We have set up a domain and integrated it with hosting account. Now the time has come that we check if everything has gone by our plans.

Step 1

Type in the domain name name you registered in the address bar of your browser. Press enter and wait for your page to load. It shouldn’t too long as the site has nothing to show, or in other words its empty.  You will probably see a page with the directory listing of your home folder, i.e., public_html or htdocs.

Troubleshoot

I see a page which says ‘You account has been created’ or something similar instead the directory listing.

This is nothing unusual. Hosts usually create an index page by default. You don’t need and will have to delete it later.

My site doesn’t load at all. My damn browser shows a server timeout.

There can be a lot reasons to this. Lets discuss the common ones.

1. Make sure your domain properly configed. Just check whether the nameservers you entered are correct or not.
2. It may take up to 24 or 48 or 72 hours, depending on your host, for you domain to propagate.  You domain might not have propagated. You might have to wait for few more hours.
3. Your cache memory still has the old values for your domain. Clear the cache and you’ll have your site working.

Step-2

Now the time has come to create our first personalized homepage (for testing).

Log on to your hosting account’s panel and find for something like ‘File manager’ and go to root folder (public_html on Linux servers or htdocs on windows servers). In this file you need to create a new file by the name of ‘index.html’. If a file named ‘index.html’ or ‘index.php’ or any index file already exists, you have to delete it first before creating the new one.

Once created open the file so that we add some stuff to it. I’ll say just type in a warm welcome for yourself, something like “Welcome to your site.” !!

Go open your website in an another window and you’ll see your message. So that means you are done with with testing.

Now we are through with the testing which means we can soon go live to a wider audience.

In the real world, you got a name, an address, in short, a unique identity. Similarly, in the virtual world you would also need an identity…. Something which is unique and represents you and your website… Something which like your name or address… Something which is a DOMAIN. Yeah! that’s the most convenient way to reach a website.

What is actually a DOMAIN?

A DOMAIN is an identification tag for a website. You have surely seen something like domain.com ( eg. divyun.com). Well, that is what’s exactly called a domain name. Its like a camouflage for the IP address (you know long sets of numbers like 192.0.0.1) which are the real addresses of your site and hard to remember. They are an excellent solution to those long IPs.

Advantages:

1. Easier to remember than their parent IP addresses.

2. Something that reflects you. This is really not possible with the numbers.

3. Ability to choose something unique where the IPs are just assigned to you.

4. Makes it easier for the search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. to index them. Searching through IPs would really make a search engine a mess. Just give it thought, you search for the keyword ‘Webmaster’ and what you get is 123.056.042.999(random IP, might belong to someone) or something like that.

In todays scenario, I don’t think many webmasters actually even remember the actual IP of their websites. Well, that’s the case with me too…..

The DOMAIN diagram

At the top of the table are the TLDs(Top level domains). These include your .com, .net, .org, etc. Along with the TLDs there are ccTLDs which are Country Code Top Level Domains. These belong to a specific country. Like .in belongs to India, .us to United States, .uk to the United Kingdom, etc.

Here is the list of all TLDs and ccTLDs @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains.

Now second in the list comes the second level domain and that’s what we are usually meant to register.

A regular domain or Second level domain consists of two parts:

1. The domain name

2. The domain Extension

The Domain Name

That’s the innovative part of your domain because this can be simply anything. Here, you have freedom to choose from a variety of keywords from dictionary words to self-created.

The Domain Extension

Domain extension is actually the TLD or ccTLD you register under preceded with a .(dot). Like yourname.com, domain.in, etc.

Domains may even be a third level. Some examples are co.uk, co.in, etc. These work just like a TLD. And they are usually cheaper than their corresponding TLD or ccTLD.

Registering a domain name

Registering domain name is no big deal but there is more to it. You’ll find it out as we proceed.

