Essay: How To - Domain Name, Hosting and Website

This essay will try to explain everything you need to know about custom domain names, hosting and getting your first website up and running.

1. Domain Name
Domain name is the "address" of your website. Something like yourteamname.com or yourgame.com. You purchase a domain name for 1 year (or more) from a domain registrar such as GoDaddy. Which domain registrar you use to purchase your domain name (what features they offer) is not really important, so just go with the cheapest one.

GoDaddy will probably be the cheapest (with coupon codes). This site has coupon codes for GoDaddy (you may need to try a few codes to get a working one, but you can get over 50% discounts from time to time; also some codes don't work with PayPal). If GoDaddy is too expensive, you may also try NameCheap or another domain registrar, but make sure you buy from an established and trustworthy company.

When buying a domain name for branding always try to obtain .com, unless it is already taken (in which case you might consider renaming your group or game name). .org, and .net are options if .com is taken. Stay away from .info and other cheap domains because they are often associated with spam. A domain name will often cost you around $7-$15 a year to own.

Though not as professional, a free alternative is to get a subdomain - like yourteamname.somedomain.com. You can get a free subdomain on vnovel.com for VN related sites only from LSF user redeyesblackpanda; check this page for details.

2. Hosting
In order for your website to display and run on the web, it needs a host computer (user's web-browsers are called clients). Hosting is basically renting computer resources that run your website(s). You usually rent hosting for a month. Unlike domain registrars, hosting providers are very important. It needs to be reliable and support the features you will need. HostGator and BlueHost are examples of reliable host services.

Be careful before paying for a year or even multiple years in advance. Make sure you are happy with you hosting provider first.

Most domain registrars and hosting companies offer both domain names and hosting. For example, you can get both domain name and hosting at either GoDaddy or HostGator, but since GoDaddy's primary business are domains, you can expect cheaper domain names. Likewise HostGator is specialized in hosting, so you'll get a better offer and more professional service for hosting there.

If you do decide to get both domain name and hosting at one company (for the sake of simplicity), go with HostGator for both. Having good hosting is much more important than where your domain is registered. By using GoDaddy (or another company that is primarily a domain registrar) for hosting, you will get a less professional service for more money.

Hosting will affect things like website loading speed and will ensure your website is displayed at all. This can be a big issue with a lot of hosting companies. If you are trying to find a very cheap solution, make sure to research the company behind it first or your website might end up being hosted at someone's home computer and at the mercy of their internet outages. Good hosting providers will cost you around $5-$10 a month to keep your website running.

'''If your website is going to be VN related, you can get professional hosting for free from a service provided by LSF user redeyesblackpanda. Check this page for details.'''

3. Website
There is one more thing you need to do before we get to the website. You will need to set the DNS records. First, to get your DNS numbers from the hosting provider, check the first two emails they sent you - they are probably there. Then you enter the DNS numbers at your domain registrar.

Wait for the DNS records to be updated worldwide. It usually takes from a few hours to 48 hours so don't panic if nothing happens for a while. Once they update you will see a change on the website - enter your domain name in the web browser. It will display a default page from your domain registrar. Once the DNS(es) update, it will display a blank page or a default page from your hosting provider.

The easiest way to build the website is to install Wordpress. WP started as a blogging platform and is a Content Management System (CMS) which can also build static sites with blogs. Your hosting provider probably has automatic installation enabled, so you probably won't even need to download it and go through the installation. To download Wordpress.org, visit this page and follow the steps to installation.

In most cases you will want simplicity and power of Wordpress. This will allow you to focus on creating content for your site and not on fixing technical issues. You can install it in about 15 minutes (faster if it’s not your first time). Updating and maintaining is easy and so is extending your website functionality through WP plugins. Both (updated content, functional site with social plugins) are very important in order to get visitors and to keep them.

Of course there are a variety of alternatives that you may want to use for various reasons. You may also want a different type of site like a Forum, a Wiki or a webshop, for which WP isn't the best choice. You may also decide to build the site from scratch using HTML or other languages. This will require manual uploading of new content or you can program your own CMS. While designing the website may be easier than customizing WP themes, it will also limit the site in functionality such as commenting and implementing various social plugins.

--Leon (talk) 21:22, 30 December 2012 (EST)