Build my own website

[nikongod]

Hello Head-case. 

 

I would like to build my own website to put on my Resume and show off my fotos and skeematics better than Flickr, and a stack of loose papers on the edge of my desk. 

 

I'm not really sure where to start. 

 

What I'm looking for:

I want the website to be pretty simple No horizontal scrolling, simple/easy to read fonts with high contrasts, basically paper on the internet.

A few pages for photography (street, sports) 

A page for DIY stuff

MAYBE a blog

 

I have a domain name in mind, that is not owned yet, so that is good. I know I need to buy it and 1and1.com looks like a good place to do this, but I'm not really sure where to go from there. 1and1 could also be terrible. 

 

I am biased towards filling out templates to get the website running, but am fearless (stupid) enough to code from scratch if necessary. 

 

HELP!!!!1

[crappyjones123]

One option is to build the site using Google sites using their templates and then point the domain to the Google address in stealth mode so the viewer doesn't see the redirect. This way you don't have to pay for hosting. When you start getting 10000 unique hits every month you can upgrade to dedicated hosting in case you need more space. Look around for a deal on domain vendors. They all offer varying prices on the same name for some reason. Www.domain.com was the last I used (cheaper than godaddy) and they have coupons frequently floating around.

Google seems like a reasonable place to start to get your feet wet. It's free. If you like it you can invest in something better once you have enough content and a viewer base. If you don't like it, you are only out the cost of the domain.

Ps. Google gives you access to the css code of their templates also so a good starting point.

Edited October 4, 2014 by crappyjones123

[n3rdling]

wordpress sounds like what you're looking for.  Lots of sites are built using it and it's pretty simple to learn.  There should be plenty of templates for what you describe.  For domain names I use namesilo and for webhosting I like stablehost.

[dcpoor]

I've had good experiences with namesilo for domain registration as well. Godaddy has been real stingy with renewal coupon codes this year, so I transferred a bunch of domains to namesilo to avoid playing the look/wait for coupons game in the future.

 

I used the coupon code BUCKOFFDOMAIN for a dollar off my first namesilo purchase. $8.99 per year after that.

Edited October 4, 2014 by dcpoor

[grawk]

if you don't expect to do anything complicated, and don't expect a ton of traffic, dreamhost is a good place to start.  Various referrals can get you your first year for $15.  I could give you one if you don't have a favorite place to do that (I don't THINK I profit if I give the best price referral link, but I might, I've never done it).  It includes domain registration, and wordpress (and lots of other options), and hosting.

[Dusty Chalk]

 

I want the website to be pretty simple No horizontal scrolling, simple/easy to read fonts with high contrasts, basically paper on the internet.

<separation inserted here by ed.>

A few pages for photography (street, sports) 

A page for DIY stuff

MAYBE a blog

The first sentence you are describing HTML.  Not even javascript, just HTML, nothing dynamic, all static.  The rest is pretty straightforward.  Wordpress for blog, form-uploaded HTML for the other stuff.  Seriously, you are not describing anything complicated.  Eclipse will allow you to edit HTML pages.  Form-uploaded HTML pages are entirely a function of your provider, so find one that has an easy-to-use interface.  Samich would probably do it for bitcoin.

[grawk]

http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?1251264 

 

or use promo code headcase

 

It's $97 off 1 or 2 years service from them.  I checked, and I don't profit when I give that big a discount

[aardvark baguette]

i think its as simple as putting a drupal / wordpress  type app into your control panel on a lot of hosting sites.

 

they make it cookie cutter now, from what i've seen.

[acidbasement]

I registered my domain with godaddy and used weebly for design and hosting. It was dead easy to make a simple but professional-looking website, and I'm a total noob.

Edited October 4, 2014 by acidbasement

[tkam]

It's not the cheapest option available but Squarespace would work for you and be very easy to use.

