Building a Website, Need Help

[ghall]

I have a few questions about building a website. I know, I already have one but this is for a school project and I'll be doing a few things I've never done before. I'm doing this for a school project, so it needs to be professional.

Which is a better hosting service, Angelfire or GoDaddy?
How to I create a forum? I downloaded the phpBB software, but I don't know what to do with it from there.
And finally, will Angelfire or GoDaddy support php?

 

[Photomax]

Both should support PHP just fine.

I like to keep my domain name registrars and hosts separate.

If you are playing around with PHP and the like then I would build a local testing ground on your Mac while you learn how to get everything running. You can install PHP and MySQL separately or you could download MAMP which will give you both as one control panel. Creating a local testing system is great as you can install many CMS systems, forums etc and really experiment/learn without having to upload your lesson work to a live server each time...

 

[jng]

check those 2 hosts if they allow php and mysql.

if it's for a school project, it sounds rather short term so installing an entire piece software like phpBB seems like overkill.

also, neither of things mentioned makes a website "professional"...

 

[ghall]

Both should support PHP just fine.

I like to keep my domain name registrars and hosts separate.

If you are playing around with PHP and the like then I would build a local testing ground on your Mac while you learn how to get everything running. You can install PHP and MySQL separately or you could download MAMP which will give you both as one control panel. Creating a local testing system is great as you can install many CMS systems, forums etc and really experiment/learn without having to upload your lesson work to a live server each time...

Okay, I was hoping there was a way to test it out like that. How do I go about doing that?

 

[tominated]

you're probably better off getting vanilla or bbpress over phpbb. They are easier to set up and customize, plus they are a fraction of the filesize of phpbb

 

[ghall]

you're probably better off getting vanilla or bbpress over phpbb. They are easier to set up and customize, plus they are a fraction of the filesize of phpbb

How do I get that?

 

[Photomax]

Okay, I was hoping there was a way to test it out like that. How do I go about doing that?

Download the free MAMP here http://www.mamp.info/en/index.php
Its a big file. Install it and make sure you have File Sharing turned on in your system preferences.

The whole MAMP folder will go into your Applications folder. You then can create website project folders inside the htdocs folder. Once you have this up and running you can then access the PhPMyAdmin control panel which will allow you to create MySQL databases. Doing so will allow you to create test sites that use databases, like CMS systems, data table sites, blogs, and forums/bulletin boards etc. No outside commercial web host is needed. Its pretty cool.

If you are going to build sites that do not require PHP or a database then you need nothing. Learn how to code clean XHTML pages and use CSS for all the presentation. Skip learning tables. XHTML and CSS are the most useful and wide spread skills to know. If you get into the fancy stuff like CMS systems you should know they are all based on CSS. If all of this thrills you then the next step is learning a little PHP. There is not much to learn about getting a phpbb running. Doing so is really not "web design". Reread my thoughts on XHTML and CSS.

You will find that you will either hate all this or it will suck you in and you won't be able to tare yourself from the computer. Its a much better use of your time than playing video games though...