Website Help required

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:06 pm

OK, I need help regarding setting up a website.

Basically I want it to :-
a) be viewing only, no people adding their comments.
b) contain a fair amount of text
c) contain a fair amount of pictures
d) as the content will be explanatory, it will need to move to various pages.
e) look very professional
f) be easy to update on a monthly basis
g) be fairly simple to use

The reason I am asking is if anyone knows of any programs and prices (preferrably the easiest one, I ain't paying but it needs to be fairly cheap) and how to actually purchase myself a website address.

Thanks,
Andy.

mr_e · Post by **mr_e** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:17 am

Well...

a) Easy, viewing only saves messing around.
b) Easy.
c) Still pretty easy, just need to link the pictures into the page.
d) Fairly easy, just need some links.
e) Well...you'll need someone with an eye for design.
f) This may affect how you design it, depending on how big the site's going to be, and how much information you think you'll need to be updating it with.
g) Should be easy, but final design will depend on how much information people have to navigate.

You'll have to learn at least a bit about how html works, but to design it there are a few choices: either do it in notepad, or some other word processing software (you'll need to know html etc pretty well for this), or ask Mike or Al to recommend a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) web design program. Speak to Mike about the site setup process, obviously he's had a fair bit of experience with this site, or Al.

Is this for work, as I get that impression, ie. is the school paying for hosting, bandwidth etc? That'll be the main cost, getting the domain name/website address shouldn't be too expensive at all.

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:41 am

yes it is for work.

regarding ''g) should be fairly simple to use'' I was meaning for me.

Does anyone know of any internet software packages that are in effect WYSIWYG? I was hoping for something like publisher but where you can add a bit of custom animation like you do with powerpoint (a few pics flying into a position, that sort of thing).

Also, would I be able to add any videos to the site? Rather like ''YouTube'' but in the 'virtual tour' mode.

mr_e · Post by **mr_e** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:09 pm

Dreamweaver's the standard professional one, but if you buy it it's pretty pricey. About.com have a random little list here of a few of the competitors, some of which appear to be free.

Most animation I've seen is done using Flash, although I don't have a clue about the alternatives or the cheapest way to get that done (again, the industry standard software is freakin' expensive).

Adding videos shouldn't be an issue, although it does depend on how much bandwidth the school can afford to provide you with.

Good luck, and hopefully Mike and Al will offer some higher quality advice later on.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:39 am

I think that some web hosting providers actually have their own web designing software that comes free to help you build your first web pages. They actually have wizards to ensure that they are set up correctly.

Personally I would use some PHP based blog software which will be log in based and will enable you to post images and text as you go along. It sort of looks like a forum but only you will have access. I will search out the ones I recommended to John R later and post them for your info. I have never used any of them but I can test them if you want!
:D

TAOWBST · Post by **TAOWBST** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:14 pm

As has been mentioned Dreamweaver would be the ideal for web design. But Nvu may also be sufficient for what you want. The only major difference I've found in using them is that its much simpler to incorporate Flash into Dreamweaver files. If you're interested Nvu is a free program that can be downloaded from: http://nvudev.com/index.php. Hope that helps![/code]

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:30 pm

Well, actually, the school decided to cough up the money and pay for it. They finally dragged their butts into the 21st century and realised that a lot of parents log onto the website before attending a school's open evening and therefore a crappy website wasn't good enough. Now, ours is quite slick but lacks content which I find amusing.

mr_e · Post by **mr_e** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:18 pm

Well, the website looks good, but it seems to take ages to load. They could probably do with a less graphic-intensive site, but then again I do have something against text done as gif files just so it's easier to use as navigation.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:05 am

Nice website (found Here) it does take forever to load though - that is the danger with an image intensive page - Like mr_e says above really! It is really painful to wait for the pages to load, think they need servers with a little bit more bandwidth! :D

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:11 pm

Well, would you believe it, after discussions with kids this dinner time we are indeed going to set up our own website for them - a Young Chamber one. The best thing about it is though is that we have the funding for it and a person is going to do it for about £100 just so she/her company can have the advertising space! Plus, they get to design it which is fairly cool and I get a number of plaudits which is even cooler!

mr_e · Post by **mr_e** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:09 pm

Get the kids to redesign the actual school website: they'll make a better job of it if they've got even an ounce of flair. Is Young Chamber similar to Young Enterprise?

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:30 pm

Well, to be honest mr_e, as school websites go it is good. The information - when placed on in the next week - will be concise and straightforward. Really, we have no issues there.

The actual website our kids will be helping to design is a basic one because we are getting a company in to do it for us and spending minimal money to get our message across. Basically, we are using it is as a reference point so we can produce business cards, etc for the kids. It makes the whole outfit seem more professionally run as well (in their eyes and to a business as a potential investor).

I have never been sure what Young Enterprise actually is as I have always been given a random answer. However, I doubt it but I am sure there are similar aspects.

Young Chamber is a new initiative and comes from the brain of Gordon Brown. Basically, it is a merger of the schools and businesses so kids leave school with an idea of how businesses work. The website ( http://www.youngchamber.com ) is fairly straightforward but won't tell you the basics you seem to want to now.

Here is a brief description - 50 schools got it in England, you get money to run projects that the kids takes charge of and a teacher (me) supervises. The school gets a link to a local Chamber of Commerce and they help run meetings and get businesses in to help the projects and ''enrich'' the subject area - i.e. top manc chef comes in to speak to lads who are good at cooking to show them it is not gay OR plumber/electrician comes in to speak to lads to tell them why they to be good at English OR architect/similar professional comes in to speak to Year 10 and 11 students who want to do profession, etc.

This is the main idea of it that sounds very simple but believe me it is far more complicated than I have made it seem. The whole idea is to get the kids involved in business and to raise aspirations. It is a very good idea to be honest with you and it has been enjoyable so far even if the kids do expect everything to happen very quickly when of course, they don't.