essential software for running a website.

[fr0zenmon]

I was wondering what it will take to run a small website? Do i need a server? And what kind of software should i consider getting? what has been your experience? The site will be modest and I plan on making sure i keep bandwidth usage to a minimum.

[qviri]

You only need an HTTP server.

[RealBlackStuff]

You need to register your website name with a registrar (e.g. www.godaddy.com ).
You need a Host for your website, either a home-PC (if your ISP lets you) or rent space from a free/cheap hosting company (find those using Google).
You need an ASCII editor (like Notepad, but there are much better (also free) ones around (e.g. http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html ).
You need an FTP program to upload your website pages/images (e.g. Mozilla's FileZilla).
You need to learn the basics of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Do NOT use M$ crappy Frontpage, you'll rue the time you waste with it.

[qviri]

Ah, I had assumed actually running one, not creating. Nitpick:

You need an FTP program to upload your website pages/images (e.g. Mozilla's FileZilla).

Filezilla is not affiliated with Mozilla Foundation.

[fr0zenmon]

i dont want to use my pc to upload to site. I want it to be a seperate machine So if it crashes I want mind... that much. Do you have any experience with file servers small and cheap. Do you think I can use a mybook as a file server?

whats wrong with frontpage? My plans are small but i will be charging fees and at some point i will add a shopping cart and credit card processing will this be a problem with frontpage. BTW what are the fees like for these services are they really worth it.
I remember using dreamweaver and it wasnt user friendly. Did it get better/easier to use? Honestly, I want something that behaves like desktop publishing software like quarkxpress do they make something for the web or similiar? How am I going to manage hundreds or thousands of pages. any experience?

Html brings back nightmares of handwriting code from when netscape ruled the earth. I definetly want to do as little code writing as possible. but do you think wordpress will fit my needs? If i am going to have to learn some coding can you give me a handbook/guidebook that i can refer to for answers or good book source.

[msb0b]

First thing is to register the domain name with a registrar directly. This is your brand on internet so choose carefully. Don't ever let it be transferred away from your account, except when you are getting compensated.

For hosting, one place to start is Google Apps. The basic service is free for hosting static web pages, e-mail, calendar, collaboration apps, etc. Microsoft also has a similar free Office Live service, but they require the transfer of domains to their registrar. They say they will pick up the domain registration fees, but I am not willing to let anyone else to control my domain names to save $10 per year.

When you outgrow static web sites, hosted services are the next step up. You will need hosted service for e-commerce, content management and other server-side processing. Research on http://www.webhostingtalk.com and pick one carefully. Choose one who will support your web application platform (PHP, ASP, Java, etc.) and has good track record. There are many fly-by-night web hosts out there.

[RealBlackStuff]

"HTML for the world wide web", 5th edition by Elizabeth Castro
Published by Peachpit Press ( www.peachpit.com )
ISBN 0-321-13007-3

"Javascript for the World Wide Web", by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith
5th Edition
Peachpit Press, ISBN 0-321-19439-X

Those books will teach you everything from scratch in an easy-going way, full of examples and links for download and/or trying out.

If you are talking about hundreds or thousands of pages, ("my plans are small...", not!) a home-server will not cut it, and your ISP will definitely object to the use of so much bandwidth!

You can get free and paid-for website templates all over (google them), without and with shopping carts.
Particularly easy I find the templates from http://allwebcodesign.com/setup/index.htm that have everything you need, incl. full help-pages. They do hosting as well.

The likes of http://order.1and1.com/products/ also offer packages with ready-made websites.

Personally I abhor the spaghetti code that comes out of Frontpage, but you are welcome to use it.
You payz for what you getz (which is absolutely crap). It's OK if you want to show your holiday pictures to your family or set up a personal website, but if you want to charge people money, you'll have to do better than that and be a lot more professional!

To accept credit cards (how do you plan to verify that it's not a stolen card for instance?), you need a secure server that's up 24/7/365, NOT a home-server!

I don't know any MAC programs, Dreamweaver is way too complex, and I've never used Wordpress.

Methinks you need to do some more homework before you start!