The man at our church who has been maintaining our church website, has recently turned it over to me. Right now, it's basically just a couple of pages with the address, phone number, calendar, and several of our most recent sermons.
I will be trying to make the website more informative, engaging, & interactive. I want it to be a tool to be used to reach out to our community.
I will be working on adding a section for podcasts that can be used with itunes... and also more pages of content, community needs/activities, forums, a blog from our pastor, and other things..
The webhost our church uses now seems to me to be over-priced when compared to what they offer. I have a website of my own from another host that is much cheaper, and I've been pleased with their service, (since about 2006?). Anyway, now that I will be designing/maintaining our church site, I have a few questions.
First of all I do not want to just use a managed wordpress account. I want to have access to all of the nuts & bolts. I will be wanting to get SSL for it due to having member accounts, storing personal information, (member directory with names, addresses, phone numbers.) There are no plans to ask for donations, sell anything, or any kind of exchange of money. But people don't like seeing their browser or antivirus telling them their login & connection is not "secure"..lol
So, what exactly should I expect from the webhost? Especially with what is available to me via the cpanel, plugins/features, etc.?
We are not big... just a little small church. But right now, we are paying around $170/yr for the site, (my "personal" website only costs me that much for 3 years!... and I just found out a few days ago that the church's "webhost" is actually a "re-seller" account)....
I don't really want to worry about those hosts that impose "limits"... the one I use is "unmetered", unlimited databases, unlimited subdomains, email, etc. I have access to SSH & other stuff.
What can I reasonably look for that would cost no more than the $170 we pay now, AND also be able to have SSL, (only needed for the one domain.. no subs).
Any tips on what to look for, or ask about when I'm shopping around??
I will be trying to make the website more informative, engaging, & interactive. I want it to be a tool to be used to reach out to our community.
I will be working on adding a section for podcasts that can be used with itunes... and also more pages of content, community needs/activities, forums, a blog from our pastor, and other things..
The webhost our church uses now seems to me to be over-priced when compared to what they offer. I have a website of my own from another host that is much cheaper, and I've been pleased with their service, (since about 2006?). Anyway, now that I will be designing/maintaining our church site, I have a few questions.
First of all I do not want to just use a managed wordpress account. I want to have access to all of the nuts & bolts. I will be wanting to get SSL for it due to having member accounts, storing personal information, (member directory with names, addresses, phone numbers.) There are no plans to ask for donations, sell anything, or any kind of exchange of money. But people don't like seeing their browser or antivirus telling them their login & connection is not "secure"..lol
So, what exactly should I expect from the webhost? Especially with what is available to me via the cpanel, plugins/features, etc.?
We are not big... just a little small church. But right now, we are paying around $170/yr for the site, (my "personal" website only costs me that much for 3 years!... and I just found out a few days ago that the church's "webhost" is actually a "re-seller" account)....
I don't really want to worry about those hosts that impose "limits"... the one I use is "unmetered", unlimited databases, unlimited subdomains, email, etc. I have access to SSH & other stuff.
What can I reasonably look for that would cost no more than the $170 we pay now, AND also be able to have SSL, (only needed for the one domain.. no subs).
Any tips on what to look for, or ask about when I'm shopping around??