Subject: Info: Web Site Wanted
From: Web_Site_Wanted@
Sender: Web_Site_Wanted@

I append: http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/std/web_site.txt
See Also: http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/txt/domain.html

People frequently say they'd like [help/advice to] create a web site.

Suggested Reply: ... "So How Long Is A Piece Of String ? :-) ... 
  How thick ? Strength ? Material ? Friction ? Wear resistance ? Buoyancy ?"

ie Define what you'd like, & what you must have & will pay for.

- Do you just need some cheapo minimal static 5 page package that ISPs sell,
  bundled with net access for a few Euros per month ? 1and1.co.uk
  & .de & presumably competitors too often bundle in a domain name
  for a cheap monthly price.

  Personally I prefer my domain name clearly mine, with a name
  registrar not related to where I separately serve data from,
  (actually I serve data myself).

- Do you need just a static assembly of pages with pictures & text ?
  (The images may still be dynamic in browser).

- Would a mere login with a user's ~/public_html/ suffice ?  served by
  Apache on FreeBSD ? I host some friends free, ... depending.

- Do you want to use building tools from an ISP to build your own web site ?
  They will all have different OS & tool constraints. Compare before you leap.
  Caution: some ISPs entrap you so that pages within your domain
  can only be accessed within their domain ! Eg
  http://www.grindler-lambertz.de got trapped by ISP jimdo.com
  Notice that sub pages cannot be referenced from original domain
  name, only from trapper jimdo. Avoid jimdo traps !

- Do you want to create a dynamic forum of user discussions ?.
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_web_page
  using LAMP programming: Linux (or BSD or other Unix) + Apache +
  MySQL or other + PHP or other
  	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAMP_%28software_bundle%29
  Examples  
	http://forums.freebsd.org  	Not Free!	 XenForo
	http://www.forum.exscn.net/	Not Free	cBulletin
	http://www.takethislife.com	Not Free        cBulletin

  Or Mail list[s] with web interfaces eg: 
	http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo	Free Software
	https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/

  Bulletin / Message boards are more work to set up & maintain.
  Needing LAMP/PHP & extra packages: think version dependency of
  your current & future programs, & data, LAMP tools, & base OS,
  consider varying future upgrade dependencies.  PHP & similar
  applications are security risks (eg periodically social media sites
  that use them, get broken into), & the heap of data & packages &
  human messages to administrator + security probes etc all need
  regular admin/ maintenance time=money.

  If you want to run forums using:
   - binary commercial forum software, then
	I would only be prepared to help at full commercial consultancy
	rates, & Not hosting on my servers but on commercial servers
	perhaps arranged by me, my associates or your other providers.
   - free software with free source code. then
	I &/or others might well be prepared to run it on our servers
	as well as other servers, perhaps at much more competitive
	rates than above.
  Why ? : Learning commercial software is of no personal interest, 
  learning public software, & fixing & contribute back improvements,
  is of benefit to public & to me, more efficient & fulfilling work.
	https://gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary.html

- Upload
  - Will you be using a nasty Microsoft to master your data, or a nice Unix ?
    - Most of the worlds web servers run Apache which runs on Unix
      (eg BSD & Linux etc).
    - Most Clueless users use Microsoft on their PCs. 
      - When they start to design data for web servers, it can be
	a painful learning experience, & a time wasting hand holding
	experience for whichever web support staff help them. That's
	why ISPs offer packages ! To avoid users wasting web server
	administrators time.
      - MS users cost more time to support than skilled Unix users.
	Do they yet realise even basics, like msdosfs aliases upper
	& lower case, Unix does not. Unix doesn't like space backslash
	quotes in file names etc.
  - What sort of upload protocols do you want Ftp ? Rdist6 ? Rsync ? 
    No I don't want to know name o=f some clickey program you use,
    I want Protocol name not Program name! ;-)
  - Rlogin / Telnet / Ssh needed ? Or just FTP / SFTP ?
  - Do you have a client program sftp / ftp to upload from your end ?
    (Yes putty.exe client can support SFTP from MS to Unix).

