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CADesign
09-06-2008, 11:18 PM
... or how not to build a website.

It's drastically obvious that my website is a first attempt at something that I know very little about. It was fun to try but I never finished it. It has way too many links and currently none of them go anywhere. The text is bulky and the design is poor. There's too much information to absorb at first glance and I'm really glad I don't need to depend on it right now. I have the domain name but my site is harbored at my Service Provider's free web space and linked to the domain name. I don't think I'm really even justified having a business website there other than to work on it which is it's current state.

Most, actually all, of my work is local and often requires a site visit or two so it will likely continue to remain local. (I may not always want this limitation though, so a real website is something that I will one day pursue.)

I think a good web presence would be advantageous, if for no other reason than, to represent what I do to potential clients and supply them with additional information and especially my email address and/ or phone number.

I really need to do some brainstorming on what it is that I want there and then hire a pro.

If you really want a laugh, go to Cascade Advanced Design (http://www.CascadeAdvanced.com) ...
:rolleyes:
Whatever ya do, don't look at the code ... I don't want to be responsible for anyone dieing of laughter.

vangogh
09-07-2008, 03:19 AM
Ok, I'm not going to tell you it's great, but believe me I've seen much worse.

I agree that a web presence is advantageous. More and more a website is becoming a necessity. The first thing to do is just figure out what the purpose of the site is. If all you're looking to do is give some additional info and a email/phone contact you might be able to get away with a single page site.

Spend some time deciding what you want the site to do and then either give the design another shot or hire someone like you're saying. It doesn't have to be all that expensive to get a site.

You could also do something like install WordPress and choose a theme you like. You could have the theme customized if you want something uniquely you.

Sorry I had to look at the code. It's what I do.

CADesign
09-07-2008, 04:09 AM
Thanks for taking a look Vangogh.

I don't feel too terribly bad since it's my first attempt and I probably learned a few things along the way.
I should at least explore WordPress to see what it's all about but I think a single page, if done well would probably do the job at this stage of my business.
What I'm thinking is basically a sort of unique online business card with my logo, a few descriptive words about the business and something to personalized it.

I'll give the content some thought as you suggest. I think I also need to consider where to park it.
Are there package deals where I could get a single page made and hosting on a yearly basis?

Thanks for the tips.

Dave

vangogh
09-07-2008, 01:21 PM
WordPress is rather easy to install. If you're hosting account is on a Linux server with cPanel, odds are there's something called Fantastico in your cPanel. If so you can have WordPress installed with just a few clicks. If not you need to do a manual install, but even that's not difficult. The hardest part is probably setting up the database if that's unfamiliar to you. The manual install is about 5 minute operation for me since all of the above is familiar.

Themes are easy to add. If you can use FTP, it's simply uploading the theme files in the right place and then selecting to use the theme on the admin side of WordPress.

Like anything else, WordPress has a learning curve, but it's a very shallow curve.

I think the best option for hosting is to purchase an account on one of the usual hosts. You should be able to get decent hosting for under $10/month, though you can always go for something better. It's not a huge expense for something business related and it gives you more flexibility with what you can do with your site. No matter what you think you'll do now, in all likelihood you'll want to do more down the road.

We're using Liquid Web to host the forum and so far they seem to be very good. I think they're basic shared hosting packages are a little more expensive ($15/mo?), but I think they offer a little more than other hosts. I'm using Lunarpages for my own site right now. The further out you're willing to pay the less it'll cost per month. They sometimes run specials where the hosting is $6.95/mo if you're willing to pay 2 years in advance.

Being a web designer I generally recommend having a professional design your site even if it's just one page. Less costly options are things like WordPress (it's not the only content management system, but it's the one I like the most) or you could find a free template somewhere as well and simply use that for your page.

cbscreative
09-07-2008, 03:38 PM
Vangogh said everything pretty well. The thing to keep in mind is that a good web design does not have to be expensive. Since you only pusue local biz, SEO is not something you need to worry about, but I still recommend search engine friendly just to get indexed properly.

There are also many other uses for a web site than just marketing, but that's the one that is thought of the most. Like you said, it does give the chance for poetential clients to check out your business, so that alone has value, but if you can think of ways to build client relations, that has equally tangible benefits. Anything you can provide on a site that makes it easier to do business with you helps strengthen your business.

vangogh
09-07-2008, 06:04 PM
I actually think SEO can still be important. You just have to target things locally. That should make your SEO easier since there will be less local competition than national or global competition, though it doesn't mean it'll be easy.

CADesign
09-07-2008, 07:27 PM
One thing that I'd be interested in exploring is to be able to exchange files via my website. I deal with CAD drawings (dot dwg extension) but most of my exchange is via PDF files via a virtual printer. I can also use a DWF format but this requires a client to download a (free) reader which I'd rather avoid if possible. With PDF's it's easy, everyone's got a pdf reader and it's great since I don't want data to be readily edited.

