In the first class I suggested that we buy our domains first, separate from hosting, because buying and setting up hosting can be a hassle. While this is true, I overlooked how much cheaper and easier it is to buy a domain and hosting together as a package, especially if we use the same/similar services so I can walk you directly through it.

For your hosting/domain: bluehost basic plan is the best, hostgator hatchling plan is an ok alternative, and any bundle with at least the same features as the bluehost basic plan will do.

These hosting/domain plans all auto-renew at higher rates after a set period, and they typically bill for the entire year all at once. This isn’t predatory – the renewal rates are regulated and pretty standard across the industry – but it can be an expensive shock if you’re not expecting it. You can turn off auto-renew for your products at any point, or set an alert in your calendar as a reminder.

I’m going to demonstrate the hosting/domain setup in class. Your hosting/domain provider will have its own tutorials explaining the setup as well.  Skip all steps asking about the “theme” of your website when possible; these are not relevant for us. Once you have your hosting and domain set up, the first thing you should do is uninstall wordpress. There’s nothing wrong with it, but WordPress is a platform for managing large, complex sites (including this one) without having to manually edit code all the time, and this class is all about making small, simple sites by writing code from scratch.