Internet Hosting, etc help...

[lcbj68c]

I just need some quick help. I want to purchase (rent is probably the more appropriate word) a url for my softball team here in Florida. Similiar to what Jimbo did for brewerfansoftball.net.

Is it just as simple as registering a domain name from GoDaddy.com? There is so much small print that I dont understand it all. Does registering mean they are hosting as well? Supposedly I can get the url I want for .99 cents for 1 year but that seems too good to be true. What are the steps I need to do, or is registering really all I need. I know HTML and stuff, but I've always just hosted on yahoo, geocities, etc. I need some advice. Any is welcome . Thanks in advance.

[Katuluu]

Hosting is a separate cost from purchasing a domain. Typically you'll want to decide what platform you want to use before signing up for a host, so that way they can install everything for you. I'm a big fan of Wordpress as it is relatively simple to use, is almost universally included in most hosting packages, and their are a ton of free themes available so you can tweak the look of your site easily and cheaply.

 

Hostin typically is somewhere around $50-75 a year on top of the cost of the domain. As the more traffic your site gets the more expensive hosting will be, but for a small site it should always stay relatively low.

[pretendastronaut]

Registering a domain name is different than hosting. You need to register for a domain name, and then you find somewhere to host it. You can register a domain at many places like GoDaddy or Network Solutions or register.com and then secure hosting from a completely different company if you like, though all of these places offer hosting as well.

 

However, a lot of hosting companies these days will pay the domain registration fees for you if you sign up with them for hosting, mostly because most of them are actual registars now.

 

You mostly have the choice between an Apache/Linux set-up or a Windows set up, and those choices differ on what you can use on your website. Standard HTML would work on either set up. Something like Wordpress is pretty nice, but you'll need a hosting setup that can use PHP to use Wordpress, which typically means an Apache/Linux hosting set-up. So watch out for that.

 

I have used Xeran for probably 8 years, for several different sites, including my own.

 

Dreamhost is very cheap and pretty reliable, but if you don't know what you're doing, they can be a bit of a pain. Heck they can be a pain even if you do know what you're doing.

 

I have clients who have used the hosting with GoDaddy and Network Solutions, but I've never really liked their set ups. GoDaddy is especially annoying to me with how they set up their control panels.

[Patrick425]

Ever try this site?:

 

www.eteamz.com

 

They offer free sites for sports teams, or you can pay for extra features and memory for a nominal annual fee. We used it for my son's baseball team. It's very simple to use and is set up to put things such as rosters, stats, schedules, photos, team news, etc.