Hello all,

As you can see, I've given my site a bit of a face lift. In fact, I've switched to a new content management system (Joomla) and server (Media Temple). I figured that this is an opportune time to explain what's involved in setting up your own website.

First off, you will likely need a domain name (a.k.a., "web address") that you can direct your users to. You can purchase a domain name from godaddy for around ten dollars per year (provided that the name has not already been taken.) You also need to purchase some server space to host your website (i.e., the place that you upload all of your files to.) Depending on the level of service that you need, this can run anywhere from five to hundreds of dollars per month. I had been using a service called Hostek, which offered great service and lots of file storage space for about $12.95 per month. I have just switched over to MediaTemple and am paying a bit more ($13.33 after a 20% discount off the already discounted annual purchase plan... the service before discounts runs $20 per month). I switched to a new server because I wanted to be able to host several websites in one place (my wife's photography site, this site, and some testing/development sites for work), and because I wanted to set up a subversion repository to back up my code files (neither of which were offered on my current Hostek plan).

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