How to set up your own website
How to set up a website for business or pleasure
Q What do I need to have in order to get myself a website?
1. Web page or pages. Like the one you are looking at now. These can be created in anything from MS Word (save your document as html) or a top end web editor such as Dreamweaver. Behind all the words, formatting and images you can see here there is coding (click View: Source in Internet Explorer). Luckily, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web editor will write the code automatically for you. Nevertheless, if you want to make your own web pages you will need to get to grips with how to make web pages, whether it is with paid for software or a free web editor.
There is another option which is to use the free online tools provided by the web space providers (see 3). These are available with paid for and free web space. For a complete novice this is the best and easiest option. You can always change the way you edit your pages at a later date.
2. A domain name - for example http://www.easytorecall.co.uk is our domain name and is our address on the internet.
3. Web space. All your web pages need to be located physically on a large computer that is available to the world 24/7. This is called a web server and the service provided is called web hosting. Your domain name is linked to your webspace so that whenever someone types your domain name into their browser they are directed via the world wide web to your webspace.
There are several possibilities for getting webspace.
a. Your own internet service provider may offer free webspace as part of the package.
b. There are companies offering free webspace
c. You can pay for webspace. This is an ongoing cost but you will get more space and greater bandwidth* than with any of the free options.
* The more bandwidth you have, the more people can use your website and download information from it at the same time.
Q How do I set up a website from scratch?
There are various options if you want to get a website up and running. The first thing to decide is how you want the website to work for you.
Option 1. You want a website to put up some photos for your family to view or for a club or society and you don't mind what the domain name (web address) is.
Option 2. You want option 1 above, but want a domain name of your own choosing, eg lions-volleyball.org.uk or you want a site to advertise your business and want to use the free webspace given to you by your ISP or from a company offering free webspace.
Option 3. You want your own chosen domain name that is linked directly to webspace.
Q. How do I set up a Website and I don't mind it having a long name?
A. Your ISP might offer free webspace. Each ISP has its own way of doing things so the best thing to do in this case is to check their homepage and follow the instructions.
When you do this you will get a domain name that looks something like this:
http://virginfreespace.members/
gkbrown/index.htm
Cost : Free
If your ISP doesn't offer webspace, you will need to look at option 2.
Q. How do I set up a website but I'd like a domain name of my own choosing
A. Here is where you need to pay some money, but it need not be as much as you might think.
So let's assume you are called the Lions Volleyball Club. Then what you need to do is go to a website that sells domain names and buy one!
See below for buying domain names.
So you would go to the site and they will have a place for you to type in the name you want. Then they will check if this is still available. If you choose something really flashy like abc.com it will be gone as someone will have snapped it up. But say you want
www.lions-volleyball.org.uk
Q. Hold on a minute, why .org.uk and why not one of the other extensions that are on offer such as .co.uk or .com?
A. The extension .org.uk is used for a for a club or society, or a non-profit making organisation. If you are running a business site then choose .co.uk or .com or one of the other new ones such as .biz.
Q. What's the difference between .co.uk and .com?
A. Each country has it's own extension, Italy for example has the extension .it
The UK extension is .co.uk and really .com is for American sites but ... the .com extension was the only one used in the early days of the internet and so appears on sites from all over the world. In addition, some UK companies prefer to use it to the newer .co.uk. Really it is a matter of taste but the .co.uk is generally cheaper!
So anyway, we want www.lions-volleyball.org.uk so the idea is to buy that. Whoever you buy it from, you will have the facility to point it to any other web address that you want, via a simple to use web-based control panel.
So for example if I put the Volleyball site on my freespace (See above) http://virginfreespace.members/
gkbrown/index.htm
Then I can have www.lions-volleyball.org.uk as the address for this. When someone types www.lions-volleyball.org.uk into their browser they will be automatically redirected to http://virginfreespace.members/
gkbrown/index.htm
Q. Who can I buy a domain name from?
A. A lot of sites sell domain names. Check out our own listings.
www.britishnic.com is a good example. They sell UK domain names and each name includes web and email forwarding. It costs £15 for 2 years.
Web Forwarding is the term used for redirecting the domain name you have bought to any web address you choose. Whoever you buy your domain name from will have an easy to access control panel on the web where you can fill out all the details needed to redirect your domain name.
Email forwarding is also interesting. You can have a flashy email address too! So I can put anything I like in front of the new name I have bought (lions-volleyball.org.uk) and use it as an email address by redirecting it to my usual email address. Again, this redirection is easily achieved via the control panel as in the web forwarding example above. So for example I can have:
graham@lions-volleyball.org.uk
or
enquiries@lions-volleyball.org.uk
or indeed
anything@lions-volleyball.org.uk
and anything sent to these email addresses will all be redirected to my normal email address.
(You may want to read our article about getting rid of spam in order to protect your email addresses.)
Cost : From under £10 per year, but you can pay more for a package that includes hosting (see below). You can even pay for shopping basket facilities if you want to sell goods online.
Q. You want a nice flashy name that includes webspace.
This is the simplest and most professional solution. It has also become very affordable. For around about £30-£50 per year you get the domain name and webspace with it. When you sign up (see webhosting and domain name companies) you will be given all the details you need. Given that costs have reduced so much, this can often be preferable - and easier - option for small clubs and societies and personal websites.
Whoever you sign up with will give you a web based control panel. Here there will be a facility to upload files to your webspace (called a file manager) simply by selecting them off your computer. Anyone going to your domain name will automatically see these.
Alternatively you might prefer to use an FTP manager. This is a program that you install on your computer and use to upload your files - more convenient and all the password details you will need are available on your web hosting control panel. Below is a review of a completely free FTP program.
Filezilla FTP Program 
• http://filezilla-project.org
This excellent free ftp program has a nicely laid out interface and gets the job done very quickly and easily. On the left are your files on the home computer and on the right, the internet. Simply drag and drop or double click and the site is updated.
Taking care of the pennies
by Steve Sutherland
THE aim of this article is to explain to webmasters of sports and hobby sites how they can make a modest income of roughly 10p to £10 per day from their sites. If you run such a site, then perhaps you have wondered about placing some advertising on it, if only to help with costs. Of course, nothing is guaranteed on the internet. This is not a "get rich quick" monologue. However, hopefully this article can help you earn some realistic income from your site, with no more than a few hours work, followed by a minimal amount of ongoing work.
• read full article
