New to this 'Hosting' quandry [Archive]

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 10:39 AM

Hi to you all,

I've recently finished my first site for a paying customer and been looking at some UK hosts:
justhostuk/
supergreenuk/

plus this non-UK one:
hostgator/
which was highly reccomended on IronSpider no less(great site):cool:

as it won't be my website how should i approach this?.
should i join up and host his site and get him to pay me
the monthly payments? i'm a bit confused.
basically when i make a site 4 a client how should i organise the hosting
and the domain name?
should he manage his own site or me? as i don't have a website or host of
my own yet.
if it's him who signs up how will i organise getting the pages i designed
online via his host?

many questions i know but thanks

Gertrude.

speed

01-19-2010, 11:21 AM

as it won't be my website how should i approach this?.
should i join up and host his site and get him to pay me
the monthly payments? i'm a bit confused.

With one client you can rent server space and then resell the hosting to your client, however make sure you're compliant with the terms of service of your chosen host. There's nothing worse than having the hosting shutdown for breach of terms and you being left to explain to the client.

basically when i make a site 4 a client how should i organise the hosting
Rather than sign up for a standard hosting account, sign up for a reseller account that way you get a chunk of space and bandwidth on the server which you can divide up as you please by creating accounts for each one of your clients.

As you control what each client gets you can customise the plans to their requirements.

and the domain name?

Either have the client register the domain name or register the domain name IN THE CLIENTS NAME so that they are the legal owner.

Some hosts offering reseller plans offer free billing software, e.g. we offer clientexec to our resellers, this allows you to pretty much automate the sign up, hosting account creation and the selling of domain names. You use a service such as OpenSRS to resell domain names.

should he manage his own site or me? as i don't have a website or host of
my own yet.
Your choice, you could offer to manage it for a fee which could include some number of hours per month where you'd do updates to the site.

if it's him who signs up how will i organise getting the pages i designed
online via his host?
He will need to provide you with the control panel and FTP login information then you can connect and up load the files, configure databases and so on.

many questions i know but thanks
If you don't ask you'll never find out about things, if there's other questions or I've not been clear please ask away :)

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 01:41 PM

nice one 'speed'

by name and by nature obviously mate. you've answered just about everything extremely loud and clearly and in black and white.:cool:

Rather than sign up for a standard hosting account, sign up for a reseller account that way you get a chunk of space and bandwidth on the server which you can divide up as you please by creating accounts for each one of your clients.

As you control what each client gets you can customise the plans to their requirements.

i guess it's up to me now which route i take although the reselling thing sounds enterprising, i'm not particularly business minded as yet. I come from a 3d graphic background which is what led me to a client in the 1st place, so i'm kind of 'winging' it through at the moment and i was kind of hoping to dip my toe into all this hosting malarky and ease myself in slowly like. it seems like a real minefield though to be honest.

oh yeah, do you or anyone else 4 that matter have an opinion on the above mentioned webhosts? (couldn't paste the links, not posted enuff threads here yet) or suggest any better ones maybe.
'speed', are you with 'Atlantic' yourself mate? seems reasonably priced

anyhow thanks again chum

Gert.

morestar

01-19-2010, 01:46 PM

Well you really don't even have to look at a reseller account as anything enterprising. Simply consider it a regular hosting account that gives you more options.

In the beginning simply add your new client's site to your control panel and just work that site...once you get a good feel of how your new reseller hosting service works you'll start feeling more confident in working it into a business - namely adding more client sites to it and getting them to pay a monthly fee for hosting.

In the end, what you'll have at the very least is a few clients that will pay you for hosting and those charges will cover your reseller hosting costs.

It's a win win but you just have to find the courage to go that route - once you take it, a year or so later you'll wonder why you were so reluctant in the first place.

Hostgator is a good place to start for reselling and it's right cheap. You get everything you need and once you sign up there are tons of people on WebProWorld.com that will help you get your first site up and running through your reseller package AND will help you configure everything. I even will.

