Julie’s Blog

Like any field…and worse than most the world of web development is full of acronyms.

When web developers talk about domain name, domain registration, ip addres and URLs, it could all mean the same thing to you, but in fact each one of these things is different.

Normally when you type in a domain name, it takes you to a page.  In the window at the top, you see a name such as cnn.com  ebay.com etc… So, you assume that is the address of the site.

In fact, every web site has its own unique address which is a number  called the IP address.  The address will be something.  Like 65.109.111.11 etc… Well no one wants to say… I bought my car today online from 65.109.111.11   because that is to hard to remember and not cool at all.

So, we buy domain names like ebay.com..or my personal favourite/favorite (my Canadian/USA politically correctedness).. one, myspacefunstuff.com

This name has to be registered and you can  register this domain name with any number of companies.  Register.com, godaddy.com to name a few.

Once you do this, you just own a name.  If you want to have an actual website, you need to rent some space on a server.

The company that you register your domain name with does not have to be the same company that you host your site with.

When you order host space, you are actually renting the space to put your site. This has an  IP address, which will be a number like boring old 65.109.111.11.

Esentially your website is like renting an apartment in an apartment building, and the server is  the apartment building.

Some web hosting companies offer shared hosting where several domains share the same IP address.

There are pros and cons about that, but I’ll save that for another Blog.
The next step is to tell your company that you registered your domain with, that you now have an IP address, and that they need to point  your name ie. myspacefunstuff…to the ipaddress.. 65.109.111.11

In order to do this you either need to log into your account with the domain registrar and manage the DNS settings.. Ahh..another acronym.

There will be usually two or 4 choices under DNS options.  You have to get the settings from your host company and simply type them in.

For example if you host with me, the settings are

ns.unixhosting.net

ns2.unixhosting.net

Now, your NAME, will point to your IP address.  So that when someone types in yourdomain.com, it will take you to your IP address.

I hope that makes it easy!

Welcome to my first blog post.

I’m going to use this place to address  topics that come up frequently when designing websites, that should be informative and help clents and browers alike save some time and make the process of getting your website online, easier and a little more enjoyable and informative!