Basic Website

[fashionprintdesigner]

Hi,

Just need some info really. I have a domain and I now want a website on the domain. It is a basic website with info and images of work which I can manage myself.

Anyone have any advice on which is best to use or how to do it.

Any info will be greatly appreciated

thank you

Mands

 

[BusinessTeam]

Good morning,

Your website will become a really important element of your business and in effect your shop front, you can get a self design site from places like www.123-reg.co.uk however the site would be quite basic and you really get what you pay for.

We have worked with a great designer from company called http://armerdesign.com/ might be worth and enquiry , they produce basic sites very professionally for reasonable prices.

Best wishes

Richard

 

[MartinD]

Is this (basically) for a portfolio type site?

If so I'd recommend a simple Wordpress site. There are plenty of really nice portfolio-type templates for Wordpress that cost very little. You can then edit your content and upload images to your portfolio easily using Wordpress' backend.

No need to spend any huge amounts of money

 

[Websitehandyman]

I suspect Wordpress is the way to go but it can be a bit difficult if new to it. The is no reason why you should shell money for the site but you'll need some decent hosting. I would be happy to install wordpress and get you going if you need help <-- not selling you anything here I'll do it free as for me it'll take 30 mins at most and you might take all day.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

I agree wordpress would be the way to go as you can expand and add things later as you go. If you have control panel on your hosting you may be able to do a one click install if you have something like fantastico, have a look.

It depends is this is a hobby or a commercial venture I am presuming it is the latter.

To get something looking nice you may want to buy a nice template though. If you are a complete novice you will probably need professional help setting it up. Choose your template, choose your look and feel and put your sitemap and content together before you get help and the whole process will then be faster and cheaper.

Hope this helps

 

[cocodude]

If you're happy to keep things simple, you should be able to do most of this yourself, and I second the previous posters' recommendations for Wordpress.

Look into whether your hosting providers allows for an easy, automatic install of software like Wordpress. Usually this can get up and running with just a couple of clicks. Then, choose or pay for a nice template and then get creating your content.

 

Install Wordpress, choose a nice clean template that suits your needs, and you can easily have a basic site set up in no time. If you have the basice skills to handle it, there should be no problems.

Once you have it set up, you may run across a few little tweaks you want to do, but there is a load of help out there for WP and you should get help easily.

 

[RedEvo]

If you're looking for a low cost hosted solution aimed at non techs take a look at Webiny.

d

 

[Alan]

Wordpress based solution will be inexpensive and allow you to manage your own image & text content.

 

[intercityuk]

Yes I'm looking into a website too. TSOhost look good and I think they have been recommended on this forum before. They do a package for £15 per year and includes one click wordpress install.

I think I might be using them, they look ok

 

[james04k]

If you already have registered domain name then now it's time to get web hosting services, where your website will be host and then you have to build your website, if you have know programming languages like html and css then you can do it manually otherwise you can use some site builder software.

 

[FIZIX Agency]

I'll do a hosting plug, I have a client who has signed up to Web Hosting Buzz (http://www.webhostingbuzz.co.uk) and they are very happy with the service they are receiving and the costs are reasonable.

For the site, the easiest way would be to install Wordpress, install any custom brochure website type plugins and stick a skin on it. Thats very easy to achieve and if you don't feel confident installing it yourself, it wouldn't cost much to get someone to install it on your server.

The only caveat is that Wordpress is open code; meaning anyone can download Wordpress and see the code, which makes it easy for hackers to find vulnerabilities and they actively do so. Therefore it's important to keep Wordpress up to date. It's also important to make sure any plugins you install are well supported, secure, stable and well developed else it can lead to problems.


If you want to have a more unique look you basically have two options; get a designer to tweak an existing design template or have an original design created and coded from scratch.

The cost of that depends on what you want and who you pay to do it. Generally speaking you get what you pay for. It's worth putting a bit into the design so that you at least get something attractive and relevant to your audience and when the site is live, SEO and marketing (to whatever extent you need).

 

[ukbf0001]

Good morning,

Your website will become a really important element of your business and in effect your shop front, you can get a self design site from places like www.123-reg.co.uk however the site would be quite basic and you really get what you pay for.

Best wishes
Richard

Never use 123-reg -
The worst control panel available bar none
Although Sales is UK English speaking - Technical support is over seas and English can be a difficulty to say the least. They also charge you for the phone calls.
The technical support - in my experience was rubbish. I was helping out a friend who signed up with them a few years back - all she wanted to do was shift hosting plans - and get a simple WP up and running. After spending over 2 days with calls and email ping pong and being given non sense advice. I gave up - and just transferred the domain and hosting over to me. The only reason I didnt do it in the first place - was because it was favour and I thought it would easiest to keep her where she was - what a mistake.

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

Hi everyone,

sorry havent been on but been a busy bee.

The sort of website I am looking at visually is http://www.jilsander.com/ (hope I am allowed to put link in?)

