Ok well basically I designed this cool looking template or downloaded one and added my content to it in dreamweaver 8. Now my question is how do I get it on the web to look exactly how it looked in dreamweaver or what webhosting provider etc should I use I am such a newbie and I am stressing out. I would need step by step instructions on this. thx.
Can’t I just use a free FTP host manager ? Like Bravehost/Bravenet or Zymic?
You can do it a few ways, send me a note if you are still confused after this description.
For starters, you need to find a host for your site. The host, as you likely already know, is just like a regular computer that has been dedicated to serving webpages.
You can, as suggested by another use, go to a place like http://www.godaddy.com or http://www.websitespot.com and spend between 99 cents on a dot INFO domain name, or $7 on a dot COM.
If you are just learning, then you can get a SUB domain for free if you use a free host.
Here is an example of a Blog that I created for free at http://www.000WEBH0ST.com
example: http://basichosting.net78.net
You can of course go with a paid host which will generally cost you $8-10/ month. For your needs, I suggest going free for a couple of months while you figure out what exactly you need.
Earlier today I answered a question from somebody that was wondering WHY a host would offer a hosting package for free without ads, and they assumed that the package would not be good.
The reason for very good free accounts is like this. Hosting is very competitive. If you look at Yahoo Answers you will see many links to companies like http://www.H0STGAT0R.com to get their $5/ month account which offers all of the bells and the whistles you could want, and lots of disk space.
What may not be apparent is that the majority of the links to these companies are placed by affiliates who are making an average of $100 per referral from the host. This means that the host, on average, has to pay out a full year of hosting fees as soon as you sign up for an account, and with no guarantees that you will still be paying them in three months.
The hosts that offer a free service take a different approach, rather than put big money up front, they offer a smaller package for free with the hopes that you will outgrow the disk space that they are offering. Of course there is nothing to stop you from getting ten free accounts from the same host. At the end of the day they really do not care.
As for Dreamweaver, it will work with whatever host you go with. (Perhaps not true with certain free accounts, but mot of them will allow it too.)
As for what to do with Dreamweaver, you will need to set-up your FTP information in Dreamweaver once you get a hosting account. They will give you the info you need, and you just fill in the blanks and then "Syncronize" your website in Dreamweaver. You PUT the information on the website. If your links and images are all inserted properly and are not referencing your hard-drive, then you will be set.
That last bit is important. Many beginners use local links to images that read like C:\Documents and Setting\Name\Desktop\website\images.
The correct path would be /images/image.jpg
The end result, you may see the website perfectly, and every other computer on the planet will see crap. If a friend says that they can not see the site, there you go… Troubleshooting done.
Need any more help? Just ask. I spend a lot of time loafing.