Go for it !

speed

01-19-2010, 02:03 PM

i guess it's up to me now which route i take although the reselling thing sounds enterprising, i'm not particularly business minded as yet. I come from a 3d graphic background which is what led me to a client in the 1st place, so i'm kind of 'winging' it through at the moment and i was kind of hoping to dip my toe into all this hosting malarky and ease myself in slowly like. it seems like a real minefield though to be honest.
An alternative is that some hosts offer a discount to web designers, so that the designer takes out an account per client, they can then resell to their customer but don't deal with reseller hosting they just keep adding new accounts but at a discount. I can't tell you which hosts offer this, but we've found some designers like this option.

oh yeah, do you or anyone else 4 that matter have an opinion on the above mentioned webhosts? (couldn't paste the links, not posted enuff threads here yet) or suggest any better ones maybe.

I can't comment on the hosts you referenced in your first post as I've never used them.

What I would say is as a general rule when choosing a host avoid those offering unlimited bandwidth and disk space that is unless you understand exactly how they limit your activity on the server. Same goes for the hosts offering unrealistic features for next to no cost.

'speed', are you with 'Atlantic' yourself mate? seems reasonably priced
I own AtlanticHosting.net (http://AtlanticHosting.net/) so yes my sites e.g. World Site Index Web Directory (http://www.worldsiteindex.com) Web Hosting and Web Design Cornwall :: TOLRA Micro Systems Limited (http://www.tolranet.co.uk) and AtlanitcHosting itself are all hosted on our servers, those are actually on a US server but we have UK servers as well.

morestar

01-19-2010, 02:08 PM

As a starter ($24.00 per month) reseller hosting account with hostgator the amount of space is totally perfect. You wouldn't have to worry about space for at least 3 years unless you get a huge amount of new clients with huge websites.

speed

01-19-2010, 02:28 PM

At the risk of adding to the complexities, one thing you might want to consider is the locality of the hosting server, if your main target audience is the UK then a UK based server should appear more responsive to the UK visitors than a US server. The reverse is also true a US server will appear more responsive to a US visitor.

For most brochure type sites the difference is negligible, but if you use a lot of AJAX you can start to see quite a big difference at times.

One reason we maintain servers in UK & the US with clients choosing which location they want is that SEOs were coming to us asking to host their US targeted clients in the US and their UK targeted clients in the UK as they claimed better search results. I'm not a SEO so really can't say how true or false that is other than give the reason why we have a dual presence, you would need to do your own investigation into that and make your choice.

I'll also add when choosing a host look at things such as backups, how often are they take them, are they stored off site, do they cost if you need them restored. For a static brochure site weekly offsite backups are fine, but for something more dynamic like a forum then loosing a weeks worth of posts can be a drama so a provider offering hourly backups of both files and databases could be more benificial.

Either way always make sure you keep your own copy of your data just in case the worst happens, that way you can at least restore the site on a new host, it may be a month old but you've not lost everything.

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 02:47 PM

cheers 'morestar':D

Well you really don't even have to look at a reseller account as anything enterprising. Simply consider it a regular hosting account that gives you more options.

In the beginning simply add your new client's site to your control panel and just work that site...once you get a good feel of how your new reseller hosting service works you'll start feeling more confident in working it into a business - namely adding more client sites to it and getting them to pay a monthly fee for hosting.

i've got a few worries though, these being; what if work from clients dries up? ive actually allready been approached by someone else to design a site 4 his 'racing pigeon hobby' but i can't get back to him until ive got this current(first) project up and running so then i can give him a link to it as some sort of resume.
also if you don't mind telling me how much a decent reseller hosting might cost me?

ooh yeah and i'm still no closer to knowing which web hosts are the more relaible(plus at the same time cheap)

thanks for all the encouragement though guy's. incase you were wondering ; if i've got a client paying me to do a website why have'nt i experienced all this allready? the answer is i kind of stumbled into it by accident mates. yes, up until recently i'd been doing 3d graphics and design but getting less and less work cos of the recession and while taking driving lessons my instructor asked what i did 4 a living, well then on the next lesson he said "you do webdesign don't you, can you design me a webpage"? "err yeah er thats right mate, err yeah sure i can". came my reply":lol:

fanx again

Gert.

speed

01-19-2010, 03:07 PM

i've got a few worries though, these being; what if work from clients dries up?
Take a single hosting account from a host for this site, and see if they are willing, when you are confident enough / have enough clients to feel financially stable enough to take a reseller account, to place all your accounts under your reseller account for you and just charge you for the reseller account.

That way you're not having to outlay more than you're getting in and when ready can make the transition to reseller with confidence.

morestar

01-19-2010, 03:11 PM

i've got a few worries though, these being; what if work from clients dries up?

I was worried about the same thing when I started but the clients never dried up. My first account was as mentioned on hostgator and for $24.00 a month. I was charging (sorry) my first client $18.00 a month for hosting so that pretty much covered the cost PLUS hostgator allows for payment via paypal so that was/is great.

also if you don't mind telling me how much a decent reseller hosting might cost me?

ooh yeah and i'm still no closer to knowing which web hosts are the more relaible(plus at the same time cheap)

This page on reseller hosting from hostgator (http://www.hostgator.com/resellers.shtml) will answer any questions on the cost. I can walk you through the setup too, it's so easy...

up until recently i'd been doing 3d graphics and design but getting less and less work cos of the recession and while taking driving lessons my instructor asked what i did 4 a living, well then on the next lesson he said "you do webdesign don't you, can you design me a webpage"? "err yeah er thats right mate, err yeah sure i can". came my reply":lol:

Yes you can do it and will do it and will suffer and will seek help and will find it and will be a famous web designer and SEO in the future but you have to work hard, sweat and grind with late night coffee, pizza and spazzing girl-friends who have no idea how big and important your empire will be one day.

In the end you won't have to pay for hosting websites cause your clients will pay for you through your reseller hosting package and whenever your creative spark hits you you can simply register another domain for $10 bucks, throw it into your hosting account and start a new project.

If you've got the 24 buckaroos go now and sign up...you've really got nothing to lose...oh and then you can start throwing ads on your sites too in oder to make even more money! =)

:cool:

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 04:09 PM

morestar

01-19-2010, 04:14 PM

heck son,

Thats inspirational to say the least. Somehow it sounds so easy and yet so difficult at the same time, i suppose ive got to start somewhere right?
i'll have to say though technically i'm a bit under par with all this, i guess i have to see myself as a Photoshop type designer right now. as i just dont have the code skills yet to create a forum site/ multi page css monster website or anything like that.

:owell if you say that by hanging out here i can achieve all this and more, i'm gonna do just that and take you up on it mate.

i've just got to digest all this first though:? so many choices

Well you DO know how to make nice looking layouts in Photoshop/ImageReady correct?

Go ahead and cut it up! Output for HTML and there you have it...a nice HTML template.

Yes you need to start somewhere especially if you do want to be in this field.

With respect to the reseller hosting account I'll break it down for you...

Register - pay via paypal or CC.

During registration register a new domain OR use your current one. That domain will be your 'primary domain' for the account - pie.

Wait for thank you email from hostgator.

Once you receive the email, log into your account and simple add your new site & client site into your control panel...just a few clicks.

Lastly, go to the place where you registered the domain and change the DNS to the DNS in the thank you letter...

That will be the gist of it give or take a few minor steps...

If you sign up you can PM me with questions until you've got your head around it. P.S. I'm not looking for credit of any kind either cause I'm now moving onto Media Temple (already have) and will be moving all my sites there soon...but Hostgator is a great and cheap way to begin...

;)

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 04:31 PM

Take a single hosting account from a host for this site, and see if they are willing, when you are confident enough / have enough clients to feel financially stable enough to take a reseller account, to place all your accounts under your reseller account for you and just charge you for the reseller account.

