When you want to make a website. . .

[Arwen Elf]

How does one go about creating a website (a small affair, really), when one wants to create a website? I want to know, because I'm chock-full of free time and I want to make a somewhat respectable website concerning LOTR. (I have been so inspired!) So, where would I start.

[Khamul]

This is something I have always wondered about too, but have never really asked. So now there are two of us who would like help. So come on all you tech-heads, lend your fellow WarRingers out!!! :grin:

[Dawn Noelle]

it depends on how large of a site you want, how many visitors you expect (data transfer), etc....
there's a lot that goes into making a website

you can purchase programs that write the html or learn it yourself, make your own graphics....and so on.

geocities is pretty good for walking you through everything.

hope that helps :grin:

[YayBoromir!]

If you have the money, you can pay for hosting, which gets you a certain amount of bandwidth a month, plus webspace and certain features depending on your package. You should search around until you find a package that is suitable for your needs. If you see one which says "unlimited bandwidth", I wouldn't recommend it because there's usually a hidden pitfall to it! ;) If you are only aiming for a small fan site, you will probably need at max 3.5GB bandwidth (this will cope with about 200 hits a day). My site has 7GB which copes with about 400, but I'm having to move host because I'm getting too many hits... :(
If you don't want to pay, you can try a free host such as Geocities , Tripod or Angelfire. However, these services are limited and you will have to deal with downtime and pop-ups.
To make your website, you can use a web publishing program such as Microsoft FrontPage (that's what I use), Dreamweaver (good, but v. expensive) or you can learn html. For free hosts, you don't have to know much code, which is an advantage, but FrontPage lets you create web pages just like you would manage a Word Document, albeit a few changes. Sometimes it messes up the code, however, and there are a few bugs.
If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to PM me, I'd be happy to help. I can also provide a FrontPage table-layout template for anyone who needs it. :)

Hope that helped, and good luck with your website!
YB!:cool:

[Amoraq]

Hey, that makes three. I've been wanting to make a web page also. YB!, I've tried those free web hosting things and they really don't work too well if you want to add scripts because they don't let you change permissions. Now I have to convince my parents to pay for a web hosting service.

[Enelya]

me too ive always wanted to make a website but apart from the basics i know nothing about computers:(

[YayBoromir!]

Amoraq, I replied to your PM. :)
Enelya, if you don't know much about computers, maybe you could get a Livejournal or something which can also serve as a website! I hear they are quite easy to use, but you need an activation code. Speaking of that, if anyone is on Livejournal, please could you generate me an activation code? :thumbs:

[Enelya]

cool ill have to try that sometime:thumbs:

[Amoraq]

LiveJournal? Never hear of it. Thank you for the advice YB! I've been exploring around for awhile now looking at other sites.

[Bonos-Girl]

livejournals are basically online diaries but less personal...you can use them as part of a website and they're kinda like forums really....

ranger has an LJ.....she probably has an activation code unless she gave it to a firiend...i gave mine to Pil and she gave hers to ranger...they're quite good for basic stuff bgut if you want to be able to completely chaneg the style you need to pay for one....free ones don't give you as many options for editing...

if you want hosting for a site and you want to have a forum the best ones are spaceports.com and lycos...in fact i think they're the only free ones that you can build a forum on.....

[Enelya]

coolio BG:thumbs:

[Bonos-Girl]

if you want a forum go here: http://phpbb.com

they are free and really easy to create...you need webhosting already though.....

[Enelya]

whats webhosting :blush:

[Amoraq]

Actually, on lycos some of the scripts needed their permissions changed and lycos didn't allow me to change it. I think, well I was actually using tripod but it's a part of lycos.

[YayBoromir!]

When you pay for a company to host your site i.e. make it viewable on the internet.
Free webhosting means you don't have to pay, but features are very limited and there are often pop-ups.
BG, I'm getting a phpbb when I get more bandwidth in June :) (site keeps going down due to overusage):(

[Bonos-Girl]

if you got o tripod you don't have all the stuff you need but if you go to lycos and sign up through there then you do...it's weird!

[Amoraq]

That is really strange. Do you know if they allow telnetting? Cause tripod didn't allow that.

[Bonos-Girl]

telnetting? i'm dumb....whats that?

[Amoraq]

It's some sort of program that lets you change stuff like permissions in your script I think.
I can't get a web page on lycos. Whenever I click on build website it brings me to tripod. grrr

[Arwen Elf]

Are there any books that you know of that can help in this sort of thing? (I was not born with the Gift!)lol Because books tend to help more than anything!:read: Yeah, and I used to have a geocities page. . . but lets not talk about that!

[Amoraq]

lol There's quite a few books around that teach HTML and CGI and everything. You just have to get them and get a web host. That's my problem!lol

[Bonos-Girl]

lol...ok....for a lycos webpage go here:
http://www.tripod.lycos.co.uk/ (its down for a few days while they move servers...you could try one in a different language..see if they work....lol)
there are a few books on web stuff...they get out of date really quickly though...try searching on the web and you'll probably find what you're loking for

[Amoraq]

Oh, that's what I was using. It wouldn't let me change permissions on some scripts. Oh well. Yeah, the books really go out of date quickly at the rate the net is changing.

[Enelya]

if you want a book the "...For Dummies" are really good theyre funny and helpful. i used one to learn how to use windows a long time agolol

[Bonos-Girl]

tripod.com is different to tripod.co.uk though...dunno why

what do you mean it wouldn't let you change permissions? like CHMOD or summat?

[Amoraq]

Yeah that. It's different? That's really weird.

[Cuiel Rilwen]

I'm working my way through it right now! I had no knowledge of this when I started, and everything I know about windows I've tought myself, so don't be scared!

I've got a cd-rom with a trialversion of FrontPage 2000 web editor, but most machines with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3, (MSIE 3), seem to have the light version, Front page Express installed. If not, I believe you can download it at www.microsoft.com. (Your version of explorer will show a minute when you're opening it.) I started with the latter, and it's quite easy to work with for a beginner.

I'm now reading the book Microsoft FrontPage 2000 step by step, and its got a cd with rehersals and lessons that takes you through it all. I started with a leaflet on building websites, which was based on 4 different editors. Its really fun, I'm totally hooked! I f you ask at your local bookstore, they're bound to have this book, (it's from the Microsoft Press), and also some kind of leaflet similar to the one I bought in the begining. If you know anyone who have knowledge enough about websites to advice you on what leaflet to buy, you won't throw your money away on books that doesn't do it for you!

I also think its better not to have expectations of making the perfect and largest site at first. And to play with it, cuz thats the best way to learn! Good luck to all...and to me as well!:grin:

[Bonos-Girl]

Amoraq....you can change CHMOD through your FTP client.

[Amoraq]

Nope, tried, it wouldn't let me do that. It's not allowed.