suggestions for a 'do-it-yourself' website service

Gregg Bell · 05-13-2013, 02:20 PM

I want to do a website. Nothing elaborate. And nothing time or cost expensive to maintain. But I don't want it to look cheesy either. I see all these sites, some free, some paid. What I'm looking for is a site where I can design it without getting deeply into the html. Any feedback?

VydorScope · 05-13-2013, 02:25 PM

Look at WordPress. IMO. Tons of themes you can get to make it look good, easy to use, and can be hosted by just about anyone. My site is in wordpress hosted on my personal server for example.

Nancy Fulda · 05-16-2013, 12:51 PM

Ditto that. Wordpress is quite awesome.

Other free, customizable web sites include blogger, livejournal, and about.me.

Gregg Bell · 05-17-2013, 12:56 AM

thanks guys

Gregg Bell · 05-17-2013, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

Ditto that. Wordpress is quite awesome.

Other free, customizable web sites include blogger, livejournal, and about.me.

Hey Nancy,

You know I've got blogger for a blog. So I can do a website there too?

Nancy Fulda · 05-17-2013, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

You know I've got blogger for a blog. So I can do a website there too?

I wasn't aware you were distinguishing between the terms. (A lot of new authors don't, so I've gotten rather used to ignoring the distinction when people ask for advice.)

No, as far as I know, blogger doesn't include tools for menus or static web pages. For that, WordPress is far and away your best bet -- and I would in fact recommend getting your own domain and installing WordPress on it rather than using the less flexible setups at wordpress.com.

Gregg Bell · 05-17-2013, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I wasn't aware you were distinguishing between the terms. (A lot of new authors don't, so I've gotten rather used to ignoring the distinction when people ask for advice.)

No, as far as I know, blogger doesn't include tools for menus or static web pages. For that, WordPress is far and away your best bet -- and I would in fact recommend getting your own domain and installing WordPress on it rather than using the less flexible setups at wordpress.com.

thanks Nancy

VydorScope · 05-17-2013, 02:11 PM

A church whose site I host is in wordpress, http://www.cranberrybaptist.org/ as an example.

Gregg Bell · 05-17-2013, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

A church whose site I host is in wordpress, http://www.cranberrybaptist.org/ as an example.

Yeah, it was very nice. Plenty sophisticated for what I'll need. So that's the wordpress.com one, though, not the wordpress.org?

VydorScope · 05-17-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Yeah, it was very nice. Plenty sophisticated for what I'll need. So that's the wordpress.com one, though, not the wordpress.org?

That is not the wordpress.com hosted version. That is the downloaded and installed on my own server version. There are tons of hosts out there that will host wordpress for you cheaply.I do not know much aobut the wordpress.com hosted version, never used it.

Gregg Bell · 05-17-2013, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

That is not the wordpress.com hosted version. That is the downloaded and installed on my own server version. There are tons of hosts out there that will host wordpress for you cheaply.I do not know much aobut the wordpress.com hosted version, never used it.

Thanks Vincent.

James_Wilde · 05-29-2013, 12:17 AM

Everybody praises WP, which I have to say I think is not very intuitive. Added to that, it's supposed to be a full-blown crm system as I understand it.

Is there anything else which one can load on a server so that more than one person can access it, but which is much simpler. We have a site of - currently - about 12-14 pages but which we'd like to expand, but I don't think I want to spend time fighting WP or asking my wife to do it either.

Gregg Bell · 05-29-2013, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Everybody praises WP, which I have to say I think is not very intuitive. Added to that, it's supposed to be a full-blown crm system as I understand it.

Is there anything else which one can load on a server so that more than one person can access it, but which is much simpler. We have a site of - currently - about 12-14 pages but which we'd like to expand, but I don't think I want to spend time fighting WP or asking my wife to do it either.

I was going to sign up with Wordpress.com. Then, once I was pretty far into the sign-up process, it seemed they were steering me to a paid version. When I went to "Help" it said: 'Oh sorry. We're backlogged with requests and can only reply to paying customers.' I ran for my life. I checked out Host Gator. I loved the UI. They bragged of 24/7 service and an 800 phone number. I called. Heard lots of nice music for five minutes. I checked out GoDaddy. I called them. Someone answered. I signed up. Cheap. Easy. Solid. And real service. I couldn't be happier.

