Looking for web dev info

[TacticalPlinker]

I used to do some light web development back in the days... But it's been many many years since I owned, ran, built, coded, designed or had anything else to do with a website.

What's the point? I have an idea for a website that I've been kicking around and I'd like to build it and/or have someone help me build it... but I don't know what's out there these days in terms of web development... specifically hosting, design, domain names, etc. and in terms of who is the best, most affordable, reliable, etc.

So, if anyone has their own website(s), I'm looking for tips on where to look and who to give my business to...

Also, if anyone out there does web development, especially graphics and design, I'd like to hear from you as well. You don't need to do it for a living or be a professional. Just know what you're doing... I'm not sure if I would be able to code or build a website from scratch these days without re-learning HTML and whatever else the website may entail.

Thanks guys!
.
.

[ocabj]

VPS is the way to go if you're a web developer and aren't going to spend on a dedicated server.

I'm on Linode, but most of the people I know are on Digital Ocean because it's cheaper.

Anyway, VPS services offers a very easy way to build and rebuild your Internet server. Pick your OS/distro of choice, provision it using the admin interface they provide, then you can console or shell in and build your AMP, Tomcat, Grails, or whatever stack you need for your development environment as you see fit. No more reliance on the company to update Apache HTTP, PHP, etc like on shared hosting since you are the root user of the server (VPS).

And if for some reason you're unhappy with your build environment, you can just destroy the whole thing and start from scratch with a clean install in a couple minutes.

Anyway, checkout:

https://www.digitalocean.com/

https://www.linode.com/

Both of the above companies have great reputations so far.

I can only speak personally about Linode since that's what I use (http://www.ocabj.net). The VPS provisioning interface is easy to use and very robust, and you can enable two-factor authentication for your Linode account. They also provide their own homegrown statistics interface called Longview if you want to use it, if you're not in the mood to roll your own dashboard using Kibana and Elastic Search.

[diveRN]

...Gotcha.

You should check out Wordpress-capable hosting companies like Hostgator or Bluehost. http://www.hostgator.com / http://www.bluehost.com. Personally, I like hostgator for what you're describing though either would probably do.

Both have plans starting at around $4 or $5 a month and they include TONS of integrated web site development, SEO, database, and other tools, including point and click installs for Drupal, Joomla, WordPress and at least a 1/2 dozen others.

Personally, I like Wordpress for everyday sites. I have lots of coding experience with several different languages, but lack any real artistic flair when it comes to layout. With the tens of thousands of templates available, I can buy something already laid out and then tweak it on the backend. Wordpress is written primarily in php, so support is easy to find. Nice thing about WP is that you can get a solid theme for under $100. I've had bad luck with the free ones so I steer clear of them. You just have to find the layout you're looking for.

WP lets you manage content quickly and easily and choose pre-developed themes that give a site it's own unique look and feel. Adding pages is simple and there are literally thousands of custom plugins you can choose from like calendars, databases, image galleries, etc. There's a bit of a learning curve with WP, but if you know your way around point-and-click stuff, it's not hard to figure out.

Check out some of the hits from this Google search for professional themes. I'll bet there's something there you'll like. If you need custom art-work, PM me, my wife is a whiz with all things Adobe including Photoshop and Illustrator. Otherwise, check out gettyimages.com for stock photography.

The process of getting a domain, setting up the hosting package, installing Wordpress (or similar CMS package) and finding a template you like is actually the easy part. Writing your content and taking or finding appropriate photos can often be the most time consuming.

[Darryl Licht]

I 2nd WordPress based hosting... especially if you used to do websites. Everything these days is CSS and using WP, all you have to do is find either a free WP template or to buy a template. Then its as easy as inserting your own text and images into the appropriate spots within the template.

[ocabj]

Another reason I also recommend VPS is because shared hosting often results in shared hardware resources resulting in poor performance. A VPS will dedicated/guarantee the CPUs. And you can tweak apache httpd to run optimally for your web apps, whether it be wordpress, joomla, or some other web app platform.

I was on blue host for several years and switched to a VPS because I was tired of the server load and poor performance on page loads.

[TacFan]

i recommend templates ... doing any REAL development is a pain in the arse (example java, spring, hibernate, sql, config files etc).

