Advanced e-commerce resources :: Miva Merchant Hosting :: oscommerce

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Basics

Q: I'm new to this - How do I start?

A: New to web hosting? This quick guide will walk you through the steps needed to get your website up and running. This guide is for people who do not have a domain name yet and do not have a host.

The Basics:

Two items are needed to have your own website:

1) First, you will need a place to put your site where people can see it. You can design your site on your home computer, but until you place to host your site on the internet people won't be able to see it. A host is a company that rents space on a computer that is connected to the internet, and that is optimized for displaying websites. Advanced Web is company that provides this kind of hosting. Advanced Web does not provide access to the internet, these companies are called "Internet Service Providers." You will need to have an ISP such as Earthlink, AOL, or a local DSL or broadband provider to use our services.

2) The second item you need is a domain name. Domain names provide an easy way for people to find your address on the internet. A couple examples of a domain names are www.cnn.com or www.whitehouse.gov. Most web hosts do not offer domain registration services directly, but we do partner with an established registrar. Advanced Web has partnered with BulkRegister.com to register domain names. To register a domain name you must find an available name and purchase it. This can be done through our site by going to sign-up.

Signing Up:
Ordering online is quick and simple at our convenient sign-up page. You can then check the availability of the domain name you would like and register your domain. First, fill out the domain name registration information and choose the length of time to register your domain. One year is $12.00. Then choose the hosting option that is best for you or your company.

Getting Started:
Once you complete the ordering process, you should receive an email with our "Welcome Letter" to the email address you specified on the form. It's important to give an e-mail address that you currently use, and not an e-mail address you plan to use once you set up your account. The information contained within the "Welcome Letter" will allow you to access the account and upload your web site should you already have it designed.

Your Site:
Creating your website is simple with any of the web design tools Advanced Hosting offers such as Site Express, Content Express, or Web Site Builder. If you have created or plan to create your site in Microsoft FrontPage, you will first need to log-in to your Control Panel and turn on the FrontPage extensions. Once these are on, you can upload your site and modify it right through FrontPage. If you are using any other design package, it's better to keep the extensions off. If you have already designed your page you can use "FTP" or "File Transfer Protocol" program to upload your web page files to our server.