my mom has asked me to put together a website for one of her little groups. which is no problem, but for the first time i have a need to actually purchase a domain name etc. i plan to make the site with an online editor, i have one im kinda fond of becuase you can switch back and forth between html and word style editing as you go along, which saves alot of time.

anyhow, i really dont have any expirience in putting a site up, and i was wondering if anyone had any advice?

i have the name of the site, and it doesn't exist, i checked, but it just gives me a no server message. i was hoping it would be a "buy this page" thing.. but no luck.. so . what do i do?

it sound like you dont have any site at all so far, so you need to find company's that host websites, figure out who was the best services(HD SPACE, PHP, ASP, MySQL...) and is cheaperst. Here in my corner of the world any firm with a little respect for them self will allow you to register a domain name for you site as you purchace the webspace.
Thats it, the company will send you the info for login and upload, and you should recive a letter from your hostmaster stating that you now own X domain.

its almost to easy, the hard part is finding a company you like, then its just filling out there online form :)

Edit:
bad explanation, heres a basic outline

1. figure out what you need (HD Space, email, aliases, PHP, ASP, MySQL ect.)
2. find companies that host websites and check what they offer
3. Register/Purchace at prefered company, they proberly have a online form you can fill out with billing info, other info and DOMAIN NAME info.

thats it you should now have your very own website + domain name

Make your site first. Or make it partially ready Put it up on a free host. Expand your site and then move to your own domain.

Alternatively skip the free host.

Is it worth purchasing your own domain? You don't seem to be very sure about making the site. I would say make a test site first.

Make a site with plain HTML, or just with MSword, with Photoshop/imageready, or an internet template.

An online editor shouldn't really be a decisive factor. There are plenty of tools and templates on the net.

But if you do it yourself you will be sure you made something original.

What is the purpose of the website? Will it be a meeting place for your mom's group, or will she be selling things?

If it is a meeting place, I recommend setting up a forum for them to communicate. There are a few that are free that you can put onto whatever site you decide getting. Plus, you won't have to worry about site creation, as the forum will be able to function once you install it to the site (of course, you might want to customize it later). Whatever you decide, I recommend doing a search in google for "web hosting" or "website hosting", then compare prices/services to your liking.

My website is hosted by LowestCostHost (http://www.lowestcosthost.com). They have different plans depending on how big you expect your site to be (you can host multiple sites as well).

Purchasing domain names is easy. Do another search through google for "domain name" and you'll be able to find a good deal. Once you have a domain name, you can transfer it to whatever web host you choose (the company you choose to provide the domain name will give you the info you need to transfer it, and the company you choose to host the website will give you the info you need to add it)

Good luck, and I hope I've helped at least a little!

i have the site pretty much done.. well, the pages anyway i mean. there isn't any info there becuase they avn't given me anything to put on it yet, but the pages are there. i still have to final OK on the site name before i do anything permanent.

i make it through freewebs, its reallllly easy, and well free, but i pay for the upgrades (for my other site anyway for poms) becuase its worth it.

I went through the steps it provides for movig it to a real domain, and it seems prett damn easy. lol. so hopefully i wont have any problems.

oh, and the site is mostly an info site for the military wives for my dads unit. they are spread all over michigan so they needed a way to keep the communication between the group. they plan group activities like dinner theaters and family picnics and stuff, it keeps the group more close knit. its one of the "military wives handbook" type things. lol.

If you're into free providers, get ready to squeeze you idea as tiny as possible, for most good and tolerant free-providers only give you tiny amount of space. Thant's all I can say from my experiences.

If you're into free providers, get ready to squeeze you idea as tiny as possible, for most good and tolerant free-providers only give you tiny amount of space. Thant's all I can say from my experiences.

fw is pretty giving as fas free providers go. not to mention no pop-ups. i think they get alot of money for their additional services, they actually offer something worth paying for, although it is verrrrrry slow getting signed up for those things.

as for squeezing ideas, i don't mind, its not going to be anything elaborate, just organized and easily excessable info.

thanks for all the help!! :)