How Do I Register And Host A Domain?

Hey_Dude

Forgive me - I am a techie thicky...

I want to set up a web site domain name - e.g. www.heydude.com - how do I do this?

Register somewhere and get it hosted somewhere?

Google searches are just confusing me...

MTIA

Duder

santer_2

You can have that with .eu as .com is taken

http://www.freevirtualservers.com/buy_domain.php?extension=eu&domain=heydude

Call them and ask any questions you have about registering, then call a few others to see if you get the same answers

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=free+webhosting+uk&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=Palemoon:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

If it is a site which will be of value to you, consider using paid for hosting

esuhl

Two things you need to consider - who to use to register the domain name, and who to host the content. There are a small number of dodgy companies who will register the domain in their own name, so when you come to leave they can refuse to let you have it or effectively hold you to ransom, so make sure that the domain is registered to you personally. I use 123-reg.co.uk for registering my domains and they've been fine.

As for hosting, I'm currently using zoka.cc, who provide up to 7GB webspace FREE with no adverts, and you can use SQL databases and various scripting languages without problem. They do, however, seem to prevent pages from being indexed by search engines and if a user clicks an invalid link they get taken to a page that is allegedly linked to phishing attempts! So it's fine for playing around with, but not what you'd want for a corporate site! A friend uses the (much more respectable) 1&1 and hasn't had any problems with them.

As for email, I just point the domain name at my GMX (free webmail) account, and have the email client set up so that people can email me at me@mydomain.co.uk and I appear to reply from that address, but in reality it's all linked to a boringname@gmx.com account.

Hope that helps...

googler

Look on namesco to see if the domain is available, and how much they wil charge for registering and hosting it for you.

InsideInsurance

Domains are easy to register, as others have already said. You simply go to the likes of 123-reg and say what you want, if its available you say how many years you want it for (in the case of .com) and then pay for it. As your registration period comes to a close you will receive an email advising you of it and telling you want to do if you want to cancel it or extend it - in most cases it will extend automatically unless you say otherwise.

You now own a domain but thats it. To start using the domain you need to set things up. Now how you set things up will depend on exactly what you want to do. I would discredit any advice at this point on what that goes beyond that in terms of setting up forwarding, MX records and NameServers etc because you haven't said if you want a simple HMTL page hosted or a complex development that you've already had created in the .Net stack.

Hey_Dude

Thanks Dudes - very helpful.

Does this sound doable:

Register the site domain first - then use serif.com free download to mess about creasting the site on my PC - and then when happy pay some one to host it?

Duder

esuhl

Sounds good. Buying a domain name is relatively cheap, and once you've got it you know the name so you can fit that in with any branding or whatever. Then you've got time to design the site and decide who to host it with before it goes live.

Hey_Dude

esuhl wrote: »

As for email, I just point the domain name at my GMX (free webmail) account, and have the email client set up so that people can email me at [EMAIL="me@mydomain.co.uk"]me@mydomain.co.uk[/EMAIL] and I appear to reply from that address, but in reality it's all linked to a [EMAIL="boringname@gmx.com"]boringname@gmx.com[/EMAIL] account..

Can someone talk me though this bit?

I've set up my web page (Serif) with email me at [EMAIL="me@mysite.com"]me@mysite.com[/EMAIL] but when I adjust this to direct to [EMAIL="me@gmx.com"]me@gmx.com[/EMAIL] Outlook automatically displays the gmx address and not the mysite address.....

Duder

esuhl

Hey_Dude wrote: »

Can someone talk me though this bit?

I've set up my web page (Serif) with email me at [EMAIL="me@mysite.com"]me@mysite.com[/EMAIL] but when I adjust this to direct to [EMAIL="me@gmx.com"]me@gmx.com[/EMAIL] Outlook automatically displays the gmx address and not the mysite address.....

Duder

I don't use Outlook myself, but I set my email clients to collect mail from me@gmx.com (via IMAP), and tell them to send mail (via SMTP) using the email address me@mysite.com.

A quick web search suggests that you can change the default "email address" (i.e. "from") field in Outlook by going to:
tools >> e-mail accounts >> view or change existing account >> User Information >> "your name:" and "email address:".

Hope that helps..