The below article is
intended to give a comprehensive description of the requirements for creating a
website or a blog and also introduces common web terminologies. It follows a
sequential set of steps that would help a novice user to understand the steps
in creating a website.
The four elements that
are required in creating a website are given below:
- The Domain Name
- The Hosting Account
- The Hosting Control Panel
- The CMS or an FTP Application to create web pages
- The Domain Name: The Domain Name is a unique identifier to a particular website, and has multiple web pages that are linked to it (Such as Home, About Us, Products, Contact us- All of which are different pages of your website’s domain.
A Domain Name consists
of the following elements:
1.Protocol:
https:// or http:// or www.
(This is the default protocol that is used for accessing the website from the
browser and has to be typed in the browser’s address bar to access the
particular website)
Ex: https:// blogger.com
https://-> This
stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Secure) which is a standard of
communication across the web. This secure protocol uses an encrypted connection
while transmitting information and is recommended for all sites, especially
sites where online purchases and exchange of information is done. Sites that
use this protocol have a lock symbol before to the address bar-indicating a
secure site.
http://-> This
stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol which is the normal and acceptable
standard of communication across the web. This protocol is still accepted,
though sites are slowly migrating to “https” protocol by using a Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) certificate that has to be purchased from the hosting service
provider. Sites that use this protocol have a “Not Secure” text before to the
address bar indicating a not secure site-though it does not impact the functionality of the site.
www.-> This stands
for the World Wide Web and is one of the earliest transmission protocol that is
still in use.
Websites can also be
accessed by just typing the website name without the protocol, as the protocol
would be identified and appended by default.
2.Web Address:
A Web
Address is the unique identifier or name to a specific website and is called
the Domain name. It can have alphabets and numbers and must be greater than
three characters, and should not be a reserved name, an existing name or an
extension.
Ex: www.google.com
Here Google is the
Domain Name
3. Extension:
An Extension is the type of the Domain that
the name corresponds to. The most frequently used Domain Extension is “.com”,
though we have numerous extensions that relate to a particular country (“.in”),
organization (“.org”), type of Business (“.band”) and also joined Extensions
(“.co.in”). Some Extensions are reserved for a particular Business or entity
such as (“.gov.in” for Indian Government Websites). There are multiple such
top-level domains (TLD’s), and they are governed by ICANN (Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is a global organization associated with
the working of the Internet.
Sub-Domain: A Sub-Domain is a part of a Domain that can
be uniquely accessed. A Domain can have multiple sub-domains which can be
created from the Domain Control Panel and are often used to segregate different
varying parts of the website.
Ex:
https://webtektalk.blogspot.com/
Here
“https://webtektalk.blogspot.com/” is a Sub-Domain of the main website
“blogspot.com” and can be accessed independently from the browser.
Other Related
Terminologies:
Registrar: A Domain Registrar is a firm that allows you
to purchase a Domain Name.
Ex: GoDaddy.com
Registrant: A Domain Registrant is an individual or an
entity that purchases a Domain Name.
Registry: A Domain
Name Registry is a Database of all Domain Name Registrants.
Domain Control Panel:
The interface from which you can manage your Domain Name account from your
service provider.
Domain Names are
registered for a year or multiples and need to be renewed before expiry. Every
Registrar has its unique pricing for initial purchase and renewal.
Think of a Domain Name
as a mobile number that is associated with you. A Domain Name gives you an
identifier to access your domain, but just as a mobile number requires a phone
to work, a Domain Name requires an associated Hosting account where you can
store your files and build your website so that it can be accessed from any
browser.
- Hosting Account: A Hosting Account is storage space on the Server that is allocated to your Domain Name when you purchase a Hosting account. Each Hosting account has two or more Nameserver addresses that are associated with your Hosting account so that when the Domain is accessed, it's connected to the specific server across the Internet to access your website.
Example of Hosting
Service Provider: GoDaddy®
Other Related
Terminologies:
Disk Space: Disk Space
is the amount of File space in the Server that is allocated to your website
when you purchase your Hosting Account.
Ex: 15 GB Disk Space
Bandwidth: The amount of web traffic that is
transmitted through your website in a particular time period. For example, if
your website’s homepage is 10 MB, and 10 users accessed it in a month, your
Bandwidth consumption for that month would be 100 MB. Hosting Service providers
usually offer limited or unlimited Bandwidth (Usually Preferred) for your
website hosting plan.
Hosting Accounts are
purchased as per the options that are given by your Hosting service provider.
Domain E-Mail Account: A Domain E-Mail Account can be "yourname@yourdomainname.com" and is a unique Business E-Mail account that is
related to your website.
- Hosting Control Panel: The interface from which you can manage your
Hosting account from your service provider.
Control Panel: The Control Panel is given as a part of
the Hosting Account and is used to create pages, directories, files,
Sub-Domain, E-Mail accounts and also monitor statistics about your website. It
can also be used to quickly install CMS applications in your website’s backend.
Ex: cPanel
 |
| cPanel |
- Content Management
System: A Content Management
System such as WordPress® is an application that allows you to easily manage
your website from any browser. It is installed in the Hosting Account and forms
the back-end for managing your website.
 |
| WordPress Admin Panel Login |
 |
| The WordPress Dashboard |
- FTP Application: A File Transfer Protocol (FTP) application
is used to manually upload files from a computer to a remote server. It was
originally used before the advent of Content Management systems and is also used now for
websites that do not work with a CMS system.
 |
| FileZilla Application |
