Server Terms
Knowing what a Website is and how it works (even if just vaguely) will give you a leg up on someone who's trying to wing it.
What is a website?
Websites are simply collections of individual files that are publicly available and linked together in some fashion. They are stored on a server, usually provided by a hosting company. The types of files made available can vary, but most web pages are written in HTML. They can also be driven by server technologies that create HTML, such as PHP, ASP, Javascript, and a variety of other languages.
What's a server?
A server is a computer setup specifically to allow remote access from another location. This allows your computer to connect to it through a browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Netscape, etc.) and request the webpage. It then serves the file to your system and the browser renders the HTML code into a webpage. If this all sounds real technical, don't worry too much. For now, just be aware that the server is another computer somewhere else that has a copy of your site and it lets other people view the site you created.
How do I get a server?
The easiest way to get a server is to search online for various hosting providers. They usually charge a monthly fee, which is used to pay for maintenance and the bandwidth used to access your site. You can choose any hosting provider you feel comfortable with, and we recommend shopping around to find the best deal for you.
What factors should I consider to make my decision?
The two main factors you want to keep an eye out for are the data storage and data transfer rates. A higher storage limit allows you to save more files to the server (or larger files). This can be a valid consideration if your site will have a lot of multimedia (flash, videos, music, etc). Next, you'll want to look at the data transfer (a.k.a. bandwidth). More monthly transfer means that more visitors can look at your site. If you go over the allotted bandwidth of your hosting account, the provider will charge more (just like going over your cell phone minutes).
Anything else I should know about hosting?
Once you sign up for your hosting account, the provider will send you an email with your account information. If the email itself doesn't contain your FTP connection information, there's generally a section in the hosting providers site that will tell you how to find this information. You'll need the FTP address, username, and password later so that you can upload the site to the server so other people can view it. We'll go into this with much more detail later.