Author Topic: Confused on how to start (Read 2875 times)

jatrax · « **on:** August 11, 2013, 19:25 »

This whole internet thing is a mystery to me so please use small words

I am contemplating setting up a Symbiostock site and I want to get started correctly.

I have a domain: www.zigzagmtart.com which is currently forwarded to http://john-trax.artistwebsites.com there is no actual hosting I guess, I just set that up to point to FAA. Now if I want to run a Symbiostock site do I use the existing domain name or start new? Can I keep pointing to FAA somehow as well? Ideally I would like to have a visitor go between the Symbiostock site for image licenses and the FAA site for prints.

Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks

Travelling-light · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2013, 22:50 »

Quote from: jatrax on August 11, 2013, 19:25

This whole internet thing is a mystery to me so please use small words

I am contemplating setting up a Symbiostock site and I want to get started correctly.

I have a domain: www.zigzagmtart.com which is currently forwarded to http://john-trax.artistwebsites.com there is no actual hosting I guess, I just set that up to point to FAA. Now if I want to run a Symbiostock site do I use the existing domain name or start new? Can I keep pointing to FAA somehow as well? Ideally I would like to have a visitor go between the Symbiostock site for image licenses and the FAA site for prints.

Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks

http://www.symbioguides.com/getting-started/ is a good place to start, with Amanda's step by step guide for beginners.

What you want to do is easy enough. For example, our PictureMojo site - link in signature - has FAA and Zazzle shopfronts embedded, so you can use your main domain that way. Alternatively, you can leave that redirection and put your Symbiostock site on a subdomain, say stock.zigzagmtart.com. Either will work.

As you already have the domain and some hosting capacity, all it costs you to test the water is some time and effort. Give it a go!

ShazamImages · « **Reply #2 on:** August 12, 2013, 04:09 »

Since you only have a domain name, you would need to purchase a web hosting service.

You would then install WordPress, Symbiostock main theme, and the Symbiostock child theme on the web hosting service.

After that it is up to you how you want to customize your website.

jatrax · « **Reply #3 on:** August 12, 2013, 10:27 »

Thanks for the replies! I have read the guide and many of the posts in this sub-forum, my problem is it is like reading it in a foreign language. I can sort of figure out most of the words but I don't always understand what they mean within this context.

So if I set up a host (Bluehost maybe) then I go into the domain registration (Godaddy) and point the domain to the url of the host? But how do I know what url to point it to?

And if I use sub domains I can have art.domain.com point to FAA and stock.domain.com point to Symbiostock site?

Sorry for the dumb questions, I am sure I can do this, I just want to get started correctly without breaking the internet.

chromaco · « **Reply #4 on:** August 12, 2013, 10:50 »

I just did this all this last weekend. For what it is worth, I knew nothing about any of this. I purchased a domain name from Godaddy for around $12, signed up with blue host for $5 per month and bought the clean theme for $24. I followed the tutorial on www.symbioguides.com. I called Bluehost support twice and they ran me though the set-up (domain pointing and word press download) which turned out to be very easy. Note: I did get the white screen of death but solved that thanks to AJT's comments in the thread on this forum.
After about 10 hours of trial and error and figuring out the WP interface I have this

www.teamclipart.com
I only have 10 images up, I haven't set up paypal yet, I have no idea how to use Askimet or widgets, I need a few more pages, and a lot of my links don't work yet. But for around 1 1/2 days of work, $50 and two phone calls I have a functional website that looks pretty nice. This was honestly very easy. The slowest part was figuring out the WP interface and what everything does.

You don't need to know what you are doing. You just need to jump in and get started.

Edited: for spelling and Ipad autocorrect

gemmy12 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2013, 13:46 »

I am also planning to get a web hosting and wordpress cms, so i would also like to add that to symbiostock. But i am really afraid of setting and handling own web site.. still may i know if bluehost is best for symbiostock ? I was reading about bluehost's frequent server down problems these days..

cathyslife · « **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2013, 18:05 »

Quote from: gemmy12 on August 12, 2013, 13:46

I am also planning to get a web hosting and wordpress cms, so i would also like to add that to symbiostock. But i am really afraid of setting and handling own web site.. still may i know if bluehost is best for symbiostock ? I was reading about bluehost's frequent server down problems these days..

I am with Bluehost and have been for a few years. They have been excellent until now, and I just did a search a couple of days ago, contemplating moving, and they are in the top 10 for web hosting. If it were a click of a button to change, I probably would. Because it is such a pain to move a site and I don't want to put even more time into troubleshooting a second time, I will ride it out and hope that they get their act together soon. I am going to switch to a dedicated IP address, though. You might want to do that from the start.