So, why do you want a website?
In my semi-professional role as web designer, I often get people, usually on their own or as part of a small business / partnership who don’t have too much of a clue about the internet. Unfortunately the current trend is’Internet. sounds cool, where do I sign?’. Not many people are considering what do they want in a website.
So, for a personal site about YOUR ideas and life, you might want to consider the reasons you are doing it.
To put up great amusing pictures of you and your friends for amusement and fun.
To tell everybody’about you’ and what you do that seperates you from the rest of the gene-pool.
To tell people about something you love.
That last one is the key one. Whether you are an amateur dingy-sailer, or a pink-tomato growing bungee jumper, you want to find people who are interested in the same subject. The more diverse the better. There are too many sites on the internet at the moment with’Hi. My name is Bob. I live in Kentucky. I like listening to Rap Music and going to see kewl movies. I also have a dog called Fido.’ Get in to detail. I do not have the time or energy to build a personal website, but that’s my personal opinion: I don’t want to share lots of information about my life with strangers, and find that making professional looking home business websites is more rewarding, both on the brain(’Hey Mom! I just built a better version of Yahoo!’), and also on the wallet. But, if I did want to make a personal homepage, it would probably be like this.
Small introduction page, possibly a li’l picture of me, and then it would have a few simple links underneath with hobbies like’bodyboarding’, ’making internet sites’, ’playing RPG’s’, ’using Macintosh computers’ etc. Click on one of those and it would take you to a nice area all about that. That would contain the following.
Why I am interested in XYZ
What equipment / resources / machines do I use for XYZ(eg.’Dreamweaver, Flash for making websites etc.’
Links to friends with similar interests.
Links to cool places and good resources about that interest(eg. for my interest in surfing / bodyboarding, I might link to britsurf.co.uk, or for my interest in RPG’s, rpgamer.net or squaresoft.com)
And the for last, but definitely not least important: Interesting, witty, amusing content about the subject. Make a point! Not just’I enjoy surfing’ but’I don’t like the new short leashes on bodyboards because they are too restrictive’ etc.
Now, once you have some ideas, WRITE THEM DOWN. I know this is an article, on a website, about making a website, which I typed on my computer without the aid of any pens or paper. But, when it comes to planning a website, you NEED to use paper. I have got a massive folder with stacks of paper with the following scribbled on them.
Lists of what I would want on a website.
Navigation maps
Logo and image ideas and sketches
Details of people / companies / resources / websites that are important.
Who I am aiming this at.
Where to promote a website
Page Layouts.
If you can’t get your ideas out of your head and on to the easiest to use platform, a piece of paper and a pencil, how are you going to develop a page layout idea, and then a website with a fairly complicated piece of software and a mouse, or even worse(for you PC’ard nuts out there!) with HTML coding.
Now you have your ideas laid out on pieces of paper, I would suggest finding someone who you can bounce ideas off(especially if this is not going to be a personal website). I have my friend John. If I suddenly in the middle of the night get a storming idea, I can scribble it down on a piece of paper(or a notebook as I have been learning recentely - see below!), and then talk to him the next day about it. Having someone to throw ideas around with will help you, as this person will stop you from being TOO over-the top, and will encourage you to put forward your best ideas.
Notepads? Yes, notepads are an essential thing if you are getting ideas together. A little A5 notepad is enough to keep in your backpack, breifcase or handbag, and cart around with you. Stick a pencil through the loops and you have, and I quote Richard Branson here, one of the most important tools in business!
Now, if you have got this far, and have just been skimming, I have only got so far as to tell you how to plan your website!
The manufacture stage. Now to take your idea of’TropicalFishFeeding.com’ and turn it in to reality. How do you make a good website?
Firstly, you need tools.
What sort of PC do you need to make a website?
Any sort really. Early versions of my website(eg. pre Dec-2000) were developed on a Pentium 120 with 8Mbs of Ram, and although some programs such as Flash and Dreamweaver ran VERY slowly, I still got things done eventually. The only real problems your gonna have when it comes to making a website are the following.
RAM, RAM and more RAM.
If, like me, you use an iMac, you will need around 128 Mb to keep a program like Dreamweaver or GoLive running, and then to add PhotoShop or Fireworks above that, and maybe occasionally squeeze Internet Explorer or Flash on top of that.
But that’s for professional development.
For a small’fun’ site, you just need a fairly average PC. 150Mhz Penty or 60Mhz Mac will do, and then a browser like IE or Netscape(Mac, use Netscape only!), then make sure you have the FrontPage Express part of IE, and/or Composer. It’s good to have both(like me) because you can test to see what various things look like in both browsers, and use the development tools of two browsers.
Also, when developing your first website, search around the internet for.
sample graphics / templates(so you can customise and change these, or even atteampt to recreate them)
sites that you like, but aren’t TOO clever.(for example, my current love affair with the design of Apple.com)
Online resources and places to host.(Try the’usual suspects’ like Geocities.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com first, then expand your horizons and try smaller places. A good place to choose free hosting providers is https://freewebspace.net
Or if you would rather pay for hosting, https://HostIndex.com will find you somewhere.
Domains. If you feel the need to become yourname’dot com’, you will need to purchase a domain. My favourite registrar is SimplyNames for their’no-nonsense’ price policy(£9.99+Vat for two years .co.uk or £29.99+Vat for two years .com) and you can transfer away without hassle. Otherwise go straight to the source(internic.net, nic.uk)
Site Roundup
Domain Registrars
http://www.simplynames.co.uk
http://www.nic.uk
http://www.internic.net
Hosting Companies
http://www.geocities.com
http://www.tripod.com
http://www.angelfire.com
http://www.tbns.net
http://www.f2s.com
http://www.treeway.com
http://www.moonfruit.com
Design Resources
http://www.webcreate.co.uk
Interactive stuff
http://www.pollit.com
http://www.beseen.com
http://www.hotscripts.com
Hit counters
http://www.hitbox.com
http://www.thecounter.com
http://www.extreme-dm.com
Places to get good software
http://www.download.com
http://www.macdownload.com
http://www.versiontracker.com
http://www.tucows.com
Right, it’s getting late, or even early as it is now, so I must be off. got exams tommorow, need sleep! But, once I have a few more ideas for this review, I will be back rapidly to add them. Anyway, what I have already done isn’t brilliant, so I can always improve bits.