Website design help plz

[wizer]

It's not come out great Chris to be honest.

If you don't want to pay for someone to do it because you want to retain control, then I strongly advise you to use the link Chris posted above. I went off and had a look at it last night and it really is very good. The only other way you are going to get the same sort of results is to buy a very high end software package and even then I don't think it will be that 'easy'.

 

[chippy1970]

It's not come out great Chris to be honest.

If you don't want to pay for someone to do it because you want to retain control, then I strongly advise you to use the link Chris posted above. I went off and had a look at it last night and it really is very good. The only other way you are going to get the same sort of results is to buy a very high end software package and even then I don't think it will be that 'easy'.

It did only take a few minutes so Im not surprised its not great but I can tinker with it now. Trouble with the online program I used is that you cannot change everything so I will have a look at the other one suggested and see what its like. Its the old thing that you get what you pay for but at the moment I cant pay for anything .

 

[chippy1970]

you might want to take a look at tumblr blog - i have used it for two sites, its really easy to use supports pictures, audio and video. All the coding is done, you can tweak or just leave it.

Adding content is easy and can even done via email - you can also use your own domain name

best of all its free....


also it support google anayltics - really useful to see how many vistors/ where from etc etc

check it out and take a look at a couple of examples: www.tumblr.com

for photos and sideshows, you might be better with a flickr account and link your site to this - tumblr can do this with ease - you may want to use a lightweight flickr viewer like this: http://ihardlyknowher.com/

there is no real need to throw a load of money at it now - use flickr, tumblr etc and your site will look great

just a couple of thoughts

Will this work with my current host or is this seperate ? I ask because I bought my domain name for 2 years and got free hosting for life from www.freevirtualservers.com as recommended on this forum.

 

[grafter]

Will this work with my current host or is this seperate ? I ask because I bought my domain name for 2 years and got free hosting for life from www.freevirtualservers.com as recommended on this forum.

you use the tumblr servers to host but use your own domain name - its very easy to set up

open an account and have a go - if you like it then host the blog at your domain - its free nothing to lose

from tumblr site:
http://www.tumblr.com/docs/custom_domains

see this too:
http://www.tumblr.com/why-tumblr[/quote]

ps: looking at virtual servers - the bandwidth is only 100mb per month - which is not that many vistors before your site exceeds the limit - you will not have this problem with tumblr

 

[big soft moose]

You are not going to get that level of design from a web design package.

I dont really see why - there's nothing in oryx's site that couldnt be done with something like serif web plus X2

good design is about the eye of the person putting it together not what package they use - and someone with good graphic sensibilities can do better with a relatively cheap design package than someone without can do with dreamweaver

look at how many awful (particularly flash heavy) sites there are created by supposed proffesionals.

that said i do agree with tom that you aren't going to get a site like that using frontpage or a templated freebie from your web host.

 

[mickthetree]

if you dont have any budget, then you are going to have to compromise on design, layout and functionality.

If you really have no budget at all, then get yourself some free hosting, get a free template and keep everything as simple as possible in terms of design.

Something like this

Use a free program like this to put some pages together using that template.

That program probably has some templates built into it alrteady.

Just keep things really simple and basic and use the best quality photos you can. BUT make sure you resize photos before you put them on your site or theywill take ages to download.

 

[chippy1970]

if you dont have any budget, then you are going to have to compromise on design, layout and functionality.

If you really have no budget at all, then get yourself some free hosting, get a free template and keep everything as simple as possible in terms of design.

Something like this

Use a free program like this to put some pages together using that template.

That program probably has some templates built into it alrteady.

Just keep things really simple and basic and use the best quality photos you can. BUT make sure you resize photos before you put them on your site or theywill take ages to download.

As I said I have a domain name and free hosting already I just need a good website to use with it. I might try Dreamweaver out maybe I can borrow it off my brother.

 

[wizer]

The last option for you, is a couple of books and a few late nights. Micks idea is the best one. Don't fcuk about building from scratch when some geek out there has done it for you. Find a free CSS website (or even pay for one of the lost cost ones) and then learn how to manipulate them using a basic HTML editor (like MS Notepad).

I honestly don't think you are ever going to produce the website you want (and one that's effective) by trying to cut corners, hoping that an editor will do the donkey work for you. If you take some time to understand the basic HTML and CSS commands then you can work out what is going wrong.

