Background

A you know, a website is what you see on your screen when you go to http://something.com or whatever. What you are really looking at is what is called “the content”. This is also called the front end. The “back end” is the code and the CMS (Content Management System), or the software that allows you to have a convenient way to create the content. The CMS also sends (“serves”) the content to the web browser (AKA “web client”) the visitor uses.

Rack mount server

The files that make up the web site reside on a server. A server is a computer that may look like the image here. Inside, it is just a computer that probably has some extra components to make it faster and more reliable than the average home computer. Servers are usually rack mounted like some stereo equipment. The rack is usually a part of a cabinet so the cabinet can be force cooled, making the servers perform better.

Hosting Account

In order to have a web site, you need a domain name and hosting account. You pay up front for so many months of hosting and in return, you get the right to have your website files on the hosting companies servers. The hosting company has a bank of servers in a data center (NOC or “Network Operations Center”) somewhere. When you sign up for hosting, you get a bit of space reserved and get instructions on how to upload your website files to the server. The domain name is the website name, as in Templatesagogo.com. When you get a Justhost hosting account, the domain name is free. If you are paying for a business package from us that includes hosting, you do not need to do this, we will do it for you.

Serving the website

Simple Internet Diagram

So far you have a hosting plan and have your files on a server. Now what? You configure your back end. WordPress has an administrator login so you can see what is going on behind the scenes and add content or tweek settings. You add content (the words and pictures) to the web pages then click “update”. What you just wrote is now live on the web. This means that when someone types in your website URL, they will get the page you just wrote served in a pretty wrapper (the theme).

Customize the website

Your website is more than a home page and a blog. You can have a contact page, pictures, a calendar or a shopping cart and possibly many other things. All of these things are software plugins that you or us add to the web site . You have a way to add content to these items and again, when the web page is served, the visitor sees what you wrote.

Sum it Up

In order to make your web site, you need to do the following things:

  • Get a web hosting account and Domain Name
  • Either buy the CD and DIY with the included instructions or have us set up your web site
  • Get additional features you want like calendar, shopping cart, forum, etc.
  • Email or call us to set it up if you are having us do it

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