Designing my own website

[Jessies Little Angels]

Hi,

I am thinking of designing my own website, I have done it before but had little knowledge of what I was doing so I appointed a website designer 6 months ago, he told me it would only take a couple of weeks to finish...still waiting!

I have found out that he registered the name in his own name, he ignores my calls and emails I have asked and asked for him to send me the invoice so I can pay him but to no avail! I dont even have access to the server so I can do update as he refuses to give me the details until I have paid but with no invoice how can I do this, I feel that he has no intentions to send it and I have no idea why!

I can not afford to get anyone to design this for me and as I have a bit more knowledge in whats involved I am thinking of designing one myself again but I know I cannot use my domain name as he has this now so will probably have to change my company name or to one such as Jessies Little Angels trading as....

Can anyone point me in the right direction where I can design this myself on a very tight budget ( I mean tight lol) I was hoping to get funding so I can appoint someone else to do the job but this will take much more time than I anticipated but is looking postive.

Thanks

Jessica:(

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi Jessica

I can highly recommend Graeme at the Yellow Duck Sale to you -
http://theyellowducksale.com/?page_id=16

[PrismTechWales]

HI Jessica

How tight is your budget? and what exactly do you need from a website?

We often help people out when starting up and get repeat business from them as they grow.

Prism Technology Wales Ltd "We Tweet Too" - PrismTechWales (http://twitter.com/Prismtechwales)
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[Big Pete]

Hi,

I am thinking of designing my own website, I have done it before but had little knowledge of what I was doing so I appointed a website designer 6 months ago, he told me it would only take a couple of weeks to finish...still waiting!

I have found out that he registered the name in his own name, he ignores my calls and emails I have asked and asked for him to send me the invoice so I can pay him but to no avail! I dont even have access to the server so I can do update as he refuses to give me the details until I have paid but with no invoice how can I do this, I feel that he has no intentions to send it and I have no idea why!

I can not afford to get anyone to design this for me and as I have a bit more knowledge in whats involved I am thinking of designing one myself again but I know I cannot use my domain name as he has this now so will probably have to change my company name or to one such as Jessies Little Angels trading as....

Can anyone point me in the right direction where I can design this myself on a very tight budget ( I mean tight lol) I was hoping to get funding so I can appoint someone else to do the job but this will take much more time than I anticipated but is looking postive.

Thanks

Jessica:(


Hi Jessica
I can point you no problems look below 1st link and look under what we offer.on the site . made for people like you..

On the name dont worry if your old domain was jessieslittleangels or whatever , just use jessies-little-angels or similar layout ..

you can get it all including new domain name and hosting for about £ 50 and its brilliant shopping cart and everything.

[Coppock]

If you paid your last designer write to them to get your money back.
I've pm'd you some help
thanks
Jen

[Lukejenx]

Did you sign anything before he bought the domain for you? If so, tell us what it is. He is not allowed to register the domain in his name if you pay for it. If you have a price sorted, just send him the money through paypal, you can get it back if you don't get the goods.

If you can't do this, forget about him, name and shame. Then find another domain you want. The money you have already paid him, if any, would be refundable if you don't get the oppurtinity to pay up.

Just my thoughts, nothing legal etc.

[webteameu]

I think any good designer/developer should send you an agreement with the specification of the project, including details on when and how to pay. After each stage is completed, you should then have a "sign off" section. Looks like you were dealing with a cowboy! I wish you good luck with your site.

webteameu

[Out of the reccession!]

Hi Jessica

Will help you with your site if you like and it will not only cost you very very little, £50, but you will be able to update and add pictures yourself! It will also look very professional and I can help rank you as well.
Email me at
ali at yellowarch.com
Regards
Alison

[wordperfect]

Hi Jessie, yes, some good advice here, if what you say is true and he refuses to co-operate, name the bugger so others can be aware.

But, if you have "some" web design experience as you say, why NOT give it a shot?
It isn't so hard, I learnt 3 years ago and made our site, maybe doesn't have all the latest bells, whistles etc but if you are on a tight budget it will get you up and running and release funds for other things.

I recommend COFFEE CUP website builder, you can get their full version as demo software for free for a month I think, and they also offer a stripped down version for free.
The stripped is as good as you need, it is what I use.


As you get better you can either improve your site or find someone else to do the job, but, to summarise, if you feel you can do it, go for it.

good luck

[wordperfect]

I forgot to say, a quick GOOGLE threw up several others using that name, one also a baby store which seemed to pre-date your ideas by quite a long period, so...................
Maybe the originality isn't yours and the designer MAY have saved you from facing legal action had you gone ahead copying others names and ideas?

[Jessies Little Angels]

I forgot to say, a quick GOOGLE threw up several others using that name, one also a baby store which seemed to pre-date your ideas by quite a long period, so...................
Maybe the originality isn't yours and the designer MAY have saved you from facing legal action had you gone ahead copying others names and ideas?

Really! I looked and couldnt find anything other than my own website or connections. Would you mind sending me the link so I can take a look please?

Thanks

Jessica

[Jessies Little Angels]

Thank you all for your replies, I have however had an amazing result, my website designer gave me full access to the website plus changed the domain name over to me...still waiting for the invoice though lol!

I will contact a few who maybe able to help me with sorting out the website as it is very dated but hey its a start and its usable!

