how can a website be created, deployed, and maintained?

Answer 1

CREATION:

To create a website, you can use a WYSIWYG editor (such as Nvu http://nvu.com/index.php , FrontPage or Dreamweaver). But it's better to learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

To create a dynamic website, you will need to learn a server-side scripting language such as PHP, ASP.NET or JSP.

Alternatively, you can download a Content Management System such as Drupal: http://drupal.org


DEPLOYMENT:

You will need to buy a domain name or you can use free hosting sites (such as geocities). Most free hosting sites support only static content.

If you've your own domain name, the next step is to set up a server. You can use Apache (recommended), IIS or other servers depending on the server-side scripting language that you have used.

Here is a checklist for deployment:
http://www.redacorn.org/webdesign/checklist.html


MAINTAINANCE:

You will need to continually take backups, monitor the traffic flow to your website (using tools such as webalizer) and accordingly upgrade your server configuration.