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How The Heck Do I... Sign up At ThirdSphere? |
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Step 1 |
For example, MargaretMcAlister.com was taken when I first checked, but MargMcalister.com was not. So I have a site called www.MargMcAlister.com. (When you choose your domain, just type it all in lowercase letters… margmcalister.com) You can also choose a site that is more GENERIC. That is, you may decide to host a whole lot of different sites… and want a one-size-fits-all name, like the one I chose to use at ThirdSphere: BestInfoHere.com. That means I can choose a whole bunch of info on different subjects and it ‘fits’ – e.g. http://CatHealth.BestInfoHere.com or www.BestInfoHere.com/mp3Players.htm You could choose to host a .net or a .org instead, but I’d advise against it. Most people looking for your site will automatically type in ‘.com’ – so look for a suitable dot com name! (Don’t use a country extension – for example: “.com.au” if you live in Australia) Make a list of names that would be OK before you start – and don’t be disappointed if your first choices are taken: that’s common these days. Be inventive! Step 1 (a) On the ThirdSphere home page, click on DOMAIN NAME FINDER at the top of the page.
Step 1 (b) Type in the domain name you want (you don’t need to add ‘.com’) and click Search”.
Step 1(c) If the domain name is already taken, a red dot will appear next to the extension .com For example, I typed in my existing domain ‘bestinfohere.com’ - and you can see in the search results below that a red dot showed that it was not available. (The extensions .net and .org are available, but we don’t want those.)
Step 1(d) Keep typing in names that you want until there is NO RED DOT under the dot.com. BUT – before you click the ‘register and host’ button, CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK that you have spelled the domain name exactly as you want it to appear! I’ll try another domain name… this time, “RobMcAlister” In the box below, the search results show that the domain name robmcalister.com IS AVAILABLE – there’s no red dot.
Step 1(e) The next step is to click on the button under the dot.com. When you see a green dot appear, CHECK THE SPELLING and when you are satisfied, click on the ‘register & host” button.
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| Step 2 |
Step 2(a) : Credit Card Info – a secure order form will appear. You DO need to fill in your credit card info – this is how ThirdSphere will bill you for your hosting charges each month. This first time you will be charged $24.95 (for the first month’s hosting) + $10.00 (for your domain name registration). After that you will be charged $24.95 USD per month. NOTE: You can go in and change your billing information at any time and nominate a different credit card. In 4 years of buying on the Internet I haven’t had any problems – but I recommend keeping one credit card with a limit of $500 for your internet purchases. (Some people prefer $1000 – it depends on how much you intend to buy.) Note that on the bottom of the order form, you are required to type in your initials AND check 3 boxes to guarantee you will not spam people etc. When you have done that, just click the ‘submit secure transaction’ button:  Note: Be patient here. If the Internet is very busy when you sign up (we’re talking North American time here) you may have to wait a few minutes. Sometimes when the server gets very congested you may (as I did!) get a message that your card has been declined. In this case I knew that I had plenty of credit, so I wasn’t particularly worried, and just tried again later – and got through right away. “Card declined” doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with your credit. Leave it for a while then try again if you get this message. You will be notified when your transaction has been successful. It shouldn’t take long. You will get 2 email messages in your inbox: One will be a receipt. It will say something like this:
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Exp Date: 8/05 The second email will have your account details. NOTE from Marg: please DO print this and store safely – keep a record of your username and password somewhere secure WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT AGAIN!) NOTE: The highlighting below is mine.
Your
second email
will look something like this:
_____________________________________________
<snip…
more of this welcome message appears.>
<more stuff
here> Password: gx1tykc2 (I’ve changed the password via my control panel, to something I could remember more easily!) Your IP address: [numbers will appear here]
Your domain: yourdomainname.com
[this will show the exact name you chose
for your domain]
NOTE.-
All the best! This ends the sign-up procedure. You will be using the “Bleepsoft” technology (which is great!) to create your web pages, but you will have to wait 24 hours or so before using it – your website has to be ‘live’ first. SO – PLEASE DON’T TRY TO START CREATING PAGES JUST YET! You will see this message: note that they ask you not to start using tools before your website is ready. When it IS ready, you will just click on the link that says “Click here to run Bleepsoft” to get started building your website! And that will be our next lesson…
FRONT PAGE EXTENSIONS : If you are asked if you want FrontPage Extensions, say "NO". (You can enable these later if you want them.) The whole point of creating a site here is to avoid having 'send' your site in this way, at least when you're starting out. SITE DESCRIPTION: It's up to you whether you want to fill this in or not. You can leave it blank, or fill it in with something like "This is the website of Jane Writer, Children's Book Author" or "Romance Author" or "Freelance Writer" etc. End of Lesson 1: Signing Up With ThirdSphere |
