ISP's and web hosting

Not your average framer · Tue 27 Nov, 2007 10:33 pm

I've at last decided to put together a web site. Up until now it has not been an issue, but now I'm thinking about finding the right ISP and possibly a seperate web space provider. Any ideas?
Thank in advance.
Mark

kaptain.kopter · Post by **kaptain.kopter** » Tue 27 Nov, 2007 11:29 pm

Are you thinking of designing your web site yourself or getting someone to do it for you?

I used Mr. Site which cost £35 and included the first years hosting. It works out about the same for subsequent years.

http://www.mrsite.co.uk/

You can see mine at:

http://www.martinchadwickphotography.com/

A great forum concerning all Mr.Site issues and to find further examples:

http://www.aboutmrsite.com/

Hope it helps.

osgood · Post by **osgood** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 1:39 am

I've been using Lunarpages for many years. One free domain registration with it and a huge amount of other stuff, like 350 gigs of storage.

www.lunarpages.com

Moglet · Post by **Moglet** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 3:33 am

kaptain.kopter wrote:I used Mr. Site which cost £35 and included the first years hosting.

Did you design your own site with their system? If so, was it easy? I'm very keen to get some sort of web presence early in the new year, and it seems like this might be the very thing I'm looking for.

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 8:12 am

I use Streamline for my hosting and web domain.

They have a web site wizard to help you get your site up and running.

I used FrontPage for my own site..
It is not bells and whistles but it works...

Not your average framer · Wed 28 Nov, 2007 9:06 am

kaptain.kopter wrote:Are you thinking of designing your web site yourself or getting someone to do it for you?

Hi Kaptain,

Yes, I will design my own web site. It will be straight HTML plus the neccesary images. No Java, Flash, Pearl, etc.

It will be just another shop window and I won't be doing Ecommerce. People who want to do business will have to come to my shop. I just can't be doing with all the extra hassle! There will not be any email contact details either, as a one man operation I don't want any further demands on my time.

markw · Post by **markw** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 9:52 am

Of the last 2500 emails from my web site 2499 were spam - I'm going to have to sit down and think about how this part of my business moves forward - getting around the ridiculous volumes of spam would seem to be one of my first priorities.

Grahame Case · Post by **Grahame Case** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 10:45 am

markw wrote:Of the last 2500 emails from my web site 2499 were spam - I'm going to have to sit down and think about how this part of my business moves forward - getting around the ridiculous volumes of spam would seem to be one of my first priorities.

Hi mark, try using an image of your email address. as done here : http://www.blackhallframing.pwp.blueyon ... ntact.html
with no "Mailto:" command in it spam email harvesters cannot read this email address

osgood · Post by **osgood** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 11:06 am

You can also use a script so that 'bots can't harvest you're email address. Copy this and paste it into the appropriate place in your html and then substitute your details in the two places referred to below:

<script language="JavaScript">

</script>

In place of 'webman' use the characters in front of the @ in your email address.
In place of 'yourdomain.com' use your domain name.
Obviously you need an email address @ your domain for this to work. You can also use a forward in your website email system to forward any of this email to your regular email address if you don't want another account in your email client.

markw · Post by **markw** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 11:46 am

Thanks for the tips Graham & Ormond - I was going to put at in place of the @ - will now consider your alternatives.

Spit · Post by **Spit** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 3:24 pm

I use zen for ISP - a bit pricier than most, but last week I had the first ever loss of connection..... not bad in 4 years of very heavy internet use!

1&1 www.1and1.co.uk are ok for hosting & domains.

Vix · Post by **Vix** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 3:26 pm

I'm also using streamline like merlin to host my website, but I designed my website using the Serif Webplus program. Think you can download a free full working version from the Serif site.
Even for a computer dunce like me I found it straight forward to use and it didn't cost the earth either.

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 3:37 pm

Thanks for those tips Grahame and Ormond.

Touching wood !!! I have not had any spam at all from my website and have been up and running with version 1 for the past 2 years. Now up and running with version 2 plus e commerce.

Streamline.net is very cheap at about £19.00 per annum which included my own domain name.

