I know how to design a website, with plain HTML, or with Dreamweaver, but I've never had anyone outside a cable provider host my site.
I see where Go Daddy or RegisterFly or some others can sell a domain name for a few dollars a year. So then what? A few dollars more for hosting where you can FTP the coding? And then how's that linked to the domain name? Thanks in advance...
How do you link a web site to a domain name?
You've hit the nail on the head - domain names and domain hosting are two different things.
Domain Name - is the www.myname.com that identifies your website. This is like your mailing address online and tells visitors how to reach your website, much like your mailing address tells your friends how to reach your home.
Domain Hosting - is the actual HTML pages, scripts and images that your site shows. This is your actual home, so if you have an empty plot of land, you still have an address, but there's nothing in existence there.
When you want to setup your own website, you need both a domain name and hosting space. Your HTMLs, images etc go into the hosting space and the domain name merely points to them for your visitors.
You will need to use goDaddy etc to book the domain name and then other commercial providers like Yahoo, Windows Live etc to actually host your pages.
How are they linked - When you register your domain name (say www.myhome.com), the registration agency (goDaddy for example) asks you for the IP address of the server where you are going to host your actual site (say 192.9.200.1).
