Making a website

[Iron Flatline]

They also have a really helpful community that will help you customize your app, and they're about to go through a major upgrade.

 

[Fliphishermon]

I'm an old computer geek (anybody remember Fortran?) and have worked with many talented computer pros.

The ones that I admire the most are those who can develop quality websites. There are so many different aspects to a quality site and so many different ways to go. And in most cases, the good sites are put together by teams of people, not individuals, each bringing different talents to the table.

I would ALWAYS recommend that if you are considering a serious business venture then stick to what you believe is your strength and have a professional web design person/team present you with what they are selling as their strength. (ALWAYS check references and look over other sites they've developed before you sign a contract.)

Quality web designing is not something you can pick up in even two or three years. Hire somebody else to put it together while you're concentrating on selling your skills/product.

That being said, if you're convinced about doing your own site check out 1&1.com. I have not used them but you're definitely going to need some software.

Just keep in the back of your mind how much time and effort you're going to put in learning and designing instead of developing and selling.

 

[yeti]

Where do I begin?
Ok I know I have to Buy a domain name and Pay for hosting. But then what?
How do I Build a site?
Where do I begin. I want to do it myself, if possible.
Any suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!

Hi Terri,

I am a professional software developer. I have to agree, have it done professionally. Or alternatively if you want to do it yourself, be prepared to spend months studying stuff. I can point you to good places to start if you like.

What I can suggest is hire a company that would do it all for you: buy the domain, park the domain, host your webserver AND design your website. Those are usually the cheapest in the long run even if they end up asking for quite a lot of money upfront. Good things cost money and you ALWAYS get what you pay for.

A word of the wise:

The Internet has seen a million sites that have it all: videos, Javascript, Flash, you name it. Your competitors will do just that, but guess what: they are the loosers out there as everyone is tired of it.

GO SIMPLE! Ask for something SIMPLE and ELEGANT that the average user can navigate through without having a degree in computer science and a broadband Internet connection. Trust me: good design is always a simple design. I highly recommend to have something with a content-management system so that you can write your own content without being an HTML guru.

 

[EYEAM4ANARCHY]

This is a pretty simple, text-based WYSIWYG web editor. They have a free version you can try out and then, if you upgrade for like $50, the "pro" version is pretty good. You can edit the colors and font, etc. and the upgraded version has a pretty good number of templates, so you can make a fairly unique site without having to know HTML.

 

[Terri Walsh]

Thanks everyone for all your input....not sure what I am going to do now. One really close friend has studied HTML and CSS, but as far as I know has not created a website before, but has offered to help. (just not sure how long this would take).
I also have a friend that is a web designer, that offered to help if I needed it. I would like to just ask him, but hate the awkwardness of pricing.
Argh what to do, what to do...

 

[GwagDesigns]

I recently just started making a website, mainly to provide a base for myself, showing a few projects, and provide linkage to my other pages where my work is posted. Having a little html knowledge myself, i used photoshops slicing ability to make my menu, and lightrooms ability to make flash galleries. while my website isnt completed, and may even be borderline cheesy to some, its at what i cal its 1.0 state, and will continue to change as time goes on.

http://www.gwagdesigns.com

For hosting and domains theres many options, my friend used godaddy.com, I decided to get the best and went with globat, and while ive only used 5 gigs of my 1000gigs of bandwidth, i find its a great site, at around 50 a year.

Also, if you havnt already, set up a blog for yourself, i use word press, as the customization options far surpass blogger.

check this site for an example:
http://www.zeitautomatik.com/?page_id=59

even though its a blog, through proper customization you can make it look like a web page, with links on the side linking to specific blog entries.

 

[yeti]

Thanks everyone for all your input....not sure what I am going to do now. One really close friend has studied HTML and CSS, but as far as I know has not created a website before, but has offered to help. (just not sure how long this would take).
I also have a friend that is a web designer, that offered to help if I needed it. I would like to just ask him, but hate the awkwardness of pricing.
Argh what to do, what to do...

