FrontPage and webhosting
I am trying to learn FrontPage 2003. So far, the Microsoft online training is the best that I have found and it is free. Using FrontPage is not that hard but it does take some time. I also have the "FrontPage 2003 all in one desk reference for Dummies."
I have started creating
http://www.ab-dar.com with FrontPage a few weeks ago. This site has not been announced yet as it is still under construction with lots of work left to do.
I chose 1 and 1 web hosing as they have a good repretutation and are cheap.
$3 / month with FrontPage extensions.
http://www.1and1.com
I created
http://socal_wvaf.rvproject.com using a program called CuteSite Builder.
http://www.cuteftp.com/cutesitebuilder/ It is a $70 program and very easy to use. What you see is what you get. It is as easy to use as creating a PowerPoint presentation. Dan has been hosting the socal_wvaf.rvproject.com for FREE. It is going to be moved to:
http://www.socalwing.com soon. I imported the site from the rvproject link using FrontPage2003, edited it, then published it to the socalwing.com URL. It took no more than 45 minutes to move it. Walter Tondu is going to be the new webmaster. We are hosting the new
http://www.socalwing.com site at
http://www.phpwebhosting.com/ It is more money but they have UNLIMITED space and UNLIMITED traffic. Walter has done many web pages and they are the best he has found.
You do not need to purchase FTP software. FrontPage has it built in plus Windows XP and Internet Explorer also have it built in. In XP, click "My Network Places", "Add Network Place" and follow the wizard. In Internet Explorer, go to the Address field where the URL for the web site is displayed. Erase what is in the box and type:
FTP://www.your-domain-name.com and then enter your user name and password.
The down side of FrontPage 2003 is that in typical Microsoft fashion, it has more BLOAT and size than it needs to. An example is
http://www.rvformation.com/ site is only 28K of html code plus the images on the remote server. As a test, I imported the site into FrontPage 2003 then compared the size. The same site using FrontPage 2003 to publish it was 53K. It almost doubled in size. IMHO, this does not matter to me. Yes if everyone had dialup, older 8088 computer with small amounts of disc space, it would matter.
These are my opinions and experiences. Good luck with your site. A FREE hosting site would be good to start out with and then you can move to one of the pay per month sites when you outgrow the free one.
If you have high speed internet connection with static IP, leave your computer on all the time, it is possible to host your own site.
BTW. I am a hardware guy not a software programmer. I am willing to try anything legal, moral, and safe so am giving it a try. It is better to try and fail than to never have tried at all.
Good luck and I am interesed in learning with you much more about web site development.
Gary