Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

lympero

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 1, 2008
865
560
Arta, Greece
Hello
My wife owns a D.I.Y store in Greece and I want to make a website. I'm currently learning HTML , CSS, JavaScript etc and I have finished my basic setup. How and where can I publish it? Do I have to buy an address?
Give me some ideas cause I'm new to this stuff and I m stuck!
Thanks
 

Albright

macrumors regular
Aug 23, 2011
130
299
You probably want to purchase two things: a web hosting account and a domain name. The web hosting account is the place where you upload your web page files to be served to the internet; the domain name is an address (like mywifesdiyshop.com.gr) which will point to your hosting account. Often, hosting companies will offer domain name registry as a side service, or vice versa (domain name registrars offer hosting as a side service), so you may be able to get both from the same service. There are many different types of hosting accounts, but if your site is relatively small and simple and won't be getting truckloads of traffic, the simplest and least expensive hosting plans, called shared hosting plans, should serve you just fine.

Everyone has their own favorite registrars and hosting companies, and so do I, but I'll spare you mine. I will offer these two bits of advice, though: One, you often really do get what you pay for in terms of service, so don't just consider the price tag when considering services. Particularly be aware of services which promise "unlimited" disk space and/or bandwidth as part of their plans; usually this just means "unlimited until we arbitrarily decide you're using too much and cut you off." Secondly, since your wife's shop will presumably be targeting a local audience, your best bet would be a hosting service which operates right there out of Greece. That way, people from Greece trying to access the site will experience the fastest response times from the server.
 

lympero

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 1, 2008
865
560
Arta, Greece
You probably want to purchase two things: a web hosting account and a domain name. The web hosting account is the place where you upload your web page files to be served to the internet; the domain name is an address (like mywifesdiyshop.com.gr) which will point to your hosting account. Often, hosting companies will offer domain name registry as a side service, or vice versa (domain name registrars offer hosting as a side service), so you may be able to get both from the same service. There are many different types of hosting accounts, but if your site is relatively small and simple and won't be getting truckloads of traffic, the simplest and least expensive hosting plans, called shared hosting plans, should serve you just fine.

Everyone has their own favorite registrars and hosting companies, and so do I, but I'll spare you mine. I will offer these two bits of advice, though: One, you often really do get what you pay for in terms of service, so don't just consider the price tag when considering services. Particularly be aware of services which promise "unlimited" disk space and/or bandwidth as part of their plans; usually this just means "unlimited until we arbitrarily decide you're using too much and cut you off." Secondly, since your wife's shop will presumably be targeting a local audience, your best bet would be a hosting service which operates right there out of Greece. That way, people from Greece trying to access the site will experience the fastest response times from the server.

Thx a lot! Very helpful!
 

manueld

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2009
257
3
One thing also to consider is to register with one company and host with another. The train of thought for this is if you host and register with the company and any issues arise, there has been mention of companies that held their domain name and site hostage. Something to just keep in mind.
 

blueroom

macrumors 603
Feb 15, 2009
6,381
26
Toronto, Canada
Might be too late now but did you consider a Wordpress site & host?

It's easy to maintain and use plus is highly configurable. My blog runs on Wordpress I'm hosting myself.
 

kurzz

macrumors 6502
May 18, 2007
391
28
And BACKUP! For the love of science, back up your entire site.

Don't rely on a hosting company to keep your only copy. If you have a backup, you can easily move it to another company with little effort. If you have access to Cpanel, for example, use the backup tool to make a copy of your site and download it. Novices often forget how easy it is for a hosting provider to suspend, close, or lose your site.

----------

One thing also to consider is to register with one company and host with another. The train of thought for this is if you host and register with the company and any issues arise, there has been mention of companies that held their domain name and site hostage. Something to just keep in mind.

Absolutely a smart advice here! In other words, don't put all your eggs in the same basket.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.