Pay him, unless money is a big problem for you. If that's the case make him a partner in your enterprise or promise him something (and keep the promise). This is a professional service he will be doing for you and a very important one too. He is going to build the face of your enterprise.
In my opinion it is even more awkard to ask someone to work for free. Also, you assume once a website is done, it is done. No, you will need people to keep an eye on it, to update it, to maintain it.

You can build the website on your own, but an amateur-grade website is not better than no website at all, it is worse - it shows lack of professionalism. You can help if you like by writing the content. Your HTML-savvy friend can help by testing out the result. Testing is very very important too! It makes sure any problems are spotted before they start costing you clients.

This is my advise.

 

[Terri Walsh]

Oh yes, I would not expect anyone do it for free, but yes money is an issue too. So far Photography has only been a hobby for me, therefore no real income.
I like the idea of creating it myself, then I know it's what I want, and if not that I can change it. I love a challenge! I did make a few basic websites in College, but that was a few years ago now. I dont want basic however, but I do want cost effecient. I do know Photoshop quite well...
I really like your site gwagdesigns! Simple, to the point! Kinda what I am after.

 

[Terri Walsh]

I should also note, I am not prepared to get very big very quickly. I am comfortable keeping it part-time. I just need a spot of clients and potential clients to view my work, gather info, and contact me.

 

[Digital Matt]

http://livebooks.com/

 

[yeti]

Oh yes, I would not expect anyone do it for free, but yes money is an issue too. So far Photography has only been a hobby for me, therefore no real income.
I like the idea of creating it myself, then I know it's what I want, and if not that I can change it. I love a challenge! I did make a few basic websites in College, but that was a few years ago now. I dont want basic however, but I do want cost effecient. I do know Photoshop quite well...
I really like your site gwagdesigns! Simple, to the point! Kinda what I am after.

I respect that. Ok, here is a quick HTML refresher for you (something I like to refer to even now): Google "The Bare Bones Guide To HTML". Print it out and start experimenting. There is no better or faster way to learn.

Please let me know if you have questions. I am not into web design, but I might be able to help.

 

[Terri Walsh]

Thanks Yeti, I just may come at you with a few questions!

 

[lextalionis]

I quickly skimmed through the threads here and didn't see SmugMug mentioned...I hope

I hear the pro-account and support services are really good. http://www.smugmug.com/pro/

I spent $79 on FotoPlayer Pro http://www.fotoplayer.com and use a registered www domain from godaddy $8/yr and built my site with limited html knowledge. I think the most I've learned was how to use google webmaster tools and google analytics. Fotoplayer Pro does give shopping cart funcitionality (print sizes, color, quantities, coupons, integrates with paypal, pw protected session galleries and much more...plus it's flash-based like smugmug which I prefer for preview viewing via www). I only use the cart functionality on my nature gallery for allowing users to securely download the full-resolution post-processed jpg files and it's completely frictionless, i.e. I don't lift a finger and the www customer pays via paypal and auto redirects to a secure folder on my domain with a page containing a zip file of all the images he/she ordered and the page has a 4 minute expiry so that it can not be sent out or re-used. The print options and the order options integrate with smtp/pop or your paypay email and sends out invoices etc. Nice album IMHO, you just need to integrate a navigation menu etc. and you are gtg. It also integrates eailsy into an existing website.

-Roy

 

[leila]

I also have a friend that is a web designer, that offered to help if I needed it. I would like to just ask him, but hate the awkwardness of pricing.
Argh what to do, what to do...

Don't worry about the awkwardness of pricing, he designs for a living. He is probably used to it. I would definitely ask. Send him an email if you are more comfortable.

 

[boomersgot3]

I like portfoliositez.com. I also use picturespro.com for shopping cart. I was going to use them for my site but I prefer portfolio sitez. It is easier and saves alot of time to have someone else do it!