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n2ize
02-10-2012, 01:57 PM
Okay, last night my brother asked me if I could build up a website for his band. They will supply pictures, logos, etc. and they want a dedicated site they can use for promo, selling cd's etc.

I have built websites for my own purposes on ,my own equipment in the past, i.e. set up a blog, Perl/CGI programming, database access, some PHP, etc. mainly for special purposes and experimentation. But I have never built a full website for anyone else so I am not all that familiar with name registration, hosting services, compatability with different browsers, mobile access, etc. I guess these are going to be issues I'll have to face and learn as I meet them.

For starters how do I chose a good web hosting service ? And what about registrars ? Where would be the best place to begin for finding relaiable services. After all, I can;t build the site until I have a place to build it.
KC9ECI
02-10-2012, 02:19 PM
Let me suggest http://www.qth.com for your hosting company. You can take care of domain registration through them as well. Whatever you do, don't go with godaddy.
W2NAP
02-10-2012, 02:21 PM
Whatever you do, don't go with godaddy.

THIS!
n2ize
02-10-2012, 03:23 PM
Let me suggest http://www.qth.com for your hosting company. You can take care of domain registration through them as well. Whatever you do, don't go with godaddy.

I'll check them out. And yes, I will avoid Godaddy.
KB3LAZ
02-10-2012, 03:25 PM
For my business sites I use x10. For personal sites I keep it rather simple. For other sites I have used flash based templates. I really dont build anything from scratch, I have more things to do with my time. So, yes, I bought them. =P

Though I have to say that flash was a pain in the ass when using php scripts from my MSSQL server.

As for QTH, personally I find them expensive for what you get. Granted, I try to pinch pennies due to the 4 dedicated and 4 VPS servers that I am paying for.
KC9ECI
02-10-2012, 04:22 PM
As for QTH, personally I find them expensive for what you get. Granted, I try to pinch pennies due to the 4 dedicated and 4 VPS servers that I am paying for.

Yeah, but $5 a month really isn't that terrible, and at the end of the day who's pocket would you rather drop some coin in to, some asshat in a HOA with a Ferrari, or a fellow hams?
KB3LAZ
02-10-2012, 04:36 PM
Yeah, but $5 a month really isn't that terrible, and at the end of the day who's pocket would you rather drop some coin in to, some asshat in a HOA with a Ferrari, or a fellow hams?

That is only the starter plan. I would eat through that in a week.

As for my servers they are split in half. Two of each hosted in the states and two of each hosted in Europe. I need to do this for different clientele. Speed is the issue. I have tried the boasted companies with little loss from one end of the planet to another...that didnt work out so well.

As for whose pockets my payments line..I havent a clue.
NA4BH
02-10-2012, 04:53 PM
Which one will get the $5.00 per month? :lol:


http://cache.blippitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/GoDaddy.jpg http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00831/BLMANOHAR_VUZURNHTB_831752e.jpg
N2RJ
02-10-2012, 06:22 PM
I use dreamhost. Owned by the employees.

For a website software I would recommend Drupal or Wordpress. Dreamhost has one click installs.

But doesn't Jeff offer hosting as well? I thought he did.
KC9ECI
02-10-2012, 07:35 PM
+1 for Drupal.
n2ize
02-11-2012, 02:26 PM
I am going to give Drupal a try. I downloaded the base package last night. Anything that will save time and give good looking results without having to start everything from complete scratch is welcome.

My last experience with building a website involved setting up a calendar based scheduling system for a small baseball club. Used a lot of server side Perl scripts running as CGI programs using various modules, i.e. Perl/DBI, modperl via Apache, etc. There is a lot of new stuff available inc. PHP code which can be directly embedded which can make life easier. This will be a new experience for me because I will be trying to incorporate some newer tools in the development process so it will also be a learning experience. In any event I'd like to get a basic site up and running and add enhancements and features as I go along.
KC2UGV
02-11-2012, 03:01 PM
My only thing with Drupal, is upgrades. They state that they will break functionality, in order to upgrade if it meets the roadmap for the project, and upgrades are never easy.

I use PmWiki a lot. I really like it too. You might want to give it a try. Don't even need a database in order to run it, and upgrades are easy. The core is tiny, and there are lots of "recipes" for it.
ki4itv
02-11-2012, 03:09 PM
But doesn't Jeff offer hosting as well? I thought he did.
Yes, this^^^
n2ize
02-11-2012, 03:18 PM
My only thing with Drupal, is upgrades. They state that they will break functionality, in order to upgrade if it meets the roadmap for the project, and upgrades are never easy.

I use PmWiki a lot. I really like it too. You might want to give it a try. Don't even need a database in order to run it, and upgrades are easy. The core is tiny, and there are lots of "recipes" for it.

Thanks, I'll take a look at that too. Anything to make the job easier and quicker. I'd like to get the basic site up and running as soon as I can and then refine and enhance it, adding removing features as I go along. of course, exactly how the site will be arranged will depend on input from the band since it will be their promotional site. I'll just be handling the tech stuff.

As far as DRUPAL goes, why would upgrades break functionality ? Isn't that counterproductive ?
KC2UGV
02-11-2012, 03:35 PM
Thanks, I'll take a look at that too. Anything to make the job easier and quicker. I'd like to get the basic site up and running as soon as I can and then refine and enhance it, adding removing features as I go along. of course, exactly how the site will be arranged will depend on input from the band since it will be their promotional site. I'll just be handling the tech stuff.

As far as DRUPAL goes, why would upgrades break functionality ? Isn't that counterproductive ?

Well, it can, and I understand the motivations (We will fix something, even if it breaks other "features" people use). PmWiki can be up and running (Basic) in about 10 seconds (The time to decompress). And upgrades to the core will never break the core's features (Which are limited).

This site was done in PmWiki: http://coreyreichle.tk
n2ize
02-11-2012, 07:47 PM
Well, it can, and I understand the motivations (We will fix something, even if it breaks other "features" people use). PmWiki can be up and running (Basic) in about 10 seconds (The time to decompress). And upgrades to the core will never break the core's features (Which are limited).

This site was done in PmWiki: http://coreyreichle.tk

Yeah, I've run into that scenario when upgrading Linux distros. A program I really like, or even one I wrote, suddenly balks after upgrade with some message "foo_bar_sucks() depreciated" and it can be a royal PITA. Such is progress,
n6hcm
02-12-2012, 12:42 AM
As far as DRUPAL goes, why would upgrades break functionality ? Isn't that counterproductive ?

sure, but there are limited development resources and sometimes, to get a new feature you have to break an old one. not to say that they'd do this casually--they know thousands of people are using this software--but sometimes you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette.