posted on January 7, 2004 10:35:47 AM new
OK, I admit it, I am spoiled to Vendio, CA etc that does it all for me.
But, with the rising fees and the increasing numbers of listings I am doing, I have to look elsewhere.
I know some of you use your own web space and do everything yourself.
And, while I consider myself of at least average intelligence, I admit I am intimidated by all the info on the web spaces.
I am looking at iPowerWeb. But, to get the best deal I have to sign up for 1 year. Is it difficult to understand all the ftp setup for getting images onto my webspace?
Edited to add: The first thing they want me to do is set up my domain name. That alone gave me a headache so I came here to see how many others do their own pic hosting.
posted on January 7, 2004 11:14:54 AM new
Take a look at this service befor you commit to a yearly contract. They do offer free stater web sites with the hope that you will upgrade you site later on.
The free site if nothing else is a great practice tool to learn all the in and out of your own web site.
posted on January 7, 2004 11:15:18 AM new
It's not *hard* to do but it may be hard to understand.
There are so many aspects to it that I really think you might be better off paying someone to guide you through it, or to do it for you.
If you rely on advice from Vendio posters, you will get incomplete information at best, and at worst, some downright wrong info.
I recently registered fluffythewondercat.com and it went smoothly, but then I know what the NIC is, what nameservers are, what DNS does, how to use POP mailboxes, how to construct a web page using HTML, and so on. I know what my ISP's role is in all this and what to expect.
posted on January 7, 2004 11:19:10 AM new
It's a good price, but price isn't everything. I use a company that charges more but support is great, and I am happy with it. I once tried one of the cheaper services with a test domain, and I very quickly canceled my account because when I ran into a problem, their support was either plain wrong, or not there...
Setting up ftp is actually pretty easy, the company you decide to go with will give you information on how to setup the program. Just like most things, there is a little bit of a learning curve, but it can and will save you in the long run to do it yourself...
posted on January 7, 2004 11:54:56 AM new
zgemz: Thanks. I'll check them out. My first need is for large space though so I can upload all my pics from my hard drive.
fluffy: I have a basic understanding. I just don't know what to do in what order.
ebayvet: I did go to a website (actually 2) that rates web servers and this one was very high on their list. I didn't really chose it for price as much as for the amount of space I get for the price.
With the new Ebay rates I just think it is time to stop paying over $100 a month for an auction service to do work for me and take a few weeks to learn what I am doing.
Someday, I may set up a website. But, for now, I am happy with my Ebay sales and just looking for a reliable place to host lots of photo's. (thousands)
posted on January 7, 2004 01:38:34 PM new
I run two of my own sites and used to run one for a local tv station.
I love html, can do it in my sleep.
The dns, nameservers, pop and all that stuff: you need to find a provider who will happily work with a person who is not adverse to educating you.
I can do it now, but when I first started it was pretty much me on the phone all the time getting my head around it.
You won't get good support from "elcheapohosting.com"
I suggest schogini.com
Great people.
I also suggest that you look into your local community college, adult learning center, college or university for a good class.
I like control over the look and feel of my site, so I use tables, style sheets and gifs to manage size and spacing...this takes time.
Also you need to understand how to test your site in browser emulators...I have a mac, I see sooooo much baaaaad html because a webmaster did not test his/her work.
A great book: Html for the World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro. It is a Visual Quick Start Guide.
I have the newer edition, but my third edition was curling on the edges from so much thumbing.
Also, for a basic online how to:
http://realgar.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/
Unless you want to fork over the dough for Dreamweaver (by Macromedia.com) and can ride the learning curve, and it all depends on your tech savvy. I know my limit, I am not into java (mouse rollovers aside...) or flash, and prefer faster downloads over marvelously goo goo graphics. (for goo goo go to: http://entropy8zuper.org/)
When it comes to the bells and whistles like shopping carts and stuff, then you may really think about paying someone.
Or you can keep it simple. I buy beads online from a couple sellers who do their own sites.
They are legend in beading circles, price is right, and they are not the high end sites with mega coding...but there are loads of people who know them well.
J
oooops...did I go on or what? But are not new years resolutions merely for breaking anyhow?
posted on January 7, 2004 01:51:10 PM new
Thanks! I'm going to check out the books at the library to see if I will/can use them. If so, I'll buy one.
I'm looking into the websites you recommended.
That's what I was looking for! I really appreciate it.
