Below is a collection of what we feel are helpful and commonly asked questions, some may be stating the obvious but like the saying goes, "it's easy if you know the answer".

We have tried to cover as many pointers as possible, some of a more global nature generalising about the internet and its terminology and some more specific to our business and its related services. We hope you find them helpful and more importantly useful ;-)

Having a Website Built

Do I have to be able to come into your offices to have you build a website for me?
Not at all - we can build your website without ever meeting you in person. We have built several websites for people who live hundred of miles away!

What information do you need from me to register a domain?
We will need the name of the registrant, the company name (if applicable), address, contact telephone number and email address.

What information do you need from me about my website project?
Essentially we need all text and images from you. As well as this, you need to have a good idea of what you want your website to do for you, how many pages you will need and any design / format preferences. A good rule of thumb is to explore similar websites on the internet and identify what you like from them.

What do I do about providing images for my website?
You can either provide us with the images you want to use in digital format, or we can source images on your behalf or, if applicable, we can come to you to take photographs of your business. (sourcing images or photography incurs additional standard time charges).
If stock imagery is used this will be charged at the appropriate price per individual image .

How many email accounts am I allowed to have?
You can have unlimited email accounts on your domain name, although if you require more than 10, we recommend setting up a Personal Control Panel for you (£15 per year) which allows you to manage your own email accounts. For more information regarding Personal Control Panels please click here.

When you send a quote is that the final price?
We will send you a provisional quote based on the information you have provided us. There will only be further charges if additional services or information are required in addition to that included in the original quote.

When do I pay for my website – is there a holding deposit?
For any website over £1000 there is a 25% deposit payable. For websites quoted at less than £1000 payment is due upon completion of the project. Once the payment has been received the website will be transferred from the preview server and uploaded live to the internet.

What are your payment terms?
Our payment terms are as follows:
Within 14 days - No charge
15 days to 1 month - 10% credit charge
Over 1 month - 10% credit charge plus interest at 1% per month from date of invoice.

Will I be able to preview the website / watch it being built?
Yes, all Pixelism works in progress are built on preview domains – normally www.yourprojectname.pixelism.co.uk – so that you are able to check all is ok before the website is set live.

What timescales do you work to? How long will it take to have my website built?
We will always endeavour to build your website to the timescale we agree upon with you. The timescale can only be properly established when ALL of the information has been provided for the website build. The average time to build a website is 1-2 weeks, although of course this can vary depending on complexity and size. A standard 3 to 5 page site is usually built inside 1 working week (between 3 - 5 days).

Once Your Website is Complete

What happens when my website is built – what should I do to promote it?
We will give you advice on how to promote your website. Pixelism offers it’s own Search Engine Optimisation services – further details can be found here.

How will I know when my domain is due for renewal - I don't want to lose it?
All domains registered via Pixelism will be renewed automatically unless we receive written notification from you 28 days beforehand. A reminder will be emailed to you 10-15 days before renewal which will give you a final opportunity to cancel your renewal.

I have set up my new email account successfully on my computer but I am unable to send as the server smtp address is incorrect. How do I find out what is the correct one to use? The SMTP address will depend on who you connect to the internet with (your ISP). See our [ SMTP LIST ] page for details of various smtp servers for different ISP's.

My enquiry form doesn't seem to be working on my website - I just sent an enquiry but it didn't come to me? In order for the enquiry form to work you will need to enter a valid email address in the relevant field. This is compulsory information required to enable the enquiry form to be sent. Occasionally, enquiry forms may have additional compulsory fields such as telephone number, so check that you have entered information correctly in this field too.

Back to Basics

What is the Internet?
The 'internet' is a widely used term referring to a worldwide collection of computers that are connected to each other - this collection is called a 'network'. The internet is made up of a series of mini-networks [government, business and academic networks, for example], and carries information when it is requested - in the form of website pages, pictures and documents - to other locations within the worldwide network.
Internet literally is short for International Network.

What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web, or 'www', is the collection of documents containing text, images, movies and audio that are stored, transported and displayed by the Internet.

What is an Intranet?
A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but for internal use.

