JazzDrew

Help! I know nothing about web site construction. I would like to produce a web site to share our upcoming safari with all. I suspect I will have quite a few pictures and even a few short video clips.

Question: Does anyone know where I should start? How much is this going to cost? What software do I need? How difficult is it to construct? Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks.

Kavey

JazzDrew

There are a number of ways you can do this and they range in expense and effort required.

If you'd like to have your own site with your own domain name (whether it's www.jazzdrew.com or something else) you're going to need to
a) register the domain name itself (which costs around $10 to $30 per year or per two years depending on who you register with)
b) select a hosting service to physically store your website and connect it to the rest of the world. If you aren't going to put anything fancy on your site and aren't expecting to have a huge volume of visitors you'll likely find free hosting options and even those offering more technologies and higher bandwidth (volume of traffic) don't charge very much
d) choose an application with which to create your web pages. There are many editors around that allow you to create pages without learning HTML code, such as Dreamweaver (my weapon of choice but not cheap), Frontpage and others. You can also use applications such as Word and PowerPoint to create HTML pages but these aren't the best option in my opinion. Cheapest of all, you can learn HTML code and write pages entirely manually in any text editor, even the lowly Windows notepad.
You'll also need to learn how to upload pages from your development site on your own PC to the hosting service.

Alternatively you can find an internet site that provides you with a certain amount of space for pages and images and offers an interface with which to load/ design pages. This is usually the cheapest option (often free) but gives you limited control over page layout and content, tends to clutter your page with the owning company's logos and information as well as adverts and also means you won't be able to choose your own website name.
Virtual Tourist is a popular place for this kind of site, though there are many, many others.

Kavey

igougo.com is another site that allows users to post travelogues and pictures.

Note with any of these I'd advise you to look into copyright issues before making your decision.

ArthurSA

Yahoo provides a free basic facility, I think it includes templates and authoring programs.

http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/

JazzDrew

Kavey and Arthur,

Thanks to both for the advice. As with all technology there are so many considerations. I did some research on Dreamweaver and believe that may be the way to go for me. I certainly don't think the HTML code is on my learning curve! Hopefully I will have a website for all to enjoy after we return

Kavey

JD
Dreamweaver is a great tool, one I find quite instinctive to learn and use. That said it's an expensive option to choose if you're just developing a single website for personal rather than commercial use.
Have you definitely decided on the own domain name, full build route then?
Another option is to go down that route (registering your domain name, arranging hosting) and then use a website template from one of the many sites offering templates that you can adapt quite easily. One place someone mentioned to me recently is www.allwebco.com which have some really classy templates, though theirs aren't free as some organisations' are.
Anyway, please come back with question, if you have any.

matnikstym

geocities or angelfire have free websites but of course with ads and everything annoying but if only for personal use, why not? and it is easy to use.