Getting started???

I want to create my own webpage and forum, any recommendations on hosts? I have frontpage and some java experience. I don't want to be limited by my personal earthlink page. Any advice??? I've no idea where to start!

Save youself some head ache and install apache on your own box.

You can find a good article on installing apache on both Linux and Windows from Hot Wire: Julie Meloni.

If you are interested in PHP, try the PHP Manual. For html help, try HTMLgoodies. My recomendation is also to dump the frontpage. Learn to write your own html code. Frontpage will only give you head aches.

Happy hunting...

I concur with Datamike's suggestion of ditching Frontpage. That thing will cause so many problems with your sites that eventually you won't know which way is up. Learn to hand code HTML, and then, (at the risk of getting beaten up by Msr. Capone ) if you still want to use a WYSIWYG editor, pick up Dreamweaver instead. Frontpage will helpfully "fix" all of your hard work you do in handcoding while DW will let it alone (99% of the time). Frontpage also outputs the most disgustingly broken HTML I have EVER seen in my life. And finally, in case you still want to use Frontpage, remember that it will cheerfully insert a bunch of proprietary coding into your pages so that they're guaranteed to work only in Internet Exploiter.

I know all of this from hard experience Frontpage is the most worthless piece of crap ever created... we use it at work, so I just ignore it and do all of my coding in Notepad there.

I recommend going to http://www.sf.net (sourceforge) and downloading a program called PHP Triad for windows, you download it and install it and it installs MySQL, PHP, Perl, and Apache I believe, then just run apache as a service and mysql as a service and you will have your own localhost webserver.. you can easily find a dns pointer for your IP address so then you will even have a domain name

FYI, there is no more phptriad. It is now called Sokkit. And have where to park you domain is not good enough, one must register it as well and it'll cost money (for com/net ones anyway). Not mentioning majority of ISP's don't allow any servers running for public.

I said a DNS Pointer, meaning you get someone to point a sub-domain off of there server to your IP, its easy. And I was not aware of the change in PHP Triad, I have not used it in a long time, for a few years even. Thanks for the information though.