Understanding Websites
The Basics
Are you confused by all the talk of hosting, domain registration, DNS servers, and website design?
There are three basic elements that go into putting your website online. The following is a simplified description of the process and necessary elements of websites and the Internet.
Building your Website
The first element is the creation of the actual website files - the website design. This is the process of creating the HTML coded files that will be interpreted by browsers and parsed into a viewable web page. They are not online yet; they are on the designer's computer.
What is Hosting?
Once HTML files are created, they can't be stored on your personal computer for internet use because the number of hits and speed required couldn't be handled by your machine. The files are hosted on dedicated remote servers where they can be accessed at high speeds. This is called hosting. Think of it as the files being stored in their own folder in a filing cabinet.
What is Domain Registration?
Once the files are available (hosted) in a place where the Internet can access them at high speeds, we now need to have a name for the website that is recognizable and easily remembered. Domain registration sets you up as owner of the "label" that is typed into a browser's address bar (i.e. graphicdetails.ca) to bring up a website on screen.
Next we need to tell browsers where to look for your specific website files when your domain name is typed in, otherwise they won't know what files to bring up on screen. So, after the domain name is registered we change settings called DNS Nameservers that associate your domain name with your hosting space. This way, when your website domain name is typed in a browser, it knows exactly where to look for your files in the great big "filing cabinet" of the Internet.
It's actually a very simple process, once it's understood. We will take care of these things for you, or help guide you if you prefer to be involved in the process yourself.
As I’m a poet it’s best to leave website creation to the experts. Kathleen Wilson is just that. All of the elements I wanted got included in my new website complete with a slide show. Kathleen showed me various options from which to choose and I’m really pleased at the look of everything: clean and lively. There are various aspects to my writing business and they were all looked after by Kathleen who attends to the details and does them promptly. She taught me how to make my own changes which is really a bonus. The whole process was painless and in fact, fun and easy. I’m very proud to send people to my beautiful and easily navigable website to show them what I do.
Mary Ann Moore
Visually Impactful Sites
Feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive since Nanaimo Art Gallery launched its new website earlier this year. Working with Kathleen at Graphic Details was terrific—she helped us to identify what the Gallery needs now in terms of its online presence, and created a user-friendly, visually impactful website that will evolve to meet our future needs. I very much appreciate Kathleen’s professionalism, efficiency, patience, and creativity. I would gladly recommend Graphic Details.
Sarah Clark Design:
I am extremely grateful to have connected with Kathleen Wilson of Graphic Details about three years ago. My previous web designer closed her business and I was destined to be without someone, which was troubling.
Having researched various web companies, I was always dismayed with the quality of the designs and lack of functionality. Then I found Kathleen, and in her, discovered just what I needed - someone who could see the big picture on the design side, and work with the endless details of the background workings of a good site.
As part of my success team, Kathleen supports my business in such a critical way, taking care of things that I can't do. She is responsive to my needs, is ready with thoughtful solutions, and is very easy to work with.
Thank you Kathleen, it's a pleasure to have you on my team.
Sarah J. Clark - sarah clark design