclub.co.uk to www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub .The original Website is then reachable as www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub or www.Therunningclub.co.uk .
There are several ways of accomplishing this domain or website forwarding; they differ in what the user sees in the browser address window after he has been redirected. The 3 most common ways are:
1. Free Web Redirection
This is sponsored by PopUp banners. When you use Free Web Redirection your domain name will not remain in the browser's address window and real URL such as www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub will appear in the browser's address window and a popup(s) will appear.
2. Simple Web Redirection (SWR)
This is similar to Free Web Redirection, but with no banners or PopUp windows. Your domain name will not remain in the browser's address window and real URL such as www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub will appear in the browser's address window.
For example, the domain name www.Therunningclub.co.uk is re-directed to URL www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub , and the destination URL, www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub , appears in the browser window.
3. Framed or Cloaked Web Redirection
Framed Forwarding allows the visitor to the site to always see your domain name in the browser address bar and not the redirected URL . A master 'frame' is used to pull other pages into it. Your Website will look professional and high profile, without incurring the cost of regular Website hosting.
For example, the domain name www.Therunningclub.co.uk is re-directed to URL: www.onetel.net.uk/Therunningclub; however www.Therunningclub.co.uk remains in the browser's address window.
NOTE: If you use Framed Web Redirection your domain name will appear throughout your Website no matter what link you click on. If you wish to link to a site that is external to yours and would like the address bar to change accordingly use the TARGET=" _top" parameter to break out of the frame when you specify your link. For example
<a href="http://www.partnerssite.com" target="_top">
and not
<a href="http://www.partnerssite.com">
Advantages of Domain or Website Forwarding
- You can make use of an existing or free Website, and is therefore very inexpensive.
- It overcomes limitation of free or ISP provided Web space of non personalised Domain Names.
- You only need to register the domain name .
- Multiple Domain names can be forwarded/redirected to the same Physical Website. That is you could register the following domain names www.BYO1.co.uk , www.BYO1.com . www.BYO1.net , www.BYO1.org and forward/redirect them all to one Website i.e. www.BYO1.com.
Disadvantages of Website redirection
- Search engines may not be able to index your Website properly. This depends on the how Domain forwarding has been implemented.
- If you follow a link from your site to an external Website your domain name will still show in the address bar rather than the domain of the site you have now moved on to. -This depends on how it is configured.
- You cannot always bookmark a page in your Website as www.Therunningclub.co.uk/page.html as it is only the domain name that shows in the address bar window.- This again depends on how the redirection is implemented.
Free Website Host
Website hosting can be obtained free of cost from a variety of sources such as Yahoo!. The user does not pay for service because it is usually subsidised by banner advertising. Because such sites do not charge, they offer limited service depth and quality of service. For example, many free services do not provide personalised domain names i.e. www.yourdomain.com . This limitation can however be overcome using the technique of Website forwarding.
Finding a free Website Host
To find a free website hosting provider just go to your favourite search engine and search for "free website hosting". Here are some excellent resources to help:
Free Online File Storage Directory of more than 30 virtual disk space / file storage and sharing providers with detailed descriptions.
Free Web Hosting - The complete guide to free web hosting providers with reviews of offered services, including free PHP hosting, free ASP hosting, free Domain hosting, No Ads free hosting providers and more.
You may also find the articles on the pros and cons of free web hosting at this thefreecountry.com site useful.
Beware free hosts!
Some free hosting providers require that you transfer your domain name (if you have one ) to them. You should be very wary of this as it could potentially prove expensive.
Free Website Making tools
Online Website Making/BuildingTools
It has become popular to offer on-line Web page building tools where you use your web Browser to Make Web Pages and indeed the entire site. This facility is not usually available for free Websites and so is not discussed here.
Offline Website making/Building Tools
A Website can be made using very simple text editing tools like notepad. However the simpler the tool you use then the more knowledge you need. See Web Page and HTML editors for more details.
Free Website Promotion
There a many tools available on Internet the most popular probably being Web Position Gold. These tools help you create optimised pages and also do automatic submission and tracking etc It is possible to accomplish the same thing manually and hence free, it just requires time and effort.
As far as simple Website submission is concerned you shouldn't and need not buy any tools for this and certainly nothing that promises to submit your website to thousands of search engines . Here is a list of free search engines and directories I have submitted to:
Search engine Submission Pages
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
http://search.msn.co.uk/docs/submit.aspx
http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request
http://www.exactseek.com/addurl
http://www.gigablast.com/addurl
http://www.entireweb.com/addurl?page=basic
http://www.tryamerica.com/AddURL.htm
General Directory links
http://ww.zeal.com
http://www.dmoz.org/
http://www.splut.com/
http://www.uk-web-index.co.uk/cgi/links/add.cgi
http://dir.velnet.co.uk/
http://www.uk.go4.it/listing.asp
http://www.cdnet.com/cgi-bin/hyperseek/add_url_list.cgi
http://webguide.webmagic.com/cgi-bin/links-sql/add.cgi
http://www.quicknetguide.com
Other Directory links - these may require a reciprocal link
Web Surfer's Tutorials
- Beginners Central [http://northernwebs.com/] - Beginners Central is an online tutorial offering step by step instruction to the new internet user.
- Internet for Beginners - Resources for Internet beginners including; How-to's, definitions, reviews, chat room, bulletin board & more.
- Learn The Net - A beginners guide to learning the net including; the basics, surfing, email, downloading files, newsgroups, multimedia and more.
- Net Dictionary - Over 400 definitions of words drawn from Standard Internet English including technical terms, hacker slang, and acronyms.
- Streaming Media World - Streaming Media World features comprehensive news, tools, tutorials, resource links, and discussion forums for Webmasters who are developing and managing Internet multimedia content.
- Tile.net - The Comprehensive Internet Reference - Discussion & Information Lists on the Internet, Usenet Newsgroups, FTP sites, Computer Products Vendors & Internet & Web Design Companies.
Web Page Hosting Guides
- HostPulse.com - A website solely devoted to Internet users who wish to find web hosting services and resources. Research the top 25 hosts, search for hosts by price, platform and disk space and learn Web hosting terminology.
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