|
|
Having your own web site....
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Having your own web site.... // Roundtable
Post by tscorpio // Feb 20, 2008, 8:32am
|
tscorpio
Total Posts: 84
|
This is really a question for everyone that has a web site of their own.
I'm looking at moving my site to it's own domain name and adding a hit counter to it. I was completely overwhelmed at all that came up in my search and would like the advice from people who have already done it.
There seems to be a boatload of free stuff, but is there a catch? What should I be looking out for? |
Post by hemulin // Feb 20, 2008, 9:19am
|
hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
|
I use statcounter (http://www.statcounter.com) which involves you putting a little piece of jscript on each of your pages. It's really easy to set up. Most hosting companies allow you to monitor you stats from your host control panel however. |
Post by spacekdet // Feb 20, 2008, 9:31am
|
spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
|
The 'free' ones probably mean you get ads served up to you and your visitors, whether you like it or not.
If all you really want is to post images, theres always flickr (http://flickr.com/), photobucket, (http://photobucket.com/)snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com/), imageshack, (http://imageshack.us/) etc, etc. Most are free for basic accounts, and have upgraded paid accounts as well.
If you want to host pages rather than straight images, then owning your own domain isn't that difficult- you need a hosting service, a web builder app of some sort- anything from Notepad (for the html purist) to Dreamweaver/ Flash/ full-on suites. Word, (lots of extra code gets lumped in along with the html) MS Publisher, Mozilla (Composer), etc all will churn out your pages.
Build it locally on your machine, upload, and done.
Most hosting companies also have some sort of built-in web building app if you have no desire to weave your own web.
You'll probably need an FTP program to manage files on the server- most page building software also allows you to upload/transfer the files after you build your site locally, but I prefer FTP. Get a sFTP (secure, sends them encrypted) one if you can.
A hit counter is just a snippet of code that you can get free in a million places, or your hosting company will also have some sort of statistics package that you can examine that will reveal how much traffic you're getting, what they look at, how long, and where they're from.
I'm on 1&1 (http://order.1and1.com/), it's dirt cheap, easy to set up, and it's given me no problems at all since I signed on with them.
Good luck and have fun! |
Post by Liger ZERO // Feb 20, 2008, 9:34am
|
Liger ZERO
Total Posts: 124
|
If you want something easy to use theres Office Live. I like it just because you can get it up and running fast. It is a little limiting for people that want to make there own website. You must choose a premade layout for the web site and you can't use any type of server side scripts(as far as I can tell). They do have tools if you want to add some HTML, javascript, vbscript, etc. of your own. But if you want a hit counter you need to find a place that can host it.
They will get you your own domain name. Also you get a good amount of storage and bandwidth for it being free. It is a little more geared to small business but you might want to give them a try.
http://www.officelive.com/
You can take a look at my website by clicking on the link in my signature. |
Post by Ambrose // Feb 20, 2008, 9:36am
|
Ambrose
Total Posts: 261
|
If you can, this is not for everyone, have your own site at home ;)
What you need is a router, making your web pc into a virtual something, and a free pc, and belive me this can be anything, old as new, with Php & Mysql plus what ever free web or forum prg. out there, and there's plenty, your up and running.
This is my option, if I have free time I'll guide you through...
SeYa/Ambrose... |
Post by jayr // Feb 20, 2008, 2:51pm
|
jayr
Total Posts: 1074
|
try this place:
http://www.freevirtualservers.com/free-hosting.htm
100mb of space and all you have to do is put a bit of code on the site to link to their page like this:
http://www.hairandthere.co.uk |
Post by Finis // Feb 23, 2008, 8:02am
|
Finis
Total Posts: 386
|
I like to build my own sites from the ground up and made my own hit counters. ( personal (http://www.zianet.com/fmiller), business (http://www.phosphorgallery.com) ). I only made my own because I wanted to, I only need simple hit/time data, and to ensure that I could have a long history of hits.