Thanks a lot, that seems like sound advice 'speed' :cool: i guess ive just got to take the plunge and get stuck in. All this is really going to help me though mate, no doubt.

speed

01-19-2010, 04:39 PM

If in doubt ask questions here and of your prospective / chosen host, the host should be able to help you with setup and queries regarding your account. Also there's never anything wrong with asking a host questions before you sign, actually can be a good idea as it gives you an idea what they are like to deal with.

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 05:20 PM

you guys do rock as far as i'm concerned:cool:

i've been farting around on the web forums for days and days now, getting nowhere fast (and then slow come to think of it) ive got dark panda ring things going on around my bloodshot eyeballs and all manner of other ailments. so this is a real bonus chaps.

thanks 4 all that advice on signing up to a reseller host account guys, invaluable stuff:D

01-19-2010, 06:40 PM

Make sure you have several methods of Tech Support including direct phone, email and Chat. Tier 1 support usually look after the most of the basic issues you may come across, but it's usually the more complicated issues that arise now and then that is the real test of the service provider

Upgrading or expansion to manage multiple domains should be easy if you decide to take one basic hosting account now and then upgrade later.

Make sure you can also offer your clients a full range of options/functionality including hosting ASP, PHP, databases etc, then you are good to go. Take a bit of time with the first couple of clients to learn the ropes. IMO.

fiddler

01-19-2010, 06:52 PM

Just had to reply, because, Gertrude, was in your shoes once about 15 years ago (my how time flies). I'll tell you it was scary for me to take the leap and become a "reseller" - but I finally did it because the company I was hosting all my sites with on an individual basis - with each site in the client's name - went out of business. I started off just like you did, with someone asking me to do a site for them because I just created a site for my very reluctant (at the time) husband who thought he didn't need a website. It was 1995 and very few people I knew even had computers then, so having a web site to boot was quite a novelty around here (boondocks of PA). Long story short - I now am a reseller for HostGator. I tried other companies, but HG has been very good and I love their cpanel setup. Plus, they are pretty friendly and willing to help when you have questions/problems. Take the plunge and set yourself up a reseller account. It will give you incentive to "grow" your business, and it won't break you in the process. I charge a flat, up-front annual fee to my customers and give them 5 "free" 15 minute update sessions for their website. If they need/want more than that, I charge an hourly rate. I also use CMSMadeSimple content management system which makes updating a site a breeze. Some clients opt to edit their own sites, while others still want me to do it. CMSMS is easy enough for even my most novice client to use. Good Luck.

Gertrude

01-19-2010, 07:38 PM

some invaluable stuff about managing clients and accounts, thanks LD and fiddler

Long story short - I now am a reseller for HostGator. I tried other companies, but HG has been very good and I love their cpanel setup. Plus, they are pretty friendly and willing to help when you have questions/problems. Take the plunge and set yourself up a reseller account. It will give you incentive to "grow" your business, and it won't break you in the process.

well one name seems to come up more than any others even before i joined this site and that's 'Hostgator'. However being in the Uk, if i ever need to make a phone call to them 4 tech support my phone bill will go through the roof right?
i learned mostly about how to build a webpage at IronSpider and he recommends Hostgator above all else, he also directed me to this site which was obviously a cool move:cool: but yeah the phonecalls thing is the only thing putting me off doing it.

i've yet to see a UK webhosting co. that has made that kind of impression on users and has such a fan base though.

morestar

01-19-2010, 07:49 PM

1-866-96-Gator (toll free)

and you'll never have to call them, their tech support via email is lightning speed...

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 07:39 AM

Well you DO know how to make nice looking layouts in Photoshop/ImageReady correct?

Go ahead and cut it up! Output for HTML and there you have it...a nice HTML template.