As an add on.. I use Statscounter as an indicator of the number of 'hits' that I get..

markw · Post by **markw** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 4:46 pm

I have used 1 & 1 for years - they seem a bit pricier than the aforementioned but they do handle frontpage well as they have MS specific packages.

Bill Henry · Post by **Bill Henry** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 6:07 pm

As far as ISPs are concerned, since the web is really world wide, it doesn’t make too much differences where it is located. The server doesn’t have to be in the U.K. even if you are.

When we went looking for an ISP, we used a site called Host Record to narrow the search among the thousands out there. Host Record can filter you search depending on your budget, how much storage space you need, how many e-mail accounts you wish to have, etc.

Once you’ve narrowed it down, pay attention to the reviews and see how much “down time” a site has and how easy their “control panels” are to make the administrative changes you will inevitably need.

There are some decided advantages in building your own site.

First, you get to design it exactly the way you envision it. Second, making minor changes doesn’t cost you anything. (Every time you have a designer make a change, they will charge you an arm and a leg.)

We used Adobe GoLive to design and publish our site. I like the idea that if we need to change our “special offers” or holiday hours on our site, it only takes me a few minutes to do so – and without getting hit in the wallet or delaying the change ‘cause the programmer is too busy to return your call.

There are some decided disadvantages in building your own site.

First, a program such as DreamWeaver – the standard in web site development programs – is a bit pricey. (The “point-and-click” programs available, to my mind, don’t give you enough control to generate something other than a bland, generic, boring web site.) Second, the learning curve is very steep even with step-by-step tutorials available on CDs. Depending on how much time you can afford to spend on it, it may take you several months to get up and running.

Moglet · Post by **Moglet** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 6:14 pm

Bill Henry wrote:... a program such as DreamWeaver ... the learning curve is very steep even with step-by-step tutorials available on CDs. Depending on how much time you can afford to spend on it, it may take you several months to get up and running.

I've actually got a licensed copy of Dreamweaver, but I just don't have the time to learn to use it. That's why I like the idea of the "Mr Site" recommended above. A well-laid out, "quick 'n' dirty solution would at least get me onto the web, and I could develop the site into something fancier over time.

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 6:48 pm

I totally agree with Bill H.

Althought the prices are coming down quite a bit, it is still a lot cheaper doing it yourself AND having the control that you want, rather than what a designer 'Thinks you want'

On Amazon UK. Front Page 2003 is £99 and Dreamweaver CS3 is £360.

As stated I have use FP 2003 for my site. Then used HTML Tidy, to correct some of the errors - I hasten to add mostly mine.

A lot cheaper than the £600 - £1000 with e-commerce that I was quoted.

Post by **prospero** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 7:13 pm

I think it is possible to d/l the entire source code from some sites that you may like the look of and edit to replace the text/graphics with your own.

Slightly naughty and I'm sure no one on this forum would dream of doing such a sneaky trick.

kaptain.kopter · Post by **kaptain.kopter** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 7:37 pm

I've been very happy with the Mr.Site format as it's wizard driven and needs no previous programming knowledge.

My site was up and running in a day and I tweak and change it every week or so.

You can add a paypal basket for e commerce if you so wish. I just sell gift vouchers at the moment.

The site will also keep track of both actual visits to your site and the number of unique visitors.

If you want to go further and see how people find your site, then you can join:

http://www.google.com/analytics

It's free and is a great tool for optimising your online advertising.

I've got a full version os Studio 8 (Dreamweaver,Flash,Fireworks etc) but figure that I'm making more money with a camera and a morso than designing a fancy site.

I get over 75% of my photographic work through this site, so it is obviously good enough.

Bill Henry · Post by **Bill Henry** » Wed 28 Nov, 2007 9:08 pm

prospero wrote:I think it is possible to d/l the entire source code from some sites that you may like the look of and edit to replace the text/graphics with your own.

Slightly naughty and I'm sure no one on this forum would dream of doing such a sneaky trick.

Yeah, naughty, sneaky and probably illegal in some areas.

You could do that, I suppose, but you would need a pretty good knowledge of HTML to pull it off. If you flubbed up by forgetting to change the Meta tags, for example, you might pull your customers into a Czechoslovakian web site selling acne cream.

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