my new website

pog it

Hey guys, I know this maybe should be in webhosting but that's closed so I thought I'd try here...feel free to move me if there's another appropriate place.
I really need your help. I have thought of a website idea that would be commercial in nature and need advice re. what I should be paying. The .IE domain is available... but the .COM has been registered already and is up for sale and I was wondering if people can give me a ballpark figure as to what goes...I really do want this domain name. Also I could do with advice as to who I should register my .IE domain name...
The other thing is that I'd like to have my website made with something like Mambo/Joomla?? that I can update easily enough without having to get help...is Joomla the best out there, and most affordable or is it worth learning something like Dreamweaver? I really don't know much about these aspects..all I have is a good idea(I think). Would appreciate any help.
Thanks all,

gortronovich

I'd recommend using Webhost.ie to buy the domain name, good pricing and great staff to work with and get information from.

The .ie domain name could be better than a .com if you can get your hands on it, .ie domain names are tougher and more expensive to register.

An older domain name can be a plus for things like Google Page Rank.

Depending on your idea, it might be a good idea to use a Blog like Wordpress instead of getting into Mambo or Joomla. It would be easier to set up and customise. Webhost.ie mentioned above have a cheap hosting package especially for blog hosting.

seanabc

You'd want to check out what the .com was used for before as well. Have a look at archive.org. The .com would probably be better internationally but domains are usually over-priced when people are trying to re-sell them.

If you had enough paperwork in place to get the .ie address that would be worth doing to begin with and maybe move on the .com later if it wasn't too overpriced. To get your hands on a .ie address though you have to go through a lot of hoops to prove you're entitled to use it.

pog it

Really? What sort of hoops? Well the .COM isn't used in the way that I intend to use my .IE but that could change I guess...the other thing is that it's not really a blog as such, but will need to have categories...and have all on front page and save loads of scrolling down which I found some blogs with wordpress have....it's sort of say for example like if you were running a school and you want to have all the categories for different courses you are running and have three or more running articles going as well. Do you still think wordpress would be good? Cause I'll go with it if it's feasible.

THANK YOU!!

pog it

I just registered the .IE name and it was simple??? How do you go about 'owning it'? Is that different thing?

seanabc

The initial registration is easy enough. You still have to prove that you're entitled to use the name. If it's a persons name you have to prove that it's your name. If it's a company name you have to prove that you are a representative of that company. If it's a word or a concept or whatever, probably the easiest thing to do is to register it as a company name.

I had a similar idea earlier this year and I registered a .ie domain. The registration was handy enough and the money was deducted from my credit card immediately. It was only afterwards that I found out there was more to it. I didn't pursue it after that so I don't know if I'd have gotten a refund if I asked.

seanabc

Well the .COM isn't used in the way that I intend to use my .IE but that could change I guess.

As long as it's being used for a legitimate purpose. It's a good idea to check it's history in case it was used in any kind of illicit activity before. If it has it might have been penalized by Google which would make it less valuable. Archive.org is a handy tool because you can see what the site was used for at different times.

To be honest, I wouldn't go spending a lot on this unless you can really afford to lose it. You need a lot more than a good idea to make money with a web-site.

forbairt

I would have said go with hosting365 for your .ie domain name they aren't the cheapest ... I think the last time I checked there was a 1 euro price difference with the best offering. They work out at 25.95 for the domain name. Hosting then I'd probably say to go with them as wel and keep it simple for yourself I think their hosting packages are around 35 quid for a year.

As to making updates and so on to the site.

Joomla is a content management system. Its one of the more popular (its a spin of of Mambo) What it gives you is an online interface to make changes to your website. It manages pretty much everything for you. It will give you a website up and running in minutes. What it won't give you straight out is a unique website. There are lots of templlates and plugins available for it to do pretty much anything you can imagine doing with a website. Best of all ... its free. Dreamweaver howver is commercial software. What it gives you is a "professional" web design tool. Personally I don't like it that much but having said that I haven't used it in many years. It has a rather hefty price tag as well I think its around 3 or 400 I haven't looked in a while.

To be honest if you've a budget at all get someone to fix you up a unique template and get your site the way you want it all to work. Then its a simple matter of making anyupdates through a simple enough jooma interface online.

There are a load of other CMS (content management systems) available and to be honest you'll find many designers / developers more comfortable with one or the other. If you've got the time and want to do it all yourself its possible but there will be a fairly hefty learning curve with it all if you're new to all this which it would appear you are.

Good Luck with the project,
James

pog it

Well I have used Mambo before which was a nightmare so I would be happy to try Joomla or what a designer may recommend. But I think I'll keep it as a blog for a couple of months and try to attract people to the site before I develop it fully.

Sean- I spoke with Webhost and they will hold my domain name for up to 8 weeks before they will charge me as they said I need to register my company name with the CRO (cro.ie) which apparently costs 20 euro.

Going to go to archive.org now; thanks for the advice on that. It could all blow up then!!

forbairt

The default wordpress is pretty cool and it sounds like it could do what you want. Plenty of themes out there and if you get comfortable with it its rather easy to modify the themes / create new ones.

Static Pages ... Articles ... Categories ... comments and so on so long as you keep it patched and up to date there should be no problems Its also very easy to install you just need to have a database and be able to upload it.

Most of the irish hosting companies I've dealt with have it available as an install through their cPanels which makes it even easier

pog it

Phew! It's good to go! Only updated once ever and just one page ) Happy days

seanabc

Sean- I spoke with Webhost and they will hold my domain name for up to 8 weeks before they will charge me as they said I need to register my company name with the CRO (cro.ie) which apparently costs 20 euro.

That sounds pretty good. The company I dealt with billed me straight away but I didn't go looking for my money back so I don't know how they'd have dealt with it. Twenty euro sounds like a fair price. I might have another look at my own idea down the road now! Good luck anyway.

forbairt

seanabc wrote: »

That sounds pretty good. The company I dealt with billed me straight away but I didn't go looking for my money back so I don't know how they'd have dealt with it. Twenty euro sounds like a fair price. I might have another look at my own idea down the road now! Good luck anyway.

If there was a problem you should have received a mail from the IEDR asking you to give a full explanation as to your rights for the domain name. I think this comes under the term "discretionary" and if you can justify your reasoning you may get it. Still its easier if you just register business name with the CRO

Trojan

The web hosting forum was unfortunately closed down some years ago due to difficulties with moderation.

Regards hosting for your site, I can recommend both Digiweb and Blacknight.

We use Digiweb for over 40 domains, highly recommended. And some friends of mine use Blacknight and are very happy with the services there.

John_flood73

I have used all the above mentioned hosts at some point and they are all pretty good. You can actually get much cheaper hosting in the US but I would not recomend in this instance as you may need some support. as regards registering a .ie its much easier now webhost or blacknight will be able to talk you through the process

Laslo

I would recommend Blacknight myself. I have a few sites hosted with them at present and plan on moving all my sites over in the coming months/year. Their support and quality of service has been really good so far.