OT-How to set up my first web site?

Eric, I have a hosting account and my "friends and family" plan is more of a coop than a profit-making arrangement.

Depending on what you're after, you may be able to use an existing open-source tool for the content and just worry about that, rather than writing HTML and getting bogged down in the presentation layer. I can show you a few examples of what's easy to do with that too. I'll do that for you even if you don't want hosting, like I say it's a coop type thing if you want in.

======================== Check with your current ISP. Whidbey Telcom offers both domain name registration and web hosting. You will also get your own email address(es).

More than likely you already have adequate software as both Firefox, Netscape, Explorer and OpenOffice/Write as well as M/S word can generate/edit HTML for you.

Keep things simple, and remember there are still large numbers of people with POTS [plain old telephone service] dial-up modems limited to 28.8 kbaud. The more "enhancements"/"extensions" your site uses, the longer things take to load, and the more likely their browser will have problems.

Lots of free editors and html/XML generators you can download.

If you want a book see McFedries, Paul "The complete idiot's guide to creating a web page and blog." ISBN 1-59257-267-7 (6th edition) This includes free and trial software.

Also consider taking a non-credit class at your local community college. You will get hands on experience with several brands of software and some good ideas.

Unka George (George McDuffee)

...and at the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased, and the epitaph drear: ?A Fool lies here, who tried to hustle the East.?

Rudyard Kipling The Naulahka, ch. 5, heading (1892).

I suggest looking at webspinner. I found it easy to use and does everything I want it to do.

I threw together a website with it, nothing fancy. It has a 30 day eval and then its 49 bucks to buy.

I host on dreamhost.com and I have been extremly happy with them.

I would suggest to the OP to learn the basics of HTML (you only need to know 6-7 tags), and find a cheap host that supports FTP (or scp).

Then you can just manually edit HTML files with some text editor.

Remember that with your own domain, you can move it elsewhere if you do not like your current host.

For browser compatibility, stay away from Microsoft products.

I can hardly wait to see what you do! I have a pic of your coffee grinder on my wall!

Easy: Ask in the right group!

Nick

Huh?

You can't be more of a computer idiot than I, and my web site is so simple it loads almost instantly on dialup. The web site is free and I have been using it for years, and they have all kinds of free programs to let even an idiot make a web site.

I agree, avoid microsoft and make it compatible with everything and as few bells & whistles as possible.

BIG SNIP

Hey Nick,

Tell us more.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.

It must be a damn good coffee grinder. Unfortunately I can't take credit for it. I don't remember ever posting anything about a coffee grinder. Maybe you're thinking of another Eric Snow. There's at least one other. Eric

Greetings Nick, This is the right group. Plenty of smart folks who know about metalworking. And who also happen to know about other stuff, like computers and web pages. Interestingly, you happen to be one of those folks. Cheers, Eric

Greetings Dave, Thanks for the offer. And thanks also to everyone else who have replied so far. This is just what usenet is for. So what's your web site URL Dave? Should I just go there or should we switch to e-mail? Maybe what I learn from you will be useful to others here. Cheers, Eric

Let's move it to email. Mine is valid, and I check it frequently. Like I said this is more a coop thana profit thing but it's pretty far off-topic at the moment. We could set up a test site pretty quickly for you to play with.

NEVERMIND, brainfart, right before posting.

This is the same old discussion: I really can't understand why those OT-posters constantly and willingly ruin the group they like by posting OT. Lots a knowing people already left. They left because they wanted to discuss about metalworking (hint: group-name) and not read all the OT.

No, not again "filter". The filter has to be installed in the OT-poster's part of _their_ brain that does the group-selection and not on thousands of reader's computers interested in the groups subject.

Sad! Because quite a few of the OT'ers have interesting questions or answers or are good to discuss with.

Nick

Well, it has the same old answer. If he goes off to the web-hosting groups, he gets to deal with an unknown set of people whose credibility and intentions he doesn't know. Here, it's a known quantity. And dismiss filtering if you want, but it _was_ clearly marked OT in the subject line.

Sounds like you've identified the solution but don't want to use it; ignore posts with OT in the subject line. The filter setup is not complicated and is a one time deal. If you need help doing so in your newsreader, well, I'd offer to help you here but it'd be off-topic so I suggest you go to the newsreaders group.

Greetings Nick, Though my post was off topic the intention was to make it easier for me to show other people metalworking stuff. So the post was related to metalworking. I understand your feelings about OT posts. Political posts especially. And even though this is called a metalworking group there is a wealth of knowledge here that doesn't relate directly to metalworking. We all have metalworking in common and this other knowledge is icing on the cake. And there is no reason to read the OT posts, that is why they are, or should be, marked OT. I do find that I only read about 10% of posts these days because of all the political stuff, and I wish there weren't so many. And I'm fed up enough with a few of these posters that even though they can give good advice about metalworking their political postings have led me to killfile them. I'm sorry that my OT post offended you so much. You are talented and smart and your suggestions are always good. But I will still post stuff that is OT if I feel that it will be of interest to others in this group. Cheers, Eric

I code by hand, as it allows me to do exactly what I want, without unwanted garbage.

That said, I'd recommend amaya for strict compliance with W3C. Nvu does a good job too.

This is soooo lame.

So what is boring you about other posters isn't valid for you? In Germany we say, "Clean in front of _your_ door".

And some of those with their political crap also do have interesting answers to metalworking. Should I filter them for their political attitude? No. They can be tri-sexual if they want and keep their attitude within the group where it belongs to.

It does work in other groups. Like uk.rec.models.engineering. But maybe they are gentlemen, not cowboys.

Nick