Currently, I just email PDF's which works great so I'm not really sure if there is any added advantage through a web page other than being able to display examples of my work online.

FTP is nice for larger (drawing) files but not as necessary with today's bandwidth if Zipped.

Sorry if I'm rambling on here, just thinking out loud ... :)

I think I have the ability to learn and eventually create a decent looking web page (the graphics, if you will) but don't think I understand anywhere near enough to ever deal with SEO or even what else is needed. (I don't even know the difference between parking and hosting ... for example)

My domains are all with the bid daddy, I probably have some options there but I haven't priced them yet.

Well, as us draftsman say ...
... "back to the drawing board."

I'm going to start looking for decent templates and go from there.

I'll keep y'all posted ... :)

Dave

cbscreative
09-07-2008, 07:32 PM
I think the SEO is still important too, which is why I suggested being able to be indexed well enough to at least show up. Even if you don't need huge results for search terms, you still want people to be able to find you if they are looking. Imagine if they've seen a targeted ad or someone referred them, and they can't find you when they do a search. Often, I will do a search rather than use the phone book or dig for a business card. I know there are others like me who also do that.

cbscreative
09-07-2008, 07:39 PM
I was thinking along the same lines of file sharing too, Dave. With modern storage allowances, you could share projects on your site so everyone involved could access them. And yes, PDF is a great way to do that. This would save the emailing too, Once you get used to the process, you could have a client login and/or create special pages for them to view.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 01:14 AM
This is all great info!

I found some great wordpress tutorials at My E Biz Toolbox (http://www.myebiztoolbox.wordpress.com)
Next I'll find a reliable host and link my domain name(s).
I see that there are lots of free templates out there so this will help and/ or I'll create a nice header in Gimp.

I now know what the CPanel is and how to get to the admin side (thanks tutorials).

Doesn't seem quite so foreign now, I think you all steered me in the right direction.
It's been an educational day ...

Thanks,

Dave

p.s. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

vangogh
09-08-2008, 02:32 AM
Dave one more place to look for WordPres info is the source. Here's the WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page). it has a lot of technical info that you probably won't need to know right away, but it also has some good articles on what WordPress is and what a blog is as well as the basic install process. Lots of good info.

Steve what I meant with the SEO is that just being indexed isn't really enough. There are plenty of things you can do to help you rank for local phrases. All the usual still applies, but you're focusing more on your specific location. There are plenty local specific things to do like signing up for all the local options at search engines, finding local directories, etc.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 03:23 AM
Again, Thanks Vangogh and CbsCreative,

I've got the Codex bookmarked for easy reference.
Hey, I've got a host now ...
... I went with cyberland-usa.com.
Not bad for $3.45 per month (annual)
Waiting on my DNS's so I can link my new domain name, they should be available in a day.
Then another wait while the domain name propogates and I'll be set to try out WordPress.

I may use one of cyberland's templates via their website creator as a temporary measure until I work with WordPress enough to figure it out.

BTW, thanks to whoever fixed the My E Biz Toolbox (http://www.myebiztoolbox.wordpress.com/) link, I should have linked the name to the url in the first place. Sorry about that. :)

Dave

cbscreative
09-08-2008, 09:48 AM
Your welcome, Dave.

I certainly agree, vangogh, that local SEO is very beneficial, and I would recommend all the same actions you just mentioned. Getting listed on Yellow Pages and all relevant local directories is very important. Having a search engine friendly design is the "foundation" of a good site so all those other efforts pay off better.

vangogh
09-08-2008, 11:38 AM
Steve good point about getting listed on Yellow Pages. More and more people are searching the internet instead of the phone book, but all the phone books have websites too now.

Dave I see you already have WordPress installed and even installed a new theme for yourself. Nice job.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 06:39 PM
Hi All,

Update:

It's been a bit of work just learning the ropes of finding a host, getting my domain name set up on that host, downloading and installing WordPress, learning how to get into WordPress, downloading and installing FileZilla and finally I'm in the process of finding a good theme for my new business website.

I'm still not sure how to get into the admin side of WP but I'll figure it out.
Once I find a theme, FTP that theme into the proper directory and edit it I'll need to figure out how to make the blog/ website visible to the public. I'm not even sure exactly where the existing (default) WP template is located.

Thank goodness for tutorials or I'd never have made it this far.

A special thanks to Vangogh for introducing me to WordPress.
I can see now that it's a very flexible program that can be utilized in a number of ways.
Now that I'm not totally overwhelmed by all of this it's starting to be a bit of fun.

My main goal is to get a business, web presence but I can imagine a time when I'll have a personal blog as well and/ or a combination of site/ blog.

