Dusting up

[theone48]

I've heard some say it's better to have a domain before a site. Is this true or can I build a site and put it out there then get a domain? What's the difference?

TO48

[frankfriend]

If I understand you correctly, then it is straightforward.

The domain is the URL or registered name you want to use, for example www.yoursitename.com.

The site is the set of pages, their design and pictures, the forum pages or whatever you want to put on your site.

You can of course develop your site before you register a domain name, as you would usually do that on your computer at your home or office. When you have it ready and want people to see it, then you need to 'upload' it to your hosting company [x10 hosting is guess], and get a domain name. The domain name is either provided by your hosting company, or you register one with another registrar [but do be sure you pay a reasonable low price, or better still get it free. Some people try to charge large amounts for domain names, and high prices just are not necessary] . Keep it simple as you start off.

How do you plan to develop your 'site'? You can do so with some simple tools, look around on this Community for ideas. Look at the Tutorials section for help

Best wishes

---------- Post added at 08:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 PM ----------

Hi,

I've pasted this from the footer - source of help for you perhaps

Don't forget that x10hosting has an irc server as well. Come and join the fun
server: irc.x10hosting.com, main channel: #x10hosting
There's a lot helpful users there if need help building your site

[theone48]

frankfriend,

I'm new to this and was wondering why I've heard it suggested that you subscribe to the domain before you've made your site. I've several other questions too, if you browse my other posts, you'll see the one where I've got some tough questions about developing. Thanks for your input.

Regards,
TO48

[bdistler]

I've heard some say it's better to have a domain before a site. Is this true or can I build a site and put it out there then get a domain? What's the difference?

Before you can have a site you need a domain - when you received you new account from x10hosting it had a domain

in the short of it...
as you make your Web page(s) you use your current domain name to tell the user browser where to get things it needs from the server
when you change the domain name you need to change the coding of your Web page(s) with the new name - which can be a lot of work

Now if you start with the domain the site will use - there is no need to change any coding
that is a very short why of it

you should read and understand this ==> http://x10hosting.com/wiki/How_to_Use_Your_Own_Domain

[essellar]

Yes, you need some sort of "handle" for anyone to access your site (and a domain is easier to use than an IP address for most people), but the issue isn't a technical one. Links within your site (or, at least, within the same subdomain) should never be absolute, so coding shouldn't be a problem.

(That is a bit of an oversimplification. Links in user-generated content are almost always absolute and may need a clean-up after a domain change, but that clean-up is scriptable, and a domain change after a public gold release is a drastic measure.)

The problem is really one of branding. Except for tiny personal sites that nobody really cares about (except you and your grandmother), your site either talks about a product or is a product. Your domain is a part of the branding for that product, and there should be a straightforward, easy-to-see connection between the domain and the product. If your site name, application or product is called "ZippityDoo!", nobody's going to find it if it lives at "www-12.bobsbuggyemporium667.info"; and if they do find it by accident, how are they going to tell anybody about the great new "ZippityDoo!" site without writing it down (and having their computer handy so they can copy your URL from a bookmark)?

Let's go a bit further down that road. What if you wanted to call your site/product "ZippityDoo!", but zippitydoo.com, zippitydoo.net, zippitydoo.in, zippitydoo.info, zippitydoo.org, zippitydoo.tv and zippitydoo.org are all taken? You try something else, and find that dibbitydab.com (and .net, .info, .org, etc.) are all available. "DibbityDab!" is just as good a name for the product as "ZippityDoo!" (it has the same basic gut association with what your product provides), so you register that domain. But your site is complete, and everything in it—all of the graphics, logos, and copy are based on your original name. You have to go back and change everything, or hope that people can figure out that if they want "ZippityDoo!" they have to go looking for "DibbityDab!".

Your domain name, taken as a part of the brand, can affect every aspect of your site. It will determine what sort of users will be attracted to the site as "early adopters" and drive their expectations of content, features and functionality. A hipster name for a bankers' site won't work, nor will the reverse. With a domain name in hand, you can plan around user expectations. It's really difficult to get users interested if there's a lot of dissonance between your site content and the expectations they have going in. Even if it's something they need, they won't stick around long enough to find out.

[theone48]

bdistler,

Thanks for the link and simple explanation. Added to your rep.

[theone48]

essellar,

I understand. Thanks for taking the time to explain in-depth. Added to your rep.

[bdistler]

@essellar did a very nice job of saying who-what-when about domains

I did not do a good job to explain my point (now as I re-read it)

my point is this - if you do not need to change your main domain - don't do it

why ?
when you do a search on 'domain' in x10free-hosting forum - you will get a long list
of post from users that have had issues with changing main domains

so how do I use my new 'bigtime.com' domain ?
park it
A parked domain will show the exact same site as your main domain. The key difference is that the email accounts are separate from your main domain unless you added the email account as a catch-all email and have fewer issues

[dturton40]

Personally I probably did it all the wrong way round and learning from my experience I would get the domain name first (that gives you the idea for creating your brand / site), then think about who you want to host it with - you will need to do a domain name transfer if you hosting company is different from your domain name company - this can take some time to completely flush through (I found during the domain name server change, the site was available, then disappeared, then available again, this kept going like that for a couple of days)

In saying that though there is no harm in doing any way round, but it does seem more logical get the name first then the hosting. I imagine the last thing you would want to do is to create a site, get visitors then have to change the name afterwards.

You can create your website at any point really, then upload it when you feel you have enough content.

[theone48]

dturton40,

Good thinking! That domain name transfer sounds difficult though, conjures up images of iv's and infusions. I'm wondering, say I get domain name x.com from the provider xyz.com, what is the procedure for that transfer to my site of x.x10.mx?