"Real" web address possible with iWeb and .mac?

[UCLA02]

I want to use iWeb and .mac for our small business' web page, but don't want to have to direct our clients to a 30-character generic web address ("xxxxxxxx.homepage.mac/xxxxx.xxx" or such).

Is there anyway to enjoy the smooth integration of iWeb and .mac with a "real" address such as www.xxxxxxxxx.com?

Thanks in advance for any help. I want to hold off buying these apps until I can resolve this question.

[alfredo]

1. I guess you could buy a domain name and use that as a splash

page that links to the .Mac/iWeb site.

[UCLA02]

2. Is that a relatively-simple thing to do?

So that would entail buying the annual .mac service AND the annual payment for the domain name of our choice (assuming, of course, it's available)? Not whining about having to possibly pay twice, just clarifying.

And linking the "real" address to the hompage.mac address is an easy thing to do?

Thanks for your reply! Relatively-recent PC convert, longtime lurker, first-time poster in the Mac forum.

THANKS!

[alfredo]

3. It's pretty simple to do. Have you ever worked with HTML?

You don't need to know very much. You can get NVU and that makes building a site very simple. http://www.nvu.com/

Here's a simple splash page. http://homepage.mac.com/alfredo_tomato/Wheatpaste.html When it loads, go up to View in the menu and click on "View Source." Everything there is pretty basic until you get to the bottom where I have links to a web counter and below it a pitch for NVU. The scary stuff starts at
<a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer">

I could code my own simple page, but most of what I have done has been with the templates from .Mac. They're pretty good and you really don't need to know any of the code.

I used to hang at a bulletin board that allowed HTML tags, so I was always looking at the source to see how people did what they did. I learned how to link, change colors of text and backgrounds. I learned how to display a picture, and then I learned how to turn a picture into a link to another page, and that is what I did with the splash page. That whole picture is a button that will send you to the rest of the site. I built a site just by using "borrowed" code snippets.

[UCLA02]

4. THANKS!

I don't know any of this stuff. I'm pretty savvy getting around computers (Mac and PC), but have pretty much consciously avoided learning anything about design.

I'll probably end up getting iWeb and .mac soon, but what does nvu do that I can't do w/ iWeb? Just different templates or different types of pages? I was going to try to go with the iWeb/.mac combo, simply because at this point I need something idiot-proof, and the guy at the Mac store seemed to make the uploading with those two in tandem seem so.

Re your splash page: So if I were to get a domain such as www.whatever.com, I would put an clickable image on that splash page which would take people to our homepage.mac.com site, correct?

Thanks for all of your help. I know that there's plenty of info out there, too much, actually. I'm just glad to be able to get it straight from such progressive people as DUers. THANKS for your time and patience!

Scott

[alfredo]

6. NVU is for building web pages.

My wheat paste site bypassed the .Mac tools because I didn't want to use their templates. I used NVU to build it.

a splash page is a very simple web page. All it does is give the viewer a quick idea of the page and a link to the content. It's kind of a teaser that loads quickly but offers little if any content. My site is aimed at the street activist. One of the tools of the street activist is wheat paste and a brush to apply it to a surface. They will understand immediately.

Yes a domain with a clickable image will do the job, but it isn't that important at this point. I would say, build your pages and learn the feel of the medium before diving into a contract with a domain name supplier. There are some shady ones out there, so do your homework. My Michler's Greenhouse site was rated high on google even though it uses the .Mac domain.

Until you are somewhat savvy about web pages, hold off on the domain name.

[UCLA02]

7. Our site would be for clients...

...so wouldn't we need the domain name at least linked to the content at .mac so they could type in the 10-letter name of our business, rather than making them type in "homepage.mac.com/whatever." I guess we could make them do that for the time being, and like you said, wait until we're more comfortable with the whole thing.

Thanks, again! ;-)

[alfredo]

8. You are getting into commercial

websites. It might be a good idea to first check with Apple about that. Look to see if there is a local company that designs and maintains commercial websites.

[UCLA02]

14. Perhaps technically "commercial"...

but it would not be at all interactive or anything, save for a email link or something. My wife is a hairstylist and we own her hair salon. It would just be for infromational purposes, styles, lines, in-store prices, photos, etc. Nothing really more elaborate or diverse content than what I've seen on other iWeb and .mac sites.

More just a hey-how-are-ya-doin-this-is-what-we're-about site.

[alfredo]

15. Oh OK. That should be pretty easy.

Google sites for other similar services to see how they do theirs. See what works best.

You won't need a splash page, just a good home page with a menu.


Keep it simple

http://www.banksy.co.uk/ Notice how fast his page loads.

[benburch]

5. VERY SIMPLE

You need to go get a Domain Name from DomainDirect.com

They have a domain forwarding service that works perfectly with .mac

White Rose used .mac for a couple years in just that way.

[alfredo]

9. He wants to build a commercial website.

[benburch]

10. I don't think Apple cares.

At least, they never cared that I had White Rose on there, and I know they knew about it.

[alfredo]

11. I have found that .Mac can become unwieldy on

dialup while working with a heavy graphic site.

[benburch]

12. Anything is unweildy on dialup! nt

[alfredo]

13. If broadband dropped 5-10 a month, I might jump,

but until then I am staying dialup. I'm on SS disability. Poor as a church mouse.