I won't say that any of this is easy right off the bat but more that it's just a learning process that starts to make sense as it all comes together.

Well, I'm off to find a stock WP Theme (http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/).

I'll keep ya posted.

Dave

cbscreative
09-08-2008, 07:15 PM
Congrats on your journey and your progress, Dave. Usually, to get to the admin side of WP, you just add /wp-admin in the address and you should see a login screen.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 08:19 PM
OK, I was able to logon as admin.
Currently my site is at CascadeAdvancedDesign.com/wordpress
Can I make it show up as CascadeAdvancedDesign.com by moving my index to the root directory?

cbscreative
09-08-2008, 10:44 PM
Yes, you should be able to copy everything up one level through your FTP. If you take everything that is currently in the "wordpress" directory and copy it to your root directory, that should work. Be sure to do a "copy" while testing so you don't accidently erase the files you know are working.

vangogh
09-08-2008, 11:10 PM
You'd have to move everything into the root instead of having it installed under the wordpress folder. I think you'll also need to make some changes on the admin side.

If you move things up a level and have problems just delete everything and reinstall WordPress. Don't upload the whole wordpress folder. Instead just upload the contents of the folder.

I hope that makes sense.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 11:18 PM
It seems to be working now. In case you would like to see what Template I chose you can go here (http://cascadeadvanceddesign.com)

Editing is a different story, I could edit some text but was not able to figure out how to keep the title from running over some of the graphics.
I guess I need an editor other than just the wp-admin.

I'll do some research on how to set the page up like I want it, how to add some graphics and how to manage a file exchange of some sort.
Maybe it's just a matter of finding the right template, swapping out some graphics.
I like the header on this one.

I appreciate your help CBS, I've made a little ground since yesterday but only with the help of this site.
At the very least I've got a host and the drive to get a site up and running now.

Thanks,

Dave

cbscreative
09-08-2008, 11:23 PM
Good point, vangogh, since you're dealing with database here. Just copying may not be enough, you need to make sure everything in the database is cross referencing correctly.

CADesign
09-08-2008, 11:27 PM
Hi Van,

Yup, it makes sense ... I was having trouble with the database so I recreated it and it's working fine now. I also was able to change path of the blog on the admin side under options, I think.

Is there a good program for WYSIWYG for the templates so I can move some text and add some small graphics?

Thanks,

Dave

vangogh
09-08-2008, 11:45 PM
I hand code everything so WYSIWYG is a foreign language to me. You should be able to use any program you would use on a static site to edit files. I don't know if there's anything specific for working with WordPress themes.

Here's a list of HTML editors from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTML_editors). Down the page is the WYSIWYGs. You might have to click a few since it doesn't look like they're separated by the operating systems they work on.

CADesign
09-09-2008, 12:01 AM
Thanks ...

... I think I'll pass on digging into any code, I wouldn't even know which file to edit although I could probably change the text size if my life depended on it. :)

Thanks for the link!

Dave

vangogh
09-09-2008, 12:41 PM
It's not all that hard. Feel free to PM me if you have questions or just post them here or in another thread. I've been working with WordPress for awhile and know the system pretty well.

billbenson
09-09-2008, 06:16 PM
A suggestion. I'm not familiar with wordpress, but as you are starting to deal with this, get familiar with the database aspects of your control panel. While wordpress probably has database backup features, your control panel will probably have backup features as well and you should know how to do both site backups and database backups.

When you do backups, date them. I do something like sitebu-sep0408 for the site and sitedbbu-sep0408. Historical backups can be a real lifesaver.

Another thing I would suggest is opening up phpmyadmin. Most hosts provide it in the control panel and it is a database management program. For now, just use it to look around and see how the database is structured. In conjunction with that, research a bit how databases are structured.

None of the above is something you have to do other than be sure you have good backups. Since programs like wordpress pull the displayed webpage from the database, very often it is much easier to make changes directly to the db via something like phpmyadmin. I'm just suggesting you familiarize yourselfe with mysql and how databases work and phpmyadmin at this point. If you follow down this path, you may be glad you did in a year.

CADesign
09-09-2008, 11:57 PM
Van,
I'm sure I'll have questions down this road, nice to know that a helping hand is nearby.
I still don't have my head around Wordpress since I just installed it but I think it's mostly a matter of working with it and learning. Right now it seems a bit restricting on what I can do but I'm sure that will change when I find ways to unlock some of it's secrets.
I did work with HTML a little on my original site but I'm not familiar with PHP files so that's all new to me. I tend to compare every language to my early days when learning some basic BASIC and then AutoLISP for making routines in CAD Programs.

I'm starting to find that there are great resources in the way of free tutorials on most everything these days. The WordPress Conex is a goldmine for reference here and I'll keep my link handy as I proceed.

