If I wanted to build a homepage....

[shotglass]

where would I start? Questions like where to host, options I will need, things I might need to learn, do they allow you to link images (like Geoshitties won't) and so on and so forth.

How much time does something like this take? Just curious and thinking I might want to try it to give me somewhere to sound off and post stupid pictures I have PS'ed that no one else will touch.... http://bushwhacked.net/ubb/smile.gif

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St. Louis Rams...the greatest show on turf.

[Barb101]

Oh my what a question, got a few days??! lol First off, do you know HTML? Are you just looking for a place to host images? My host Horrorseek has 50 megs with no bandwidth limits, but it has to be something of a horror nature. I get away with my Osama site being there because it looks scary & I've put a few freaky animations up. Bravenet allows image linking now with a little trouble. Anglefire and Geoshitties, like you said, doesn't allow it. If you get a Homestead preview account your allowed 8 megs with outside linking. I link some of my images from there but they are difficult to understand to newbies and they also SUCK! But with them you don't necessarily have to have a site put up. Just upload your images and link them.

[JBMoney]

The very first thing to do is determine exactly what you want to do. If you're going to make a full-fledged site, an outline for the site should be in writing before you even start (navigation, presumed content, expected frequency of updating, etc.) This will be a great help to you as you start designing, laying out pages, and deciding what you need in a host.

Regardless of what you want to do, you should learn basic HTML. Buy a book, like an O'Reilly HTML book. HTML alone won't help you make a site like Bressler.org, but it's adequate for the average personal page that will not necessarily have daily updates. You may also want to learn some Javascript, or just steal code from a site when you like something in particular.

If you plan on frequent updating, HTML will eventually wear you out. In which case, you will either need to learn some scripting languages like PHP, ASP, VB, CGI, etc, OR... try a relatively 'user friendly' content management package like:
PHP-Nuke: http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/5947.html
NewsPro: http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/52.html

Another option is a Microsoft Front Page site. A good option for a beginner.

Bressler.org has a content management system, but it's custom made with ASP, on a SQL server database.


Hosting:
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If your ISP doesn't already give you a free place to host a small site, you can find a basic hosting package for probably $10 a month. Or you could use a free host, which will have tons of restrictions and if you ever move beyond it, could bite you in the ass (Barb should know).

Any host will have 'Terms of Service". You need to read those very carefully.

Things to look for in a host are:

Traffic - A combination of uploading and downloading allowed, usually expressed in GB. A basic sight might allow 3-5 GB traffic. This might further be restricted if your site is mostly image or sound files.

Storage: How much space your allowed on their server, usually experessed in MB. A basic site might allow you 5-20MB.

Type of Server - UNIX/LINUX/ETC. or WINDOWS. For what you are thinking of, UNIX/ETC. is probably the most convenient and flexible, and it's usually cheaper.

Content Restrictions - Read the TOS. I don't know what "stupid pictures I have PS'ed that no one else will touch" means, but almost every host will address this in the TOS. Some follow it tightly, some don't.

Available Services - What you look for here depends on how you plan to run your site. If you run the site with Front Page, you need to make sure you have Front Page Server extensions installed. If using Cold Fusion then you need that, or mySQL, PHP, etc. Most UNIX/ETC. servers have all the popular server technologies available for their sites.


TIME
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Depends on the site and you. You can just through something up, add a few links/pictures once in a great while and not really worry about it.

Or you can have a huge monstrosity updated daily with links, multimedia, message board, etc. which will eventually consume your entire life. http://bushwhacked.net/ubb/wink.gif

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If you just want a place to post some pictures and whatnot, we could open a Shotglass's Corner somewhere around here. I'm game. I've seen some boards where members basically have their own thread and keep a pseudo-diary (graphic or otherwise).

[shotglass]

Thanks for the help, JB and Barb. I am still considering what I would want to do. I guess it would be about 4 main pages, Life (in my case, lack of), stupid people I meet on jobs, making fun of things I don't understand, and a page or 2 of pictures.

As I said, no one will want to be associated with some of what I want to do, (like a picture thread, What's Bill Clinton up to now?),others would be pix for other boards that have PS this threads. Etc etc etc. Updating will be infrequent, as I am starting a nwe job soon that I expect to keep me very busy. This whole idea may get pushed back for a while, only time will tell.

I know no programming stuff, I could learn it, but I don't know how long that would take even for something easier like html. I'll start with the ideas here, though, and try to get an outline. Then check out some other sites and see what ideas I can steal http://bushwhacked.net/ubb/wink.gif

BTW, JB, how much traffic do you get on an average day?

[JBMoney]

Things have slowed down a bit, but it's at a comfortable level.

From late September to probably December it was running at about 2000 uniques a day just for the main site, probably around 5000 or more page views. Sometimes it was over 4000 uniques a day.

December slowed down a bit as it ALWAYS does.

Right now it's probably about 700-1000 uniques a day (3000 page views).

None of that is counting the message board. That's probably pretty good for a personal site that doesn't have any 'nekidness' or 'cam girls'.

[This message has been edited by JBMoney (edited 02-09-2002).]

[shotglass]

How 'bout starting a nekkid cam girls thread?