Internet Website Builder/Admin Needed (Paid Job)

[Jon Bon 43]

Introduction

I am now nearing the point where I would like to make an official dot com for my production company. The problem is my knowledge on making websites is limited at best. I have no problem doing the work myself and learning what is needed, the problem is I do not have the time to research everything required. What I need is someone who is experienced in such matters and who has the free time to talk with me about what starting a website entails. As well as taking the time to teach or guide me in the right direction for the necessary steps. I am willing to pay to contract this persons time for helping me with this, and if they want I am also looking to hire someone to help me with the website long or short term(depending on their availability) in the near future. I am looking to recruit from this site because I am likely to find someone who shares similar interests in video games, so If you think you qualify and this interests you then keep reading.

 

 

Details

I wont go into specifics about what I want the look and layout to be, but I will go into my need/expectations of the site. It would be a business type site, no forums, but have the ability for staff to be assigned passwords and usernames and then be able to log in to access staff related pages. I don't need anything too crazy, just a few pictures, link it into a blog which can be run through another site, likely only be a few pages of public browsing, and a few more for business purposes.

 

 

Needs

1. What program if any do I need to buy to build the site?
   
2. Where and how do I purchase a dot com for the cheapest possible so I own it permanently, not through another company?
   
3. What kind of upkeep costs would a site of the above detailed size incur?
   

 

Conclusion

I am ultimately going to need someone to handle these aspects of my business for me, but at the same time I want to know at least the very basics and really as much as possible. So this is a good opportunity for someone in this field to get something on their resume and maybe even work with me long term in the future. If this is your career of choice, this may be a a good chance for you to get in from the ground up, I can't guarantee my success, but I can guarantee you paying work.

 

 

If you have any follow up questions please feel free to post a reply here. If you wish to apply please send me a personal message so we can discuss this more.

[kellessdee 48]

I understand the basics of web development however, I have never hosted a website myself, so a lot of the cost details and deployment are kind of fuzzy for me.

 

I'll do my best to (hopefully) give you an idea.

 

Your "public space" sounds fairly static, so I am assuming here that visitors are there for information?

The "private space" I'm not so sure about -- what will staff be doing? Are the staff logged in for information as well, or would they be directly editing content in the "public space" as well?

 

1. Depends on the approach, mainly. First off, as you probably know, a proper website needs 2 things: a domain name and web hosting. Since a domain name does not affect implementation, I will ignore this for now.

So there are 2 approaches to web hosting (that I know of):

-> Host it yourself

-> Host it remotely (so, pay online)

Now, I am going to assume you plan on hosting it remotely. Well, I would highly advise hosting remotely (unless you are okay for higher upkeep costs -- hardware, maintenance, bandwidth, security, etc.) (if you want more info on hosting a website yourself however, I can explain some basics for that as well)

 

Remote Web Hosting Services vary in cost (usually a monthly fee) and vary in features (keep this in mind especially). So what you really get is a certain amount of storage, that's on a server configured to be able to talk to client machines, and send html pages, etc. through http. (and hopefully, if you are paying, you also get some kind of service/quality/security assurance. This could vary).

 

So with this account, you have total access/control of that storage unit. Depending on the service, you will usually get some number of email accounts, and there may be restrictions on what software can be installed on the server or what applications can be used, some services come with certain popular software/application support by default.

 

Software #1:

You'll need someway of accessing this storage unit, as well as a way of uploading (and possibly downloading) files.

 

To access the server (to set up software, remove files, etc.) you'll probably want to use some kind of secure shell (ssh) client. This will give you full access to the storage unit (then you can execute shell commands against the server, to delete/move files, etc.) (most services provide the option of renting linux-based servers or windows-based servers)

 

Personally, I use putty: http://www.chiark.gr...sgtatham/putty/

It works well, easy to use, cross-platform, lightweight and 100% free. But to be fair, I haven't used any other clients. There could be something better.

 

To upload/download files, you'll need some kind of ftp client.

 

I use psftp, from the same family as the putty ssh client. The only con is that psftp is command line, which when uploading/transferring many different files from different directories; this can get very tedious. It would probably be better to get some kind of GUI based ftp client or even a text editor (geared towards development) that has a built-in (or plugin) ftp client.

 

WinSCP: http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

is one free GUI client I know of (Windows only)

 

Notepad++: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

free general text editor (geared towards programming) with a plug-in for an FTP client (Windows only)

 

Aptana Studio 3: http://www.aptana.com/

fully featured cross-platform IDE (mainly geared towards ruby/dynamic languages/web development), based on the eclipse IDE which has a built-in ftp client, and is completely free.