First of all, you need to think about a proper label for your domain. Well this could anything as stated above but there are some restrictions:

1. No special characters are allowed in you domain name except -(hyphen)

2. When including a hyphen, your domain name con not begin or end with a hyphen. like -domain.com or domain-.com

3. Maximum length of your domain name can be up to 63 characters or so as mentioned by most hosts.

Problems you are likely to face while choosing a domain

Most of the times the domain you’ll be thinking of would have been already taken. As far as I know, all the one, two and three letter domains are already taken for most of the TLDs so you better not try for that. most of the dictionary words have also been registered already so you really need to think hard about the name you’ll want to register.

Dos and don’ts while choosing a domain name

1. See to it that your domain name is not too long.

2. Your domain name should be easier to remember. asdasfaxv.com is quite hard to remember isn’t it?

3. Your domain should have relation with your site. Nobody goes to table.com for information about satellites.

4. Try not include a hyphen in your domain name. They make your domain name to harder to remember.

Choosing the appropriate domain extension

.coms are the most popular TLDs. Most of the people would prefer a .com to any other domain extension. But with not many good .coms left to register, other extensions are gaining popularity. I’ll say if can get a .com the it would be the best otherwise go for anything like a .net, .info, .org  or even a country domain.

Now the, SECOND step is to find a domain registrar. I’ll say go with name.com. There services are the best ones around. Alternately you can go with Godaddy, 1and1domains or search for one on any search engine. A .com usually costs around $9 or so. Their prices vary with the domain registrars and time.

Most of the domain registrars are user friendly and the domain registration is smooth. But remember to preserve the information you get, mails you get from your registrar. You may require them later.

Do I need a domain now?

Well, actually you really don’t need to buy a domain at this point of the tutorial as you still are in the process of learning.

The Alternative

A free alternative to a TLD is co.cc. What you’ll actually get will be a sub-domain but it will work exactly like TLD.

Register one here.

Thanks for reading the whole of it. This tutorial is the part my ‘Getting Started’ series. I am sorry for any typos you might encounter and I am always open to healthy suggestions.

Next chapter will include on how to set up a domain and integrate it with your hosting account.

Signing off

DRV

(Divyun Raje Vaid)

What we were talking about was where to get hosting from and I hope you might be through with an account by now. In case, you are not, just leave a message (as a comment) and I will try to help.

You should have received the welcome mail with your hosting details. It should include the following:

1. Your account details

These include you user name and password.

2. Site details

Your site’s domain name (should be a sub domain provided by the host/domain you signed up with) and cpanel’s address.

3. Server details

These should include name servers and might include shared ip address.

You will need the server details later once you’ll get your domain name. But if the host asks for a domain name at signup, get a co.cc domain from http://co.cc.

Getting familiar with your working conditions

Once you have an account,you should get thorough with the control panel. Just wander around,click on random links, to get familiar with your control panel. You will generally find short instructions coming up for your help once you navigate to any page.

Site Initialization

Navigate to the file manager and find you main root folder its generally public_html or ht docs (depends on the service ). Now use, ‘create a new’ file option to create new html document with file ‘ index.html ‘ (don’t use any other name for this time ). For the content go for anything like ‘hello world ! Welcome to my new site’.

Now you are surely through with the hosting so now you need to learn how to set up stuff on it like blogs, forums, etc.

Next chapter will help you learn about setting up domains.

DRV

TIME TO GET HOSTED

Part-1

Well,  other tutorials might suggest you to a create a site and then host it afterwards but I find the following sequence better. As a beginner, making a fast online presence is quite important.

I don’t agree with the idea of launching a site on a particular day or put count downs. I have tried this and believe me , it just wont work. No one’s interested in your site till you really got some viewable stuff on it.

You should get started from the first day itself. Behave a little shameless and invite people to your site ignoring how bad it looks. Constant diligent hard work, maintenance  and promotion is what’s needed for a brand new site.

And now back to topic.

What is meant by hosting??

