For those of you that have web sites, is there an easy way to set one of these up or do I need to subscribe or have someone else do it for me? I am not looking for anything fancy, maybe just one page with my class info on it.
Info or help would be appreciated.

First thing you need is a domain name, then a "host".

Start at godaddy.com and take a look at the registration and hosting options. Low end plans are great for most small sites.

You can get the domain name under $10/year at tons of places. Hosting varies on what you want. Very basic can be under $10/month easily.

You can do it yourself. The advice you've already gotten is good -- but if you don't know anything about the stuff, I'd start with the basics. Head down to the library or the bookstore and get the appropriate Dummies book. Despite their condescending names, they really are very good -- they'll start you off from the basics, and let you go as far as you want to.

Start simple and basic, as you plan to, sure -- but don't ssume that you're going to want to stay that way. Among other things, you may want to have people be able to register and pay for their courses online, eventually. (I've already got online registration, and I'm thinking about moving to online registration and payment.)

If you get stuck, post a question here, or one of many other places; there's lots of people who will be happy to health.

I would also add that there are numerous hosts (and software programs) that have pre-made templates for a basic site that nonetheless has a good look.

One of the mistakes I made with my site is that I have an investment (not in money, but time) in a very old and now outdated software product. Very easy to use, but lacks the gee-whiz features of modern html creating/editing software.

I also do our church web site. It too lacks pizazz ( http://ziononfranklinlake.org ) but it does the job. Actually, when you compare the church site with my shootingsafely site you will see that I have no new originality!

I have been tempted to change to a program like FrontPage, but I (so far at least) have been too lazy to make that leap. My site is ok, but could be a lot more dynamic and interesting if I (a) joined the modern software world and (b) took the time needed to learn the program. I suspect I will stay back in the 90's (ah, that is 1990's) for some time.

OK, I got a gift card from Barnes & Noble that I had no plans for, I will use that on a book for dummies.
Does it make any difference at to who I register my domain name with, such as Yahoo?
What about web hosting such as Yahoo? They are less than my local service provider and provide 5 times the disk space.
I know that there are several web hosting sites out there that will work just fine, but Is there anything I should look out for, like e-mail forwarding problems, availability, search result, etc.?

Yahoo is fine...big firm, reliable etc. Reasonably priced and they have starting templates I believe.

Post the web address when done!

I already check out my domain name and it is available.

www.RiverValleyTraining.com

Right now I am trying to gather all the information I can to avoid the mistakes that you guys made.

Truly thanks, I appreciate the info.

I have spent days designing my web page. I started with Microsoft Publisher. I used that to create my first (hokey) web page. Then after I while I wanted to create a nicer one. I purchased Front Page and LEARNED to create a more elaborate one. I had that one up for about a year. I then decided to improve that one, and searched around for someone to design one on the cheep. The one I have now has a flash intro page and all the bells and whistles.

There is a local fellow that will do a excellent job for a very reasonable price here is the link:

http://www.goshdesign.com/

Good Luck,

Go buy your domain name from godaddy.com. Purchasing just the domain name is straight forward and you can't screw that up.

The rest is tricky, but not fatal if you screw it up.

Don't buy any of the extras, unless you are interested in using them.

Cobb, GoDaddy has the best domain purchasing prices around. WHEN you buy your domain name, buy their hosting package. It's pretty cheap, too. If you need help, PM me. I will send you my ph # and I can offer HTML help and maybe some suggestions.

I saw GoDaddy, but I did not see any cheaper price than most, until after I signed up with Yahoo for $2.99 a year, then I saw GoDaddy for $1.99. Anyway, I got my domain name registered for 5 years at $14.95, not nothing to cry about I guess.

What suggestions for hosting? My local provider, Hickorytech in Mankato, wants $10 a month and I can actually call them and get a real person on the phone in less than a minute. I see others that want $8.95 or so, is this about right or is there some really good deals out there. If $8.95 is the deal, then I am really leaning towards my local provider because for a dollar five more I can walk right into their office about 8 miles from me.

Thoughts??????????????

It is not juet the mere hosting. Do they provide web creation templates for their accounts etc...that can be helpful. Yet, having a live person to talk with is certainly worth a few $$ a month.

I am a web developer with 10 years in the business. This is what I do!

I have hosted dozens of sites with a local ISP, and at my employer, we host our clients' web sites ourself, but for the inexpensive, simple sites, you can't beat GoDaddy's $3.95/mo hosting, which includes lots of goodies, like scripting and databases, on Linux or Windows servers. (and when you register a domain while buying hosting, the domain registration is $3.95 too!)

Recently GoDaddy emailed, saying that they had decided to change the features at my rock-bottom pricing level... they INCREASED the features. No charge, no catch, just a free improvement.

That's cool.

I recommend them.

I didn't know godaddy (I like the domain prices alot) did web hosting. I usually reccommend:

1&1
http://order.1and1.com

or

dream host
http://www.dreamhost.com

But I will have to check out godaddy.

Has anybody tried this site, or have any info on it?

http://geocities.yahoo.com/

The have a free service with pop up advertising, and a starter web page for $2.48 a month, ad free.