 

For Putty and PSFTP downloads: http://www.chiark.gr...y/download.html

 

**NOTE: A lot of web hosting services will have web based applications that provide a lot of this functionality and more (through the website)

 

Software #2:

Some kind of database software. SQL databases are pretty much standard (as far as I know) although others do exist. SQL database implementations have widest support.

Some free implementations:

PostgreSQL http://www.postgresql.org/

MySQL http://www.mysql.com/

You may/may not need to install the database on the remote server, but it would be a good idea to have it installed in order to develop the website offline before deploying it.

 

Whether you need a database or not is very dependent on what you need/your approach, and may depend on the Remote Web Hosting Service you choose.

For your public space, simply hosting static html pages may suffice (however, you could have the static pages retrieve their data from a database, and then use the database to maintain/store information pertaining to your website).

For your private space, if you need to provide controlled access to your staff this could possibly require a database (username/passwords for one), and the information/interface provided could retrieve and/or manipulate data in the database.

 

Before you decide to use a database of some kind, you should think carefully and research if whether you need it. By research, I mean looking into the full features your choice of web hosting provides:

1. The database you want to use needs to be allowed on your account

2. A lot of web hosting services, like I mentioned early, means to interface with your storage unit (uploading, etc.); and many are through some kind of Content Management System or CMS (not to be confused with RMXP Custom Menu Systems).

 

CMS usually provide a large set of features, including click and point website design, content management (in the form of uploading pictures, files, directly editing HTML elements, etc.), and may even provide a way for you to have other people being able to access this system. I'm not sure how far it goes, but you may even be able to give those other people (presumably your staff) certain restrictions, and provide you all the functionality of your private space. This would save many headaches, and possibly be more secure/efficient.

 

Also, another thing about using some kind of Database Management System:

Software #3:

If you need to use a Database Management System (DBMS) you will not be able to access/manipulate its contents with HTML (nor Javascript). You will need to use a language that has some sort of Web Framework Technology/Library, and some means (library/drivers) to access a DBMS (assuming you don't plan on implementing your own) (Most modern languages meet both these requirements)

Also, you will need a server that can run these technologies, and that server will also need to be configured TO run these technologies. That would depend on the language/technology used however:

 

Apache httpd is a good one: http://httpd.apache.org/

general purpose, supports several technologies if I recall correctly

 

Apache tomcat: http://tomcat.apache.org/

geared towards java servlets/java server pages

 

You probably will only need the server installed on your local machine for development purposes, but of course you will need to look into what your web hosting service supports.

 

Software #4

As for web frameworks:

 

Java Server Pages (Java, of course): http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javaee/jsp/index.html

ASP.NET (C#/Visual Basic/maybe more?): http://www.asp.net/get-started *

Django (Python): https://www.djangoproject.com/

PHP (well, uh, PHP?): http://www.php.net/

Ruby On Rails (Ruby): http://rubyonrails.org/

 

* ASP.NET is very Microsoft-specific technology. However, I have heard it can run on Mono (cross platform).

 

And I am sure there are countless others as well.

 

Although configuration/development/deployment can be a little bit more work, if your website requires these such things, use of a web framework and DBMS can allow you to create a very dynamic, rich web application. Java Script can be used to create some dynamic elements on a web page, but it is strictly client-side, and can only communicate with the server through HTTP-GET and HTTP-POST. Although still very important, other languages can do a lot more things.

 

However this can cause some overhead (with careful/proper design, this can be mostly unnoticeable) as now the server needs to be able to request the technology to execute the application, render the page in html, send html to client, etc.

 

This heavily depends on your requirements, and what your web hosting service provides/supports. Figured I'd let you know just in case.

 

Software #5:

Of course, if you will need to be writing any code by hand, I would highly advise getting a text editor that supports syntax highlighting for these languages:

-> HTML

-> CSS

-> JavaScript

If you need to build a web application:

-> SQL

-> Language that can interact with a web server and sql

 

Notepad++ and Aptana Studio 3 offer all this

 

Note that Aptana Studio 3 has many more features than Notepad++ such as autocomplete, projects, testing/debugging facilities, etc.

 

2 & 3. This, I have little experience with. I have never purchased a domain name (I'm not sure if you can even permanently purchase a domain name, I thought they work strictly on a subscription basis--so people can't buy up domain names and disappear, then never have that domain name released...just my theory though, don't quote me. Could just be for more money.)

 

You can try this site: http://www.domain.com

Can't say how it compares with other websites. I have only really worked with some free web hosting services.

