It is important that you understand the process of placing an order with us, and that you understand what services we supply.
Step 1: Register a domain name.
You need a domain name to host a website.
We believe it is best to register the domain name with one company and to host with another. That gives you maximum flexibility to choose the right hosting provider for you as your needs evolve. If you would prefer to register your domain through us, we won't stop you, and you can do so when you order your hosting.
We recommend our partner, Domain Monster, for this, but you are free to use any registrar. To visit Domain Monster, click on their banner:
Step 2: Purchase a hosting package with us.
Choose which package is right for you initially; remember you can always upgrade or downgrade later as you needs evolve. Sign up for the hosting with us.
Step 3: Point the name-servers for your domain to our server.
When your sign-up is completed, you will be sent an e-mail giving you log-in details for your new account. This will give you two fully-qualified domain names that you should use as nameservers. You need to set the nameservers for your domain to be the ones you have been notified. (If you ordered a domain with your hosting, this would have been done for you).
In Domain Monster, log in to your account, and you'll see a list of all the domains they have registered for you. This is at the top of the right-hand side of the screen. Click the domain you want to alter, and click "Manage". Next choose "Name Servers and Glue Records"
In the screen that appears, choose the option to use 3rd party name servers, and enter the nameservers you were given in the e-mail from us.
Click the button at the bottom of the screen labelled "Update Name Servers", and that's it.
For those who want to know a little more: When someone wishes to browse your site, here's what happens in the background. They need to find the server hosting your site. Their browser asks your domain registrar what nameservers are current for your domain name. It then asks those nameservers where your website is being hosted. The nameservers return the IP address for the relevant one of our servers. Their web browser can then ask the server at that IP address for the web page they want.
All of that takes a while, so the IP address for your site is "cached" for up to 48 hours. This saves your computer looking up an IP address for each and every page visit. This is why it can take up to this amount of time (usually much less) for every computer on the internet to discover when you change your hosting provider.
Step 4: Design your website
If you already host a website, get in touch with us and we'll transfer everything over to our servers free of charge.
If you are starting from scratch, the welcome e-mail you get from us will tell you how to start uploading files. We don't offer web design services at this point; we offer the hosting space for your site, but you would need to design your own site or enlist someone else's services. Often it is easiest to install a content management system (CMS), such as drupal or wordpress, and build your site with that. If you're not sure at any point, please ask and we'll do our best to help.