I have a newbie question. During the course of my learning curve, I made a personal site using html, css, php and mysql and uploaded it using the services of a host. I had registered my domain name separately.
Now, as a newbie, I have the following questions.
What did most of you do when you started out? Did you make sites for practice on your local server and then upload them? Or did you already have domains and tried
out your sites online using the services of a webhost?
Now I am already using the services of a webhost where I can have an unlimited number of domains. So, I am wondering if it would be more feasible to have a separate domain and use it as my practice domain ie keep it for trying out my various sites that I make for practice.
I know that making a site on the local server and then uploading it is an option. I had done that earlier. In fact, that is what I did when I made my first site, which is my personal site.
Once I have a site functioning well, is it possible to change the name of the domain to the one that I want. eg. the name of my current domain would be jppp_practicedomain.com which I would later change to the name that I want if I wish to. I read somewhere that if I need to change the domain name, all the files, databases and emails will get erased. So, I should create a backup of everything before I do that. But then if I have to go through this process of creating backups, then transferring it to the new domain name etc. , I might as well create the website on my local server and then transfer it to my host’s server. I was thinking of making life easier and avoiding the whole process of updating, transferring files etc.
I also read that I can probably create an alias for my domain name. Is that good option?
I just thought of asking for advice from the pros as to what the best method would be. I wanted to know if there are any advantages or disadvantages to any of the above methods.
I use both methods, i.e. local server and on-line servers, usually the local for speed and security advantages.
Always backup data you never know when you will lose it… I would suggest using an online test server separate from your main site for when you do the final stages of updating/experimenting. In either case generally the local server won’t be exactly the same as the online server in all respects. Although, I am non-commercial.
I tend to use a mix of local server (XAMPP on a linux box), and subdomains. I almost always move through a progression of local server for prototyping, then a subdomain for final testing and showing to clients.
Unless a site needs php and mysql (several of mine do…) I build it on my home PC, and do all experiments on that, unless I need php etc. Then, I use XAMPP lite or, just recently, usbwebserver which doesn’t need to be installed, just placed in a folder.
Re domain names - you can buy (well, more accurately, you can rent) any available domain name and point it at your site - you can have several names all pointing at teh same site if you really want to. And you can have a domain name that you no longer use, pointing nowhere.
Testing it locally is a great way of checking your site works, however if you want something more public I would either go with a password protected sub-folder (for temporary test projects) or password protected subdomain rather than dedicating a whole domain to your test. If you work on the website and test new features regularly, perhaps setup a subdomain like labs.mysite.com which is entirely for long term testing.
I also do a combination. If I don’t need php or database I test locally, otherwise I upload to sub domains. I haven’t heard of usbwebserver, I’m going to check it out.
Thanks a lot for the inputs provided by all of you. They have been of great help to a newbie like me and I will probably now use the local server for my sites which do not use mysql and use a password protected folder or a subdomain within my live domain for a site using php and mysql.