A web server is expensive and needs a lot of maintenance which, in turn, means more money and time. So we need an alternative and that’s where web space/hosting comes into play.

Hosting is a popular keyword widely used among webmasters. It generally stands for a little space on a web server which allows your files to be viewed on internet using a web browser(eg. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc.).

A browser connects to the web server and displays the files user has asked for. So the first thing is to arrange for web space.

Where to get hosting from??

Just like a web server, hosting might sound to be a costly affair. But the truth is that there are loads of hosts providing web space for free. Though, they lack in a few essentials services you might need later. But for now they would do.

My host suggestions/tips:

Go with http://byethost.org. I think they should be highly suited for our purpose.

Or else.. Google’s always there for you. Search for keywords like ‘free host’, ‘free hosting’, ‘free web space’, etc. and you’ll find thousands of them. Keeping searching till you find something which suits your requirements best.

….Continued in part 2.

Originally posted on 12 February 2009

THE BASICS – Part 2

This the 2nd part of the Chapter 2 of the tutorial series, I started long ago! Let’s get started.
From where we left was the functionality that the scripting languages provide.
Now in Part 2, we will discuss about the following:
1. Site traffic
2. Search Engines and other traffic sources
3. Optimizing your site

Site Traffic

Like you need automobiles on the road, the same way you need visitors or readers on your site. Amount to people visiting your website is usually referred to as site’s traffic. Actually, the motto of a site is to spread awareness about something. As the time will pass you’ll come to know that getting traffic to your site is the toughest job for a webmaster.

Search Engines And Other Traffic Sources

Traffic coming to your site needs to come from somewhere. There is very little probability that somebody, unknowingly, will directly type in your site’s domain name and reach to your site.
Some sources we will discuss in detail in the following chapters:
1. Search engines
2. Mouth to mouth advertising
3. Social networking
4. Blog commenting
5. Forum postings, etc.
Don’t think too hard, you’ll be familiar with these terms by the end of the tutorials.

Optimization of your site

Optimizing your site involves matching the current standards of the web. Making it compatible to various browsers, search engines, etc. And this what’s gonna help you build traffic.
Detailed info of all the topics will be in the upcoming chapters.

Originally posted on 26 Nov 2008

THE BASICS – Part 1

Introduction

This chapter will make you familiar with a few terms which constitute the basic knowledge required for creating or getting started with websites.

Part 1 will include the discussion about the following terms:

1. Web Hosting

2. Domains

3. Web Pages

4. Scripting languages

Hosting

What is meant by web hosting?

Web hosting allows you to make your site available to anyone using internet. Your website can’t accessed without being hosted on a web server.

Kinds Of Hosting

1. Free Hosting – Hosting on a shared server(i.e. many sites on one server) with all the basic features. This is what you should prefer when starting.

2. Paid Hosting

1. Shared Hosting – Similar to free hosting but may have advanced features.

2. Dedicated Server – A server dedicated to your sites, you get a server on lease and you may use it to your own wish but under some conditions.

3. VPS (Virtual Private Server) – Its like a virtual dedicated server on a big server.

We’ll discuss about “how to use” in the following chapters.

Domain Names

Domain names are a specific identity or address to your website. How do they work? We’ll discuss this in the following chapters.

Web Pages

It is a document which is suitable for the internet can be accessed through a web browser when hosted on a web server. They are generally created using html and css.

Scripting Languages

These kind of languages are used to add functionality to web page. They help you create dynamic sites.

What are dynamic sites?

Using only html would create sites which will be static, ie. there will be no changes in your web page unless you do them manually. When dealing with dynamic sites, you can modify pages or part of pages using a scripting language in a single click. You see tags plugin in the sidebar of this site, it updates as soon as I post an article.

Hope you got what dynamic means.

Scripting languages offer high functionality

You should have seen some web sites which allow to register, login , logout, etc. and that is what I mean by functionality.

Continued in Part 2 . . . . . . .