Micro Business & Making a Website

[doppel.ganger]

Hey, I'm a teen looking for some money, so I decided I want to start a micro business doing what I'm best at: fixing computers. Basic stuff like data recovery, virus removal, basic tech support, Linux installation help, etc. and I read that one of the most important things a business has is its website. I want to create an awesome website from scratch. I don't want to use any services like Webs, Blogger, WordPress, and so on. How do I do this? Thanks!!

DG

[samalex]

I suggest getting an account on HostGator (http://www.hostgator.com/) who uses Linux and they're just a great group of folks IMHO. Hosting is about $4/month and you have enough resources to run pretty much whatever you want, whether you want to install a canned blogging app or roll your own site. They also can handle your email which is nice.

[kaldor]

Begin by learning HTML and CSS following web standards. Avoid WYSIWYG editors since they create garbage/messy code. Use standard code so that it works across all browsers properly. Test with a few different rendering engines: Gecko (Firefox), WebKit (Epiphany, Chrome), Trident (IE). Try to do absolutely everything on your own. If you use sample code, make sure you know exactly what it is for and how it works.

Use tutorials, Google, or maybe get someone to help you out :)

[winh8r]

This site has a lot of good tips and should get you started:

http://www.thefreecountry.com/

The single most important thing to remember is that the aim of the site is

to convey information rather than to showcase all the cool tricks you just

learned. A simple site with an easy to follow layout and minimal

distractions is far better than an all singing all dancing digital

fairground!!


Good Luck with it.

[kaldor]

A simple site with an easy to follow layout and minimal

distractions is far better than an all singing all dancing digital

fairground!!

This is extremely important. Make it look modern, minimal, and sleek. Don't annoy the users with useless graphics and information. Keep it to the point.

[Paqman]

I don't want to use any services like Webs, Blogger, WordPress, and so on.

Definitely get your own hosting, but don't rule out running something like Wordpress yourself. It's a good-looking, flexible and easy to use platform.

[MisterGaribaldi]

And, for goodness' sake, DO NOT make it look like this site (http://mycartrans.tripod.com/).

That site was shown in one of my college courses, and we were evaluating what was good or bad about different web sites. When this one came up, we were like... "OMG... where do we begin?"

[doppel.ganger]

And, for goodness' sake, DO NOT make it look like this site (http://mycartrans.tripod.com/).

That site was shown in one of my college courses, and we were evaluating what was good or bad about different web sites. When this one came up, we were like... "OMG... where do we begin?"

I wouldn't even THINK about making it look like that site. Anybody know any good places to learn HTML and CSS? Thanks again, everybody!

[doppel.ganger]

Also, once I make a site (gedit, anyone?) How do I 'publish it,' give it a url?

[winh8r]

see the link in my post #4 above