Web hosting is a service that allows you to put the content (like a blog, a website, photo album) on the Internet, to a particular domain that you own. Sounds simple enough, but what does it look like? Once you pay your expenses, what you actually get, and what do you do then?
The first thing you need to do is to get comfortable with your hosting control panel. The control panel is the fundamental way you manage your web hosting. This includes installation of your blog, looking at traffic statistics, changing settings, file management, install web designers, adding subdomains, the list continues. In fact, there are so many things that most control panels are a bit overwhelming. Here is the popular cPanel control panel that powers a number of web hosting solutions, including Web Hosting Pad, Just Host, Host Gator, HostPapa, IX Web Hosting, and other
There are many choices here (click here for full view). In fact there is a lot more than you probably need, at least right now. The good news is that you do not really need to know all. On the left you will find a bunch of statistics about your account. You will find this more useful further down the road. At present, a lot of it will be empty. Taking up most of the page is a menu of options, looking much like a Windows operating system circa 2001. The good thing is, you can actually reorganize these panels, so you can drag the ones you use less down to the bottom.
The most common modules that you probably want to use first are email accounts (located in electronic mail), and various blog and add-ons sitebuilding grouped as Fantastico Deluxe (under Software / Services).
Email is very easy to set up on cPanel, just choose a username and password (it will even create one for you, if you prefer). The mailbox quota is optional, and best left to its default value. cPanel will create your e-mail address, and then provide you with your mail program configuration settings.
Fantastico De Luxe is a beast quite different, in fact, it is a different control panel. It is your one stop shop for add-on modules like WordPress (for blogs), CubeCart (for creating a shopping cart), 4Images Gallery (for the construction of a gallery of images) and Soholaunch (for creating a website). It seems that the Macintosh operating system circa 2001. On the left you see your options. Besides that, you see the add-ons you have installed (if applicable).
For demonstration sake, we will install WordPress. WordPress is the most popular platform for web blogs. First, click the WordPress link on the left. When you see the WordPress installation screen, click on "new installation".
Now you need to make decisions, the most important being where you want to install your blog. If you want it to be on page that people see when they arrive at your site, just leave this blank. If you plan to have the blog as part of a larger site, you might want to put it in a directory as :. Blog (so type "blog" in this case)
You will also need a user name for the blog. It is also time for another password. Since WordPress does not ask you to confirm the password, be sure to write it. Or, better yet, copy and paste it into a text file. Your username administrator will be visible to people who see your blog, so choose something you want people to see. Then enter an email address (notifications will be sent to this address). Your blog needs a name that should not be the same as your domain name. Finally, you can enter a description, which can be as simple or complex as you like. You can always change the title and description later.
You will get more screen telling you that everything works fine and ready for installation. You can ignore the bit about the MySQL user, because you will not need to know. Just click on "complete the installation." When it was installed correctly, you will see a confirmation of your information, including the URL where you administer your blog. As Fantastico suggests you should bookmark.
The installation process will be similar to other modules. If you want to return to your cPanel, simply click the "Control Panel" icon on the top left.
These are the basics. If you have done the above, you now have your own e-mail and a blog set up.
What's next? Try to build a site. Depending on your host, some sites of manufacturers are located in the Fantastico panel, and some are located in the cPanel. Or try an offline site builder as Adobe Dreamweaver, iWeb Apple or Microsoft Expression.