Web Hosting?

As I am nearing the time when I need to obtain web hosting I find my self with several options. For those who are more web savving than me, can you help me decide who to use for hosting my website? I am looking at 1and1 or hostgator. I am sure there may be more good options out there but I am just not aware of them. Here are several of the things that I am trying to factor in as I decide: 1. I hope to have multiple sites in the future, including income generating sites of some sort. 2. I would like to have the option available in the future to send emails with specials to all my customers without having to send each email individually. 3. E-commerce is an option I am looking into as well. 4. I am definitely interested in having a forum, possibly in the near future. So, with this in mind, what do you think is the best option for hosting?

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by SuperiorPower As I am nearing the time when I need to obtain web hosting I find my self with several options. For those who are more web savving than me, can you help me decide who to use for hosting my website? I am looking at 1and1 or hostgator. I am sure there may be more good options out there but I am just not aware of them. Here are several of the things that I am trying to factor in as I decide: 1. I hope to have multiple sites in the future, including income generating sites of some sort. 2. I would like to have the option available in the future to send emails with specials to all my customers without having to send each email individually. 3. E-commerce is an option I am looking into as well. 4. I am definitely interested in having a forum, possibly in the near future. So, with this in mind, what do you think is the best option for hosting? I bought my first domain in 1997 and I have used many hosting companies over the years including 1&1 and HostGator. HostGator is, by far, the best hosting company I have ever used. I have been with them for 4+ years. To answer your questions: 1) Hostgator allows you to host multiple (add-on) domains under your parent account. No extra fee for hosting multiple domains. 2) Multiple emailing is configurable through your email account set up options and is not a problem as long as you are not violating anti-spam rules. 3) HostGator offers several shopping cart options for e-commerce. 4) Forums, Blogs, PHP, MySQL, etc. etc. ...easy setup with Fantastico. Keith

__________________
Start a profitable lawn care business.

I can only go on experience here. I have all of my sites hosted with 1and1.com. You can do everything you have listed with them...actually you can do most of everything you have listed with any (larger) hosting company. I tend to stay away from hosts that use 'Cpanel' or 'Fantastico' just because I do not like the interface or the control you have on the functions (this is mostly a personal preference).

Here are some +'s for me and why I use 1and1.com.

- unlimited subdomains
- up to 2500 email addresses (with my package at least; business)
- can create up to 50 databases (a huge + for me)
- email marketing tool and mailing lists to keep all of your clients updated with newletters, etc...
- easy to navigate control panel
- easy to upgrade services
- price...by far the best bang for the buck

however, there are always cons

- cannot access error logs (but there are workarounds)
- customer service can be shoddy. Depends on who you get on the phone.
- doesn't have the 'one click' install for apps, i.e. forums, chat rooms, etc...this is not a con for me, but perhaps someone who doesn't know how to install databases, php, cgi, asp, etc...

Well there is my two cents.

So, several silly questions....

Why do some sites have "www" in the address and others don't?

What is the basic difference between PHP, HTML, blah, blah, blah.....

What is URL masking?

What is mysql?

What is mysql?

mysql (my sequel) is a database program (to keep it simple). It is the backend for web apps like WordPress, Forums (such as this gopher forum) and other database driven apps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQL

What is URL masking?

URL Masking means that the visitors to the domain name will be forwarded to your destination website, however the URL in their browser address bar will remain the same.

What is the basic difference between PHP, HTML, blah, blah, blah.....

They are different languages that when properly put together for visual, data driven, backend, etc...websites and web based applications.

HTML = HyperText Markup Language

This your basic web langua

PHP = Hypertext Preprocessor (originally called Personal Home Page)

http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_intro.asp

XML = is a language to define other languages

http://www.w3schools.com/XML/xml_whatis.asp

XHTML = Extensible Hypertext Markup Language

http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_intro.asp

Why do some sites have "www" in the address and others don't?

It really all depends if the user has entered the www in their domain destination. I do however recommend that you always use your full domain name whenever you use it (unless it is on printed material). An example of a full domain name is;

http://www.lawnchat.com