Website Domain Name - Buying or renting a name

[Rove]

I've got a few FREE Websites that I've had for quite a good while plus a couple that I pay for.

Never bought or rented a Domain Name.

Can someone who has bought or is renting a Domain Name please give some tips.

[Sue Mackay]

I use a domain name for my croquet club website purely so that members can remember the address easily, but the actual site is still housed on my own ISP. Using domain forwarding, as opposed to domain hosting (where people type in the domain name and it is instantly forwarded to my site) costs me the princely sum of £2:49 a year.

[Ladkyis]

My quilting one was organised by the person who built my website. I pay 25pounds for two years. the addy is in my signature

[mfwebb]

I have a few addresses bought through 123-reg for peanuts -- about £6 to renew for 2 years I think. I have our business site hosted for £25 per year and the other sites sit on the back of that -- I point the domain name to the place on our business site where it sits.

[MarkJ]

In the UK, domain names are cheap - a co.uk address for example is around £6 for two years as others have said. In Australia, I think they are much more expensive if my memory serves me correctly :(
Getting hold of a domain is as easy as seeing if the name you like is available and coughing up the money.
Once you have it, the next - and much larger problem - is hosting. I would think about what you need from the site -
a)Is it going to have lots of traffic?
Most hosting packages have a limit on the traffic per month. For a basic site, it is usually fine, but if you have lots of photos for example, it may not be enough.
b)Are you intending to host the site yourself?
Cheaper, but much more hassle! Security is your responsibility and many ISPs frown on you running a webserver on the line.
c)Do you need more than basic services?
If your site will use databases etc, then you need to make sure the hosting has adequate services - also make sure they are compatible with your particular databases!
d)Similarly, are you using scripts on your website?
If you do, then the server needs to be able to run them! Not much use having a host which allows you to run .ASP if all your scripts are in .php!
e)Do you need "root" access?
If you run scripts, or intend to set up clever things, then you may need root access to the hosting server (well, to your bit anyway!). You pay a premium for that (I know believe me!)

There are dozens more things I could think of, but that is just a quick indicator of the kinds of questions you need to ask yourself and your hosting provider.
For most genealogy sites - especially those run purely for "hobby" purposes - then a basic package may be fine. Just keep an eye on the traffic!

Mark

[arthurk]

I believe some free FH website hosts don't allow you to use your own domain name as a forwarding address pointing at a site that they are hosting (i.e. the procedure Sue described in message #2). In other words, you probably wouldn't be able to simply "bolt on" a new address to what you already have, you'd need to find some paid-for webspace elsewhere, either as part of the package with your ISP or in some kind of domain name package.

Arthur

Edit: overlooked that you already have some paid-for web space - unless the host specifically forbids it, you ought to be able to point your domain name at that.

[Neil Wilson]

There is a company currently offering one year 'free' domain name and web hosting. All you pay is £9 +VAT set up fee. Not sure how long the offer is valid but the yearly fees are reasonable.
If anyone wants to PM/email me, I shall pass on the company name.