See How It Works

For many, the concept of even thinking about your own web site can be daunting. At Family Web Pictures, we would like to bring it to a simple process. To begin with, let’s look at some basic concepts. If you already are familiar with these concepts, you can move on to our hosting plans.

Putting together a web site can include the following: Registering a Domain Name, such as FamilyWebPictures.com A place to “host” your web site Tools to build web “pages” Let’s take a quick look at each of these.

Registering a Domain Name

A Domain Name is a way to put visual words to what otherwise would be a set of numbers. It makes identifying a site easy. Almost everyone knows Microsoft’s web site.

To be able to use a domain name, you must register it. There are many services that provide that, including Family Web Pictures.  You do not have to use our service to obtain your domain name.  In fact, hosting a web site does not require you to register a domain name at all. We can provide a folder for you (i.e. www.familywebpictures.com/~mywebsite).  Registration of a domain name is not a purchase; you must renew the domain registration – typically on an annual basis.

Hosting a web site

Somewhere on the Internet there is a physical computer for each and every web site, called a web server, that stores and ‘serves’ requested web pages. When you visit a web site, a server is serving that page to your browser. Generally speaking there are two types of web servers; dedicated servers and shared hosting. A dedicated server is used for only one site or one company (that may have interrelated sites). A server that incorporates shared hosting can have many sites on one server. This is a common practice that is a practical way for smaller businesses and people who have personal web sites to have a presence on the Internet. Larger businesses may generate enough traffic to justify the cost of a dedicated server.  We use shared hosting at FamilyWebPictures.com.

Web Building Tools

There are literally more tools at one's disposal for creating and/or publishing web pages than you can shake a stick at. Some tools can both design/create the pages and publish them to your hosting site. Many people are familiar with FrontPage or Dreamweaver. Others, having extensive knowledge of HTML and other languages, will "hand-code" using a text editor such as Notepad. Then they upload them manually. You can do any of these, or use our free tools available for download.  You can purchase the CD for a nominal shipping and media fee.

Part of the theme of this service is to publish your photos. If you have traditional print photos, they will need to be digitized; either scanned in with a scanner, or you can request to have your photos placed on a CD when you have them developed. Many digital cameras come with photo editing tools to make them the way you want. Other popular photo editing tools include Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Picture It!, Digital Image, and even Google's Picasa 2 Photo Organizer. Our tools help you publish those pictures.

What Next?

Now it's time to get started.  Click here to see our hosting plans. And have fun! If you would like to explore this site, use the Navigation bar on the left. If you have questions, feel free to contact us.