First, I have to tell ya, I had a great post that was all done and ready to go. My computer seemed like it was running a bit slow. I copied the post and dropped it in a different program so I could do a spell check......Why do we not have spell check? or have I missed it?
Needless to say, long story short, my post went bye bye.

Any of you that have read any of my posts know that I bought my domain names from GoDaddy and have had nothing but questions since. I knew nothing about any of this ( you that are reading believe I still don't ) Let me explain what has unfolded in the last few days of this exciting, frustrating, exciting, complex process.

I knew nothing, I bought 5 domain names, I bought Holly's book, (yes,inthat order), I joined this forum, read a few posts and asked some questions. An answer to a question about needing Preschool level stuff came from a member and I bought a program called Web Easy Pro 7 as it is largely based in the WYSIWYG format. ( yea RIGHT ) It's been working to the point that with my wifes amazing help, we have a 5 page template that is, in my opinion, not far from being published. It's an ecommerce site with only 3 products. More on that after publishing! We have links to allow for more info, we will be adding a Paypal shopping cart and check out. Our welcome, main info and contact page if almost complete. I know that there will be a need to learn the SEO stuff and probably am already learning it just from listening and watching. I will be adding the name to my signature, posting it in my squidoo lens about it and in a couple more places.

So, here's the deal. Am I correct or not that I really don't need GoDaddy anymore? I mean, with all of what I mentioned to you, if I'm not mistaken, I have done a lot of what they would have wantedto sell me to build a site. ? yes?

Isn't the only thing that I will need to do after the site content is complete is publish it and have a "host"?

That's my question after all this. I wanted to explain where we are and ask if I really need them or not. I emailed and asked about hosting and they said that if I have designed a site outside of their program and wanted them to host it, they call it "shared hosting". I have not gotten prices for this as of yet.

Folks tell me, am I going the right direction? Is this coming together well or what? I ask not knowing, not boastfully.

If in fact, we are on the right track, and a host is what we will need with no further connection to GoDaddy, do any of you have a suggestion for an inexpensive host? I know Holly offers it, but am thinking I can get something less than $100 a year. Is that so?

Looking forward to your input.

You guy's and gal's are the greatest!

Carl

Hi Carl,
Congratulations on your progress and perserverance! About your questions - if you bought the domains from Godaddy.com - that is fine. You can leave them there as long as you like and get hosting ANYWHERE you want. Personally - I really do like Bluehost but like many hosting companies nowadays - they charge 1 year up front. Besides that - I personally get my websites hosted at Hostdime.com through a dedicated server. I spend about 170.00 monthly and have a huge massive amount of web hosting space for a hundred sites approx. if needed, maybe more. I like host dime because they have extremely prompt customer care and service. If I have any problems I contact them and they respond within hours always. Other than that - my personal advice is to make sure your web hosting company has:
1. CPANEL - control panel so you can add, edit and update the site
2. FANTASTICO - it's another awesome feature that is included in almost all web hosting accts
3. Ability to host unlimited domains on one hosting account. So if you have more sites in the future you can host them all under your one plan and dont need to pay 10.00 a month per site. Bluehost DOES allow this.

Let us know what you come up with ok.Another great website editing tool I recently discovered and I am now using (since Frontpage doesnt work on my new computer running on Vista) - is COFFEE CUP HTML editor. Really easy to use with a ton of tools. Take care.

I almost forgot to mention this (although you might know already). If you get hosting at a place other than godaddy where you purchased the domains - then when you setup your hosting - you will need to make one change to your domain information to get your site online. It is really simple - just make sure you find out what your hosting companie's DNS (Domain Nameservers) are. For Bluehost, they are: ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com (just an example).

So after buying hosting, you need to login to wherever you purchased the domains from (if it differs from the hosting company) and go to Domain Management area and edit DNS entries or records. Enter in the two new ones and within 24-48 hrs (sometimes takes a little time to resolve and become active) your site will be online and active!

I have written 4 well thought out replys to this post with both research and advice...............they have all vanished!

Well, one short one showed up, but I'm afraid to write any substance.

Ok, well here goes. Holly, thanks for the comments and advice. I appreciate you !

I don't know where to start with having lost all of my well thought out information 4 times.

If anyone ever reads any thing I write and see's where I could use a better understanding of what I'm saying...please correct me.

I called Godaddy. Their package didn't include the questions Holly mentioned to me. They were more...MUCH MORE!

Then I did an online comparrision and found that Bluehost and Hostdime are close. It sounds as though Bluehost has the package I need for a good price. I called today and inquired about any hidden expence. The man said that I would need to have a SSL certificate and maybe a dedicated ip. When I asked him why, he said for security reasons (the SSL) as I was going to have an ecommerce site those features would secure and encrypt information that needed it.

I mentioned to him that I was going to be using a paypal shopping cart and check out. I asked if that would have the features that a SSL cert. would provide. He didn't know, I emailed them and not heard back and wanted to ask any of your opinions about the reality of NOT needing to spend the extra $30 just for SSL. Is there anyone that has a simple ecommerce and only has a shopping cart and check out and IS NOT usnig an SSL?

I really only want to have to pay for a Shared hosting plan for the time being.

Any help?

Carl