Web site start-up
 

I want to create a website, and I know how to get a domain and everything, but I don't know where to go from there.
I just want to play around with the Idea to get used to it, but i have no idea where to start :(. Eventually I will be doing a major overhaul to our teams website, but right now I know nothing about it so I am trying to gain experience!

Do you guys know where to go next?

Thanks for your help!!

Re: Web site start-up
 

First you need to figure out what the website will contain. It could be about anything....mine somehow started out as The Selectric Typewriter Museum, and now has all kinds of wierd stuff.

Then start writing, adding photos or whatever to make it interesting.

Have fun! you'll learn a lot...

Re: Web site start-up
 

If you don't already have software, download NVU It's easy and free.

Check out this thread from WebmasterWorld Lost of great info there.

Re: Web site start-up
 

Well I have a basic Idea of what it will contain. I am thinking of a progress page for a small robot i am working on designing.

That link you gave was very helpful!! The problem I have is that i dont know where to go to start. Do I need a server? Or how do I design it, and what program to use? those kind of things.

do you guys recommend Microsoft visual web developer?

I will explore that site you gave!!

Re: Web site start-up
 

How about just starting a blog at a site like Wordpress.com or Blogspot.com. You could easily accomplish what you are trying to do, unless the intent is to learn how to build the website with things like PHP, or ASP.Net, or some other development language.

Re: Web site start-up
 

Ya I intend to learn how to build sites from scratch through things like PHP... I have looked into blogspot.com sort of things, and they dont look as fun as it would be to create it from scratch :p (and what do you learn from just using someone elses site??)

Re: Web site start-up
 

For team 1323's website, we use dreamweaver. I myself like dreamweaver because you don't have to fully know html. As long as you know some your fine. But for us, we get free stuff due to the fact that our school buys a ton of Autodesk and Adobe products.

If you have any questions IM or PM.

Re: Web site start-up
 

No. The Microsoft products are geared to their technologies, asp,.net.

There are many freebie webhosts or you can opt for a low cost one. I suggest the low cost route (site5 , 1&1, Godaddy)
You will have issues pointing a domain name to a freebie site.
Get a linux/apache package with cpanel. Stay away from a windows server.

Re: Web site start-up
 

John, I have to disagree with you, while I think Linux servers are wonderful Microsoft servers are also quite handy if you know how to set them up. Where I work we have servers that have not had a minute of unscheduled down time in a year. When we do have downtime it is mostly for upgrades (hardware and software) and those times are known over a month in advance.

My suggestion, before paying for a server use XAMP (google it) to test out your code on a local machine. Depending on what language you want to do I would suggest different software. If you want to use .Net Visual Studio is the recommended app. For PHP development I would recommend notepad++ (or your code editor of choice) As for HTML development, notepad++ again is my developer of choice on Windows. On OS X I use Textmate for all HTML/PHP development.

Only once you have learned the basic skills would I rent space on a server and buy a domain name. No point to be paying for it to be sitting out there unused.

Re: Web site start-up
 

A good starting place for html coding is the w3 schools

Even if Andrew and I disagree, there are many options out there.

How is the current team site hosted? I am sure they could set up a directory for you. You would be learning in the environment you are working toward.

hth

Re: Web site start-up
 

John is right there are many options out there, it depends on your needs. First step when choosing a server is figuring those out.

Of course, w3schools, how could I forget. They also have tutorials on PHP, best resource for references however is php.net.

Re: Web site start-up
 

Actually, Microsoft Web 2.0 is the program you want to use. You can get Expression Studio for free if you are high school or college student.

Re: Web site start-up
 

If you just want to make a progress page for a small robot, then you can do just about anything....the software you use should be the software you want to use on a larger project.

You can use very simple html tags with a text editor like notepad to make a simple web page.

I agree that putting it on the existing team host is a great idea, it won't cost you anything and will force you to learn how to work with that host.

Re: Web site start-up
 

for non-coding cms try dotnetnuke and drupal......and just google search cms.....

Re: Web site start-up
 

I'm developing our new team site in an Ubuntu 9.04 Server setup with mod-wsgi & python on Django framework. Though, where you should start in order to learn is through basic semantics of HTML, and then learn basic PHP. Once you grasp solid understanding (note: not knowledge) of PHP, you should be able to crank some cool stuff out with documentation handy. Check out tizag.com and W3's website.