Topic: Building a website

[gpw11]

Remember this thread?

Well, the plan has changed a little bit and I developed a temp payroll/invoicing system which works for the time being without it actually being web or cloud based. Not quite as automated as we were initially hoping for, but the direction of the company has changed a bit and the data we're working with is now a lot more straightforward so it all works out.

That said, we still want to get a website up and running.  I've been talking to a few developers for the last week or so and it's kind of been a headache.  It may be because all of these have been ones recommended to me by people I know and they're all trying to sell services above and beyond what I'm looking for ("We'll help streamline the online presence of your company so that it has one, cohesive voice"...no, motherfucker, you won't).

So, we're now looking at a cheaper (And far better for me, school-wise, plan):  I'm going to be getting a pretty simple website up and running and we'll reassess the need to hire a webdeveloper for a more professional site when that time comes. So, I'm going to be building a static portfolio site:  Front page, gallery, testimonials, contact info, and that's pretty much it. I'm not going to be coding shit here, so I'm probably going to be using a "What You See Is What You Get" web editor.  I do, however have a couple of questions:

-Which editor to use?  I was thinking of stealing a copy of Dreamweaver, but that might not be a good idea (I think?).  Any good and free alternatives that anyone can reccomend?

-I have no idea which options to select for hosting. Well, I kind of do but don't know if I'm overlooking anything. I'm thinking about using Godaddy, because hey - Super Bowl ads work. The .ca name I want is reasonably priced (.com already taken) and with the cheapest hosting service on godaddy.com, I get the following:

   

10 GB Space
    Unlimited Bandwidth
    100 Email Accounts2
    10 MySQL Databases (1 GB ea.)

I'm not going to hit 10 GB with what I'm doing here, need 2-3 email accounts at best, and don't even know what a MySQL database is, but don't think it applies to what I'm doing here.   Is there anything I'm overlooking here?

-Are there any crucial steps I'm missing out on here? As far as I remember from building shitty sites for school (And assuming this works the same), it goes: register name, get hosting, design site, upload via FTP (or whatever)  to site, publish...work on SEO.

I'm not being lazy and have browsed some reffresher tutorials and such (and plan on doing more of this), but figured that since some of you are pretty into this kind of stuff (and far more experienced in this category than myself), it'd be good to check with you guys for tips/advice/warnings.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Cools!]

Yes, the process is still the same and even the most basic hosting package these days is more than enough. Most support PHP so if at some point in the future you decide to make the site more dynamic you won't have to change hosts.

Dreamweaver is still the king for web design, sort of; it's what a lot of designers still seems to be using. You can find cheaper or free alternatives but I can't name any of the top of my head since I prefer to code in a text editor (Emacs in my case) and I have Dreamweaver for everything else (sigh).

Instead of doing the site yourself or hiring a developer you might want to consider buying a template and modifying it. It's much cheaper and you get a professional looking site right away. Another option is to install WordPress and buy a template for it. WordPress is used for pretty much everything now and you'll get content editing, etc.

[gpw11]

Brilliant.  I didn't even think Wordpress or a template was an option.  Looking into it, thanks.

[scottws]

Aptana Studio 3 is a decent open-source alternative to Dreamweaver.

[gpw11]

Okay, upon further evaluation:


I'm staying away from Dreamweaver, Expression Web, or any open-source alternative.  Wordpress or paying someone is the way to go here...mainly because I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing anymore and can't really dedicate the time.  Furthermore, it seems that Wordpress sites are pretty popular these days and you can get SEO plugins for them enabling you to get up to speed with all that - something I'm absolutely clueless about.  I also looked at options like wix.com and GoDaddy website tonight, which are basically services which let you build a site with a drag and drop graphical user interface (think Microsoft Publisher) and are really easy to use.  The downside is that Wix.com uses flash and Website Tonight is tied into GoDaddy so you can never move your site.

Chances are we're going to end up biting the bullet here and paying someone, but I'll try Wordpress.  I wanted to take a spin with it this weekend, but it seems I can't do a single thing with it until I install it onto the server...and we don't have the domain or hosting yet.

About that:  I've heard that you want to keep your hosting provider and domain registrar separate in case anything goes south. Is there any truth to that at all?  Anyone have any recommendations apart from Godaddy?

[Cools!]

You can test WordPress locally by setting up a server on your computer. It can get technical quickly but I believe there are one-click installers now for Windows (you need to install a server like Apache, PHP and MySQL database).

Setting up WordPress manually on a server isn't particularly difficult(you upload the files to the server, visit a page and follow the instructions) and many hosts now even offer to install WordPress for you from their control panel. GoDaddy has it for example if you dig deep enough.

As far as registrars goes, you can always transfer names and change hosts. The advantage of having it all with one company is you won't have to deal with setting things up manually (like connecting your domain name to your host). I like name.com (they offer hosting as well), but initially you can't really go wrong with anyone.

