I need a website and I need help!

[Celebration]

I'm a novice at this. Is there some book that will walk me through all of this? Does anyone have any suggestions for web hosting? I will offer something for sale, but it will require people emailing me a picture, so I don't think I need ordering. I think I could just send a Paypal bill after they send me their picture. I'd like a pretty cheap site, but one that is reliable and doesn't load people up with adware things. I think I would want to register a name, as in www.aparticularname.com.

Honestly, I don't know the first thing about this, and need some sort of guide and any suggestions. I think I am resourceful enough to follow advice/instructions from a really good book, if anyone knows one.

I know I will need templates, etc. too, and probably lots of other stuff I don't even know about. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Ok, I can help.

First, you need a good hosting company. I have long been an advocate for Dreamhost and have used them exclusively for years. Everything about them is top-notch. Now, I am presently remediating a site for a sporting goods company. They were essentially abandoned by some shitstick who got the contract for $1500, was paid $750 up front, setup a pile of utter shit and split. Needless to say, I am under a deadline and untying a Gordian Knot, made only worse by the utter shittiness of their eCommerce component, Virtuemart. But I digress.

In any case, the site I am working on is hosted on Hostmonster and I must say I am impressed. Their servers are fast, good cPanel control panel that seems easy to use, lots of ways to eke a little more site performance out of the site. Prices seem reasonable as well.

As far as the website, itself, is concerned, I recommend Joomla. For mere mortals, it really is a good platform. A lot of hosting companies have Joomla as an auto-installation option, it has tons of add-ons that increase and extend functionality in just about any and every way imaginable, there is a component now that makes updating the Joomla software a one-click operation, easier than falling out of bed, there are SEO and SEF add-ons that really work...I can go on for hours. Templates(look and feel) can be purchased for a surprisingly low amount and a custom template can be gotten as well, although custom template work can run you between $295-1000, depending on a variety of things.

Joomla Administration is easy as pie, once you get the feel for the way it does things, too. The JCE "WYSIWYG"content editor is incredibly powerful but easy to use, like a good word processor that lets you edit HTML at code level.

I can help you get this together, but right now, I am busy with the sporting goods site, World News Trust and several projects therein, and I must schedule bowel movements several days in advance. I also charge for my time these days, as I do have some abilities that are worth something. That said, I don't cause bleeding. Let me know if you are interested.

[Celebration]

2. Thanks!

I was looking at Hostmonster, so that is helpful to know. I'll look into Joomla. I appreciate your help. Yes, you should charge for your time. Hopefully I can flesh through this, but you never know......

[Kind of Blue]

3. Hi, Itsjustme!

:hi: I'm going through the same thing, trying to come up with an art gallery site. What I'm trying to do is learn html because no template I've found matches what I have in mind, and I'm just tired of searching.

I found this interactive site, if you're interested in learning html step-by-step - http://visualtutorials.com. http://visualtutorials.com/site-map.htm is there incredible site map with everything you'd need to learn. I found Visual Tutorials at http://mashable.com/2008/06/12/web-design-tutorials/ listing 10 video tutorials for learning web design. Haven't checked out all 10 yet because Visual Tutorials has captured my attention.

Also, I've found DU Groups » Personal Interests » Website, DB, & Software Developers Group. Haven't asked any questions yet but comforing to knowing it's there.

Good luck to us! :)

[Old Codger]

4. Hosting site

Take a look at http://www.bluehost.com/ too, I have been there for years and have no problems whatsoever.