That's how I learned HTML\CSS\Javascript\PHP etc, all those years ago (14 scarily).

 

[Steve Jones]

Chris,

Just my humble opinion regarding dreamweaver.

I did 2 courses on how to use dreamweaver at a local college last year, and quite frankly I still can't use it !
When the courses ended I got talking to a customer who works in IT about it and he told me that there are far easier programs out the to work with than dreamweaver and quite honestly I got fed up and stopped trying to use.

Steve

 

[wizer]

In my company (largest media website in the world), Dreamweaver is used not to create sites, but for maintenance. They use it to format web content and check compliance, aswell as for page management. It's only used in certain pockets of the company. The rest all prefer simple text based editors. Every dept. seem to have their preference but they all seem to do the same sort of thing. I use one called EditPlus. I've no idea if there are better options out there, this does all I need. Life is much easier when you understand what code makes the thing happen the way you want it to. As part of my job (senior support) I had to do extensive training in lots of apps including dreamweaver. It's only the last 4yrs that I'd consider actually using DW to scratch build and I'd only do it if I was going to hand over the site to someone else to manage once complete.

 

[matt]

Don't put stock in Dreamweaver. I use it for hand-coding some parts of pages because it has some handy features but never bother with the WSIWIG side of things. I also use a number of other apps for hand-coding too. Have a go with WordPress.

 

[chippy1970]

I did actually try Dreamweaver about 2 years ago I think and didnt have a clue what to do.

I had a quick fiddle with Coffee cup html editor as recommended here and it seems good. I have been trying to work out the html coding and most of it does look quiet straight forward. I have worked out how you change all the text headers etc and started trying to work out how to add images.

 

[wizer]

The problem you are having is that you are trying to design a page like a Word or Publisher document and the web doesn't work like that. Hence you difficulties with dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is not intended to make website without coding knowledge. I really think you need to find a book, even if it's one of the Dummies range.

 

[Oryxdesign]

Something along these lines is what I am after http://www.oryxdesign.co.uk/Oryx_Design ... _Home.html

I dont know if that will work with my 100Mb hosting package. I just want a homepage with contact details about us page and a gallery.

Yes it will, ours is built in iweb and hosted on my mobileme account.

Sorry Tom I didn't know that this was your expertise, I certainly would have contacted you about the other site I showed you last time you were down.

 

[wizer]

I do a bit. Not so much now. I'm at a loose end for a few weeks so a little job like this would be interesting.

A big job like your other site Simon probably would have been too much for me to take on to be honest. I'm not geared up to offer continuing support either.

 

[Oryxdesign]

Oh good i don't feel so bad now. I think it's important to be able to update your own website rather than have to rely on someone else, my wife does our updates so I only have to rely on her!

 

[matt]

Oh good i don't feel so bad now. I think it's important to be able to update your own website rather than have to rely on someone else, my wife does our updates so I only have to rely on her!

Therin lies the reason why a suitable content
management system can be ideal. I have one that I built for an antiques business (all using free tech) that would probably be a good fit but, like Tom, I'm no longer building sites and can't offer support.

 

[grafter]

Oh good i don't feel so bad now. I think it's important to be able to update your own website rather than have to rely on someone else, my wife does our updates so I only have to rely on her!

#

exactly - do you want to be learning html etc or actually writing copy for the site and getting stuff out there - go with a blog (tumblr or similar) it a doddle to update (via login, e-mail or even phone) easy to customise and will have no bandwidth problems.

 

[rjb]

I've used an early version of Dreamweaver for a number of years, but recently decided I needed to upgrade to a more up to date program. I tried free trial versions of several programs before deciding on Microsoft Expression Web. This is similar to Dreamweaver CS4, but I found it much more straight forward and simple to use. As has been mentioned previously, there is a learning curve with these programs and you do really need to understand the basics of CSS and HTML coding. Having said that, it's a lot faster and simpler than coding entirely by hand, especially if you're building a large site. I would highly recommend trying a trial version of Expression Web and I found that the quickest way to learn the basics was watching tutorial videos on youtube. There are loads of tutorials available and I found the videos really helpful.

Regarding the slideshow, there are loads of free scripts available if you search on google and they usually have instructions and are simple to set up. It's really just a matter of looking at some until you find a layout and functionality that you like.

Richard.

 

[chippy1970]

cheers Richard