n00b web publishing questions - help appreciated!

[snarlpill]

Hey guys, recently I've been teaching myself writing HTML and other code, and have designed a website. I would now like to get this online, and I would just like someone to go over the steps with me if they would.

For now, I've been thinking about going with GoDaddy for web hosting, especially because I currently have access to some wonderful promo codes from them.

http://www.godaddy.com/hosting/web-hosting.aspx?ci=87227

So for now I was going to go with an "economy" plan on GoDaddy to host a single website.
All of their plans include: A free domain name, Free email addresses, Unlimited bandwidth, 24/7 security monitoring and DDoS protection, a whole bunch of credits towards advertising programs like Google's AdWords, and a few more features.

I know most web hosting companies offer templates, or build-your-own-site programs where they walk you through it and you can customize a few things. However, I'm not wanting to do that, I want my site to be something I made myself. For choosing your operating system, you can choose Linux with cPanel control panel, or Windows with Plesk control panel. I am on a Windows OS, I don't have Linux, so that choice is clear.

You can choose to add a SSL certificate for $69.99 a year. For the time being, my site won't be conducting any financial transactions, and when I do start doing things like that, I'm just going to list a BTC address for receiving payments. I don't plan on having anything on my site (at the moment) where users need a username and/or password. So do I need to purchase an SSL certificate? It's helpful if I don't because I can't afford it right now anyways. 

You can choose to protect yourself with private registration of your domain for $7.99 a year, which "Hides your personal information - name, email, address and phone number - in the public WHOIS directory, Prevents domain-related spam, Helps stop domain hijacking, and Helps protect against stalkers and harassers." I will most likely do this, who doesn't like privacy??

Anyways, people with experience- how does this plan sound? And what is my next step if I purchase this plan? Do I send my files to GoDaddy and then they will display them on my webpage? Sorry for all the n00b questions, and thanks in advance to anyone that reads through this and can help.

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[1714021049]

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[1714021049]

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[pedrog]

Well, that plan is not very cheap, but seems good...

If you just want to gain knowledge go with some free hosting, pretty good for practice and when you're ready to publish a functioning website you can buy that plan.

Always choose linux for web hosting, if you need windows for hosting a website you will know it.

You send the files via ftp, details will be given to you upon registration.

Domain privacy always.

[snarlpill]

Well, that plan is not very cheap, but seems good...

If you just want to gain knowledge go with some free hosting, pretty good for practice and when you're ready to publish a functioning website you can buy that plan.

Always choose linux for web hosting, if you need windows for hosting a website you will know it.

You send the files via ftp, details will be given to you upon registration.

Domain privacy always.

Thanks for the response, sorry I'm a bit late responding to this, the last few days have been crazy with my girl's family. As it's listed it is not that cheap, but as I said I have some pretty decent promo codes. The one I'm going with for instance is $1 a month for economy hosting with a 12 month or over purchase plan. What that means to me is that buying my domain name, the domain privacy protection, and web hosting for a year is under $20. If you or anybody else reading this is interested in the promo codes, PM me.

I don't think I have access to free hosting... but not sure. I don't mind paying for a year for that price, I'm really getting into writing HTML and other code, and this would give me great incentive to get my site finished and where I want it.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but could I use Linux even though I have a Windows OS on my computer?

[b!z]

Try taking a look at Namecheap. They accept Bitcoin, plus you get free whois privacy, SSL cert for $5 (and a lot of other cheap stuff)

Don't bother using GD for web hosting, they're a registrar, the hosting is just an "extra". I've heard it is slow and unreliable (same with hosting from other registrars) although I would not try it myself to see if that is true.

These guys have a hosting offer for $6/year: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=568240.0

Should be fine for a small site provided their company doesn't close down

[pedrog]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but could I use Linux even though I have a Windows OS on my computer?

No problem with that.

You can even run the server on your own computer, check https://www.apachefriends.org , it's easier for web development.

For free hosting, just search for "free web hosting without ads."

[snarlpill]

Thanks for all the helpful info. guys. I did end up going with Linux, shortly after asking on here I Google'd it and saw that was just a rookie misconception (and that your OS at home does not really matter at all when picking what system your company will use on their servers.)

I will definitely check out that Apache Friends site when I have time. Free web hosting does sound nice for getting started, but I know many sites run ads on your page to cover costs, or it's slower/not as reliable. I ended up getting a pretty sweet deal only paying $12 total for my domain name and a year of hosting.

Spent all night figuring out FTP (I was over-complicating things) and downloaded Cyberduck first, then decided to go with Filezilla instead. Think I finally have all of that down, now it's time to just slowly tweak my page to where I want it. It may have been much simpler than I made it out to be, but I'm happy with the results, because besides from your advice and a Youtube video or two, I'm learning as I go. And that feels way better than using some template.