Don't flame me for going off topic here.
yes morestar, i've seen a post somewhere where a guy uploaded/submitted an image template just like this 4 review before cutting it up. not tried this approach yet, just been inserting/fitting images and backgrounds into tables etc so far.

if you could direct me to a tut or something more indepth regarding this or i'll start a new thread in Graphics topics forum cos this interests me:cool:. PM me mate and tell us where to start the thread or whatever.

cheers;)

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 08:03 AM

PM me mate and tell us where to start the thread or whatever.

oh, ok ive probably not posted enuff here yet for that right? err

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 08:08 AM

PM me mate and tell us where to start the thread or whatever.

oh, ok ive probably not posted enuff here yet for that right? err perhaps

is ten enuff, who knows?;)

speed

01-20-2010, 08:29 AM

YouTube - Slice and Export a Website Layout + HTML: Photoshop Tutorial! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVfxe4pqvo8) is quite a good tutorial on slice and save as HTML.

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 09:33 AM

YouTube - Slice and Export a Website Layout + HTML: Photoshop Tutorial! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVfxe4pqvo8)

is quite a good tutorial on slice and save as HTML.

i'm on my way speed, fanx a lot mate:D

PPIS

01-20-2010, 11:20 AM

Hi Gertrude,

Just joined in the discussion - late as usual!

We started hosting websites about 10 years ago in a small way, all with individual accounts because I was terified of reselling (didn't even know what it really meant in theose days!).

We have been through several hosting companies now, for various reasons, but for the last couple of years we have been using Heart Internet (Reseller Hosting, Web Hosting & Domain Names | Web Hosting Heart Internet (http://www.heartinternet.co.uk)) and have been very impressed with the service and the facilities. The only thing that I would say is that there is no telephone support however, having said that, we have had so few technical issues and when we have, support tickets have been answered very quickly and efficiently.

Their reseller package is about £30 a month (cheaper if you pay annually) for unlimited domains/hard disk space/bandwith and we current host around 300 websites with them.

By the way, I'm not affiliated in any way and am not on commission for this testimonial, just trying to help out :)

Their servers are also UK based, which is possibly an SEO advantage for UK based clients.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Duncan

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 12:20 PM

We started hosting websites about 10 years ago in a small way, all with individual accounts because I was terified of reselling (didn't even know what it really meant in theose days!).

nice one PPIS this info's really gonna help. i've been checking out various top ten rated type sites such as:
Best 10 UK Web Hosting Sites - Website Review & Resources Guide - Top 10 UK Web Host Plans - Best 10 Web Hosting (http://uk.best10webhosting.net/)
and
Web Hosting - Compare Web Hosts at Web Host Directory UK (http://uk.webhostdir.com/)
amongst others, and to be honest i wonder just who's top ten's are they cos very often nobody else seems to have heard of half of them

We have been through several hosting companies now, for various reasons, but for the last couple of years we have been using Heart Internet

two years sounds good, i'll keep this one in me fave's i think;)

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 12:59 PM

cheers speed for that tutorial link:

YouTube - Slice and Export a Website Layout + HTML: Photoshop Tutorial! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVfxe4pqvo8)

is quite a good tutorial on slice and save as HTML.

well i love my copy of Photoshop it's seen me through all kinds of 3D work like 3dsmax animations, PCgame modding and level design, seamless texture creation you name it. but now i've got to admit it's getting long in the tooth.

most of those tools dont exist on my version. but the concept of slicing measured portions up from 1 document and exporting and re-arranging the pieces etc in tables or whatever i'm sure with a bit of graft can be acheived even on my crusty old version.(or maybe not?):?

anyway i'm getting off topic again so i think i'll carry on this discussion on a suitable forum here like 'graphics and design'.:cool:

speed

01-20-2010, 01:08 PM

most of those tools dont exist on my version. but the concept of slicing measured portions up from 1 document and exporting and re-arranging the pieces etc in tables or whatever i'm sure with a bit of graft can be acheived even on my crusty old version.(or maybe not?):?
You should have a slice tool and a save for web option, providing you have those you are all set, just means you have to reassemble the graphics by hand in your favourite editor, in the long run hand coding the CSS and HTML will almost always give you a cleaner finished product.

