Website. Portal. eCommerce. Forum. Blog.
This page introduces some basic web hosting concepts, terminology and service options.

An online, or web, presence all begins with a domain name and basic website where visitors can learn about your company, its product line and service offerings. In a sense, a website is the online version of a storefront, showroom or other publicly accessible area of a business.

For a more detailed description, see the Wikipedia page for Website

A web portal is comprised of private group workspaces, such as "Customer Service" and "Employee Only" areas. Authorized users have access to a range of activity, information and resource management tools. A portal typically includes some or all of the following: shared calendars, project/task list management, centralized document storage, workgroup collaboration and group messaging tools.

A portal can also serve as an "information aggregator" on an internal LAN (local area network) to extend the life of legacy business systems, as in this Community Information Portal at a property management company.

For a more detailed description, see the Wikipedia page for Web Portal

eCommerce, or electronic Commerce, capabilities are needed to accept online payments via credit card, Paypal or other online payment mechanisms. In addition to shopping carts and payment processing, an eCommerce business also needs to manage inventory, orders, shipping, taxes, customer service and supplier relationships.

For a more detailed description, see the Wikipedia page for eCommerce

A forum (aka "message board", "bulletin board", "discussion board") is an online community that enables people to interact with each other. A "message thread" begins when someone posts a question or comment and then contains all subsequent replies and responses from other forum members. Some threads are put to work as educational tools, such as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the forum itself explaining participation guidelines, or incorporated into a product support or customer service system.

For a more detailed description, see the Wikipedia page for Internet Forum

A blog is similar to a forum in the sense it serves as an online meeting place for people sharing an interest in a given subject. Whereas in a forum a member can create a new message on any topic, a blog (short for "web log") is more of an individual journal where the blog owner ("blogger") authors articles on topics of their choice. The blogger also chooses whether or not to allow readers to post comments. Blogs can also be useful knowledge transfer tools.

For a more detailed description, see the Wikipedia page for Blog

Get Help
If you're ready to make a move but you need help putting the right pieces together:

• Contact a-d-t via the short web form if you have an initial question about a project.
• Download, complete and return the Request For Comment with an overview of your project needs, goals and requirements. (This is a PDF eForm requiring Acrobat Reader 7 or higher.