Plus these days you learn something, the next month its not the standard anymore lol

[TacticalPlinker]

Thanks for the tips guys... I'll look more into WordPress. I used it briefly when it first came out, I think, but it's been many years and I'm sure much has changed.

This is just a side project for me, for now. I really don't know if anything will become of it, or it will just be more than just a website. But it's an idea I've been kicking around in the back of my head and I'd like to get it going.

I don't remember much of anything from my web dev days 10 years ago and I don't have cash to spend on a fancy expensive developer, so templates sound like the way to go and using an app like WordPress will be because the majority (if not all) of the coding work is already done. I'll just have to customize, grab a domain and find hosting.

That said, I will need assistance with someone who has and knows how to use Photoshop or some other graphics program. I will want a few images on the site, and I doubt I'll be able to make them. I want it to be at least semi-professional.

[Deadbolt]

I went from a JVM to a WP environment / shop recently. Prior to working for this company, I hadn't batted a eyelid at wordpress since 2006 or 05. Its come a long way. For developer, it has a mature plugin and theme ecosystem and you can make some serious extra cash in the Envato marketplace. For the less hardcore, its a decent, low cost application which as numerous other users have pointed out, has a nice and easy to use interface.

Its still php and its still scripted but you can always leverage Nginx or Varnish or something similar to accomplish some caching

welcome back to the party

[diveRN]

...

Its still php and its still scripted but you can always leverage Nginx or Varnish or something similar to accomplish some caching

I think WP Super Cache comes natively installed. The last WP install I did had it built in. Could be a hosting provider value-added tool.

It speeds it up a lot though.

http://ocaoimh.ie/wp-super-cache/

[ocabj]

Wordpress doesn't come with WP Super Cache. Super Cache is a third party plug-in. That said, it only takes a couple minutes to install. Just make sure to setup mod_rewrite in your apache httpd instance and you're going to be golden.

[GraySquirrel]

What are you looking to build. I've done pretty much everything on my own from setting up hosting, site design, coding, graphics etc. Depends on what you're trying to do I can either help you out or point you in the right direction.

[TacticalPlinker]

What are you looking to build. I've done pretty much everything on my own from setting up hosting, site design, coding, graphics etc. Depends on what you're trying to do I can either help you out or point you in the right direction.

Send me a PM and we'll talk about it. Thanks!

[Deadbolt]

Wordpress doesn't come with WP Super Cache. Super Cache is a third party plug-in. That said, it only takes a couple minutes to install. Just make sure to setup mod_rewrite in your apache httpd instance and you're going to be golden.

there are several big hitters in the WP caching realm. We've only recently adopted it and I am just beginning to do my research on this topic. One thing i've noticed with all 3rd party plugins is that while they leverage the scirpt queue to do their minification, none of these produce similar results and in many large environments, something like 55%+ of scripts need to be omitted.

Bothersome but not insurmountable

[ocabj]

there are several big hitters in the WP caching realm. We've only recently adopted it and I am just beginning to do my research on this topic. One thing i've noticed with all 3rd party plugins is that while they leverage the scirpt queue to do their minification, none of these produce similar results and in many large environments, something like 55%+ of scripts need to be omitted.

Bothersome but not insurmountable

For high volume, caching can only do so much. CDN is becoming a must for high traffic sites. I was looking into it more for my own knowledge than actual implementation since my site is pretty low traffic.

[Deadbolt]

For high volume, caching can only do so much. CDN is becoming a must for high traffic sites. I was looking into it more for my own knowledge than actual implementation since my site is pretty low traffic.

Yeah CDN / ADNs are a given. Specifically i was asking more around the space of reducing DB hits. Presently I wrote a plugin (proprietary) to create almost a mimic of a JVM/JRE cache by way of a number of large hashes which I store in a preserved session. I use this for common information (anything affected by personalization but information that tends to be habitually retrieved via joins or similar [ get_terms() is an example of the sort of benign DB hit that can add up over a large page ] ) and basically use it as an in memory copy of common DB garbage. The idea being that array iterations and subsequent comparisons are faster than DB touches. This seems to be true as long as the hashes are not too greedy and properly conform to 3rd normal form , i see a 25-40% increase in page response time (TTFB).

Anything along those lines / known plugins would be helpful. For support reasons - i don't like being the sole developer on distributed components, because hey, "what if i get hit by a bus" right? thanks in advance if anything comes to mind.