For practicallity and trustworthiness your ISP/Host's log files and their tools to read and analyze them are probably best. The ISP or host of your site keeps logs of various server activity. Many hit counters read these log files. Ask your ISP/host about these logs and what tools you can use. Positives: Lots of info and powerful analysis tools. Probably free. Negatives: ISP's might not keep the older log history and might not let you read the logs. Also, their tools might be difficult to use to display the info to your customers/visitors on your site.
Most ISP's have simple counters that just keep a total for a page which you can use.
I don't know that much about the free ones. Just thinking about it ... Positives: Free and powerful analysis tools. Negatives: It's surely not really free. What are the counter provider's getting out of it and are you ok with that? (Snooping, advertisements, link to their site displayed on yours? What do they do with the information they get?). I think some free ones are like demos of a paid one.
Finis |
Post by Jack Edwards // Feb 23, 2008, 9:07am
|
Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
|
If you're looking for hosting space you may want to look at these guys:
http://www.superbhosting.net/
For creating your website this is a very easy to use and inexpensive software:
http://www.namo.com/products/webeditor.php
For doing your counter, your safest bet is to download one of the standard CGI counter scripts and set it up on your Unix server. By hosting it all on your site you don't have to worry about external links causing pops or adds for your visitors.
Here's some Perl CGI scripts that came up as the first link in Google:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/perlscripts/counters.shtml
;) |
Post by Délé // Feb 23, 2008, 9:24am
|
Délé
Total Posts: 1374
|
Just thought I would add my 2 cents on web hosts here. Be careful, the lowest price is not always the best deal. A friend of mine went with Stargate and they sucked, big time. Their control panel was a mess and their support was awful. I'm not saying anything posted here is bad, just that it's best to consider more then just price when looking for a web host.
I would really recommend lunarpages. I've had a half dozen or so websites with them over the last 5 years. You get a lot of space and bandwidth for the money, the control panel is very easy to use, and the support is top notch. I'm sure there are other good web hosts out there, but I've had really good experiences with lunarpages. I'm about to get a new 3d website up again with them soon.
http://www.lunarpages.com |
Post by Jack Edwards // Feb 23, 2008, 9:42am
|
Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
|
Dele's right. Most of the too cheap to be true services oversell their bandwidth and if you even use a fraction of what is promised in the plan they terminate your account.
It's definitely worth checking around the forums before going with a provider. Also keep in mind that most providers rent their space from larger data storage companies so it's important to know who they are renting their space from as well. |
Post by v3rd3 // Feb 24, 2008, 8:26pm
|
v3rd3
Total Posts: 388
|
I use edatarack.com as an ISP for hosting my wife's business account. They use plesk for admin and you can install a boatload of opensource apps quickly.
They run about $40.00 US/yr for a basic account. Web stats are included.
Support is done through the Plesk trouble ticket system which is not too bad.
I have used support there 4 times and 3 were great responses. 1 was a bit tardy for my liking.
Most others I know that use the service are reasonably happy with it. |
Post by Paul Boland // Feb 25, 2008, 9:12am
|
Paul Boland
Total Posts: 383
|
If you're looking for a good, free, no ad's on your site, counter, I recommend eXTReMe Tracker. I use it on my site. It involves adding a piece of code to one page of your site (I have it on my main website hub) and an icon image. You can then click on it and get all the info you want, it's great.
To check it out, go my website and click on the little globle icon below the main website banners. You'll see all the info for my website and a link at the top to get your own counter. |
Post by tscorpio // Feb 28, 2008, 8:38am
|
tscorpio
Total Posts: 84
|
WOW! Thanks for all the info! I went ahead and implemented a counter through statcounter.(www.statcounter.com) It's overkill for what I needed but it's pretty neat, I imigine it will be neater after it has some stats to track LOL!!
Getting a domain name is probably going to have to wait. There seems to be more to consider than I initially thought.
The site itself is coming along nicely. Since I don't use a single package for my stuff, I really like the idea of having it together in a "neutral" spot, if that makes sense...
If anyone is interested in seeing some of my non-TrueSpace stuff, I've got some things posted on my homepage. I haven't had any art training (but I have started taking drawing classes!!!) and getting feedback from real artists is greatly appreciated. |
|