Not an online shop, just the cleanliness is what I like, then I will put cv and portfolio etc down left side.

I don't really want a site that has tumblr or anything else in corner as I need it to look professional as this is what everyone is going to look at when I graduate.

Also I need to be able to update myself and use easily, I really want full control.

I suppose its the whole process. I have a domain, then on recommendations above I know where to get design. How do I connect them both together (or is that a dim question).

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I need to re-read above more thoroughly but really thank everyone for trying to help.

Mands

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Hi Jill

I recommend you go on wordpress then. Set up your hosting, in your welcome email it should give you nameserver, control panel login and ftp details.

1. Login to where you manage/purchased your domain and change the namservers to match the details on the hosting
2. Login to you hosting control panel and either add the domain on (if your domain is the main one on the account you don't need to do this).
3. Find a software installation script on your control panel ie fantastico, Softaculous etc and find wordpress and follow the instructions.
4. At the end of this process you will be given an admin link that you can use to login to your site.
5. Find a template you like, buy it and download it (you should be able to find one on themeforest).
6. Unzip the file and open the documentation and follow the instructions from there.

Like I say you may want to bring in a developer to set up your main framework for you depending on the complexity of the theme and what features you want to add depending on how brave/ websavy you are and whether you have any budget. However if you have your finalised sitemap and content ready and don't require too much customisation this can be a fast and painless process.

Hope this helps and good luck

 

[PDC]

If you need something professional looking then I highly recommend going to a professional. Get several quotes. and see what you are comfortable with. The site you linked to looks high end in style so you really need someone skilled in design if you want to achieve something similar.

As stated many times Wordpress sites will allow you to update the site yourself, we used to have a wordpress site, and found while updating was fine we did on occasion have to go back to the company who made the site for us to keep the site up to date and to fix some things for us.

We use 123-reg for domains and they are just fine and very competitive. No idea what their other services may be like.

Good luck.

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

Hi

so if I do stuff and keep messing it up can it be deleted? without deleting domain?

thanks

 

[That Guy]

Hi

so if I do stuff and keep messing it up can it be deleted? without deleting domain?

thanks

Yes it can, if you do it yourself you are in complete control

 

[Mark_Williams]

Hi

so if I do stuff and keep messing it up can it be deleted? without deleting domain?

thanks

Backup, backup and backup.
Before you make any changes make sure you've got it backed up. Otherwise you can end spending lots of time (or money) getting in back.

Best of luck
Mark

 

[sodirect]

Wordpress. It is future-proofed, mobile friendly and has great plug-ins. At basic level it is free, easy to use and you can upgrade the theme (e.g. Theme Forest) for around $35; plenty of people who can install a slider bar - go to www.fiverr.com and someone will create pics of right size to upload for a few dollars. and then all you have to do is put in the content. Lots of videos on You tube to tell you how to do it.

 

[PDC]

At basic level it is free, easy to use and you can upgrade the theme (e.g. Theme Forest) for around $35; plenty of people who can install a slider bar - go to fiverr.com and someone will create pics of right size to upload for a few dollars. and then all you have to do is put in the content. Lots of videos on You tube to tell you how to do it.

But do you think your average internet user will be able to create a site like the one the OP likes (jilsander.com) with Wordpress?

I know from using it myself I don't think I could, at least not one that looks as clean and professional?

 

[Nuno]

Wordpress. It is future-proofed, mobile friendly and has great plug-ins. At basic level it is free, easy to use and you can upgrade the theme (e.g. Theme Forest) for around $35; plenty of people who can install a slider bar - go to www.fiverr.com and someone will create pics of right size to upload for a few dollars. and then all you have to do is put in the content. Lots of videos on You tube to tell you how to do it.

Not sure about this. Theme Forest for a theme can be, (but is not necessarily) dodgy. Getting someone else to install a slider and yet another to size (and optimize?) the pics strikes me as too many cooks: you will get a conflict.

A simple(OK simple-ish) theme like Weaver 2 will allow the site to be built white on white with a left sidebar, font sizes as chosen, header as made and inserted and other core settings, ...set.

Then it's chuck in a couple of plugins: Display widgets to change what is seen in the sidebar, and NextGen Gallery.

Next Gen will do sizing and optimization, but the css will need adjusting to get the Jill Sanders effect of minimalism.

So; that's what you ask someone to help you with.

PS Don't forget the SEO and Security plugins.

 

[helmuc]

It may sound really stupid... but go to Fiverr and order a html/css 3 page website.

You will get ultra fast loading, super cheap and bullet-proof secure website.. oh yes, the size will be uber-small as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ITsoldUK]

Not sure about this. Theme Forest for a theme can be, (but is not necessarily) dodgy. Getting someone else to install a slider and yet another to size (and optimize?) the pics strikes me as too many cooks: you will get a conflict.