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 02:21 PM

You should have a slice tool and a save for web option, providing you have those you are all set, just means you have to reassemble the graphics by hand in your favourite editor, in the long run hand coding the CSS and HTML will almost always give you a cleaner finished product.

thanks

well ive relocated this particular question to graphics, speed.
http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-design-discussion-forum/97494-layouts-cutting-up-4-html.html#post490615

my version of Photoshop really is old though mate:oops:(preCS), you'd have to be as old as me too remember it:lol:. had a quick look around couldnt see those tools.

still got plenty of questions though about hosting, like what's all this stuff about mate?:

MySQL Databases
Subdomains
PHP 5.2.x
Parked Domains

saw it on your website.

speed

01-20-2010, 02:47 PM

thanks

well ive relocated this particular question to graphics, speed.
http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-design-discussion-forum/97494-layouts-cutting-up-4-html.html#post490615

my version of Photoshop really is old though mate:oops:(preCS), you'd have to be as old as me too remember it:lol:. had a quick look around couldnt see those tools.
My first version is pretty old :)

still got plenty of questions though about hosting, like what's all this stuff about mate?:

MySQL Databases
MySQL is the name of a database engine, databases can be used to store data which is then read and used to build web pages on the fly or dynamically.

This forum for example uses a database to store posts in then as you access a thread the posts for that thread are read from the database and drawn on the browser.

Content management systems such as MODx (http://www.modxcms.com/) use a database to store the page content, clients often ask to be able to modify their own content so a CMS is often the answer.

Subdomains
Normally you register a domain name e.g. tolranet.com and then the site is at tolranet.com or www.tolranet.com.

If you want to have a 2nd site on the same domain but independent of the first then you can create a subdomain e.g. support.tolranet.com. You can either host a subdomain on the same account, on a different account on the same server or a different server, the last case allows you spread the load of a large site over many machines.

Assuming you place the subdomain on the same account then you could have it so that you upload files for the main site to the public_html folder and files for our support site to the support folder, thus the site data is kept separate.

There's other things you can do with them such as in a social network type site you could give a subdomain per account.

PHP 5.2.x
PHP is a server side scripting language which is used to build web applications such as this forum or the aforementioned CMS, it can also do simpler tasks such as contact forms and interactivity.

As it runs on the server the client/browser only sees HTML coming from the server, it also means it's hard for someone to interfere with the execution of the code.

If you head over to www.hotscriptions.com and looking the PHP scripts folder you'll see there's lots of various scripts for doing different things, everything from e-commerce to showing the day of the week.

Parked Domains
Parked domains are where you add additional domain names to your account, once added the visitor can use any of the domain names applied to the hosting account.

However as all the domain names show the same content you will have issues with duplicate content. Having said that this is useful if you want to add a common miss spelling for your domain so if a visitor types the miss spelling they still get to your site, in which case you would use a .htaccess file along the lines of:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.tolranet\.co\.uk [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.tolranet.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]
Which says that if the visitor tries to view the site via any domain other than www.tolranet.co.uk then issue a redirect to the browser or search engine to send them to www.tolranet.co.uk.

As a side note you should use that on all sites to avoid having the site show for both the domain e.g. tolranet.com and the www subdomain e.g. www.tolranet.com

All of the above features should be available on all Linux based shared hosting.

I hope that makes sense.

Gertrude

01-20-2010, 03:36 PM

I hope that makes sense.