If I go with checkout I'm thinking about just using Paypal and putting a link from them in somehow. I have a nephew in Texas who can help me when I get that far.
posted on January 7, 2004 02:09:55 PM new
hmm I forgot that not everyone is sporting IE and my site might be a bit sloppy on the HTML coding on a different system..
but then again I kept it so basic.. just a few tables and mostly words. I can even view it without problem on my cell phone browser...
gotta go along with everyone though.
its not rocket science since there's obviously quite a number of people out there with their own website...
but it takes time to read through all the setups. And for me, deciding on a site format took the longest time ever. figuring out where you want to put what and on what page things should be.. argh. the headache! lol.
posted on January 7, 2004 02:45:49 PM new
lindajean,
Have you considered putting your items at a store hosting site like rubylane.com? If you create your own site it is very time consuming and can have a long learning curve. Also, you have to figure out how to drive traffic there.
posted on January 7, 2004 02:45:49 PM new
lindajean,
Have you considered putting your items at a store hosting site like rubylane.com? If you create your own site it is very time consuming and can have a long learning curve. Also, you have to figure out how to drive traffic there.
posted on January 7, 2004 02:52:00 PM new
Just to play devil's advocate here..you can spend a lot of time website building..but will they come?? (The buyers I mean) Would your time be better spent listing more on eBay so you can sell more?
Yes, it's heartbreaking to pay so much to list but you're not going to sell unless you list. I have come to the point of realizing that unless I hire someone to work for me there is only so much I can do. I try to spend my time doing what will produce the most income. Perhaps this summer when things on ebay are as dead as a doornail I will explore other ways of doing things, but as the saying goes.."Make hay while the sun shines".
Just some thoughts ... I have to add I know diddly squat about website building. Good luck!
posted on January 7, 2004 03:09:14 PM new
It sounds as though the original poster just wants to put her pictures up, instead of paying for image hosting. This should be well within her capabilities (and most ISPs give you a certain amount of web space with your service).
If you are selling on eBay, you might as well save the money by doing your own image hosting.
posted on January 7, 2004 04:39:14 PM new
Thanks Fluffy...I am such a rewrite case...
BTW lindajean
I took a class at the locall community college because my boss said "make us a website" and I didn't know html very well.
There might be an online course at Bellevue Community College...
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/
I took mine back in 97, so it may have changed, but it's a good class, and I could do it online from work, home or the school computer center.
Quite frankly, I just finalllllly figured out dns stuff from a couple of host transfers...I am just not that technical.
J
posted on January 7, 2004 05:27:59 PM new
I do only want the site for photo's. I am content now with ebay sales and agree my time is better spent in making more ads.
After seeing my $62 Vendio bill for my "free" listings on Ebay, I decided it was time to do something on my own. Yes, my ISP gives me 70mb but I have over 80mb used at CA and that was before I moved over here. I came to Vendio because I can list 3 times as fast with the offline lister.
I can do the same thing with turbolister or even auction submit if I can host my own pics. Eventually, I will have several thousand, and I'm tired of worrying about Vendio deleting them.
I'm sticking everything over into my Ebay store so the ads will be current (It's cheap storage even if I don't sell much) just run them once every 90 days. But, Vendio will cost me a fortune to do that.
This will save me hundreds over the course of a year and the pics will always be there.
I'm just not sure what to do or how to do it as far as setting up my ftp space and getting the url info to put into the add. I wasn't even hinting at building a full blown website
posted on January 7, 2004 05:30:17 PM new
Lindajean, I set up my own storefront,
www.dragonmother.com
using a free software called oscommerce. It is *really* hard to understand, but I have learned my way around it, and I was able to make my site look good, and function the way i wanted it to. Like vendio, it keeps track of my stock, keeps my customers info, links to paypal- or any creditcard portal you want to use. I can upload product images through the admin control panel, without using ftp- and write the sales pitches too.
To use this software your host must give you a database called php. The servers like this php programming because it stores fewer files, saving them quite a lot of space. My website as it stands right now is about 50 mgbs, and there are a lot of images on it!
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
posted on January 7, 2004 05:34:09 PM new
I love your site dragonmom. That is what I see myself doing with separate pages for postcards, records, buttons, etc at some point in the future. And, it is set up just the way I would want one.
posted on January 7, 2004 06:00:12 PM new
LindaJean, you might want to take some quick classes at like CompuUSA (online or at the store) - most have them now. I think I am going to do that as well.
so I came here to see how many others do their own pic hosting.