- Servers:
  - Do you need domain[s] created & registered with an ISP ? A specific one ?
  - Found your name yet ? Registered it ? Which registrar ?
  - DNS serving needed ? (If by me, helps if I'm familiar with ISP's
    user DNS interface).
  - httpd serving needed ? (or will you try to serve data on your own ?
    (not reccomended !)
  - Any CGI scripts you want to install ?  
    - CGI just shell scripts or binaries from .c files ? 
    - Is your .c portable for eg BSD or locked to obscure Linux features ?
    - JavaScript needed ? which versions ? Will you write it ? Or who else ?
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript
    - Java needed ? which versions ? Will you write it ? Or who else ?
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_%28programming_language%29
    - PHP needed on server ? which versions ? Will you write it ? Or who else ?
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP
    - Any particular HTML versions, httpd server or OS version needed ?
  - Do you need virtual domain hosting or real physical seperate hosts ?
    - Do you need just your pages under some other domain eg berklix.net ?
      Or your own virtual server (within a single httpd) ?
      Or an httpd within your own jailed or (vmware style) emulated OS ?
      Or your own physical server ?
    - Page counters wanted ?  
    - Do you want access to logs, or periodic stats ?
      Do you mind if other virtual domain owners see your logs & vice versa ?
  - Dual redundancy resilient hosting needed ?  
    - I have that working & offer it.  (useful for high availability
      sites, eg travel network timetables, airline bookings, banks;
      not necessary for chat sites).
  - Do you need http or https ? (ie secure data for banks & commerce etc)
    Do you need transaction security certificates ? Encryption of traffic &/or
    databases ?
  - Is it a commercial venture intended to grow big ?
    - Public's personal info subject to protection laws, data registrar etc.
    - Will own government later legally demand a back door ? (Yes, not kidding)
    - Will NSA etc be spying / cracking you ? (may causes traffic,
      will waste admin time in defence).
    - Will criminals want to crack you for profit ?
      (Even if not, Assume there Will be the normal nutters attacking
      your site at random anyway! If you don't now what I mean, be
      thankful, but believe defence consumes time, & time costs money.

- Presentation:
  - Would you want to create the HTML ? or me ? or some other company ?
  - Any extra fancy web features wanted ? Drop down menus, graphical glitz ?
    I don't like glitz myself, but a paying customer is king.
  - Do you want "SEO" eg Search Engine Optimisation ?
    Rather than be seduced by spammers later offering hot air promises,
    Better to write pages properly titled linked & meta'ed from the start !
    Then allow search engines to find you & give you a fair ranking.
  - Realise its better use of your time & money (IMO) to test your 
    simple non glitzy HTML on many browsers, than waste time writing
    glitz that is only tested for 1 browser. I usually test
    on 6 or so browsers.    
  - I avoid dumb boy trendy 'designer' rubbish like Flash on front page,
	http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/std/no_flash_server.txt
    & also avoid small dark blue italic font on black backgrounds etc.
  - Do you want to have the pages good for smart phones ? More Time=Money !
  - Do you want an app for smart phones ? Which of several architectures ?
    You are now talking Serious money !
  - Any extra fancy software packages wanted ? on server ? on client ?
  - Do you want a bunch of photos auto linked to pages ?
  - Do you want automatic translations, linking, automatic weekly expiry of
    old forum mail etc ?
  - Do you need human translations ? I have professional associates for that.

- Load: - Data Size & Traffic
  - What sort of data size ? & Pictures ? Up/Down-loadable media ?
  - what sort of load (traffic) on servers ?  M bytes/month 
  - What time of day (in CET) will traffic impact on other co-hosted domains ?
    (eg is your target audience mostly in Europe or America or global ? ).
  - I can host light stuff easy enough. 2 colleagues can host heavy duty
    requirements, though I &/or they may may be involved configuring it.
  - Type of data ? Boringly main stream normal ? Or legally / morally 
    questionable ? eg bit-coins, naked pictures, encryption, Onion/Tor,
    religious, bootleg movie/audio discussions etc. Yes they're not
    all illegal, but can waste time, defending from nutters,
    criminals, governments, & lawyers etc). Time is Money !
  - Associated mail requirements ?

- Me:
    I have created about 6,500 web pages & files for maybe 10 domains
    & also mirror other domains on Berklix.net servers.  I &/or a
    colleague or associated company may host larger loads.  It might
    be free for friends, or for serious money, depends what consultancy
    you need.  It won't be for a few Euros per month though, 'cos
    I & associates are Not in the cheap mass market of standard packages.

	http://www.berklix.net   			Domains
	http://www.berklix.com   			My Company
	http://www.berklix.com/jhs/cv/			My Resume
	http://www.berklix.org/jhs/contact/		Contact me