Section 2.4. What Happens Next?

2.4. What Happens Next?

You have Dreamweaver and assorted other software tools. You have a domain name and a web host. You have everything you need to start building and publishing your site. You're not quite through with the preliminaries, though. Planning the scope and design of your site before you start building is the secret to smooth and lightning-fast production, as you'll learn in the next few chapters.

In the meantime, your domain and web host aren't going anywhere. Once you've reserved a domain name, it's yours for at least a year. In technical jargon, your domain name is parked. If you type your domain into the Address field of your browser, you'll likely get the generic "Under Construction" page that your web host or registrar supplies. When you publish your site, either you replace this default page with your actual home page (if your registrar and web host are the same), or you update your domain registration by supplying your registrar with the web address of your hosting server (if you used two separate services). Updating your registration isn't hard. You can usually do it yourself over the Web. Depending upon your registrar, though, you might not know where to find the update form, so, if all else fails, contact customer service.

TECHTALK

A parked domain name has been reserved, but it doesn't yet point to an actual web site.

The important thing is that your place is reserved. You have staked your claim on the World Wide Web. Now, on to your site!