Publish a website: An overview; To get your website online you need a domain name and
a web hosting server; clients are devices used to connect to the internet and have client
side programming languages: like HTML, CSS and JS; server computers are devices that store
the website files that you upload, and also have server side programming: PHP, Ruby, and
Python.
What is the cloud?; Is an online storage drive: like Google Drive; and is basically
the internet.
Domain Names; The domain name is a unique name that helps navigate to the site, but
there are also IP addresses that help the computer identify the site too; There are three
sections to the domain name: TLD: which has .com, .net, and .org, along with some more that
are restricted to certain organizations: .edu, .gov; the second level domain name must be
unique for each website; the subdomain is like a subsection of a website name.
Domains and URLs; A URL is different then a Domain name because it contains more
detail and tells the exact location of the web resource files; the domain name is also a
part of the URL.
What is hosting; Shared: multiple websites are stored on the same server and share
memory and disk space. VPS: multiple sites are also stored on this type of server, but less
then a shared one; and if one site recieves more traffic then the others, it won't affect
them all; also it usually costs more. Dedicated web hosting: stores only one site for the
whole server; no shared resources so cost is higher; mostly for websites with high
trafficking; allows for more technical control over server. Cloud hosting: operates across
multiple servers that work together; acts lke a dedicated host; downtime is reduced because
of server backups; can also be a pricier option depending on the company. Wordpress hosting:
Is a specific hosting support system for the Wordpress CMS; Automatically handles wordpress
needs; and is ideal for people with low technical knowledge. Email hosting: Host custom
domain email accounts for different things.
Purchase domains and hosting; Buying them together: can streamline the process where
everything is in one spot; hosting companies may offer discounts for domains (sometimes only
one year); and you only have to deal with one provider. Buying them seperate: More TLD
options; if a server goes down then not everything goes down; more flexibility when
switching services. Hosted websites: website is hosted on a server, but you can't access the
source code. Self-hosted websites: You create your own web files; and you're responsible for
setting up domain, hosting, and technical maintenance.
Hosted Websites
Website builders; The steps a web builder takes to make a website are relatively the
same: 1. Choose a template; 2. Customize; 3. Publish. The advantages to using a web builder
are: Quick setup; high quality templates (options vary); Doesn't require
technical/programming knowledge; usually more cost effective; and streamlined publishing.
Disadvantages are: Many other sites will be using the same template design; limited
customization options; content may not fit well; and no choice over hosting options. Here
are some web builders: General purpose:Squarespace, and wix;
Ecommerce:Big Cartel, and BigCommerce; Content Management
System and Blog: Wordpress has two different types of wordpress: wordpress.org, and wordpress.com. Wordpress.org is the
self-hosted version and wordpress.com is the hosted version.
Squarespace; Watched how she did it
Wordpress.com VS. Wordpress.org;Wordpress.com: Similar to website builders; Hosted by Wordpress;
Uses a subdomain by default; Theme options are limited; No Plugins. Wordpress.org: Requires knowledge of
HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP; You are responosible for managing domain and hosting; Access to more
themes and full access to source code; 1,000s of plugins.
Set up domain and hosting together; There are three steps to it: 1. Search for domain
name; 2. Pick a hosting package; 3. Pay for it; 4. These are some hosting options to use: DreamHost, BlueHost, SiteGround, NameCheap. If the domain name you
search for isn't available then you can use the WhoIs search bar to figure out who has the
domain name you want, and buy it form them if they will allow it.
Nameservers; Is a computer that is permanently connected to the internet and
translates domain names into IP addresses. you have up to 2-3 of them.
Set up a domain seperate from hosting; The steps aren't that much different from
doing it together, just seperate: 1. Search for a domain name; 2. Pay for it; 3. Pick a
hosting package; 4. Pay for it; 5. Update your name servers. Use hover to register your domain, then use whatever companies hosting
nameserver you have and update those settings.
Host multiple sites; You can host up to three websites with NameCheap; and to add
those other two: Add the domain as an addon domain, and change the nameservers
FTP/SFTP; FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and SFTP Stands for Secure File
Transfer Protocol. To conect to the server to start uploading your files, you will need some
FTP/SFTP client software, found here: Cyberduck, FileZilla. You will need this login info in order to FTP your files:
FTP Server Address; FTP Username; FTP Password.
Self-hosting with WordPress; It is different than self-hosting static sites; It still
uses HTML, CSS, and JS, but it also uses and runs on PHP; and it also requires a database to
store and retreive content and data. There are a few steps to set up a wordpress hosted
site: 1. Download the wordpress core files from WordPress.org; Set up a local server to run the PHP files and
database. 2. Add content; Revise themes styles or create a theme; add functionality with
plugins. 3. Upload all wordpress files via FTP/SFTP including: coreframework files, themes
and customization, images, plugins. 4. Export your local database, create a live database in
your web server, import local database file to the live database. 5. Update all URLs to the
domain you have. 6. Edit the wp-config.php file, which contains information
related to the database; update the database information to conect to your live database.
GitHub pages;GitHub is
another website builder which is not a self-hosted or hosted website, though somewhere in
between. Git is a version control system used for tracking changes and coordinating updates
among multple contributors; GitHub is a service for hosting Git projects, another is BitBucket; all project files are
contained in a repository.