i need a web host and i've done extensive research...

now, i'm confused...since this is my first site i don't want to use sitebuild it because its a bit expensive...


so i've narrowed it down to godaddy, powebb, IXwebhosting and website palace


i want a host that will support unlimited pages, support a forum, have design software/templates, allow me to alter the design templates and include my own modifications and has software that will support audio,


i also want a server that is e commerce compatible and one that is reliable most of all



where do i go

I host my sites with www.hostgator.com

I am with them since last 9 months and never had any problems.

For $9.95 a month, they provide 100 GB disk space and 1000GB transfer. Every thing else is unlimited: you can host unlimited sites, unlimited emails, unlimiyed MySQl databases. You can see the details here: http://hostgator.com/shared.shtml

I would recommend hostgator. Many webmasters prefer it.

i've never heard of that one, but i'll check it out


thanks lots

how'd you find its website building software

I use powweb but I don't use their software. It's kind of basic. I use frontpage and just found a template online that I update in the software.

Never tried hostgator but I've heard a lot of people use it.

The website building software is OK. I tried it once but I felt that coding the site in html is more flexible than using the online website builder.

However, I use the templates they provide. They provide over 60 or so templates.

It is a good idea to download templates from www.oswd.org, make changes to them and replace text using a html editor (or a WYSIWYG editor like dreamweaver or NVU) and upload the pages to your website using ftp.

Plain html pages are always better when it comes to SEO than dynamic pages.

thanks a million, you've all been very helpful

Hi Martin! Welcome to World of Web Hosting Confusion.

The way people get confused in making a Hosting Decision is mostly because it is hard to know if a host is telling the truth and if it really is as reliable as it says.

First of all let me tell you that 90% of web hosts are resellers. That means you should check the company who own the servers, data center and what kind of internet connections do they have.

Second, every host is kind when you ask them sth on their online chat. The real face shows when you run into trouble. Thats when you will see how good are they. Can they handle it? Do they have a decent response time? Are they only pointing you to some lame tutorials...

You said you want unlimited pages, forum, templates and audio support. Well the truth is almost any host enables all these things you need.

And they will give you gigabites of space, traffic, emails and other stuff. But, as I have said...this means nothing if they don`t offer you support.

Thats what you should be looking for. A host with excellent support! Because this will decide whether you will have a positive or negative hosting experience.

So invest a few bucks more and forget about the cheap providers if you want to taste the real stuff. If you are building your site just for fun, then you will be ok with most of hosts.

Now to my recommendations:

BlueHost and Hostmonster use PageWizard as their online builder. It doesnt have lots of templates but hosting is excellent.

Ix Web Hosting uses Site Studio as their Online Builder. - good online builder and hosting is also good since they give you dedicated IP.

Lunarpages uses Soholaunch Online Builder. - Excellent online builder and excellent support- I recommend them!

HostGator uses Site Studio and Soholaunch for their Online Builder. Excellent builders, great support and great host. Thats what I use for my site and recommend it to you too.

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i selected poweb(before i read what the webmaster said)


anyway, i'm using nvu to create the site, cuz i don't like their templates...nvu is asking for a publishing address

what's a publishing address, and where does it come from

?????????????

I believe your publishing address is simply your site address. Example: www.nameofyoursite.com

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cuz first it asked for my url address


then a server address, and the specific box says publisher address


??

Most probably it may be the ftp address.

Usually the ftp address is ftp.yoursite.com and the password is the same as the password at your hosting account.And the default folder is public_html/ or www/

Keep us informed. If it doesn't work this way, somebody can help.

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Hey Martin!

I have no experience with Powweb, but as I have heard it works well!

So Good Luck with your site!

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