Super Soaker Central

Ok, I am in the process of building the next big detailed information Super Soaker site. But I would like some help please.

First what would you suggest to be a good domain site to buy a domain off so that everything will work ok?

Then, I've got to buy some hosting and get HTML somehow. I'm not sure how to do this from here but with your help I will hopefully be able to make a very good website.

An article I wrote about Super Soaker websites should be a little helpful, even though I feel that I should add a new section or two. This reminds me of something I wanted to write months ago - we really need more Super Soaker websites as opposed to forums!

Domains can be bought in many places. Super Soaker Central currently uses Stargate (I am in the process of ordering an additional 10 years of registration). iSoaker.com uses Network Solutions. Some people also speak highly of GoDaddy.

As for "getting" HTML, you only need to be able to write in HTML or use an editor. I recommend hand-coding HTML over editors because with hand-coding your code will be smaller and you will understand what you are doing better.

Super Soaker Central currently uses Solid Internet, which is extreme discount hosting. However, I highly recommend Apis Networks for the features and support (in fact I host my personal website on Apis Networks and plan on hosting Super Soaker Central there eventually).

Before you start and coding, write at least 10 good sized (500+ word) articles. Take pictures to go with the article or just simply take interesting pictures. Forget about design and such at this time - just work on content. It's the worst thing ever to have an "under construction" page when you know the webmaster is capable of more.

A lot of people will say that every type of article and every good website name has been taken, but that's actually very far from the truth... if you'd like to hear a few site names I've thought of or article ideas, feel free to ask me. SEO research has given me a great idea of what people are looking for, which essentially means possible content I could write, but as it turns out I do not have the time to write over 200 articles!

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have to buy a learn HTML book on eBay probably, unless you have any better ideas as I don't have a clue of how to use HTML. My friend who is starting his site says it is very easy once you get used to it.

I will probably go for GoDaddy as a domain and will probably get one of the packages fro Apis Network like you recommended.

As for articles I could probably make some of my own with pictures. Whether they will be 500 words or more I will have to see about. The thing is. I am not an expert on every article thing there is, so it would be greatly appreciated if the soaker community helped out here. Not just on articles but pictures and reviews.etc.

Anyway, thanks again for your tips, they have been helpful to me.

Once I buy a domain which will hopefully be soon I will update. I don't want my site to fail.

Get your books at the library. You can get more books, and you'll also definitely want to pick up a usability one (the best one I've seen was called the "Web Style Guide"). Even the Web Style Guide has an online version, but the book version is more convenient. You won't need the books for long really - I learned by example, and I only check a few sites such as W3Schools for reference at this point. I know all I need to.

Here's the new rule that everyone needs to know: it is hard at best to get a lot of submissions. We haven't got that many, and a few people jumped on the SoakerMedia boat to help out, which is nice. If you want some content to start out, you can take any or all articles I have in my Water Gun TechLog because they are all under a Creative Commons license.

I could also write one or two for you to help support you, but you must write 90% of your own content! It is something that took me a while to learn, but it is the most important part - content is why people go to your site, and you will need unique and interesting content to get them to come back. That is how Super Soaker Central really started out - we never were too great in the search engines, but from what I've seen the people we do get keep coming back (whereas iSoaker.com is great in the search engines, in fact he's on the first page for the most popular search term&#33 .

Write often and write a lot. It gets easier with practice - when I sit down I usually write two or three articles. You should notice that many of the articles I wrote here have dates all around the same time. What you can do to get some ideas also is check out some of your posts, a longer one could be expanded into an article.

I'm in somewhat of a rush, so I'll write more later. Just remember, content is the most important part of your website! B)

Thanks for submitting a few articles in for me, and thanks for letting me copy parts from your Techlog. Its will be greatly appreciated.
But like you said, I need to focus a lot on my own articles to get people to visit.

And about the SoakerMedia submissions, I have submitted a few there, but now I should really start to concentrate on my own articles.

I will try to write a few and post them here to see what you think.

Also, try to find your own "niche." Try to find something that other soaker sites don't have and build on that. Soaker Media was based on many Media. Duh . If you make a site with the same old same old it won't do too well.

I have come up with a new feature that will make my soaker reviews a bit more interesting perhaps. It will hopefully also help people understand more of how the gun reviewed performs. I don't know whether to say this idea out on the forums as then someone may steel it before me. Pretty unlikely, but you never. PM me if you want to know. Just keep it secret.

I don't think you have to buy a book for HTML. HTML guide You might be looking for something more fancy, but I don't know. I like it, because you can practice making websites. Hope it helps. If it doesn't just search on google for another online guide.

W3Schools has really useful guides. If you use that site, also check out their CSS guide. CSS lets you add effects to your site that you can't always make with HTML. You can also change the layout of every page by editing a single CSS file.

Thanks for all your help. I will have to look into this a bit more. I will try searching for all this when I get time in the summer holidays. I want to get my site up before the end of the year.

250th Post! :Hey, that's funny.: