Newbie questions

[lb18]

Hi, I'm a complete newbie with and idea for a website and no idea where to begin. I want create a website where I will have a downloadable product for sale. Once the product is paid for (using PayPal perhaps) I want it to be instantly available to the customer. How would I go about doing this? Is this something a beginner could tackle? Would a shopping cart service do this for me? Are there any special requirements for the web host to be able to do this? Thank you.

[jamslam]

You'd definitely need a databasing backend of some kind (either flat-file or something like MySQL.. although i recommend MySQL)

Either way, the best way for you, is probably to find a host with cPanel (http://www.personalsites.org great host.. i'm with them.. refer webtrickscentral.com if you sign up )... with cPanel you should be able to install some sort of shopping cart (ask the host that this is enabled in cPanel).. it would be instantaneous. From there on, I don't know how you'd play it through, as I haven't done it before but I'd imagine that, that is a start

[Webforumz Staff]

A lot of hosting company's offer some kind of e-commerce hosting package with a shopping cart that integrates with PayPal. The only complex thing you're trying to do is deliver a file once it's paid for. You might need a more robust cart to do this, I know Cactushop will handle it. Check out http://www.cactusoft.com