Web Hosting Basics Part 4: Starting With Site5
So you’ve decided to take the plunge into the unknown world of web hosting. What next? Buying a book on programming? Calling your “techie” friends to “help” you get started?
At Site5, we heard the cries of the web hosting youngsters, and we include several easy-to-use, “Don’t run away scared just yet” features to help you get started. In this post, we’ll show you how to get through the order process, log into your account the first time, create a forum and set up a picture gallery.
Your new site can be up and running with content that you created within an hour, so what are you waiting for? There’s nothing to it but to do it!
A Picturesque Tour of a New Site5 Account
For a larger view, click on the screenshots below.
From the Site5 homepage, after evaluating your hosting options and deciding which plan fits you best, click the “Get Started Now” button.
In the first step of the order process, you will select a plan, a term length, and enter your desired domain name.
In the second step of the order process, you can check the ownership of your desired domain name, verify the plan details and order cost. Assuming everything is correct, you will enter your personal information and payment information (and for you tricky credit card thieves out there, no, I’m not going to show you a screenshot of my billing information).
After entering any applicable promo codes and answering two quick questions about how you heard about Site5, we ask that you read through the Site5 service agreement and agree to the terms to complete the order.
Congratulations! You are now a part of the Site5 community. Let’s get started on your site.
Immediately after signing up for your new hosting account, you can login to your Backstage account manager with the information you receive in the order confirmation email you receive at the email you used in your order.
In your Backstage account manager, you can modify your billing information, manage access to your websites, and essentially control the universe… Well maybe not the last one, but you get the point. To begin working on your website, simply click the domain on your Backstage dashboard (this will open the site’s NetAdmin control panel).
This control panel is where the magic happens. If you are an advanced user, you can modify your site’s settings and server information, but for this walkthrough, we will use a few of the free scripts included in every Site5 plan to create a forum and a photo gallery. To start these insallations, click the “CGI & PHP Scripts” link in the menu on the left side of the page and follow the “Fantastico” link.
In Fantastico, you can easily execute one-click installations of blogs, content management systems, forums, and more.
In order to show the process of installing one of these features, we will walk through a phpBB forum installation. To begin, you can click on the phpBB2 option under “Discussion Boards.” After entering the required information, you can click a button and install the forum! That wasn’t too hard, was it?
In order to check the installation, you can navigate to the directory in which you installed the forum. In this case, it was http://www.halfwaynowhere.com/forum.
To create a photo gallery, you can navigate back to Fantastico and select one of the Photo Gallery installations.
Fill out the info and in the click of a button, http://www.halfwaynowhere.com/photos/ is up, and you are ready to upload photos.
Quick and Painless
You’re now a website owner with your very own forum and a photo gallery. You can easily install one of several blogs to keep the digital world up to date on your life, and you can set up your very own email address (pick-a-name@yourdomain.com)!
If you have been reading this blog post apprehensively assuming that your own website was still out of reach, you have no excuse now… Get Started with Site5!