New comer.

[shamu]

Hello everyone, I’ve been on the outside looking in for a while and have decided to sign up thinking that this looks like the forum for me!!

My situation is this and I hope someone can help. I have written an application in Visual Basic and I am trying to market it. I think that the best way is to setup a website showing screen shots and demonstrations of my program with an option for downloading somewhere, I intend payment to be received by PayPal.

Although I have some experience of VB I have none whatsoever in creating websites. I have researched quite a bit but I’m still unsure where to start!

According to my understanding I think I need to buy a Domain name, write some code in something then upload it to some entity that I pay to ‘Host’ my creation, does this sound right?

If so where is best to buy a Domain name, what is the preferred tool used to write with and how do I go about getting my site hosted?

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[anna]

I have bought domains from godaddy.com with relative success...

I would suggest W3 schools for learning, or lynda.com. W3 is free, lynda requires a paid subscription.

Good luck!

 

[LouTheDesigner]

Hello!

Welcome to the forums! I bet you'll enjoy it here.

Anyway, you'll need a domain + hosting service. I happen to use hostgator.com for both. When I made a thread a while back asking everyone here what their favorite hosting service is, the results were so mixed.

I would suggest learning from, as anna said, W3 schools and lynda.com. I used to program in VB and Java, and the coding used for websites is a piece of cake when compared to actual computer programming. When you make your first html page, you'll think, "That's all I have to do?"

After learning some html you can make a Paypal shopping cart. You'll have a lot of questions as you go along -- that's what we're here for.

Welcome again!

-Lou

 

[PixelPusher]

Welcome to WDF!

As others have recommended, HostGator is a good choice, they are one of our [SmarterTools] partners. I have worked with GoDaddy in the past, also a good choice, plus they are local for me. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

In regards to building the website, you will need a image rendering app and a code editor. Price will vary from free (lower quality) to relatively expensive (excellent quality).

Free stuff: GIMP, Notepad +
Best stuff: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Visual Studio

Good luck!

 

[3CHouston]

Hello, I'm also new.

Hostgator seems to be a very popular and economic place to purchase both hosting and domain services.

 

[leroy30]

Hi there, welcome to these forums

There are many places that allow you to create a free online shop. Simply google it!

Do you have any design experience? I could knock up a simple website like mine http://www.dvi-web-design.co.nz plus 1yr hosting for about US400

But if you decide to tackle it yourself I'll be here in these wicked forums to help out ;o)

 

[emilyl]

If you're a newcomer, then you don't have much idea on which books to read, what to skip, what general strategy to adopt? in this case, you can either learn it via trial and error or join some classes.