Lazer · 05-31-2013, 01:30 PM

I've got a Mac and used iWeb and have RageSW host it. iWeb was intuitive and HTML gives me a headache. I've also heard great stories about SquareSpace.

I don't know about web pages done with Wordpress but some processes cause problems when the webpage is viewed on a smartphone. Mine looks fine on an iPhone and I know that sites done with SquareSpace fix this problem.

Pulpmeister · 06-04-2013, 12:16 AM

I run two websites, both of which I created without any training or experience. I used Dreamweaver (quite an ancient edition now, but it does all I want)--a design-layout program akin to Front Page, the web equivalent of a desktop publisher. I almost never look at the HTML.

The things you need to remember are that if you use fancy fonts, there's a big chance that the person on the far end doesn't have them on ther device, and their web browser will default to some other font, with ugly results. And that pictures, when inserted, have to be the right pixel size. No good putting a 4000 pixel image into a 1920 wide page. It gets messy hat way.

For body type and headline fonts, I use Verdana and Georgia, both practicaly universal on PCs, and both very clear on the screen. Fancy fonts are done as graphics.

I bought my domain names, and organised hosting, neither being expensive nor difficult.

I use Filezilla (freeware) to upload.

[promotional links deleted - MODERAT0R]

05-13-2013, 02:20 PM	#1
Gregg Bell Gregg Bell Posts: 2,264 Karma: 3917588 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Itasca, Illinois Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet	suggestions for a 'do-it-yourself' website service I want to do a website. Nothing elaborate. And nothing time or cost expensive to maintain. But I don't want it to look cheesy either. I see all these sites, some free, some paid. What I'm looking for is a site where I can design it without getting deeply into the html. Any feedback?

06-04-2013, 12:16 AM	#15
Pulpmeister Wizard Posts: 2,502 Karma: 28893796 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Perth Western Australia Device: kindle	I run two websites, both of which I created without any training or experience. I used Dreamweaver (quite an ancient edition now, but it does all I want)--a design-layout program akin to Front Page, the web equivalent of a desktop publisher. I almost never look at the HTML. The things you need to remember are that if you use fancy fonts, there's a big chance that the person on the far end doesn't have them on ther device, and their web browser will default to some other font, with ugly results. And that pictures, when inserted, have to be the right pixel size. No good putting a 4000 pixel image into a 1920 wide page. It gets messy hat way. For body type and headline fonts, I use Verdana and Georgia, both practicaly universal on PCs, and both very clear on the screen. Fancy fonts are done as graphics. I bought my domain names, and organised hosting, neither being expensive nor difficult. I use Filezilla (freeware) to upload. [promotional links deleted - MODERAT0R] Last edited by Dr. Drib; 06-04-2013 at 05:07 PM.

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05-13-2013, 02:25 PM	#2
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Look at WordPress. IMO. Tons of themes you can get to make it look good, easy to use, and can be hosted by just about anyone. My site is in wordpress hosted on my personal server for example.

05-16-2013, 12:51 PM	#3
Nancy Fulda I write stories. Posts: 700 Karma: 16437432 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Germany Device: kindle	Ditto that. Wordpress is quite awesome. Other free, customizable web sites include blogger, livejournal, and about.me.

05-17-2013, 12:56 AM	#4
Gregg Bell Gregg Bell Posts: 2,264 Karma: 3917588 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Itasca, Illinois Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet	thanks guys

05-17-2013, 02:11 PM	#8
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	A church whose site I host is in wordpress, http://www.cranberrybaptist.org/ as an example.

05-29-2013, 12:17 AM	#12
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	Everybody praises WP, which I have to say I think is not very intuitive. Added to that, it's supposed to be a full-blown crm system as I understand it. Is there anything else which one can load on a server so that more than one person can access it, but which is much simpler. We have a site of - currently - about 12-14 pages but which we'd like to expand, but I don't think I want to spend time fighting WP or asking my wife to do it either.

05-31-2013, 01:30 PM	#14
Lazer Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 1498858 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3	I've got a Mac and used iWeb and have RageSW host it. iWeb was intuitive and HTML gives me a headache. I've also heard great stories about SquareSpace. I don't know about web pages done with Wordpress but some processes cause problems when the webpage is viewed on a smartphone. Mine looks fine on an iPhone and I know that sites done with SquareSpace fix this problem.