Starting out

<p> Ok so i am trying to get a website going but in this process it seems more confusing than i thought it was. Basically im completely new to the whole make your own website thing and have no idea even where to begin. So i was wondering if any of you guys could help with the basics and what are some of the first steps i need to take to start to make a website. I would like to use Wordpress because it seems fairly easy to manage but exactly how do i do that do i buy a domain and then put word press on it? Any help is greatly appreciated here are some examples of what i would like to do.<br>

http://www.lbvphoto.com/</p>

<p>http://www.lapsleyphoto.com/</p>

<p>1<br>

"register" a name for your "domain", best would be with a .com or country specific extension.<br>

2<br>

find an internet provider to "host" your new domain, search for "hosting" to find one. That can all be done online here.<br>

3<br>

install Wordpress into your new webspace via FTP or use the providers simple web site creation tools for a start with a html site, configure email and more. You want a provider with my-sql database support<br>

4<br>

Carefully document and store all the passwords & login details you will get .<br>

5<br>

Get some help from a friend or ask here again.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>another question: im looking into the hosting and on the site im looking at it has linux hosting and windows hosting, now i am using a mac so is that going to interfere with this hosting or is it completely independent from my operating system?or do i have to have a matching hosting plan for mac?</p>

<p>David, Take a look at what each web-host you're considering offers as free ad-ons to a site. Many include blogging software, usually WordPress, databases, shopping carts, etc. that you may want to add to your site in the future. Others also include unlimited storage & bandwidth and manual back-up of your online files. I also use a Mac and even though hosting is independent from your OS as voytek points-out, I'd opt for either a Linux or Unix host. The point is, shop around. It's a commodity business so try to get the most bang for your buck!</p>

<p>P.S.: You'll need an FTP program to upload files; try CyberDuck. It's an easy to use Mac-friendly program.</p>

<p>David, the OS of the hosting site is independent from your computer and I agree with Bill otherwise.</p>

<p>David,<br>

I was in the same boat as you a few months ago, where do I start?. When I was ready to build my website, I went through Zenfolio.com.<br>

Reasons why i did:<br>

1. Easy upload with very little headache.<br>

2. Zenfolio is your hosting provider.<br>

3. Clean and easy to read website that will keep your clients on your site longer and maybe buy more.<br>

4. You can buy a domain name of your choice (I used Go Daddy) had no issues.<br>

5. Zenfolio works with print labs like Mpix.com, Fotoflot.com, and a few others.Or if you do your own printing you can turn off that option.<br>

6. Shipping world wide.<br>

7. I think this is the big one "customer service" is amazing I had no issues at all. There Tech. department is great as well, I had issues uploading and I had the problem fixed in less than 2 hours.</p>

<p>The list goes on but for just starting out in photography this saved me a lot of time and wasted efforts. The only downside is you do have some limits on the hompage screen, they have a option where you can link a outside source to your site.<br>

 

<br>

Thomas</p>

<p>Thomas, I clicked on your link and got an ad to lose weight with Jillian Michaels and "This page is parked FREE courtesy of Go-Daddy".</p>

<p>I am a little bit further in the process of working on a web site then you, but started off with NO website knowledge. I went with go daddy as a host/domain registrar. Went with linux b/c a shopping cart product I might want to use later (photo cart by picture pro) doesn't work on windows based, only linux. Go daddy made it really easy to get wordpress installed, they did it for me, just clicked a button. I added an FTP program (just googled it and went with filezilla which I was able to figure out). I found godaddy help very responsive and they got back to me quickly even when I emailed them a really stupid question. I highly recomend them for wordpress (or anything else)</p>

<p>Wow thank you everyone for your responses i really appreciate them. Thomas i originally looked at zenfolio and smugmug but there are too many restrictions. It essentially takes care of all the work for you but still doesn't look that professional in my opinion. Also you have to pay $100+ USD just to get control if the pricing of your photos i would rather just make my own website site using a template of course and have full control for a cheaper price. Again thank you everyone for your input. </p>

<p>Wordpress is a great choice - stick with it! They have their own support forums (http://wordpress.org/support/), which are not very chatty, but if you have a technical question, usually you get a straight-forward answer in no time. Also, check out the Wordpress codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page), very comprehensive, and sometimes difficult to find what you need, but it's all there. </p>

<p>As to one of the example sites you posted being a blog, Wordpress was initially meant to be a blogging software, but it is gaining increasing popularity as content management system for web sites. Not every web site that uses Wordpress is automatically a blog. The sites I am currently running using Wordpress are fmueller.com (my personal site), brasch-group.com (my wife's site), and ohiocichlid.com (my club's site). Neither of these sites is a pure photography site, but all of them use lots of photos. I am using 1&1 as hosting provider, and like them a lot.</p>