Great! So you have registered your domain, and signed up for hosting with a company. Now what? Well before we go any further, we should cover the details/options you have with these services. We will pretend you just signed up for hosting through Blue City Hosts, through this is not important as one usually fits all. — So here it goes:

Now that you have space on your Hosting Provider’s server, you have several ways to communicate with their server; each communication method is used to accomplish unique tasks. Here they are:

1) FTP - used for sending your webpages to their server
2) Website - used for setting various hosting options

FTP: The only purpose FTP has is to transfer files. “File Transfer Protocol”. This is used to send pictures and html/php webpage files to your web host. They will give you a username and password, and an address to connect to. You really should get a good FTP client vs. using Internet Explorers default. I recommend getting FireFTP extension for Mozilla Firefox or WS_FTP as a standalone. Once logged in, you can upload your entire site as well as see what is actually on your website. In the website section (in the next paragraph) you can manage the FTP username and accounts. You could for example give a friend access to only a particular sub-directory on your website for him to work on without comprimising your entire website. ex. http://webpuffs.com/randomuserfolder/. You will have to play with FTP, there are a lot of features.

Website: These are always unique, depending on the hosting provider, and many offer a lot of options. To access this area, they will give you a webaddress to type into your browser (eg. www.webpuffs.com/administration). There are options, usually, for passwording directories, managing FTP accounts, managing e-mail accounts, and many other administration settings. Blue City Hosts even offer Fantastico which manages default installations of forum software, shopping cart software, managing databases, and more.

Coming Up Next: Database websites: Getting Started.

So you’ve found a product to sell. Now what? With the already large list of dropshippers and affiliate programs on webpuffs, finding a product was probably easy (lol). So where do you go from here?

Pick a domain name: A domain name is the address people will type in to access your website (eg. www.jpauls.net). Usually you pay a yearly fee for a website name on the internet to… well eventually ICANN (http://www.icann.org/). ICANN is responsible for managing the names on the internet to make sure nobody else takes your same name. They assign registrars like Network Solutions and Godaddy to sell names so they don’t have to bother with actual sales. Network solutions is $30.00/yr, whereas Godaddy is ~7.00/yr. I would highly recommend Godaddy. Information to know: Your name, Business Name, Desired website name, hosting information.

Whoah! Wait Hosting Information? You also have to pay monthly fee’s ($3/mo) to have your website ‘hosted.’ You see, buying a domain name is not enough, somebody has to hold your website you create and send it to people when they type in your website name, which in turn loads your webpage onto their screen. The company has to have a large connection to the internet to handle the millions of users who will access your website every minute (lol). The hosting company usually lets you send your website to them through something known as ‘FTP’ (file transfer protocol). To use ftp, open internet explorer and type in “ftp://username:password@website.com” to view your files on their server. The hosting company you choose will give you a username and password when you sign up. They will also tell you one other piece of important information: their dns servers. These are the numbers (ip address) or name (ns.hostingcompany.com) you will need to put into GoDaddy, so that when people ask for your website, it points to your hosting company. I recommend Blue City Hosts because they have great service and amazing pricing. For a new business, start out with the lite package.

So you’ve now got a name and a host for your website… what is left? Website design. Chances are if you are reading this article, you will need to hire someone to design your website. In my experience, web designers are nothing like mechanics: when we charge a price, its because it will take that long to design. Websites do not just magically become designed. You will have to find a committed**** web designer who will complete the webpage and is open to comments. I prefer working at an hourly rate, this way I do not have to worry about design changes. This allows the owner to decide how many changes or how much content he wants on the website.

Either email or post questions you have, and I will gladly answer.

