How to create a website?

VfM4meplse

^^ Thank you! There's so much I don't know, I feel like I'm wandering into the abyss here!
Is there any site you would recommend that goes through the A-Z of setting up your own website? I don't want to rush into something without understanding the full functionality available. At the moment I have no idea how to future-proof my intended site.

I'd also like to be able to create and edit via IOS.

AndyPix

1and1 website builder is incredibly easy to use .


My 5 year old daughter can use it ..might be worth a look


https://www.1and1.co.uk/website-builder

hop3y

Wordpress is the best. Speaking from experience, I've been using it 10 years and just self taught.

(My site) - I post all my content from my phone or tablet through a simple app. Drop me a DM if you need a hand.

davronwear

Do not go with Godaddy their servers are in Arizona and Google assumes that a website hosted there is not relevant in searches made on google.co.uk

Also don't forget your SEO. A website with no SEO is a bit like putting your sales leaflets under your desk and leaving them there

Hoseman

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Speaking of copyright, in creating some branding by incorporating images from the web, how do you ensure you are not infringing any copyright?

There are so many legalities to be aware of, it would be great if this info could be found in one place - eg a function / price comparison table of each provider to make the right selection from the outset. I'd also like to know how simple it might be to change from one host to another and retain your IP.

Generally I would advise you not to use any material that you find on the web and pass it off as your own. As mentioned there is Pixabay for images as well as other sites that provide imagery you can use. For some copyright free images there are certain restrictions like non commercial or commercial use too. Your best bet is to pay someone ranging from fiverr (cheap) to a more premium service.

Not sure what you mean exactly re your last point but changing hosting company is easy. Hosting as in the web space where your website is housed.

esuhl

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Speaking of copyright, in creating some branding by incorporating images from the web, how do you ensure you are not infringing any copyright?

Content is automatically copyrighted by default. If no terms are mentioned, then you can't just use it for your own purposes. The copyright holder could sue for damages.

There are places where you can get "public domain" images. Some are completely free to use for any purpose, some are free so long as you provide attribution (maybe with text that says, "This image is copyright Wotsisface"), and some are free only for personal (non-commercial) use.

In short, you need to be SURE that you know what the copyright/licensing terms are before using anything.

S0litaire

To be safe look for "Creative Common" (CC) images

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

CC is a public domain Free to use copyright licence.

Their are a few levels that restrict commercial use but some allow free use for commercial sites.

ptoner27

For simple websites we use oneandone.co.uk. For only a few pounds a month you have a managed system that runs Wordpress. The Oneandone computers will install Wordpress for you semi automatically. Learning wordpress is no more difficult than learning something like Word for Windows and is worth it

VfM4meplse

AndyPix wrote: »

1and1 website builder is incredibly easy to use .


My 5 year old daughter can use it ..might be worth a look


https://www.1and1.co.uk/website-builder

So I've registered a web domain and was hoping to get started asap. What I didn't bargain on was wasting so much time searching for the right images from a stock library of 20 million images. If your 5 yo could tell me of a smart way of searching to exclude the image type I don't want that would be gratefully received! (The support desk was none the wiser, their answer was helpfully to upload my own or create my own whilst telling me how ergonomic and "intuitive" the site is. If I'd wanted to do that and ignore copyright, I would have just gone with Wordpress).

Cornucopia

What do you mean by "exclude image type"?

You can freely change an image's filetype using tools like MS Paint or Paint.net (if the image contains transparency).


This question of creating one's own website seems to come up quite often, and I can appreciate the previous question of: can we have a list of possible vendors and approaches.

The answer to that question is that there are many, many approaches and a suitable choice depends on what you want to achieve, how much you want to spend and what skills you have (or are prepared to learn).

At its simplest a website is this:

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<div style="font-family: arial;font-size:4em;
color:red; padding:10%; background: #ccc;">
Welcome to my website</div>
</body>
</html>


You could copy that into a text file, give it a ".html" suffix, double-click it and have it launch as a page in your browser. From there, you can produce a basic HTML/CSS site for nothing, host it for free and away you go.

Alternatively, most hosting companies now have their own free site builders, most of which are easy to use. That can be a route to getting a slightly more sophisticated design, with less effort, although if something goes wrong it can be more complex to sort out. (Look for tools like Weebly, Wix, Wordpress etc.)

For a third approach, there are now several free development frameworks that are free to use and simplify the hand-coded development process (typically automating menus and site scaling). I like W3.CSS, which is one of the simpler ones. http://www.w3schools.com/w3css/

Free and cheap hosting is widely available. For free hosting, I like 000webhost.com, and for cheap hosting FreeVirtualServers. If you are going for paid hosting, I would recommend going with a UK-based one. I would also recommend buying domains and hosting separately, for ease of transfer of services later. I usually use UK2.NET for domain names.


Disclaimer: I am a freelance web designer and am not touting for business.