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here are some useful resources for your first personal/professional website – different from your UF plaza accounts.

what’s important to me? functionality (has the bells, whistles, software i need) and the ease of use of the control panels. i use dreamhost and am happy with them. i understand the interface and like some of the conveniences they offer, such as wordpress (a blogging software). many design sites use media temple.

many people will purchase a domain from the same company they host with. sometimes this is easier to have everything all in one place. i have my domains (about 15) at dotster and host (all 15) at dreamhost. so, see below for the recommended hosts, which will allow you to register domains as well.

to purchase a domain:
if you purchase your domain separately, you might just look for a registrar who is icann accredited (see earlier post for a link).
dotster.com
namecheap.com

to purchase a domain and/or hosting, here are sites recommended by colleagues and friends:
site5.com
http://www.dreamhost.com — please state you were referred by ufdesigners.com
http://www.mediatemple.com
LINK TO kirupa discount on media temple
site5
media catch
hosting matters
no-ip.com
1&1.com
host monster

blogging software:
http://www.blogger.com
http://www.wordpress.com

when you purchase a domain, you need to supply the registrar with a nameserver OR park your site. parking means the site sits there until you activate it. to make it live, you need to purchase hosting and they will let you know what the nameservers are – this is how you link your domain name to a server and make it live. you need both to have an active presence on the web.