My first url - now where to host it?

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sososowhat

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So I'm working with my daughters to set up a pet-oriented website for themseleves, their friends and eventually broader community. We just reserved "www.petsisters.com".

It looks like I can't use my .mac account with this url (am I right?).

Suggestions?

Things we'd like to do:
a) Discussion threads key'd off pictures of pets
b) Member log-in (like this site)
c) members to be able to send us their pictures & maintain their own blog-like areas
c) newsletter-like page with stories, etc.
d) email addresses: eg "julie@petsisters.com" for members


Things we don't need to do:
a) Sell stuff. This isn't for money.
b) Send spam

I've seen things like freeservers.com which seem to offer plenty of bandwidth/space for $6-10/month. Is this the way to go?

Also, is there a tool you'd recommend for building the site? Ideally, I'd like the girls to be doing much of their own design, but I'm here to help (yeah, right!) Is there such a thing as a mac-like style for a site & are there development tools/site templates one can use to get this?

I know - lots of questions, but I'd appreciate your thoughts.

-Alexi
 
I've been using XrackHosting for my sites, good options and a good price. Not to mention Bill and his team are very customer oriented, I always get a reply within an hour or so of sending them an e-mail...even at 3 in the morning....they must be vampires or something. If you pay a year in advance, I believe it comes out to $10/month. That includes generous amounts of bandwidth, 1 MySQL database, and PHP support...which you will need.

http://www.xrackhosting.com/machine.php?pid=shared_hosting

Oh, they're a Mac based host...getting ready to redo their systems with Panther and DP2ghz G5s, currently Jag and XServes...need I say more?


As far as the e-mail address thing, you'll probably have to use the catchall account they provide with a script system that distributes it through a webmail interface. It sounds bad, but is a cinch to do...just trust me on it. I looked at using that system for a Fire Department. It would allow each person to have their own mini website as well as email@yourdomain.???, etc. Basically a "Virtual Community".

I'll look around for the link, just be forewarned it had a 90$ one time fee, though there may be another free alternative out there. If I don;t get the link here in a day or two, drop me an email...been really busy and my mind is mush...think I could forget my own name sometimes.


As far as building it, maybe a content manager like Contribute or such would be in order. Once you get the basic design done, use that for changes/updates...that way no accidents could happen to anything other than text/content. If you need help with the design, there's more than enough of us here willing to help you out. Just ask or send us a e-mail.
 
Keep an eye out for some features... From the laundery list of things you mentioned, you're going to want to have access to some kind of database services, and it wold help to have that included in the package.

I think the most obvious solution is to look for the following.

Server type: Apache (if possible)
Database Services: MySQL
Scripting Service: PHP

This is a very common configuration. You'll need to brush up on your php/mysql if you want to have some kind of login administration etc. The good news is that this knowlege will help you make your site more powerful and expandable.

For example you could create a database of pets, then add, subtract or modify the pets in the current database. Then your site automatically reflects the database changes, without you having to build or modify more pages.

If you look for these services (PHP/MySQL) you can also look into pre-packaged solutions, like this site. vBulletin is a great solution for threads, picture galleries, etc. And it offers a number of customization options that already hold the functionality you're looking for.
 
Oh, and to answer your question, no, you cannot use your .mac with a domain that you purchased.

I've seen plenty of hosts out there that have the $8/month fee, but be careful doing so. Right now these companies are a dime a dozen. They are arriving and disappearing just as fast.

Also if something goes wrong, or if you want to transfer your domain, you're going to have a hard time getting technical support from those companies. Just be careful, and you might want to consider buying from a local host provider, perhaps your ISP will be able to hook you up with someone local.

You don't have to go local, of course, that's the very nature of the internet, but I've found that better service outweighs the $8/mo I'll be saving by going with a cheap-o host provider.
 
I've been using ICDSoft since May, I think. It's 5 bucks a month. 333MB webspace, 5 Gigs bandwidth, 999 Emails (Imap/pop/webmail), and all the goodies you can expect from a more expensive host (php, mysql, etc., etc.). Their network is great, and so is their customer support. ICDSoft is the best host I've ever had. I've tried at least three other PAID hosts. Give them a look-see: http://www.icdsoft.com/

If you decide to go for them, and feel like doing a good thing for me, let them know I sent you... they reward me somehow... can't remember how, though! The most important thing is to consider going with them... they are great at what they do.
 
I too use ICDSoft, but I find them to be just a bit on the slow side, possibly due to their physical location (Hong Kong, if I remember right.) It's enough to make me window shop for a new host, but I probably won't end up leaving them unless something really good comes along.

Everything else about ICDSoft seems top-notch, however, and their customer service is simply godly.
 
Everything else about ICDSoft seems top-notch, however, and their customer service is simply godly.
Click to expand...

You can say that again. Hadn't noticed the speed issue, though. Anybody who wants to see how big of an issue it is, visit my site and see for yourself. If phatcactus is right, then I just missed it...
 
I suggest you check out Google's directory listing of web hosts and look for those that support PHP and MySQL. Many are the cheap-o type that Evildan mentioned, but several will be around for a while, and most let you pay a small regular fee to get more goodies and get rid of ads. I'd say look for those with at least 50 MB.

After you find a reputable host you like, go to www.phpbb.com and download their software. Then install it on your new hosted site and configure to your heart's content. We'll be here to help you if you need anything else.
 
PHPBB won't do what he wants Arden...it's a Forum/BBS system, not a virtual community system.

**Ok Option**
http://www.photopost.com/featuresphp.html

Says it'll intergrate (authentication) with PHPBB, VBulletin, Invision, PHPNuke, etc. Those would give you the forums/bbs features on top of this program's features. I'd personally suggest PHPNuke, it's very popular and stable. Problem with this is no blog so to speak, though I'm sure there's a mod out there for PHPNuke, they're probably only for the site owner, not members.

What's your timeframe on this? I'm in the middle of work on something that might just do what you're looking for (CMS system) when coupled with the PhotoPostPHP software, but I just started on it. Intended to be for organizations, mainly Emergency Services (Fire/EMS/Police), but it could be used along other lines.




Some other ones:

**These two a bit advanced, more for developers**
http://siteframe.org/
http://www.liquidbytes.net/40.html

**Could work**
http://www.zackcoburn.com/software/zcs/
 
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