[scottws]

FWIW, I am working on a website for my sister-in-law's wedding. I did it as a Wordpress site, but I am still using Aptana Studio 3 to edit things like colors, borders, fonts, and elements. I am mostly messing with the CSS and you don't need Aptana/Dreamweaver for that, but it makes it easy with the built-in file transfer and synchronizaton tools.

[gpw11]

You can test WordPress locally by setting up a server on your computer. It can get technical quickly but I believe there are one-click installers now for Windows (you need to install a server like Apache, PHP and MySQL database).

Setting up WordPress manually on a server isn't particularly difficult(you upload the files to the server, visit a page and follow the instructions) and many hosts now even offer to install WordPress for you from their control panel. GoDaddy has it for example if you dig deep enough.

As far as registrars goes, you can always transfer names and change hosts. The advantage of having it all with one company is you won't have to deal with setting things up manually (like connecting your domain name to your host). I like name.com (they offer hosting as well), but initially you can't really go wrong with anyone.

Done.  Up in the air between Godaddy and name.com at this point.  Waiting for a call back from the company owner as well as looking at the features.  They seem to both be on par, except Name.com advertises some SEO service that seems to be free...maybe. Either way, doing both the domain registration and hosting at the same place.

FWIW, I am working on a website for my sister-in-law's wedding. I did it as a Wordpress site, but I am still using Aptana Studio 3 to edit things like colors, borders, fonts, and elements. I am mostly messing with the CSS and you don't need Aptana/Dreamweaver for that, but it makes it easy with the built-in file transfer and synchronizaton tools.

I'll probably do this.  As soon as I have the Wordpress up and running and figure out how to change colours and shit.  Total moron when I used to find this really easy with Frontpage. How does Wordpress display on mobile by default?

[scottws]

It handles mobile really well, though I had to mess with the widths on some plugins that were extending past the page contents. Plus I am sure there are many mobile plugins.

[Cools!]

Name.com has Google apps integration. So if you like gmail (or Google calendar, etc.) you can make your website email(s) be powered by the service (can access it like any other gmail account but you have your own custom @websitename.com)

[gpw11]

Name.com has Google apps integration. So if you like gmail (or Google calendar, etc.) you can make your website email(s) be powered by the service (can access it like any other gmail account but you have your own custom @websitename.com)

That pretty much just tipped the scales for me.  It'll make it a lot easier to integrate with all the organizational tools  already use through Google Apps.  I just purchased a year of hosting and a year of domain usage through Name.com an hour or so ago.  The control panel seems a bit difficult to use, so I'm probably going to be firing questions off at you over the next little bit.

Well, actually the main thing is that I installed Wordpress through the control panel and tried to set up a web disk directory so I could alter files direct from my PC.  The thing is that Web Disk won't actually connect during setup and I can't get to my Wordpress user panel - just leads to a 404 or whatever.  Does it take a while for the hosting to actually go "live?"

[gpw11]

Nevermind, it was the DNS delay as I had suspected.  I can get into the Wordpress control panel.  Now, just have to figure out how this all works.

[gpw11]

Interestingly enough, I could totally install wordpress and a theme from the control panel - and I did so in the root directory.  Common sense and both tutiorials I referenced tell me that I should now be able to see some evidence of a Wordpress install from my home page...but I'm still getting the default "coming soon" message as seen here:

www.pmhomes.ca

Is this still some kind of a delay that's going on?

[Cools!]

Hard to tell without seeing your root structure, but it could be that you need to delete an index.html or index.php so it doesn't mask your wordpress index page. Or maybe the wordpress index is named something other than "index.php"?

[Cools!]

Oh and don't delete anything too fast.

[gpw11]

Thanks, that was it: I needed to delete index.html and/or index.php.  I kind of thought that Wordpress would have just overwritten it instead of allowing it to mask the install. I guess I can't really screw anything up by deleting anything, right?  Like, there's no equivalent of erasing a boot sector here.


Edit:  Hahaha.  Gotcha and I'm glad you said that - I'll be sure to research before I delete anything else.  Honestly, now that I'm actually into wordpress and able to see the results on the site, I don't think I'll need to mess with the file structure on the server much. Well, who knows, but I think it'll be more or less smooth sailing from here from what I've read.

Now just to find a good theme, get a gallery running, figure out this google apps thing for the Gmail support and BAM! Website.

[scottws]

I always install Wordpress to ./wordpress.  They have a guide on how to do that but still make www.yourdomain.com still open the Wordpress site (vs. www.yourdomain.com/wordpress).  I guess it doesn't really matter if all you are putting on there is Wordpress, but you never know...

[gpw11]

I may see about doing that once I have everything up and stuff.  I don't imagine it'd be hard to download the content files, change the directory, and then re-upload to /wordpress. I actually have no idea how this file structure works, but whatever.

What do you guys use to edit/move/upload files onto the website? Webdisk really doesn't like Win7 x64 and the online File Manager blows.  I'm using Filezilla to do it through FTP right now, is that pretty much the way to go?

[scottws]

Aptana has a built in FTP client. I use that. If i didn't I would use FileZilla.

