I built my website and bought a domain name. Now what?

Pompous

Sorry for being a big newb but:

I coded my HTML and CSS and bought a domain name. I want to put the website I made on the internet so I can show family and friends (it's my first website).

What do I do next? The domain I bought is www.<myname>.com

Cheers!

Pompous

I know I need to buy web hosting or something, but all the sites I'm coming across are asking for €100 per year. There must be a cheaper option than that? My site is only 3mb...

Manc Red

You need to get a web host. You can get decent shared hosting for around €4 - €6 a month depending on how long you sign up for.

Pompous

Ok I bit the bullet and bought web hosting. Now I have a file directory and a domain name.

I can upload my index.html to the file directory but how do I point my domain to the index.html file?

Sparks

That's something you should ask your ISP's support line. It's very close to the line of what's not permitted as a topic of discussion here btw, check the charter...

Pompous

Sparks wrote: »

That's something you should ask your ISP's support line. It's very close to the line of what's not permitted as a topic of discussion here btw, check the charter...

Haha ok then. I don't see what my ISP has to do with it, I'm not hosting the site myself.

Sparks

Pompous wrote: »

Haha ok then. I don't see what my ISP has to do with it, I'm hosting the site myself.

Pompous wrote: »

Ok I bit the bullet and bought web hosting.

Er, which is it? These are effectively mutually exclusive options (assuming you didn't go buy a colo server somewhere).

Pompous

Sparks wrote: »

Er, which is it? These are effectively mutually exclusive options (assuming you didn't go buy a colo server somewhere).

Wow, massive brain fart. I meant to say that I'm not hosting the site myself. I paid for web hosting.

Forgive me, I spent 20 of the last 48 hours writing code

Pompous

So can you help me? Are all web hosting services different or is there something simple I am missing? I have a file directory to upload to as part of the web hosting but have no idea what to do once my files are in said directory.

Trojan

The chain works like this:

1. You register the domain name with a domain registrar.
   
2. You get hosting from a hosting company.
   
3. You connect your domain and hosting to each other by finding out your "nameservers" from your hosting company, and plugging them in the right text boxes on your registrars account. (This step is probably optional if you bought the domain and hosting from the same company.)
   
4. You connect your site up to the hosting by putting your files into the "web root" - if there is an index.html etc, you can delete that and put your own there.

From there, the world is your lobster.

Pompous

Trojan wrote: »

The chain works like this:

1. You register the domain name with a domain registrar.
   
2. You get hosting from a hosting company.
   
3. You connect your domain and hosting to each other by finding out your "nameservers" from your hosting company, and plugging them in the right text boxes on your registrars account. (This step is probably optional if you bought the domain and hosting from the same company.)
   
4. You connect your site up to the hosting by putting your files into the "web root" - if there is an index.html etc, you can delete that and put your own there.

From there, the world is your lobster.

Ok thanks. I got the hosting and domain from the same company. There were files in the directory. One was called www and the other was called 'Put your files in the www directory'. Except I couldn't open the www or put files in it (it didn't seem to be a folder). So I deleted everything.

Thanks for your response, I submitted a ticket with the company, hopefully they can help me on Monday.

Brussels Sprout

Do you know about FTP (and Filezilla)? I know that I didn't when I was setting up my website last year but that's how I transfer the files from my computer onto the web server that I'm renting space on.

Pompous

Brussels Sprout wrote: »

Do you know about FTP (and Filezilla)? I know that I didn't when I was setting up my website last year but that's how I transfer the files from my computer onto the web server that I'm renting space on.

No I don't, and the file upload system of the hosting company will have me tediously uploading one file at a time. So what is FTP and/or Filezilla?

Brussels Sprout

Someone else may have a better explanation but FTP is basically a method of transferring files from your computer to the web server. FileZilla is a free program that is used to transfer files in this way. Here's a basic tutorial to get you up and running.

M.T.D

The uploaders on many hostings only upload one file at a time.
So "zip" all the file for your website in one file, upload that, then unzip the file.

The alternative is as already mentioned to use an ftp programme

Pompous

M.T.D wrote: »

The uploaders on many hostings only upload one file at a time.
So "zip" all the file for your website in one file, upload that, then unzip the file.

The alternative is as already mentioned to use an ftp programme

I went with the zip file method and it worked like a charm. My website is now up and running at my domain name! Thanks everyone.