View Web Site without domain name

[tharden3]

I wanted to show the community my Web Site, so they can tell me what needs to be modified, what looks good, etc. Do I absolutely need a domain name for this? Is there another way besides having to take my HTML and CSS and post it in notepad, then run it in a browser? Even if you did do it that way... you wouldn't be able to view the pictures, right? I'm starting to think I need a domain name....

P.S. How does that work? How do are people able to view the pictures, images, text, etc. of a website? When you register with a domain name, is your site saved to some server somewhere or something? I don't get how it works.... Do they access it directly from my computer????

[JosAH]

Ask your ISP for your public IP address and publish it here and fire up your server(s).

kind regards,

Jos

[Markus]

A domain name is only one part of a website; you need hosting as well. The domain is the thing you type in the url, the hosting is where all magic happens. You can find a lot of free hosts by googling for 'free webhosts'.

[tharden3]

A domain name is only one part of a website; you need hosting as well. The domain is the thing you type in the url, the hosting is where all magic happens. You can find a lot of free hosts by googling for 'free webhosts'.

I looked into it, and I think google even has a lot of material to help with web building. If I'm not mistaken, you can register with google for $10 a year. It comes with all these handy apps too ;)
thanks for the help markusn00b!

[tharden3]

Ask your ISP for your public IP address and publish it here and fire up your server(s).

kind regards,

Jos

cool beans .

[Markus]

I looked into it, and I think google even has a lot of material to help with web building. If I'm not mistaken, you can register with google for $10 a year. It comes with all these handy apps too ;)
thanks for the help markusn00b!

That doesn't sound realistic (for a domain name, yes, but for hosting as well.. no).

Does that fee include hosting?

[tharden3]

That doesn't sound realistic (for a domain name, yes, but for hosting as well.. no).

Does that fee include hosting?

probably not for hosting (I don't think). You just get a domain name, and a lot of great apps. I'll check, but I'm pretty sure the hosting is a no-go.

[drhowarddrfine]

Do I absolutely need a domain name for this?

Domain names are for user friendliness (among other things). It always gets translated into your IP address by domain name servers(DNS). So, no, you don't need a domain name if you don't care about general audience access.

Is there another way besides having to take my HTML and CSS and post it in notepad, then run it in a browser?

Don't know what you mean.

P.S. How does that work? How do are people able to view the pictures, images, text, etc. of a website?

A server is needed somewhere to "serve" your html, css, scripts, images, etc. to the network. This server can be at your home or anywhere in the world. Some ISPs don't let you serve a web site from your home. This is why many spend a few dollars and rent space elsewhere. In my area, I have ATT and Charter Cable. ATT lets you run servers. Charter does not.

When you get a domain name, the name provider will ask you where you want your name to point to. So if you sign up for one from GoDaddy, you still need to rent a server from them or someone else. The general advice is to get it from somewhere else so no one entity controls your stuff. But it is on the rented server where all your pages/images are stored.

What you do is do the editing on your home computer, then upload that to the server for testing, though you can do much of that testing on your home computer.

If you wanted to run your own server from home, and your ISP allows it, it's not difficult to set up at all, though not obvious to everyone. In your case, with limited viewing and reasonable upload speeds, this is an option.

[drhowarddrfine]

I forgot to add this. Don't get confused between domain names and IP addresses. IP addresses are assigned by your ISP. Domain names are 'registered' with a service that associates your IP address with that name and lets every other server know about it.

[tharden3]

Domain names are for user friendliness (among other things). It always gets translated into your IP address by domain name servers(DNS). So, no, you don't need a domain name if you don't care about general audience access.
Don't know what you mean.
A server is needed somewhere to "serve" your html, css, scripts, images, etc. to the network. This server can be at your home or anywhere in the world. Some ISPs don't let you serve a web site from your home. This is why many spend a few dollars and rent space elsewhere. In my area, I have ATT and Charter Cable. ATT lets you run servers. Charter does not.

When you get a domain name, the name provider will ask you where you want your name to point to. So if you sign up for one from GoDaddy, you still need to rent a server from them or someone else. The general advice is to get it from somewhere else so no one entity controls your stuff. But it is on the rented server where all your pages/images are stored.

What you do is do the editing on your home computer, then upload that to the server for testing, though you can do much of that testing on your home computer.

If you wanted to run your own server from home, and your ISP allows it, it's not difficult to set up at all, though not obvious to everyone. In your case, with limited viewing and reasonable upload speeds, this is an option.

wow, thanks a lot. That confused me for the longest time. You don't know unless you ask, so I asked. Thanks for answering.

[tharden3]

Is a server actual hardware? Or is it something set up on your PC? Or is it both?

[Markus]

Is a server actual hardware? Or is it something set up on your PC? Or is it both?

I believe you can turn a regular pc into a server? Is that true?

A server is something like Apache.

Do you have a localhost setup?

[tharden3]

I believe you can turn a regular pc into a server? Is that true?

A server is something like Apache.

Do you have a localhost setup?

i don't think so... The "turn the PC into a server" thing would be nice though. I just want some simple web sites that would get minimal viewing. Nothing big. At the moment, it's more like practice and learning the ropes.

[Curtis Rutland]

Are you using XP Pro?

You can go to Add/Remove Programs, and the Add/Remove Windows Components and check "Internet Information Services (IIS)". Once that installs, you now have a webserver.

You can configure it by typing "inetmgr" in the "Run" prompt.

If you are behind a router, you need to make sure that the router forwards traffic on port 80 to the internal IP of the computer that is running the webserver.

Then you can browse your website by using the external ip instead of a domain name

You can find your external IP from http://whatismyip.com/

Have fun =D

[Atli]

I believe you can turn a regular pc into a server? Is that true?

A server is something like Apache.

Do you have a localhost setup?

A HTTP server is really just a piece of software (like Apache) that can be run by any computer (given that the computer can run it).

Many of us developers have indeed turned our computers into a HTTP server by installing software like Apache on localhost to develop on.
If your able to do "http://localhost/" and get a web-page served (other than a 40x error that is), then your computer is in fact a HTTP server.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet, then all you would have to do is configure your firewalls to allow port 80 through, and your server would be accessible on the internet via your IP address.

If your connected through a router, via a DSL connection or something like that, it is very likely that you will have to contact your ISP and ask for a public IP address and configure you router so that it assigns this IP to the computer that is to act as a server.