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General discussion

Can someone help me go about creating this simple page....

May 15, 2007 9:21AM PDT

All I need to do is allow alot of users to sign in and see their individual information that I have inserted, password protected. I don't mind paying as long as its less than 100 total or 50 buck per year but free would be best. This is for my school's student council so they can see how many merits they have. Also being able to post a link to explinations that I make would needed. What is the best and most simple and fast method? I don't know anything about this so please try to keep it simple lol. Thanks, and please help ASAP

Discussion is locked

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Are you a student or teacher?
May 16, 2007 12:01AM PDT

If you are a student or teacher you shouldn't have to pay for this if it is for your student council. Ask your schools computer network administrator or webmaster about helping you set it up. This isn't a really simple process for someone who has no idea from the start. If you can't get help from someone in the school system let us know.

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no help from school
May 16, 2007 9:57AM PDT

yea this is going to have to be a complete seperate thing from the school...no help unfortuantely. Know of any programs that are designed for this type of thing?

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Alternative?
May 16, 2007 10:22AM PDT

I just thought of a possible easier way. I could simply lock each different webpage on my website with a different password...are there any web makers that can do that feature? If not, what about this program-Web Password?

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If you're really a beginner...
May 16, 2007 11:37AM PDT

then the easiest way would be to use a forum. Forums install quickly within 5-15 minutes, and you can have a forum topic for each person... so the main page says welcome, please login, the user logs in, and all the see is one topic specifically for them... with info on it. You can add links etc... would that work?

Popular forums are phpBB and Invision Board-- both free.

You'd have to get a host and a domain. Host about $4 per months, or buy a yearly discounted package... and domain avgs about $9 a year.

Recommendations:

Host: http://www.totalchoicehosting.com
Domain: http://www.godaddy.com

The host I recommended has pre-installed forums so it allows you to install them with a few clicks.

Let us know what you decide on.

~Sovereign

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Thanks
May 16, 2007 1:46PM PDT

Ok thanks that helped alot but Total Choice is really confusing me. I'm new to this so do I just buy the domain name and then bring it there to edit it? I talked to their online people and they said you can have different passwords for each webpage on the website so I think I'll try to do that. Thank everyone so much but please explain what the point of web hosting is?

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Step by step
May 16, 2007 3:04PM PDT

1. Buy the domain at godaddy, since I believe you should get your domains independently of where you host... godaddy is cheaper too.

2. You create a $4/mo account at total choice.

4. I suggested the forum because (a) it's much easier to setup and (b) it's much easier to maintain. It's gives you a full interface of what you can do, whereas what totalchoice is talking about, is a little more "manual" and not as automated.

Point of webhosting?

Well, webhosting is like a piece of property you own. You can't build a house (website) without having a place to build it. So you buy a piece of land (rent in this case $4/mo) and afterwards you can build your house (website) on it. But for people to be able to get to your house, they need to have your address, which is your domain.

I encourage you to try both, and see what fits your needs best!

Let us know how it goes.

~Sovereign

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Thanks Sovereign
May 17, 2007 6:42AM PDT

Thanks Sovereign,
My school just informed me that we have a program called Dreamweaver but it seems very complex to use...any opinion on that program? I would rather go the route you said though Dreamweaver is free for us...

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The only problem
May 17, 2007 7:14AM PDT

with Dreamweaver is that you have to learn it to make good use out of it, and it can be very useful if you have lots and lots of time to play with it, BUT you can only update your website really if you're at the computer with that program that also has your website stored. What I suggested is much easier and lets you update the website from at home, in school, at Starbucks coffee... anywhere. Dreamweaver is good for complex website (and easy ones too), but you really only want one basic feature, and therefore I would find it easier to use either the folder protection or the message board (forum) idea. In the end, it's up to you and whatever you feel comfortable with and willing to learn.

~Sovereign