FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q. Why "BAH"?
A. "BAH" are my intials, and also the sound a goat makes.
Q. Why a goat?
A. Because my intials are like the sounds goats make, and I am a Capricorn.
There are other parallels between me and these quadrapeds, so I couldn't resist.
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Q. How much does it cost to have a custom website layout made?
A. It varies on your needs. The base cost is $200, which must be paid before I start work. After that,
it's an hourly fee of $30 for the time I spend working on the site. This counts for coding and testing time,
but not the time I spend talking to you about the site. See the pricing page for more
information on what a commission entails.
Q. How long does it take to create your website layouts?
A. It varies from site to site and how busy I am at the moment. I take on one site at a
time, and you will not be charged anything until actual work has begun. Once work begins, most basic
sites can be completed from a few days to a week, but sometimes it takes longer. When I accept a commission
from clients, I will provide a time completion estimate after discussing what their particular needs are.
Q. How do I pay?
A. I run all transactions through PayPal, because it is a secure and simple solution. If you
are uncomfortable or otherwise hesitant to use PayPal, e-mail me to
discuss other payment options. While I prefer PayPal, sometimes I can work out an alternative. Checks are a common
solution.
Q. Do I pay before or after the design is made?
A. The base cost of the design is due after I have accepted the commission. Cost of labor (the per
hour fee) is due once the project is complete, but before I hand the files over to you. Of course, I
will show you an example of the functioning site first, and fix any problems there may be. Once I
receive payment, I will send you all relevant files along with documentation. If for whatever
reason I am unable to complete the commission, you will be refunded in full.
Q. What do I need to do to get a custom layout design?
A. You will need your own website that is not on a free server website, like Angelfire. In
most cases, it will have to be a paid-for hosting, but some are able to get good
hosting from friends or associates for free.
Please note that BAH Studios does NOT do web designs for MySpace pages or
anything similar. Because most of my coding uses at least a few php scripts, I also
require our clients to have hosts that provide PHP 4 or above. See the
Questions about starting a website section for details on
hosting.
Q. Do you offer help with your website designs after they're finished?
A. Yes. You are allowed up to three major edits with your package after I've completed the site. After that, my hourly fee of $30
applies whenever I have to change something on your site.
Q. What are the legal disclaimers for using your custom layouts?
A. Essentially, you can do as you please with your website, but do not remove
the link to BAH Studios in the layout or claim the design as your own. If you helped
create graphics for the design, I will include the proper credits in
my standard footer disclaimer for your layout. The full disclaimer for my works
can be read on the disclaimer page.
Q. I'm good at image design. Can I make my own graphics for the website I commission you?
A. Yes, you may. I will work with you to integrate the images into the layout - just notify me of this
when you first contact me for a commission. While you will retain the rights to your graphics, partial
credit will go to BAH Studios™ for integrating them into the website
(unless the client does ALL the work on the graphics) and I retain the rights for the
overall site design. If a client helps with graphics, they will receive the proper credit in the standard
BAH Studios™ footer disclaimer in their website design.
Q. Do you maintain the websites commissioned to you?
A. I can update sites for a yearly fee of $100. That gets you 3 updates a month. If you need a redesign/layout
fix, then the $30 hourly charge applies instead during the time it takes to fix something on the layout.
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Q. What do I need to start a website?
A. You will need two main things: A domain host and a website host. A domain host
provides the URL for your website (example: www.mysite.com), while a website host
provides the actual space to store your website files. Some companies provide both
domain and website hosting, but you often still must pay for each service separately.
Options and quality of hosts vary from company to company, but here is a compiled list
of popular and often well-vouched for companies:
Domain Hosts:
1and1 (BAH Studios™ currently uses them)
directNIC (BAH Studios™ used them in the past)
GoDaddy
Website Hosts:
1and1 (BAH Studios™ currently uses them)
Host Gator
imHosted
You can also look at sites such as Web Hosters
or Find My Hosting for advice on finding a good
host and what your needs may be. BAH Studios™ uses and I personally recommend
1and1. No, I am not paid a cent to say that. I have
been through several hosts throughout the years, and 1and1 has thus far provided the best overall service
and customer care at an affordable price. Not to mention they are VERY website-newbie friendly.
