hello there, long time lurker, first time poster here.

 

i've been messing around building websites for a while now but never got to the stage of putting anything online. i therefore have no idea how to use web hosting and that's before i even get to choosing from the millions of companies offering it.

 

i clicked on the add at the top of this page which led me to http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/

straight away it's full of stuff i've never heard of so it's a little off putting. i've never heard of CGI scripts, eXtend control panels, serif web plus X2 etc, etc.

 

how much of this stuff do i actually need to understand? surely it sounds more complicated than it actually is. i simply want to buy a domain and upload a site. i also want to be able to buy domain names on behalf of other people and host their websites.

 

i'm starting off with my own sports photography site, then a friends wedding photography site.

 

apologies for being totally ignorant in this particular field but i'd really appreciate it if someone could put some of this stuff into laymans terms and help get me started.

 

many thanks.

What you really want is a reseller hosting package, that allows you to setup accounts (sites & emails) for your clients. So they each have their own account.

 

cPanel is the most popular control panel and for good reason. That will allow you to manage all aspects of your account including uploading files, creating email accounts and so on.

 

The last thing is a billing system which will let you invoice customers for hosting and setup accounts and automatically suspend those overdue.

 

You may or may not need the billing system, that's up to you.

 

Aim for a slightly smaller company that can perhaps take a bit of time to help you in the early stages, after a few go's you will have no problem setting up accounts and emails etc.

 

We'd be happy to help and also provide video tutorials on how to do most things.

Heart Internet do offer a huge range of "extras", they are really easy to use however and they are quite helpful!

cool thanks for the help. so there's nothing to be scared of then? i don't need to suddenly gain loads of knowledge that i don't have yet.

i might just shop around for a reseller account and get started. then hassle them with emails everytime i get lost!

You may need a bit of help at the beginnig but especially with cPanel/WHM it's quite straightforward and most hosts have video tutorials as well. Do remember that heart internet use their own control panel which makes it more difficult to move your reseller account (and your customers) at a later stage.