A simple(OK simple-ish) theme like Weaver 2 will allow the site to be built white on white with a left sidebar, font sizes as chosen, header as made and inserted and other core settings, ...set.

Then it's chuck in a couple of plugins: Display widgets to change what is seen in the sidebar, and NextGen Gallery.

Next Gen will do sizing and optimization, but the css will need adjusting to get the Jill Sanders effect of minimalism.

So; that's what you ask someone to help you with.

PS Don't forget the SEO and Security plugins.

Good points well made and just to help those that do buy from TF.

If you want to buy a theme from there, do so but pay via Paypal.

Download the theme and scan it for infections BEFORE your extract it and then, if all clear, scan if AFTER extraction.

If all clear then play away. If not, recall your payment.

HTH

Regards
Daren

 

[Nuno]

As above, scan any theme for malware. Also scan for dodgy backlinks with the Theme Authenticity Checker

(Altho' this might be getting a tad OTT for a beginner).

 

[helmuc]

Whatever and whereever you will order it - go for a html+css website.

You will never have to:
- update the cms
- worry about backups
- worry about sql injections or other attacks
- pay for the more expensive hosting plans
- worry about improving the loading speed of the website
- pay ££ for solving problems related to cms updates when they conflict with a theme and/or plugins
- investigate is your theme corrupt or not
- worry about spammers... and the list goes on and on...

Does anybody really disagree?

Html+css website will not stress you out nor will keep asking to pay for continious fees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nuno]

Whatever and whereever you will order it - go for a html+css website.

You will never have to:
- update the cms
- worry about backups
- worry about sql injections or other attacks
- pay for the more expensive hosting plans
- worry about improving the loading speed of the website
- pay ££ for solving problems related to cms updates when they conflict with a theme and/or plugins
- investigate is your theme corrupt or not
- worry about spammers... and the list goes on and on...

Does anybody really disagree?

Html+css website will not stress you out nor will keep asking to pay for continious fees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, on many points.

 

[ITsoldUK]

Whatever and whereever you will order it - go for a html+css website.

You will never have to:
- update the cms
Of course you will, you run an outdated version you are open to exploits.
- worry about backups
Of course you do. Bad practise not to back up regularly
- worry about sql injections or other attacks
See point 1
- pay for the more expensive hosting plans
Tosh and nonsense. Your hosting is not based on your CMS
- worry about improving the loading speed of the website
:|:|
- pay ££ for solving problems related to cms updates when they conflict with a theme and/or plugins
Install a huge amount of plugins willy nilly and see what happens.
- investigate is your theme corrupt or not
See point 1
- worry about spammers... and the list goes on and on...
WHAT??? Prevention is needed IN ALL CASES

Does anybody really disagree?

Html+css website will not stress you out nor will keep asking to pay for continious fees


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes me....

See my replies in red

I appreciate you are only trying to help but do not post guess work or someone, somewhere may well believe you...

...read up on the topic and then revisit your post. We all have to start somewhere I suppose.

Regards

 

[fisicx]

Wordpress. It is future-proofed, mobile friendly and has great plug-ins.

It's not future proofed nor is it mobile friendly. You can't future proof any IT because you don't know what the future will bring. And a cms isn't any sort of friendly. It's the theme that is mobile friendly. And most themes are pants at doing this.

As an aside, anyone who mentions the word 'mobile' is talking bollox. My iPad is mobile and has a better screen resolution than my Dad's desktop. People who know about web design will use the word responsive.

 

[horsehead101]

What I am doing from past sometime, I install wordpress. Use templates for my website and that is it. Wordpress is one of the inexpensive and easy method to design your own website easily.

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

what about dreamweaver?

 

[Alan]

What about dreamweaver?

I tried it once. It is essentially an html editor isn't it? I found it faster and easier to work in notepad++.

 

[Nuno]

Unless you are already up and running with Dreamweaver the learning curve will be longer, steeper and for less return than using a CMS like WordPress.

WordPress isn't the only system but is by far the most popular and widespread. This is because it is easy to start off, easy to get help and remarkably versatile. Millions and millions of users, from simple bloggers to fancypants multiple function megasites successfully use it.

There is also the small factor of cost. If you want a copy of Dreamweaver it is part of Creative suite and starts from £1880 (inc VAT, phew!) You can get the Adobe Cloud version for £18/month or £216 a year, (min contract).
So it's a substantial investment, (although hooky copies take up about 50% of the market according to Adobe).

So, to quote in summary: "you don't want to do it like that"

 

[Alan]

It is essentially an html editor isn't it? I found it faster and easier to work in notepad++.

I should have said a very expensive HTML editor

(Notepad++ is free)

 

[soapmedia]

Google strikingly and click the first result - I found this last week and its a nice mix of visual presentation that's managable with no technical skill required.

If you want something more bespoke (with little/no budget) maybe approach your local uni for a placement student? Taking on your own website with no skill can be frustrating with very mixed results in end product