However, to be fair, there are many wonderful hosts out there, and your needs may be different. Shop around
before deciding on anything. Also, make sure the host you have your eye on is legitimate. Beware of frauds. I
speak from experience.
Q. How much does it cost to maintain a website?
A. Some hosts will try to charge you hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a domain or space. I've seen prices as
high as $300 a year for a domain name! But really, these companies are trying to scam you in many cases. You can get
great hosting for a low price. The bahstudios.com domain name costs me only $5 a year, while the hosting for all my
websites is $4.99 a month ($59.88 a year). You just have to know where to look, but don't just look for affordable. Make
sure you're getting good service for it as well! Do your research on hosts before deciding on one.
Q. Do you have any tips on what to look for in web hosting packages?
A. Several! Aside from finding a reliable, affordable host, I advise you look out for packages that offer:
- Linux (NOT Windows) server hosting - You don't have to know anything about Linux, it just means what sort of
server your host stores your site on. There are different approaches to issues with each type, and each offers some
different default kinds of coding. In my experience, most sites are hosted on Linux servers.
- Adequate space - If you're running a small site, chances are you won't use more than a few megabytes, but
in case you expand or want to install special scripts like message boards, make sure you get hosting that
offers at least 1 GB (gigabyte) of space. They're pretty standard now, and many hosts offter several GB of space for cheap.
- Adequate bandwidth (also known as Monthly Transfer Volume) - Bandwidth is the amount of traffic your site is
allowed to handle in a month. When you go over your allotted amount, most hosts charge an overage fee, and HUGE
traffic overages can lead to website downtime. Smaller sites and businesses often won't use up their bandwidth,
but if you think/know your site will get a LOT of visitors (we're talking 100,000s+ daily), then you should
talk to your host about options.
- PHP 4 or above - Most Linux servers will offer this now. PHP is fairly web standard, and most of my web
designs involve PHP scripts. Even if you think you will never use PHP on your own, many handy scripts like
PHPbb (a message board script) use PHP to run, so it's a good thing to have... Just in case.
- Virtual hosting - All this means is that your site will be on a server (computer) at your host that's shared
with other websites. Most websites, especially basic ones, will use this. BAH Studios™ is on a shared
server. The other option is a dedicated server, which means an entire server (sometimes several) is dedicated to
one site and one site only. They are MUCH more expensive (in the $100s to $1000s per month) than virtual hosting
and are only useful for very, very, large and/or traffic heavy sites, such as eBay, Google, or Yahoo.
- MySQL databases - MySQL stores data for various advanced codes, like wikis or message boards. It's a
handy thing to have, and most hosts offer at least one database per hosting package.
- E-mail addresses - This is also pretty standard, and most places offer at least 100 e-mail addresses
per hosting package for you to create and use. Not to mention bob@mysite.com looks a LOT more professional
than bobby123@hotmail.com.
Q. Can I run a website even if I don't know a lot about web design and coding?
A. Sure! Many hosting places offer plenty of learning aids and creation tools for their customers
who don't know a lot about web design. Or, if you have a larger wallet, you can hire someone to
maintain your site for you. Of course, it can't hurt to learn some basic HTML
(a simple website programming language), because that's often all you need to edit a simple site.
Q. Do you offer any web design tutorials?
A. Currently, no. But I do have a few other tutorials on image editing, and
I might add web design tutorials in the future.
Q. This is still too confusing for me! Can you set up the site for me so I don't have to worry about all this?
A. Yes, I can. I can set up a hosting package with 1and1 for you. My setup fee is $50, plus cost of the hosting package and domain
registration. This is usually around an additional $13-$18, depending on the hosting. Please note I will require a credit card number
and name to do this, however. I do not keep such information, and will not charge anything to your account other than the hosting.
1and1 will bill you biaunnually for the hosting, and yearly for the domain registration. They will send out an e-mail when it is time
to renew your domain. Hosting does not require renewal.
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