My website

[eggman08.2008]

Im in the middle of building this website.

www.ukairconditioningdirectory.com

But when I published the site I found that some of the links do not work properly. They are all done correctly on my side but one minute they work and the next I get the following message.
Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /payment.html on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/2.2.9 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.9 OpenSSL/0.9.8b mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at www.ukairconditioningdirectory.com Port 80

Also the logo accross the top of the page shows up in different sizes or in different possitions & sometimes not at all.

The people who I designed this with say it is fine on their side.

Could everybody be so kind to have a little play with the site to see if they have the same problems. Remember the Forbidden fault is intermitten so this does not happen all the time. (About 1 out of 10 times)

Also the search bar is not linked up to any pages so I expect this not to work.

Any feedback on is welcome

 

[eggman08.2008]

I need help. A little bit off help would go a long way

 

[JustOneUK]

Which page gave you that error? I didn't see it.

BUT the drop down menu doesn't work, I was unable to select a locality.

James.

 

[glencooley.com]

It seems fine for me link wise and i dont get the error??

I would say that it doesnt look how you intend in IE 6 though with using the png images without the fix for IE 6.

What browser and operating system are you using.

Thanks

 

[noidea]

First, you should get the Error Document error sorted. It's probably in the server configuration file rather then an .htaccess file.

The forbidden error could be due to an overloaded server. Are you on shared hosting?

 

[eggman08.2008]

The search bar is not set up yet.

Glenclooney, I dont understand what this means

"I would say that it doesnt look how you intend in IE 6 though with using the png images without the fix for IE 6."

I am using a thing called bluevoda. It is something you download and it helps amateurs to design a website. Then you pay them for the hosting and domain name.
So i assume I am using their server.

Remember im a beginner so I dont know all the jargon.

Thanks

 

[ozbon]

In that case, it looks like it's hosted with vodahost.com. Personally, I've never heard of Vodahost or BlueVoda, so can't say anything about them, or the BlueVoda product.

Anyway, what are you using to look at your site? Internet Explorer, Firefox, or something else?

It'll be hard to fix something like this, as you don't know what the software (BlueVoda) is doing with what you're setting up.

As an example, it's like using MS Word, and Word saying "You don't want to do your text like that, you want to do it like this" and changing things under the hood without you asking it to. Looking at the source code for the index page of your site, it's doing some fairly unpleasant stuff underneath the covers.

 

[eggman08.2008]

Is there any way to sort out this problem with the source code?

 

[ozbon]

Well, without wanting to sound flippant (or like I'm pimping my own company too much) talk to a decent web designer/developer.

It's easy to do a site quickly/easily with a tool like you're using, but it has major issues as time goes on. It's set up to do the basics, but as you get more people involved, or want to expand the business, it will show limitations very quickly. In addition, with your aim of being top of Google within 12 months, you'll need a lot more access to your source code in order to optimise the pages etc.

Also how are you planning to add companies to the site? Will it be a manual task every time someone joins up?

I'd be happy to discuss this with you in more detail - feel free to send a PM if you want to.

 

[eggman08.2008]

I've been told by my website designer (who does my other sites) that they can get me to the top of google and i dont have to pay until the site gets there.

I plan to add companies manualy, yes.
How much could you make a site like this for, but one that works properly?

 

[glencooley.com]

£400 but would not only make it work and cross browser but "improve" on the design and look.

 

[fisicx]

I've been told by my website designer (who does my other sites) that they can get me to the top of google and i dont have to pay until the site gets there.

I plan to add companies manualy, yes.
How much could you make a site like this for, but one that works properly?

1. nobody can guarantee that a site will get to the top of google.

2. Cost is dependent of how much functionality you require, how much automaton you want, if you need copywriting, images, graphics... could be done for £500 but it could cost £2000. I'm sure someone will come up with an offer but are you sure you want a directory, they are very difficult to make viable?

3. The site falls to bits if you increase the font size. It's all the horrible positioning you use. This is often the case when you use a website builder, all sorts of weird code gets inserted.

 

[ozbon]

There's also the issue (sorry, this one gets technical) where your designer has heard that tables aren't a good idea, and that they should use divs and css instead - only they haven't quite got to grips with that, and they've pretty much replaced nested tables with nested divs.

I'll send you a PM regarding price etc.

 

[glencooley.com]

There's also the issue (sorry, this one gets technical) where your designer has heard that tables aren't a good idea, and that they should use divs and css instead - only they haven't quite got to grips with that, and they've pretty much replaced nested tables with nested divs.

I'll send you a PM regarding price etc.

Play fair

Post your pricing......I have

Although i would love to take this on I cant because i a tied to 2 bigger projects atm so if you can wait 3 weeks I can sort it.

If not then Ozbon, C.Pearse, Fisicx or Awebapart can sort this for you but I dont know their work schedules but its is a small job try them all.

 

[Deleted member 27344]

I'm shaking my head at such a lack of basic business understanding.
I would really love to know how many people are setting similar sites because they think they can simply make their fortune but when the reality hits and 2 months down the line not one penny has been made, they simply give up.

If you are going to try to make money you need to have a basic business plan, a budget and an idea of marketing.

"Remember, we intend to be at the top of Google within 12 months ..."
Please prove me wrong but I'd be surprised if you even renew your domain fees.

 

[glencooley.com]

Well said pointandshare.

 

[MrTempleDene]

I have an almost finished directory system written in PHP and MySQL which allows for your customers to control their own listing entries on such a site.

It was developed for someone with a similar idea to yours who gave up before they went live.

I can arrange a demo of it if you are interested, PM me for details.

But sites like this are very difficult to get off the ground as pointandstare mentioned, you do need a solid business plan and decent marketing.