I think what I've really got going for me here is that I'm in no big hurry so I can fit learning and having fun building my site in between jobs. Having a helpful crew standing beside me is priceless ... so I really do appreciate all the tips and links and encouragement from everyone on this forum. Great place, glad I found you all!

Bill,
Setting up and dealing with databases is a whole new thing for me but I believe I did see phpmyadmin in the cpanel so I'll investigate to get a grasp on the structure.
Backups are good to establish from the start, I appreciate your bringing it up. I don't have a lot invested in my site yet but sure will want the security of a routine backup as I proceed.
I had to look here (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/what-is-mysql.html) to really know what MySQL is. Since I'm now jumping between Linux and XP have found the tip of the iceburg when it comes to site building I'm starting to gain a lot of respect Open Source software.

I've been weaning myself off of the big names MS and ACAD and found much more freedom in working in Linux. I've still got a way to go in getting my business financial and CAD software under Linux but I'll get there eventually.

Thanks all,
Dave

CADesign
09-10-2008, 12:11 AM
Van,

I think I may have loaded WP onto my host twice and have created a database manually and then automatically so I probably have a nightmare of a mess going.
I'll probably just delete the works (as long as I can figure out which files and directories to retain that came set up with the host originally)
All just part of the learning process I think.
I can get to my site fine via mysiteaddress.com/wordpress so that works fine for now and while working on things. I'm learning the cpanel and have touched on getting into and changing things on the admin side of WordPress.

Later I may ask about how to direct things so my site pops up when just mysiteaddress.com is typed into the browser.

You'll not see any miracles on my site for quite some time ...
... but the more I learn, the more I'll apply to it.

Thanks,

Dave

vangogh
09-10-2008, 12:33 AM
It's actually not too much of a problem having multiple WordPress installs. You can have as many as you want. You're limited more by what your host allows than anything else.

The worst case is you delete everything and then install again, which isn't all that big of a deal.

You can back up your database by going to Manage => Export on the Admin side. That will create an XML file of all your content. Technically it's not backing up the SQL tables, but since that's easily replaced by reinstalling WP I'm not sure how necessary it is. The XML file will contain all your actual data and it can easily be imported.

You may also want to back up your files. The only files you'll likely edit to any degree will be located in your wp-content folder. Odds are you'll only edit theme files which would be at wp-content/themes/your-theme

If you download your theme folder and it's contents and export the XML file you've really backed up everything you need to. After that you could delete your entire WP install and reinstall it again or somewhere else and still have your blog back to where it was.

WP allows you to do a lot of things to customize. The limitations are more to do with your experience with it than the application itself. Obviously it can't do everything, but the more I learn about it the more I realize it can do.

CADesign
09-10-2008, 12:55 AM
I just cut and pasted those backup instructions onto my handy-dandy Tomboy Notes for reference. This procedure makes it a piece of cake.

I imagine the backups are good for a lot of reasons but at my stage of learning they are essential. I suppose any new and unaware site can get hacked pretty easy as well although I doubt anyone would waste the time on a no traffic site.

Thanx

vangogh
09-10-2008, 01:05 AM
As long as you keep up with the WP security updates you shouldn't have to worry too much about getting hacked. It can happen. Nothing is every 100% secure. But the WP developers are pretty good about fixing things quickly and offering security patches when necessary.

CADesign
09-11-2008, 09:32 PM
Hi Van,

That's good to know. (About the inherent security via updates).
The main thing is to always have a backup so that no matter what happens (I'm sure it's much more likely I'd accidentally crash my own site), it can always be easily restored.

I wanted to ask if it's a good thing to, in any way, optimize a small business site for cell phone or pda viewing as well as for standard browsers or perhaps that's not practical/ possible and a parallel site could be dedicated for cell browsers. Any thoughts?

I just want to think ahead to the possibilities of how the site may be accessed for contact information.

Thanks,

Dave

vangogh
09-12-2008, 12:22 AM
I see no reason not to make a site display well in as many ways as possible. If a site uses standard compliant code you've already covered a lot. A few tweaks for Internet Explorer and you're mostly covered for viewing on a computer.

As far as cell phones and PDAs a site coded to the standards will usually display fine, but there are going to be other considerations. For example through a browser you probably want navigation toward the top of the page, but on a cell phone you'd probably want the content to appear first.

One thing to ask yourself about a cell phone or PDA is do you think it's realistic that someone is going to be looking for your services over their phone? If they are how important is it for them to see everything on your site?

People use the web differently on a computer and a phone.

cbscreative
09-12-2008, 10:06 AM
If you're looking to display on many different devices, this is one area where Dreamweaver CS3 might be woth looking into. It's a bit pricey for the average user, but does include the ability to check your pages on several kinds of devices, even specific to brand and model number if you want to.