Aside from loading slowly over dial-up connections, there are a number of problems that can develop for webmasters that use flash and other scripts on their websites. If you choose to work with a professional web designer, he or she should be able to setup these scripts in a manageable way – and should offer to fix any problems that arise from their use. On the other hand, if you’re designing a site on your own, you’ll need to be able to manage these scripts properly on your own if you plan to use them on your site.

CHMOD and PHP scripting

Most of the web hosts on the market today offer web space that is hosted on a Linux or Unix server. Aside from offering you unparalleled stability, they are also much cheaper than Windows based servers. In addition, if you need special scripts, you can get most of them for free without even having to look beyond the offerings provided by the web host. If this is a service you plan to use, make sure your web host offers Fantastico – this is the industry leader in providing free scripts.

That said, if you decide to purchase or run a custom script, you’ll need to be familiar with several things, including creating MySQL databases and editing CHMOD permissions. While these steps are not overly complicated, they can be intimidating for a new web designer. See if you can find a book at your local library on PHP scripting, or search for free tutorials on the web. When you feel you’re ready to begin using custom scripts on your site, make sure you purchase them from a retailer that offers good customer support – there’s nothing more frustrating than following the instructions given and having your script not work! Good customer support will help you sort out these problems.

Exceeding bandwidth

Aside from causing your site to run much slower, Flash, Java Applets and other scripts eat up bandwidth. Once you’ve exceeded the amount allotted to your web hosting account, your site will simply stop functioning. You may or may not receive an email from your web host letting you know that users cannot access your site. Unfortunately – if you aren’t careful – it may take you days, or even months to find out that your site is unavailable. This will cost you in search engine ranking, as well as leave a negative impression on visitors and potential customers.

Therefore, you’ll want to find out how much bandwidth is used by these applications before you purchase and install them. Ask the retailer for an idea of the estimated bandwidth use before you purchase the script. If you aren’t able to find out, you can try installing it and testing the application yourself while keeping track of how much bandwidth is used. Don’t be afraid of scripts that eat up a lot of bandwidth – in today’s hosting market, bandwidth is extremely cheap and you can always increase the amount dedicated to your hosting account to run the scripts you need.

Once you purchase web hosting and begin to build your website, you may find that you want to increase its functionality with specialty scripts. However, use caution. Some third party scripts can be a security risk – so search online for other user’s experiences to make sure it’s legitimate. In addition, because various scripts use up a lot of bandwidth, you’ll need to make sure that you don’t exceed your monthly or yearly limits. By keeping a close eye on your site – and making adjustments to your scripts as needed – you’ll keep your site going, keeping visitors and search engines happy.