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By SoftDux-Rudi at 05/31/2009 - 22:47
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In my previous article, Putting your photos on the internet. I have mentioned that you need to start with the domain name. Why? Cause your domain name determines who you are on the wonderful wild web, known as the internet. This forum, http://www.perfectpictures.co.za is a good example of how a domain name plays a big role. It's to the point. When you read it, you know it's about pictures or photos, or something like that. One of my own websites is http://www.SoftDux.com which in my case is a combination of two words, software and the latin word dux, meaning leader. So, SoftDux literally means "soft-leader" :)
Most people / companies will choose their domains according to their companies names, like Google / Nikon / Canon, etc. And more than often the name doesn't really say what they do, but through time they have established themselves and you can distinguish what a company does from that as well.
Now, once you have decided on a domain name, you need to register it. The best & easiest way to register a domain name, is to make use of a hosting company who can register the domain on your behalf, and also host the domain for you. Most ISP's / Hosting Companies will have a tool to check and see which domains are available. You can't just register a domain because you like it, you need to see if it's not been taken by someone else already. Most common dictionary words (like house, forum, host, photographer, etc) are probably already taken by someone. But, that doesn't mean you can't have your own domain, you may just need to try a different domain, or different extension.
The most common extensions are .co.za (For South Africa), .com (commercial), .net (Network indapendant), .biz (business), .info (information), and .za.org (free ZA domain). Other extensions also exist, and you are welcome to explore them to see what is available. If you can't find what you are looking for, then you may need to change the domain, something just by a bit, to get something which is available.
Before I go on, I need to clarify this. A domain needs to be hosted on a server for it to exist. Even if you only want to use a domain for email purposes, and not have a website on it, you still need it to be hosted on a server.
Once you have a domain that you want to use, you will need to a hosting account (either with an ISP / Web Host, or on a friend's / collegue's / your own internet server) which can host the domain, and offer what you need. Most people will want to put a website on the internet, as well as send & receive email. Other uses could also include a "test bed" for developers, or file repositories for sharing data / information with others. You could even use it to store your own date on it, and retrieve it from any PC with internet access. The options are endless.
And finally, you are ready to put your website onto the internet. I will cover this in a different article, since there's a LOT to tell you about :)
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There are plenty of grammatical and spelling errors - maybe you should take a look at those.