[gpw11]

Yeah, filezilla is all coming back to me now. 

So, I have the site up and running in the theme I think I'll be using:  http://pmhomes.ca/

That backround image is just something I had on my pc and I'll be switching it out for something more subtle or just a solid background colour.  Pretty much everything else on there is a placeholder as well.  I do need to find out how to get the logo tucked away somewhere within the theme as well.

The slideshow on the front page is also kind of redundant considering that it's just pulling images from the gallery.  Initially, I wanted to have sliders as is shown on the theme demo: http://www.wpexplorer.com/my-corporation-wordpress-theme   but I couldn't figure out how to implement them at all (seriously).  I also didn't really know what content I'd be linking to.


So, anyways, I decided to keep it really simple for two reasons:  1.) Simple = Clean...and that seems to be all the rage these days.  And 2.) Simple = Free and Easy.

I'll probably start pumping content in soon but if anyone has any suggestions and/or advice, I'd love to hear it.

[Cools!]

Good stuff. I like the current design. Looks very professional. If you need nature/macro background images let me know. I might have some architecture/buildings in the future as well.

[gpw11]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind - have to run everything by the boss man tomorrow.  So, you think a kind of "vibrant" or busy background picture like that is fine?  I was a bit worried and have been contemplating switching it over to a solid background.

I also don't really like how it renders on mobile and now have a completely separate theme running for mobile, although it has problems and I'd like to get something else (responsive or specifically designed for mobile) but haven't really had much more time to look into that.  I STILL might end up paying for a premium theme, just because it would probably make some of the little alterations a hell of a lot easier. 

[gpw11]

So, I'm back on this again and thinking about upgrading to a premium theme.  Any tips or suggestions on a good one?  Is it even necessary? I'm assuming it'd make some things a lot easier - like altering colours, borders, and inserting logos and stuff.

[Cools!]

I don't really have experience with any particular theme. You'll have to shop around and see what fits your needs. Technically you can alter everything on your own (edit the theme, change the style sheets, etc.) without having to get a new theme.

[gpw11]

I ended up spending on a framework, which was probably worthwhile in the end.  I've updated the site temporarily (need a new graphical logo banner, adjust image sizes and stuff like that) but this is pretty much what I'm going to go with I think.

Honestly, the whole thing was kind of a mistake and we should have gone with a developer...which was kind of what I was saying at the start. Considering I'm still getting paid hourly for doing this and it's way beyond my range of expertise, the guy could have gotten something better for less, most likely.   All in all, it's been kind of a bitch and I'm not finding it easy to figure out how to adjust the placement of pictures and alter small things which SHOULD probably not be a problem. 

Whatever, I'll probably get the rest of the content from him, spend an hour or so cleaning it up, and finishing it.  Should he decide he wants to redo it at some point a pro can probably get in and out of there in a few hours now.

[gpw11]

So, does anyone know why wordpress blows so much regarding images?  I mean, galleries and sliders aside, it's really a bitch (kind of impossible) to get an image to show up where I want it to on a page. You'd think that there'd be an easier way of going about it considering a ton of people are using wordpress for static sites nowadays.

It's seriously worse than Microsoft Word for it.  Far Worse.

Also, I've fully updated the site. If anyone wants to do me a huge favour and take a look at it, I'm totally down to hear suggestions.  I know I have to fix the low quality header logo and the alignment on the front slider images - my recent pc issues has kinda fucked me for that. And I'm waiting to hear back from support on the issue with the gallery slideshow and not being able to see the right nav button - partially because of the light content backround and partially because those pictures are out of alignment as well (wtf?  Shouldn't they just center/blow up?  I resized them all to 800x600 to make things load faster).

Personally, I think it's a fair bit better...but I have no idea.

[Cools!]

Yeah it can be a pain to get templates and frameworks to do what you want. As long as you stay within the specs you shouldn't have the problem. The missing gallery arrow looks like a bug, though the popup lightbox view (where the images appear on black) work fine.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I may just take the gallery slideshow off until I can find a solution.
 

Thanks for taking a look.  What did you think, professional looking enough for a business site?

[gpw11]

So, I guess google changed their formula again and it kind of fucked me.  Not a big deal, because we're not really looking for the business that the site would bring in from a google search, but it's kind of a bitch that the company name used to bring my website up first, and now it's like 5th or 2nd, depending on how you type it in...and it both cases it goes straight to the gallery rather than the home page.  I may have to talk to my boss about hiring an SEO bro, but how much would be a reasonable amount to pay? I'm assuming it'd be less than the $30/hr he'd be paying me to figure it out.

Aside from that, are there easy solutions for this kind of thing?

[Cools!]

There are a lot of things that can be done to boost search engine results, but the easiest is to focus on having good content, making sure you have plenty of keywords in that content, and have other sites link to yours. You can also leverage social media, like create a Twitter account that constantly links to the site. Youtube, flickr, Facebook page for the business, etc. All of these little things will help boost the business.

[scottws]

You'd be surprised at how expensive hiring an SEO expert can be.