What is an ISP?
Internet Service Providers [ISPs] are companies that provide access to the Internet.

What is a Website?
A collection of related pages that link to each other, and are contained within, a single place on the internet. A web page is one part of a website - a single page of data or information.

What is A Domain Name?
Domain names work on the same principle as regular street addresses - a domain name is a location that a computer is asked to find when it is typed into the address bar. A domain name is essential for any website because it is the 'www' address at which the website information is stored. All computers that are connected to the internet are recognised by an IP [internet protocol] address, which indicates the location of its server. A server is another name for a 'big computer'. This numerical address is attached to a 'domian name' for the simple reason that names are far easier to remember than a string of numbers!

What is the Domain Name System?
The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address – just like a telephone number – which is a rather complicated string of numbers. It is called its "IP address" (IP stands for "Internet Protocol").

But it is hard to remember everyone's IP address. The DNS makes it easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the "domain name") to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 213.171.193.2 you can type www.pixelism.co.uk. It is a "mnemonic" device that makes addresses easier to remember.

Translating the name into the IP address is called "resolving the domain name." The goal of the DNS is for any Internet user any place in the world to reach a specific website IP address by entering its domain name. Domain names are also used for reaching e-mail addresses and for other Internet applications.

What is an E-mail Account?
When refering to an 'E-mail account' we mean an electronic mailbox where your e-mail is stored. You access that account [using a computer 'username' and 'password' and settings given to you by the company that provides it] to collect your messages and send messages to other people. Most people without a domain name or website of their own have an e-mail account 'at' the same company that provides their internet access. Some people have more than one e-mail account, often using a provider like Hotmail or Yahoo, in addition to the account provided for them with their internet access.

What is Website Hosting?
Hosting means the computer space in which your website is stored. With Pixelism, your website would be hosted using either a Windows 2003  or Linux Redhat server [computer] . Our servers communicate with other computers on the internet, and will send your website information to the computer that requests it, so the website appears on the reader's computer screen. For further information on our hosting services please click here.

Is the webspace you offer really unlimited?
The simple answer to this is yes, we have never yet had a customer whose website and files within it have been unable to be hosted with us.

What is your monthly bandwidth allowance for a website hosted with you?
Again we class our server bandwidth usage as unlimited but please be aware that with our standard hosting packages the hosting is on what is known as shared server space. Due to this we do have a fair usage policy, please see our terms and conditions for further information regarding this issue.

What is Shared Server Space or Shared Web Hosting?
Your web site is placed on the same server as many other sites. Typically, all domains (sites) share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU.

What is a Search Engine?
Internet search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo) help users find web pages on a given subject. The search engines maintain databases of web sites and use programs often referred to as "spiders" or "robots" to collect information, which is then indexed by the search engine. Similar services are provided by "web directories," these maintain ordered and searchable lists of websites, for example www.dmoz.org

What is Search Engine Optimisation [SEO]?
Search Engine Optimisation is a process designed to maximise the potential of a website to be found by a search engine. Websites can be 'optimised' by adapting the content, structure and code of the pages to suit search engines. Although Pixelism builds search engine friendly websites, we also offer a range of packages to expand on this and to ensure that your website has the opportunity to excel within the search engine ranks. If you are interested and this is what you are looking for please click here.

What are Website Statistics?
Web Statistics provide information (statistics) about a website. The information being totals and percentages for example of how many vistors have been to the site, what pages where looked at and what search engines, search phrases or keywords where used that lead them to arrive at your website. We offer a service called Matrixstats please click here for more informaion.

What is HTML?
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the established language of computer code. HTML is the 'source' of web documents - it is the language used to write the layout and content of the website itself. HTML is interpreted by the browser in every computer, which translates the code into a coherent website page.

What is A Browser?
A browser is a piece of computer software that translates HTML code into a coherent website page on the reader's computer. Examples of browsers include Internet Explorer [IE], Opera, Mozilla Firefox [Firefox] and Safari. As with all computer software, each browser is developed over time, so some people have older versions of the same type of browser. For example, I might be using Internet Explorer 6 but you might have a more recent version, like the new (not so new) Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7.. ahem!.. or even IE 8 now!!!..