 

The things I mention about web hosting services/domain names are merely based off of my minimal experience with free web hosting, and some assumptions/expectations I have for what paid hosting should/could have... However, these assumptions may not be very accurate (hence why I continuously mention that you should research...doing your homework is always good) and if anyone feels I have made any errors, please correct me.

 

So, hopefully that helps answer some questions you had, or at least put you in the right direction. If you had any more questions, need me to clarify, etc. Lemme know. I'll do my best.

 

Also, I may be able to help implement/develop the website/web application (probably even deploy it)...however, the business side of things are not my forte. Either way, I could always help you learn these things, if you are willing to learn/interested.

[Jon Bon 43]

Perfect. I definitely intended to research this on my own, but having researched so many different things in my day I knew that if I was lucky someone would give me years of their experience in a few minutes of my time, which is the jump in the right direction I needed. This was an awesome reply man thanks a ton. This has at least the terms and process I needed to know and understand, I definitely didn't realize it had this many aspects.

 

I am going to likely spend today researching this so that I can get it all out of the way soon and have a better idea how to progress towards it over the next few months to a year. I had a feeling it would cost a few grand so nothing is surprising me so far heh. In the mean time I do have a few questions you might be able to help with.

 

As far as servers go, what kind of dedication is best? Would/could I run a server off of a pentium 4 windows xp with 2 gigs of ram and 2.8 Ghz proc, if it was only being a server with a dedicated 7mb DSL internet line? This is the setup I was planning on creating, and was hoping it would be sufficient enough of a server to do multiple things with it. If you know about servers that information would help too as I have to research it.

 

Do you think you would be interested in learning the rest of the material you don't currently know and possibly doing more of this in the future? I would definitely take the help you can currently offer and glady pay you for it, but if you already know the seed knowledge it may be something to consider looking into. If this is something you would want to do I would look into getting you the necessary E-Books, or whatever was needed to learn the subject matter. Something to consider.

 

Getting help like this turns what would have been a week into a day or two of research, so I really appreciate the help. Also this thread will then be filled with oodles of great stuff. In any case, I will almost definitely get your help on the steps you can aid with when the time comes, and rein burst you for your time. Well, I am off to go read.

 

EDIT: Found all the information one would ever need to know about domain names.

http://www.icann.org...t/learning/faqs

Edited May 14, 2012 by Jon Bon

[Polraudio 122]

That should be fine for a general web server. Don't need much power to display/handle web pages(Use linux for the server). Unless you start getting in to the thousands of members.

 

If your hosting it yourself the main thing you need to worry is bandwidth. Your going to need some good upload speed. I would go to http://speedtest.net/ and report here with your speed. Another thing to keep in mind is that some ISP's block all ports and dont allow you to run a server of any kind(mine).

 

You can scan how secure you are and if there's any ports open using this https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 Click all service ports for the scan after you proceed. As you setup your server(if your isp allows you to run a server) you will be using that site TONS. I left my server insecure for 30min in my networking class and i was taken over by a email spam bot.

 

If you decide to run it from your home i might be able to help set it up. Costs might be a little higher($20-50 higher) than a web service but it might be worth it since you can have as much space as you want and do what you want without limitations like most web services have.

[Jon Bon 43]

Thanks pol. Ha, yeah speedtest is my best friend, it tells me when my provider is ripping me off on bandwidth, gotten so many free months because they keep screwing me.Yeah I am going to have to look into my provider and see what they do for servers etc. My hope is to possibly be able to rent space on my server to others etc, and hopefully recoup some costs.

So you think if I had the described setup, with like 1mb upload speed, because that's my current max package for public setup with my current provider, would I be able to host my own site on my server, and possibly use the server for other things too. Like maybe a first person shooter server, or a hamachi server(file sharing server)? Or would I need a higher upload speed. If you could pick your realistic ideal upload speed to dedicate to a server what would it be? Thanks for all the advice this is priceless.

[Polraudio 122]

For a standard web server i would suggest 2-5mbits. Anything else i would suggest 6mbits and up. File sharing is going to eat up a huge chunk of your bandwidth. Think of it this way in terms of download/upload.

1mbits = 100kb/s

so lets say you have file sharing server and you have 2mbits of upload.If you have 2 people downloading that will allow for each person to get 100kb/s download speed which is very slow to today's standards.

But that's perfect for a webpage since it don't take much to download to begin with.

 

I think most web hosting services have 10-100mbits upload already.

 

If you plan on hosting others you would need at least 10mbits upload and 10mbits download. Servers them selves dont cost much but getting the web for them is a pain in the pocket.

