Over the past year or so, I’ve had several friends ask for assistance in starting a site. Often enough, the cheap bastards ask for hosting or free design as well. Some people…

So here I am, giving away some GEMS of knowledge for nothing at all. The trade-off is that I don’t know what format to use here and will probably edit and refine this a bit to impart some grace. Take a moment now to screen-cap anything you want to hold against me in the future.

Oh, and for the geeks – I know this shit inside and out, and am taking some liberties with simplification for the sake of clarity here.

(Much thanks to Jon Vanasco for helping me see that my narrative for DNS queries by browsers was kind of obtuse!)

The Domain

Here’s the scoop on how domain names work. Consider these two statements.

• Every site lives on a server. A server is a computer. Every computer has a number used to reach it.
• TobyJoe has a phone. A phone is a computer. Every phone has a number used to reach it.

Much like the numbers we use for our phones, computers use IP addresses. An IP address is a set of numbers with some dots tossed in to make it techy-looking.

Because it’s tough to remember IP addresses, people create nicknames for them. The domain name ‘tobyjoe.com’ is a nickname for an IP address. You already use nicknames in the phonebook of your cell phone. Domain names are just like those entries in your phonebook.

STEP 1: Find yourself a domain name. Think something up. Make it good.

Registrars

Now that you have an awesome domain name picked out, I’ll tell you how to find out that it’s already taken and that you’ll have to find a less-awesome replacement.

To check on the availability of a domain name, the easiest thing to do is go to a registrar.

You might ask, “What is a registrar?”

Registrars are companies that overcharge you for something that actually costs fifty cents. Seriously. Registrars can seem kind of sleazy (and some are) but there are a few out there worthy of your trust and cash.

For no great reason, I use GoDaddy. They have a few downsides, sure. They’re far too aggressive in trying to trick folks into buying stupid options and upgrades. Their site is cluttered and tacky as hell. But you know what? They’ve never done me wrong.

Use whomever you want, of course. Try to stick with someone you’ve heard good things about.

Just keep this in mind: skip all the bull. Don’t go for multiple years. Don’t go for anonymous registration. Don’t go for adding .net, .org, .blah to the order. Don’t add site hosting. Just get the domain. That’s all. Seriously.

STEP 2: Register your domain with a registrar.

Hosting

Remember all that stuff above that you read entirely and comprehended completely? Well, the server living at a certain IP address and pointed to by a domain name has to exist or your site is nothing. Nada. A blog.

To get access to a server, you have to pay. I recommend a shared hosting plan from TextDrive. There are lots of good hosts out there. These two are recommended by me, so they’re better than others, obviously.

STEP 3: Set up a hosting account. Use RailsMachine if you’re doing a Rails site (like a Mephisto blog). Use TextDrive otherwise. Or whatever. You’ll need a credit card, your domain name, and email address. Pick a Linux hosting plan. Stay away from Windows. It’s just trash, IMO.

Setting Your Nameservers

Nameservers, or DNS servers, confuse a lot of people at first. Hell, a lot of people have had sites for years and still have no idea what DNS servers do. It isn’t really required knowledge, but it’s good to have.

DNS servers are where you set up an entry saying “The computer address for ‘tobyjoe.com’ is (209.59.180.50).”

To stick with the metaphor above, a DNS server is the phone book on your cutsie-wootsie wittle blinged-out Sidekick. You pick a name, it knows the number. You never have to know the number. You become dumber. It’s awesome.

Your browser and mail client and most every other networked app refer to DNS servers when they don’t already know the address for a domain. For new domains, like yours, most machines will have to grab the entry from a DNS server the first time a user tries to visit. This all happens behind the scenes and usually takes only a few milliseconds. Neat, eh?

The way the DNS (aka, global domain phonebook) system was designed allows for changes on one server to propagate to all DNS servers within a day or two. This is good because it means everyone will have a DNS server nearby that can be used to find the addresses for a given domain name. If there were only a small number of DNS servers, they would be overwhelmed immediately.

When you set up your hosting plan, you will receive one or more (usually two) DNS server names. They might be something like “ns1.blahblah.com” or “192.168.1.3”

You will need to use your registrar’s site (like GoDaddy) to set the nameservers for your domain to whatever your new host sent you. Each registrar is different, but it’s usually pretty clear. Often, you’ll select your domain, and click something like ‘Edit Nameservers’ or ‘Add Nameservers’ and just paste in the “ns1.blahblah.com” or “192.168.1.3” bits.

STEP 4: Set the nameservers for your new domain at your registrar.

Waiting

The world-wide domain name system will have to be updated to reflect this new domain-to-IP address relationship you’ve created. To stick with the cell phone metaphor, all the phonebooks in all the cell phones in the world will automatically receive your name and number combo. You’re gonna be SO POPULAR!

This process takes around 24-72 hours. It takes roughly the same amount of time to die from acetaminophen toxicity, btw.

STEP 5: Wait. Every few hours, anxiously type your domain name into a browser and see if you get something other than ‘not found’ in response. When you do, come back here for part two of this enthralling series.