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Tip courtesy of SitePoint | Build a Website!
(yes, YOU!)
Note: If you would like some help with your website, I may be available to do some consulting.
Visit my iservices page.
I've been asked on various occasions for suggestions for building a website, so I thought I would include a few of my favourite resources for some of you who are interested in building a website of your own. It's not as hard as you might think - just takes a little time and creativity.
Before I get to the resources, here are a few quick tips to keep in mind:
* Start small. REALLY small - 1 page. It doesn't take a lot to put together a single page talking about something you're interested in, such as a hobby, your occupation or your family. It's easy to build on it as you have time. Get your feet wet first.
* Start simple. The purpose of the internet really is 1 person typing words to another person. An occasional picture is great, but when you're first starting out, don't clutter things with video, online games and 3-D virtual thingamee-doo-hickies.
* Make it personal. As with anything, write about what you know. Act like you're talking to 1 other person who shares your interest.
* Make it an ongoing project. Don't plan on making a 112-page website in a day and then leaving it untouched for the rest of your life. Try to take a half hour a week, day, or month, whatever you have time for, and work on it bit by bit.
* Finally, don't be afraid to experiment. If it doesn't work, you can always change it. You won't be wasting paper or glue, and experimenting will help your brain cells grow.
Resources to help you:
Start by learning something. If you use both these tools, you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble:
For Everyone: If you want to build a site about a topic, such as a hobby or an interest you have, or if you want to build a site for your business, I cannot possible recommend Site Build It! enough. You can waste your time on things that cost 10x as much and not get anything nearly as good. Or, you can go with a free resource and save your money and waste your time. I've used SBI! extensively now, on different types of sites, and it has been so worth it. If you want to develop an interest, it's the best way to create a site. If you want to make money online, it's the way to cut through all the hype and do something worthwhile. Check it out!
For Christian Webmasters: A resource that will help you understand how the web works and how to best use it is the excellent Web Evangelism Guide. It's now right here on this website!
You could also subscribe to the excellent (and also free) Web Evangelism newsletter, by entering your e-mail address below:
Website creation software:
For the beginner, try Nvu, a good "WYSIWYG" program (what-you-see-is-what-you-get ... in other words, you see the page as it will look on the web as you go).
Another option is to build a website around a blog. I use WordPress, and highly recommend it. Again, for most things I would recommend SBI! as above, but a blog may be appropriate for a family or personal site with no specific topic.
More helpful free software:
Leech FTP: An excellent free program for moving the web pages from your computer to the web and back.
Xenu: A program that checks your website to make sure all the links work.
Irfanview: This is what I use to optimize all the graphics I use on my websites. Read my full review here.
E_Cloaker: An easy way to keep spammer software from picking up your email address online.
HTMLcolor: Tiny program that simply tells you what the colours are on your screen, in HTML, RGB, etc. Very handy if you're trying to match colours, and you don't know what the colour is.
Other helpful resources:
addr.com: An excellent and inexpensive web hosting company.
RSAC: An association that helps "rate" web pages for family viewing. If you rate your page as safe for all ages, it will be available to many more people who "block" objectionable content.
Alertbox: Jacob Nielson's helpful research into what makes a website actually attractive and usable for your visitors.
AnyBrowser.com: Did you know that not everyone uses Internet Explorer? Did you know that not everyone has a 27" screen? Wouldn't it be best if the widest audience possible could enjoy your website?
GoDaddy: Reliable, inexpensive domain name registration.
Hope that gets some of you started, or further along! All the best in your building projects.
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