 

EDIT: also most ISP's have a bandwidth cap per month. Charter usually has 250gb upload or download a month(combined, so 125gb uploaded and 125gb downloaded would max it). Not sure about any others.

 

In the end i would suggest a web host.

[Marked 197]

It's actually really really simple. In my opinion.

 

First off, you need a CMS for your needs. Joomla or wordpress. You can develop your website's content by point-and-click, have a ton of plug-n-play extensions, and its pretty easy to develop your own (i actually learned programming in php from playing with joomla components).

 

Second, design is easy. There's a ton of great looking templates out there and I know a pretty good source. You could get someone to design you a unique one, but its likely you're going to find what you're looking for on the internet already: http://themeforest.net/category/cms-themes

 

Lastly, HostGator: http://www.hostgator.com/ The business I work for uses this host and I highly recommend it. In the beginning, unless you're spending on advertising, you're not going to need much bandwidth at all.

 

I could setup your business in 30minutes :)

[Jon Bon 43]

@ Pol, yeah I definitely think my provider would cap me, I would likely have to get a business line, which is more or less out of the question. I think renting server space for other needs and using web hosting for my site will be the best bet. Thanks for all the input, it's always best to explore all avenues, and I appreciate the help.

 

@ Marked, Hmm yeah I started looking around, and i did notice, it was easier then I originally thought to point and click myself a real .com. I just fear someone technically owning my domain name and holding it ransom in the future or something silly.

If you can set my site up in half an hour, would you be willing to do that in the near future, like when you have free time? What would you need from my end, buy the programs, and domain name, that it?

 

Again I appreciate the help from everyone.

[kellessdee 48]

For the server idea, I'm gonna have to go with Pol on this one. The main thing that concerns me about your hardware is the processor. The RAM is a little low, but it might suffice; however, with a single-core Pentium 4 processor, you're not gonna be able to handle multiple-connections so well. Processes can't run in parallel on a single-core, and this can get out of hand fast (if you plan on getting traffic).

 

The next concern, is uptime/security. You're only one person, and I'm sure you don't have the time to watch that box 24/7. While it is possible to have others help maintain remotely, something simple as a simple power surge, loss of connection or something, could mean the server may be down until you next look at it (while you are sleeping, out, etc.). It's probably an edge case, but if the server doesn't come back on properly, it could mean people cannot access your site until it is fixed or even worse, this could expose some security holes.

 

That's the next thing, while it is possible to keep a server secure (without having to necessarily implement it yourself, just careful/proper configuration of different services, etc), it definitely is an on-going process and very time consuming. Also, you have to be wary of things like dynamic ip addressing (you need to make sure your server's ip can be found through some DNS), and whether your server will be running on the same ip as your home network. That may be a concern for your own security, with your server being publicly known, if it's on the same ip as your home network, that means your home network is publicly known as well.

 

With web hosting, we're assuming (if you're paying, hopefully) that these companies have many people maintaining the servers, as well as keeping it secure. Also, the web hosting service would NOT be linked to your home IP, freeing you from worry.

 

Also, web hosting would probably be reasonably cheaper, with better performance.

 

The only downside with web hosting is you have to TRUST that the service is being maintained properly. Also, of course, you have a LOT more restrictions with web hosting.

 

In the end, it's your decision, but I figured I'd give some advice. As for web hosting services (if I recall you live in Canada right?) http://www.hosting-r...om/canada.shtml you may want to find something that's under your jurisdiction. Dunno, if that's a good thing or not; it just seems like it would be easier to get retribution if they try to screw you over.

 

Anyways, I would definitely be able to help where I can. I already know/have experience with most of the things I mentioned. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL, a bit of JQuery (which is just a convenient/open source javascript library), AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

 

I have experience with JSP (Java Server Pages) and ASP.net (Active Server Pages, M$ Technology) and a little bit of knowledge of PHP. Luckily, Web Technologies are all conceptually similar; so getting up to speed with the technology chosen in the end, would be mostly a matter of syntax/library functions/classes.

 

I'd be more than willingly to discuss this further. Seeing that you seem to be looking at feasibility, I'm not sure if you had a specific deadline/time frame; but out of curiosity, did you have a time frame in mind?

 

EDIT: Oops, I was too slow. (distractions xD)

 

Basically, what marked said. The only thing I'd add on top of that is while getting it running/looking pretty could be quick, don't skimp out on planning. Once you understand exactly what your site should provide (for visitors/staff), as well as what you may want it to do in the future (this is important. Not planning for the future can make maintenance cascade in difficulty down the line, and you could end up with a website that doesn't scale well), then you will be better prepared to make choices as to your approach.