In the web design world, there is a huge difference between how you picture something working and how it actually ends up working. Shortcuts often get taken to get the task done which ends up leading to confusing code; or confusing code can lead to shortcuts being taken, which only makes the problem worse. This ends up with a user interface (UI) that was not planned, and an unmanagable website for someone else to manage who is unfamiliar with the code. Problems start to show up accross the board due to the unorganized coding

What can a PHP developer due to prevent this problem? Is there a ‘one fits all’ structure? Probably not. Overtime I notice my PHP code evolving into similar structures on multiple websites. Most of my websites have multiple ‘class’ files with all my useful functions for that particular section. For example, if I have a booklisting system, I would have a folder named ‘booklisting’ with files named booklisting.php, booksearch.php, mybooks.php. These files contain only page flow for their respective functions. So where does all the actual code happen? Inside of my ‘booklisting’ folder there is a subfolder named ‘class.’ Withing this folder are files named booklisting_class.php, booksearch_class.php, and mybooks_class.php. These files contain all the functions I need for each of my flow control pages. There is also a config.php file inside the class file; this file is used for any functions that will be used across all booklisting pages. If there is a function I want to use across my entire site, I have a functions.php file in my main directory in a folder named ‘includes.’ With this hierarchy of functions, I can precide which file contains the function I am looking for; along with comments and formatting I can find it with ease. This code layout also forms a layer of flexibility to your site, I can place a booksearch box on any page I want simply by including my ‘booklisting/class/config.php’ file and calling the function responsible for showing the search box. This coding format, also adds a layer of continuity to all pages on your website, by using the same code, the search box will look exact on all pages. This also allows for you, the coder, to justify spending more time working on it knowing it will be used time and time again.

This is my method. Find a method that works for you, and run with it. It is bound to change over time regardless; happy rewriting.

PHP guru, Jpauls/Jeff Schollaart

Well, I just found out that Google’s payment processor is now available.  (I can tend to be behind with the news.)  People were saying it was going to be called Google Wallet.  Turns out it’s called Google Checkout.  I think Google is trying to give Paypal a run for it’s money.

Google Checkout’s transaction fees are a lot lower than Paypal’s starting as low as 2.0% and 20 cents a transaction, not too shabby.  The fees can be lowered according to how much you spend in Adwords.  (Which does no good for me since I don’t use Adwords.)  Paypal’s fees start with 2.9% + 30 cents with monthly transactions of $3,000 or less.  The lowest fees are 1.9% + 30 cents with monthly transactions of $100,000 or more.

I wonder if Ebay will allow people to use Google Checkout on Ebay.  I would be surprised if they do since Paypal is an Ebay company and Google is taking over the world.  L.O.L. :)  We’ll see.

I will watch and see how Google Checkout does and I might just add it as a payment option on my site.  Anyone else have an opinion on Google Checkout?  Has anyone used it yet?

When I first got started on the internet I searched around for a shopping cart that would work for me.  I’ve found that Paypal was my best option.  I wasn’t bringing in any sells at first.   I would have lost money paying for my shopping cart until I started getting customers.  The nicest thing about Paypal is there are no monthly payments if you use Paypal Website Payment Standard.  There are also no contracts.  You only pay a precentage when customers order online.  This allowed me to afford my shopping cart while I worked on my advertising campaign.

If you are building your site from scratch using HTML or PHP, all you have to do is cut and paste code to build your easy to use shopping cart.  If you are using OScommerce or any other open source shopping cart that works with Paypal, all you have to do is put in the email address that is associated with your Paypal account in your admin section and you are all set.

I recommend for everyone to upgrade to Paypal’s Website Payment Pro when your orders can sustain the monthly fees.  Website Payment Pro allows you to accept credit cards over the phone via a virtual terminal.  Website Payment Pro also gives you some nice features that you can use to help customize your check out process if you are using OScommerce.  Being able to accept credit cards over the phone has helped our sales to increase with leaps and bounds.

I’ve heard people in forums complain about Paypal saying how they got ripped off by Paypal and this and that, but I’ve moved around thousands and thousands of dollars with Paypal and have never had a problem with them.  Most times people get ripped off because of their own stupidity and want someone one to blame it on so they choose Paypal.  Regardless of what others say, I give Paypal two thumbs up.

Maybe, you have a little start up money and you feel Paypal isn’t exactly what you are looking for. Be sure you get all the facts and as many reviews about each cart you come across.  You can use the information to compare the shopping carts.  This will help ensure that you get what you are looking for.