[Emooze]

My site uses WordPress and I'm using BlueHost for hosting. BlueHost is a bit more expensive but it comes with a plethora of additional services, such as email, subdomains and support specifically for WordPress. My few interactions with the support staff have all been pleasant. My one gripe is that they ask you to pay for however many years of service in one payment. For me, it meant a ~$200 payment, but on the flipside, I don't have anything to worry about for 3 years.

 

WordPress can give you a pre-fab template that looks great and then what I did is poke around here and there in the code to get my site looking the way I wanted it. If you ever get really ambitious, there are guides floating around for building a WP template from scratch.

 

Alternatively, a good friend uses Laughing Squid for hosting and is a big supporter of them.

 

My site if you are so inclined: http://sexyparkas.com/

[CarlSeibert]

When you are maintaining content on a site, there are advantages to working on a CMS (like WordPress) rather than static pages. On the other hand, coding static pages is a great way to learn.

You can get an account for free at WordPress.com.

We won an account at SiteGround in a raffle and it looks like a dandy hosting service. I haven't put anything except a couple of email redirects there yet, but the tools look top notch and the support people are great. The WordPress cognoscenti seem to like that company.

Edited October 4, 2014 by CarlSeibert

[deepak]

http://www.000webhost.com/

 

Free, they don't ask for any personal information and no ads.

 

I have used them for a couple of years to create a site with info I need to check occasionally.

[nikongod]

Hello All.

 

So, I bought the domain name (go me!) and thats cool. 

In the DIY spirit, I want to learn CSS, and write as much of the code for that as possible - even if right now all I am doing is cobbling together other people's building blocks. I'm cool with that.

 

My problem is that I cant figure out how to get stuff to stop sitting on top of eachother. Like the title bar keeps sitting on top of the main text which depending on my luck overlaps the lefthand navigation. FUUUUUUCK. 

 

I uploaded some generic files for a mock website, and the CSS I have been using (as TXT) if anyone could look at them and point out where I messed up I would appreciate it. 

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3oIxZRutUV8NDJMNTlOMUs4dzQ&usp=sharing

 

What I am looking for:

I want a linky bar on the top of all pages. Just a few links to various pages I own (DIY, photography, home?) Is it possible to integrate a fixed title into this? How!?

On the home page I would like a big fat title, although this can be integrated in the link bar, I guess. 

 

Once someone clicks through to DIY or photography I want left-hand navigation within those things. In DIY I want to link to other DIY projects without going back to the main DIY page, in photos to other albums. I think I know how to do this (which just means I am too wrong to know how bad I failed) but you know. 

 

Any help is mucho appreciated. 

Then I want the body text. 

[Dusty Chalk]

Eclipse will allow you to edit HTML pages. 

Did I really say that?  Okay, technically, that's true, but it's basic.  I've actually recently gotten to the point where I need a good WYSIWYG-ish editor (WYSIWYG on the html stuff, but that also lets you look at the underlying css and javascript in a way that is useful) that supports css, and CSC is too cheap to pay for a DreamWeaver license, so I was going to try Microsoft Expression Web and Quanta Plus from this page.  (The Microsoft one because a co-worker used it and recommended it, but I don't have high hopes for it.)  You may want to do the same.  Sorry, I was a lot less farther along than I thought I was.  I may have "sussed" css, but a long way off from getting it, so I've been tasked with just finding something that just takes care of it.

[aardvark baguette]

z-index arranges element priority in css

 

http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_pos_z-index.asp

img {
    position: absolute;
    left: 0px;
    top: 0px;
    z-index: -1;
}

I built my own CSS over time, but really you just steal stuff to get started.  Its not really stealing, its like stealing plans to make a door frame a certain height and width.

 

yay internet.

 

also i like nodefire navigation, it makes javascript and css backup nav.

its legit but not free. 

 

i may be able to look at your stuff tomorrow.

Edited October 31, 2014 by aardvark baguette

[dsavitsk]

What I am looking for:

 

You need to look at the position property for your various elements. It is really not intuitive at all, so your best bet is probably to just play around with it. There are some links at the bottom of the linked page that should explain how to do specifically what you want.