:?err well yeah some of it does. i get the bit about 'common miss spellings' cos i've noticed that happening before, particularly in google where ive totally miss spelt stuff and it still comes up with stuff that's relevant:cool:(or maybe i'm barking up the wrong tree).
the subdomains/parked domains bit makes some sense as well. although if you could tell me : do i need to have a total grasp of all this when setting up a hosting account 4 use with my clients wether its a reseller account or not from the start or will it be obvious to a beginner like me how to kick start it all, with just one or two small websites?

but cheers i'll add this lot to my growing 'database' of info i've garnered since stumbling upon you guys. it will most certainly come in handy:D

speed

01-20-2010, 04:01 PM

:?err well yeah some of it does. i get the bit about 'common miss spellings' cos i've noticed that happening before, particularly in google where ive totally miss spelt stuff and it still comes up with stuff that's relevant:cool:(or maybe i'm barking up the wrong tree).
This is slightly different as this caters to a user entering the address into the browsers address bar incorrectly rather than say Googles search box.

the subdomains/parked domains bit makes some sense as well. although if you could tell me : do i need to have a total grasp of all this when setting up a hosting account 4 use with my clients wether its a reseller account or not from the start or will it be obvious to a beginner like me how to kick start it all, with just one or two small websites?
No, you don't need a full grasp of it, most people will not need subdomains. Parked domains for typo reasons tend to just work with the .htaccess file I gave just now, that .htaccess file is pretty standard and useful with just 1 domain as it redirects all non-www traffic to the www version of the site.

To get started you simply sign up with a host, they create the account and send you the logins, then you upload the files to public_html (some hosts use a different folder) via FTP. The hardest part is pointing the domain name to your hosting account, and that really is login to the domain control and set the nameservers to those supplied by the hosting company, I have a few tutorials on that at http://tutorials.tolranet.com/

One of the things we do for our clients is if they buy a domain and hosting together we automatically point the domain to the hosting account, usually the whole lot is ready to go in a few minutes. I can't say which other hosts do it but it's one less step for you.

I should point out that a domain can take 24 - 48 hours after being updated to become visible.

If you want to contact me off the forum I'll be more than happy to set up and show you around a shared hosting account running cPanel, both the account admin and FTP upload to get the site showing on the net. Sometimes being shown makes the whole thing seem simpler.

Gertrude

01-21-2010, 08:58 AM

To get started you simply sign up with a host, they create the account and send you the logins, then you upload the files to public_html (some hosts use a different folder) via FTP. The hardest part is pointing the domain name to your hosting account, and that really is login to the domain control and set the nameservers to those supplied by the hosting company

cheers speed,

well, my client mailed me last night and said he's decided to sign-up and deal with the hosting himself, using a webhost that i had suggested before joining up here. (hope they treat him well)

i knew he enjoys to dabble a bit with getting on the the web and such when he comes in from work at night so that suits me fine i guess as this is my first time and i'll still get experience with getting his site up and going using the info gathered from you guy's here.

then i will look at getting a piece of reseller space for myself as my client also told me that he had a few fellow colleagues who are interested in using my services:D

now my only worries are wether this site looks the same when i've uploaded it to his host as it does now sitting on my hard disk:?:

Tarzan2

01-21-2010, 11:16 PM

I'm very late at getting into this thread, but I see that Speed has given you a lot of very good information. Morestar has also primed you very well for what you need to do.

The one question left more or less unanswered was the recommended hosts. I've been struggling with that very same question for many years. I use a host that is located in the USA called iPower (Domain Names and Web Hosting by IPOWER (http://www.ipower.com)). They have excellent uptime and a whole host of scripts and other features that you can easily install via their control panel. I've been with them for over 10 years and am reluctant to switch because I've heard complaints about almost every other host too (nobody is perfect). My biggest complaint is that when using their ticket system for e-mail support, it is sometimes like trying to pull teeth to get a sensible answer from them. Phone support has been more satisfactory for me.

The list I made for myself, based on my own research on the Internet is as follows:
Web Hosting by DreamHost Web Hosting: Web Sites, Domain Registration, wordpress, Ruby on Rails, all on Debian Linux! (http://www.dreamhost.com)
Web hosting provider - Bluehost.com - domain hosting - PHP Hosting - cheap web hosting - Frontpage Hosting E-Commerce Web Hosting Bluehost (http://www.bluehost.com)
Web Hosting Services, Reseller Hosting, and Dedicated Servers by HostGator (http://www.hostgator.com)
for hosts located in the USA. Although I'm in Canada, hosting in this country is just too expensive, so I go where I get a bigger bang for my buck.