 

Also, don't skimp out on testing. You'll want to test across multiple browsers/resolutions, etc. While CMS/themes and such will ease testing (hopefully, such systems/themes have been tested thoroughly), you still want to make sure everything is working well (well, if you want it to anyways).

 

Otherwise, Marked has some pretty sound advice and has more real-world experience than me.

 

EDIT2: Also, when using other products (CMS/Themes/Hosting/Etc.) be wary of terms of use/licensing. While I know (or am sure) you'd definitely be one to look into those things, I figured I'd note that anyways. It shouldn't be too much of an issue, but it's always good to be safe and paranoid

[Jon Bon 43]

@ Kell

I completely agree about the whole server thing. Maybe in the future when I have a headquarters and not a home office, heh. As far as time frame not for at least 2 months I would think. But nothing is set in stone, and I am in no rush at all. I still have things I need to look into non website related. But I have more free time this month and have been using it to research the things I need to. In theory the website could go up today, but I don't really have a perfect idea of what I want it to look like, just want I need it to do.

 

I need the website to act as the home base for the company on the internet. It will be where people can join the creation team for the game(s) we are currently developing, and for fans to check into what we have developed and are developing. It will also work as a place for staff members to log in and see news letters, monthly reports, team goals, and other stuff that can be sent out by team leads. For the most part my plan is to use rmxpu for development and forum needs as it makes much more sense to me to use an already existent forum for game development. But my company site would be for the public and sort of the polished store front if you will.

 

Yeah if you want to be 'my guy' for the whole website thing, I am totally cool with that. I think my(our) best bet would be to iron out the website idea as much as possible right to the point where I can just punch in the credit card and pull the trigger on the day of my choosing. If we need to buy programs before hand, or whatever, maybe have the site created and not live or something, that works too. However you think is best to proceed based on your knowledge of the site creation, and what marked has posted and such. Maybe we use Marked's help if he has time to offer it when we need etc, to get the site up, then you can help maintain and expand it etc.

 

Well, this all seems to be going well, I am glad. I hope to be able to set something up that will put people's talents to good use. You find such passionate people in the indie industry, these are the people I want/need to help build a company we can all make a living from, and at the same time make the quality games the industry desperately needs.

Cheers!

[Marked 197]

Once you understand exactly what your site should provide (for visitors/staff), as well as what you may want it to do in the future (this is important. Not planning for the future can make maintenance cascade in difficulty down the line, and you could end up with a website that doesn't scale well), then you will be better prepared to make choices as to your approach.

I think that's what has happened with this site :P

 

However you think is best to proceed based on your knowledge of the site creation, and what marked has posted and such.

I'd be willing to contribute as payment for your role on the staff here :)

 

My interests are in SEO (but I'm not an expert at that certainly) and PHP development. If you have something you need with very specific functionality that doesn't exist as something you could plugin to your site, then I may be able to help you out there. From my job I've got a lot of CSS and HTML experience but I never get to use advanced HTML5 stuff because my sites need to be compatible with IE, but on the bright side I also have experience in IE compatibility with css3. A wee bit of jQuery.

 

I'm free after the 25th of this month. I wouldn't mind helping out in whatever area no one else can do. But I'd be most interested in developing some kind of unique app, if you needed it.

[Jon Bon 43]

@Marked

Cool. I will take the next week to look into more what I need for the website and the above linked programs. Sort of get a better idea how I am going to proceed. I will definitely take your help Marked, and much appreciated.

 

On a sort of related/unrelated note, how is your knowledge on facebook applications? Are you able to make them? Like not a game, but an application, something that shows and records numbers etc.

[Marked 197]

On a sort of related/unrelated note, how is your knowledge on facebook applications? Are you able to make them? Like not a game, but an application, something that shows and records numbers etc.

I've never made one but I'd definitely be willing to give it a shot. I'm supposed to be brushing up on all things social media for my job.

[Jon Bon 43]

I had/have an idea for a facebook app, I actually bought a developers kit and started to try and make it, but it was over my head at the time, and likely still is. The same people offered a pay service to build what I wanted but I never got around to trying it out. If you wanted to look into how to make a facebook app in general, and what we need as far as paid server space etc, maybe a site that hosts them or something etc, that would be a good start. I will look for the basic outline of the app I drew up and send it to you in a PM, see if it's something you would be interested in working on.

[Marked 197]

Sounds great :) But I won't be reliable until after the 25th. Life is kicking my ass atm with uni and flatting draining all my savings, but after the 25th I should get back on top of things