is there a way to do datalogging

[jpham]

such as http referrer and or ip logging if you use url redirection?

i tried... but it just lists hits referred from the domain name :(

[Mr Chunder]

You could try getting the url redirection service to pass through the referrer as an addition to your existing url but I suspect you are using a redirection server rather than a hosting account so this will not be possible. You may have to switch to a hosted redirection on a full hosting account.

Or, you could try checking the server variables http_referrer in your scripting language but I also doubt these would show the correct values.

I think this is the price for having a redirection....

[jpham]

I want to start a webpage up as a pet project to see how many members i can get. Its going to be a picture site like hotornot.com


I actually know.... NOTHING when it comes to coding. So I'm asking around to see if any of my friends can code it for me.

with that in mind. I also am trying to keep the expenses minimal. since i am unemployed and going to school. would anyone know of a host that wouldnt require me to transfer registrars?

Unless someone wants to host the site for me pro bono, should I go with the places that offer 5 dollar hosting a month? I posted my link in a forum and took it down after 2 minutes... I got 180 hits in 12 hours because of that.. (would that be considered good or bad?)

[Mr Chunder]

You will find that the majority of hosts would not require you to change registrars. You should never sign your domain over to the host anyway - keep it in your own name. All that needs to happen is that you will have to ask your registrar to change name servers from your current website location to a new location determined by your new host.

There are plenty of cheap hosts recommended in these forums and on the site in general. Have a search for threads that are about low cost hosting. Just beware, that generally you get what you pay for.......Good luck.

[jpham]

so all it would involve is either extending my domain another year and authorizing the new host to have the nameserver handle my dns?


also say if i go to a place that doesnt let me have control over all of the dns controls. if i wanted to setup a subdomain... and the host wouldnt let me do it, if ns1.hostthatwont.com is the primary and i set ns1.hostthatwill.com as secondary with a subdomain setup on their nameserver will the subdomain resolve?

[Mr Chunder]

Originally posted by jpham
so all it would involve is either extending my domain another year and authorizing the new host to have the nameserver handle my dns?

Yes - you can extend it another year if you want to keep the domain name. The new host will provide you with the addresses for two DNS nameservers e.g.

ns1.YourNewHost.com
ns2.YourNewHost.com

and all you have to do is to visit your registrars control panel and change the DNS nameservers to point to the new name servers. The transfer will take a minimum of 24 hours and up to 72 hours) to fully happen. This is because of DNS propagation - i.e. it take a while for all the nameservers in the world to notice that your domain has changed.

[jpham]

ok... what if my new host gives me no control over dns.

web1000 cause its my personal i'm not gonna get traffic website... what about email. could i use the 1st nameserver as web1000s and then someone else as a secondary like everydns.net and specify an mx value for a seperate mail server? would that work?
(on a seperate note. do you think a p1 200 could handle that job?)

the other page i'm gonna try and get together is a rate me page. are there any turnkeys out there like imagevote that's open source and free?? :(

http://www.russianlondon.com/scripts/freevf/

[Mr Chunder]

In your case, I think you want to run your own DNS service which is through something like everydns.net. This way you can setup your own MX records to point to your own email so it is all possible.

To do this, would require you finding a host that offers a unique IP address for your site and does not require you to use their DNS. This is unusual in the shared hosting market but is ok in the dedicated market. If you have a dedi server, then you can even run your own DNS server

All in all, you sound like you are looking for a lot of hassle - do you really want all this separate DNS, separate email server etc. ?? Is there a greater purpose to this ?

[jpham]

Originally posted by Mr Chunder
Is there a greater purpose to this ?


probably not... just out of curiousity i guess :D