There are at least 2 people on this forum site that have their own hosting companies and they seem very knowledgeable and helpful, so I would consider using them as well.

speed

01-22-2010, 04:15 AM

and a whole host of scripts and other features that you can easily install via their control panel.
For reference if a host lists Fantastico then it means there's a tool available via the hosting control panel through which you can more or less one click install any of the script provided on your web space. It should also allow 1 upgrades. Atlantic Hosting.net | Fantastico (http://atlantichosting.net/shared-web-hosting/fantastico.html) gives the current list of scripts that can be installed with this method.

There are some other installers such as Installatron which if listed offer the same ability to click and have the script installed.

sequencehosting

01-22-2010, 04:25 PM

For reference if a host lists Fantastico then it means there's a tool available via the hosting control panel through which you can more or less one click install any of the script provided on your web space. It should also allow 1 upgrades. Atlantic Hosting.net | Fantastico (http://atlantichosting.net/shared-web-hosting/fantastico.html) gives the current list of scripts that can be installed with this method.

There are some other installers such as Installatron which if listed offer the same ability to click and have the script installed.

That's pretty bad self promotion..

--

I think the answer to your questions depends on:

- How much experience do your clients have when it comes to web hosting?
- How much experience do you have when it comes to web hosting?
- What country will the majority of your clients visitors come from? Remember a UK host will usually cost more than an American host. Sometimes it's always better to go for an American host.
- Do you plan to make money from the hosting side of things or not? If you are a reseller plan would be perfect for you.

If you every have any web hosting questions/issues I will be happy to give my assistance.

Jack

sequencehosting

01-22-2010, 04:32 PM

cheers speed,
now my only worries are wether this site looks the same when i've uploaded it to his host as it does now sitting on my hard disk:?:

If the site uses HTML/CSS it will only make a difference between browsers. So for example it may look different in Internet Explorer than it does with Firefox.

Tarzan2

01-23-2010, 01:17 AM

If the site uses HTML/CSS it will only make a difference between browsers. So for example it may look different in Internet Explorer than it does with Firefox.
Except if links point to files on the home computer rather than on the server!
OR
If include statements are used (for me, they don't show up until I view my page from the server).

speed

01-23-2010, 07:09 AM

You can use apache friends - xampp (http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html) to test the site locally, it should allow PHP etc to work so includes show but it won't help with detecting links to images on the local PC.

Find broken links on your site with Xenu's Link Sleuth (TM) (http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html) is quite useful for finding broken links and you can read through it's output for anything that looks suspiciously like it's being read from you local disk.

Gertrude

01-23-2010, 11:24 AM

hi jack
cheers for your help and guidance,but i have to mention;

That's pretty bad self promotion..

well, seeing as my client is already signed-up and organising his own hosting as stated earlier:

cheers speed,

well, my client mailed me last night and said he's decided to sign-up and deal with the hosting himself, using a webhost that i had suggested before joining up here. (hope they treat him well)

maybe that statement is out of turn mate, i've only got the one site to host right now anyways and speed knows that. speed and others here have been a big help to me, not just with hosting issues but creative and design queries and in all manor of concerns and forum topics.

sequencehosting

01-23-2010, 11:30 AM

Except if links point to files on the home computer rather than on the server!

Yes of course that is true, but the majority of people will have their files organised so when they upload their site to a hosting account everything is pointing in the right direction.

sequencehosting

01-23-2010, 11:32 AM

well, seeing as my client is already signed-up and organising his own hosting as stated earlier:

Sorry about that. I tend to get so many ideas to post before I reach the end of the thread. I noticed your client has already found what he is looking for after I already posted.

Gertrude

01-23-2010, 12:00 PM