Thank you all once again

Jessica

[PrismTechWales]

So glad you got a result. Just message us if you need any help or advice.

Cyrus


Prism Technology Wales Ltd "We Tweet Too" - PrismTechWales (http://twitter.com/Prismtechwales)
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[PETTE]

6 months!,

You must be a very patient customer. I've never tried that one before with mine. If you're unhappy with the quality and flow of your website, you might like to contact me and I'll be able to improve it to your expectations.

Just PM and I'll provide my contact details.

[Lukejenx]

Well done ;) Next time I would recommend buying your domain yourself...

[Jessies Little Angels]

If I knew then what I know now I wouldnt have been in this situation at all! Well I have learnt something I suppose, now I am learning how to use Zen Cart - my god this is mind blowing information overload but its all I have at the moment as I have no budget to pay anyone to help me!

If you dont mind I will let you all know when it is done so you can give me your feedback!

Jessica

[wordperfect]

Really! I looked and couldnt find anything other than my own website or connections. Would you mind sending me the link so I can take a look please?

Thanks

Jessica

Ok, things are getting a little murky here.
Maybe I was tired, confused or just didn't read it well, but the spin I took from your post was that you are a new start up and were having difficulties with a designer with your first commercial site, which, judging by other replies may also have been the interpretation of others.

Now you say you have your own site up and links, so I am guessing that they and the Facebook link I mentioned are yours.
The links I was referring to are: google search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&rls=en-GB&hs=Rus&newwindow=1&ei=ggB6S5WYK86HkQXN27T6Cg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAsQBSgA&q=jessie%27s+little+angels&spell=1 and what I now assume to be your own site: http://www.jessieslittleangels.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=158

Perhaps there is some background info I missed?

[Jessies Little Angels]

Ok, things are getting a little murky here.
Maybe I was tired, confused or just didn't read it well, but the spin I took from your post was that you are a new start up and were having difficulties with a designer with your first commercial site, which, judging by other replies may also have been the interpretation of others.

Now you say you have your own site up and links, so I am guessing that they and the Facebook link I mentioned are yours.
The links I was referring to are: google search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=opera&rls=en-GB&hs=Rus&newwindow=1&ei=ggB6S5WYK86HkQXN27T6Cg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAsQBSgA&q=jessie%27s+little+angels&spell=1 and what I now assume to be your own site: http://www.jessieslittleangels.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=158

Perhaps there is some background info I missed?


Yes they are all mine, apologies if I didnt make myself clear enough. The website designer made my website (the one that you can see) but wouldnt give me any access to do updates etc. Fortunatley he has now given me full control and changed the domain name into mine.

[chapelman]

Hi Jessica

Will help you with your site if you like and it will not only cost you very very little, £50, but you will be able to update and add pictures yourself! It will also look very professional and I can help rank you as well.
Email me at
ali at yellowarch.com
Regards
Alison

All for £50, makes walking on water look a doddle

[Jessies Little Angels]

Hi again!

I have been looking online and have found that I can get a free Magenta template, what would like involve exactly?

Would I have to set this up from scratch then close down my Zen cart one to use the domain name? it says "free" but I know there has to be some cost involved somewhere!

Thanks

[Kev Jaques]

Cost would be in your time or someone else's time and that may not come cheap!

If your designer has given you access to things why would you need to change its template? Do you mean Magento template? There are plenty of Zen Cart templates out there already but failing to see why you would need one without looking at the site or your aims and goals.

[Jessies Little Angels]

Cost would be in your time or someone else's time and that may not come cheap!

If your designer has given you access to things why would you need to change its template? Do you mean Magento template? There are plenty of Zen Cart templates out there already but failing to see why you would need one without looking at the site or your aims and goals.

Hi, yes its Magento I mean. I have been uploading items onto my website but it is slowing it down! I am not skilled in this area and with my budget being next to zero I thought that if I could get a better template then it would be alot better. I thought there was only one tempate for zen cart but hey what do i know lol!

[Kev Jaques]

You could try optimising the database in the back end or work out where the bottle necks are and look to fix those.
A different template may be better but I would look at the reason why it's not performing before looking at another. Could be a number of issues.

[Jessies Little Angels]

You could try optimising the database in the back end or work out where the bottle necks are and look to fix those.
A different template may be better but I would look at the reason why it's not performing before looking at another. Could be a number of issues.

Thanks Kev, I will take a look as you say but me being blonde can I ask...what are bottle necks lol? :|:cool::|

Jessica:p

[Kev Jaques]

Basically like a bottle neck shape ;) where things slow down.
It could be the sql side of things where queries are taking ages or compiling of the dynamic page at run time or both or other things such as images loading, http requests etc...
Also what kind of connection you have, how long is it taking etc...
It could be an issue with indexes on the tables depending on what is there already.

[Lukejenx]

Just going to answer Jessica's question with some more detail.

To use a magento theme you will need magento on your server (many servers will give you one click for it.) But yes you will need to close down your current store. I think there's a few issues with just taking all your content from zencart to magento. There was some when I was looking at magento and getting all stock from a dropshipper.

I would actually recommend staying with zen cart and fixing the current problem before you make things more complex. When you start bringing in some money and find you have outgrown zen cart, you can afford to upgrade to magento.

Just search around zen cart themes untill you find something you like, and even if you don't find exactly what you want, remember that chaning the banner, and a few colours could make it fit your needs!