I'm a n00b! I can't figure any of this out! PLZ Help!

devine · #1 04-18-2008, 01:18 PM

I just signed up for hosting a day or 2 ago but there are several things that just totally confuse me. I have almost zero experience with creating a website. I have "HTML for dummies" sitting on the desk beside me. So, if you respond to my post, just dumb things down for me and assume I don't know anything. (because I probably don't!)

First of all I found the HTML editor in the file manager. However, it hangs up when I try to use it for more then about 5 minutes. When it hangs up I just have to X out of it and my work doesn't get saved. In addition, when I DO save my work, I can't figure out how to go back into the editor and continue to work on the page. It gives me an error message after i save it once. How do I get back into my file to edit it?

So far, I've gotten 1 page saved and I can't get it to be my home page. It comes up fine when I type for example www.mywebsite.com/index but it wont' come up without the "index" part. /sigh If I type www.mywebsite.com (without the index part) it comes up as saying I don't have access to the page.

I would like to sell products on my webiste once I figure out how to manipulate my pages. I tried to download the shopping cart and I don't seem to have a program installed on my computer that will open/workwith the .cgi file that gets saved onto my computer.

I don't know what FTP is but I see that I might need it in the future so I downloaded FileZilla but I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to DO with that program.

In short, I'm totally lost!

I'm smart enough to follow directions, but there doesn't seem to be much information as to what I'm supposed to do to get started. Sorry for showing my n00bness but I need more information or I'll have to close my account and find something more user-friendly for the new person.
Thanks in advance for any help I get!

regentronique · #2 04-18-2008, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devine

...
So far, I've gotten 1 page saved and I can't get it to be my home page. It comes up fine when I type for example www.mywebsite.com/index but it wont' come up without the "index" part. /sigh If I type www.mywebsite.com (without the index part) it comes up as saying I don't have access to the page.

Have you saved your file as "index.html"?

I would like to sell products on my webiste once I figure out how to manipulate my pages. I tried to download the shopping cart and I don't seem to have a program installed on my computer that will open/workwith the .cgi file that gets saved onto my computer.

I don't know what FTP is but I see that I might need it in the future so I downloaded FileZilla but I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to DO with that program.

In short, I'm totally lost!

I'm smart enough to follow directions, but there doesn't seem to be much information as to what I'm supposed to do to get started. Sorry for showing my n00bness but I need more information or I'll have to close my account and find something more user-friendly for the new person.

Regarding all that you wrote, i would STRONGLY suggest that you use a CMS like Drupal, Joomla, etc. from Fantastico to begin with. When you will be more knowledgeable of html then you could implement more on your website. With a CMS you do not really need to use FTP or really understand HTML to start...

...

Hope this would help you a little to start.

episkey · #3 04-18-2008, 02:23 PM

Like regentronique said, make sure your index file is named index.html. Also make sure that it is in the directory public_html.

I don't know what shopping cart you are trying to use, but shopping carts are not designed to be run on a desktop computer.

There are shopping carts that can function as your entire website. If your primary goal is selling things, you would probably find it much easier to use a shopping cart like Zen Cart rather than making your own website or using a general purpose CMS like Drupal or Joomla.

You can set up Zen Cart without having to download anything. You can get help from HostGator by using Live Chat.

After you get a web page working or get started with a good shopping cart, you can worry about figuring out FileZilla. FTP lets you move files between your hosting account and your desktop computer. You will want to know how to do this pretty soon, but for now you should focus on just getting something working for a home page.

skeetr · #4 04-18-2008, 02:53 PM

My suggestion would be to contact hostgator and have them get you set up with one of the site builder programs. At least then you have a simple starting point where you can start to learn about web page design and all that.

At this point in your experience, I would hesitate to suggest using a CMS as those usually take time to learn and arent really good at teaching you how to program sites.

I would definitely start learning basic html while you are using the site builder so that you can atleast understand why everything is working the way it is.

Just my 2 cents

***GatorWesley*** · #5 04-18-2008, 03:13 PM

www.hostgator.com/sitebuilder.php

You can get a site up easily and quickly with this.

cduran · #6 04-19-2008, 01:26 AM

Hi Divine.

From my experience you should take the time out to learn HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). It's the easiest and the first language you should learn if you want to become master of your domain (no pun intended).

I would go to your local Jr. College and start there and get real instruction from a real teacher. Use the web as a resource but take that class ok? Believe me you need to learn to crawl before you can walk and this is especially true with building web sites.

I'm not saying if you don't know HTML you cant be successful, but believe me knowing HTML is being the bus driver instead of having to pay for ride....

Then when your using these editors, content management systems you will be able to debug, manipulate and grow your site much more easier because you understand how web pages work.

Now, I don't want to distract you from what your currently doing and any further advice you get from these guys, but go take that class and you will thank me later for it. Its just one semester ok? So good luck and if you have any questions you can PM me. HTML is vital to know. ok?

Regards,
Carl.

gwyneth · #7 04-19-2008, 01:53 AM

Tools for noobs has several excellent, free html/web site editors. That thread is just one on the List of resource list threads; another covers ftp theory and programs.

devine · #8 04-19-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by regentronique

Hope this would help you a little to start.

Ok, I'm trying to go through all of your suggestions and see which ones are going to work for me...

I had just saved my file as "index"... I created a new file and saved it as "index.html" and now my home page is working! Thanks for that tip! I will assume I need to save all my files as ".html" from now on.

I also got HG to send me the "sitebuilder" so I'm going to try that, it seems like it might be the quickest way to actually get things moving. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'll probably take a course in html after I feel like I've learned all I can learn on my own. The basics seem pretty simple so far from reading my "html for dummies" book. lol However, I'll probably need more instruction in the near future as I have grand hopes for putting my current business into an online store.

The shopping cart I was trying to use was the one you can download with HG. It's called "Agora" shopping cart.

Thank you all for your suggestions. This is a very helpful forum!