Online internet questions

[Pellice]

One of my post-retirement goals is a website. I'm not going to be building it from html, but will be perfectly happy to use a template from one of the website creators.

But I can't find any guidelines on choosing a template (or company). I know there are different types of templates, but none of the creators seem to offer their samples by categories - and they all look pretty much the same.

Does anyone know the categories? I've heard of Magazines, Photo, Shopping, Blog - but those seem pretty limited. I don't want photos or shopping. I want a content rich resource site for my environmentally-related hobby, plus a blog. A few photos, but I don't want them to dominate. I'm not a fan of websites with a giant photo at the top, and very little information unless you click multiple times.

What I'd really like is a site where you answer questions about what you want on your website, and then it produces suggestions.

[gauss]

Have you looked at wordpress software for running a web site? This is very common. The wordpress software is free. You can run it somewhere like www.nearlyfreespeech.net for next to nothing (this assumes that you have some familiarity with linux/unix etc.)

Either way be sure to register your own domain name before you generate too much content. You don't want to have a bunch of visitors loose you by publishing a domain name that you do not own/control.

-gauss

[SumDay]

Maybe you need a blog platform? Like people who have a cooking blog? They have lots of pictures, recipes, etc., Just think of terms of your hobby (which sounds pretty cool, by the way). Just a thought.


http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-...ging-platform/

[Souschef]

Hello,
I used Earthlink to set up my website. I used their Trellix templetes for generating the actual website.
I use it for posting our trip stories, and it is very easy to use.

[ERD50]

I did a few small temporary things with google sites a few years back. Probably good for what you want:

https://gsuite.google.com/learning-c...et-started/#!/

-ERD50

[Pellice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumDay Maybe you need a blog platform? Like people who have a cooking blog? They have lots of pictures, recipes, etc., Just think of terms of your hobby (which sounds pretty cool, by the way). Just a thought. http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-...ging-platform/

Yes, I'm looking at WordPress and WP beginner site, but everything is so photo-heavy! I'm planning on more text than pictures.

[gauss]

If you use the free software from wordpress.org run on your own host, then there are themes available that contain no pictures. You have full control.

-gauss

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pellice I want a content rich resource site for my environmentally-related hobby, plus a blog.

Play around with https://www.blogger.com (by Google) a bit.

It's pretty easy to use, has lots of templates and examples, and it's completly free unless you want a custom domain name.

I've used it for a bunch of blogs, and I've used it for my Homeowners Association website.

[robertf57]

Blog setups are VERY easy with Wordpress. I just put together my first site using Wordpress with a few blog posts and a gallery for pictures. Plenty of VERY detailed tutorials on YouTube that will get you up and running in a hour or two. I'll send you a link to the site by PM in case you want to see it.

[Pellice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertf57 Blog setups are VERY easy with Wordpress. I just put together my first site using Wordpress with a few blog posts and a gallery for pictures. Plenty of VERY detailed tutorials on YouTube that will get you up and running in a hour or two. I'll send you a link to the site by PM in case you want to see it.

Yes, would be grateful for the site. Thanks, everybody. My site will have a blog, but the main component will be guides, lists of resource links, etc. For example, I want to list and describe the various non-publicly owned nature preserves in my area. E.g., Nature Conservancy, Natural Lands Trust, etc. There are quite a few of these that don't get visited enough because people don't know about them, or the differences among them.

I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences in setting up websites.

[gauss]

You may get more appropriate/useful responses if you tell us some about your personal background with regards to computers.

IE
1) What os's have you used?
2) Have you ever built your own PC / loaded your own os?
3) Familiarity with command line interfaces (ie ping, telnet etc)?

Thanks in advance
-gauss

[CaptTom]

I've built sites from straight html using a text editor, and also used a number of WYSIWYG development platforms over the years.

As of right now I'd recommend WordPress. All development platforms shoehorn you into their model or way of thinking. Until you "get it," it'll seem very confusing. But for a beginner, something like WordPress is powerful enough to do more or less what you want, and simple enough that the learning curve isn't too bad.

Be aware, you're not learning web development. You're learning WordPress (or whatever.) Which is fine. Nobody really codes anymore.

I share your preference for text over pictures. However, you'll find fewer words and more pictures - even gratuitous pictures that aren't needed - will make the site much easier for most people to read, and keep their attention longer. Few of us actually read a web page like a book. Use pictures to break it up into small bits. Your audience will thank you. And may even stay around long enough to scroll down and read more.

[MBAustin]

A lot depends on how much control you want over the look and feel, and how much work you want to put into that.

I've built a simple site in Google (which I found surprisingly difficult to get to look decent) and on wix.com. Also have done work in WordPress, which gives you lots of flexibility and isn't terribly difficult, but does require more maintenance. DD helps folks set up websites and she likes SquareSpace - she can customize it the way people want it to look and says it's easy for them to maintain.

[ERD50]

If it's OK, I'd like to tag along a related question:

I'm working on a few tech/DIY hobby projects. Hardware and software in most cases. Is there a good place to post these, to get good feedback, and maybe help out others who are interested in something similar, or want to reproduce my projects?

The benefit to me is it forces me to document things, and the feedback could be valuable. MAkezine, Instructables, circuit.io, hackster.io ?Others? Make my own google site or something?

-ERD50

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gauss You may get more appropriate/useful responses if you tell us some about your personal background with regards to computers. IE 1) What os's have you used? 2) Have you ever built your own PC / loaded your own os? 3) Familiarity with command line interfaces (ie ping, telnet etc)? Thanks in advance -gauss

Why would that be relevant to anyone who said " I'm not going to be building it from html, but will be perfectly happy to use a template from one of the website creators." ?

They seem to be looking for some sort of tool to allow easy website building, which I think makes a lot of sense for any casual (and a bit beyond) sort of situation.


-ERD50

[gauss]

If they go the hosted wordpress route, then there are a suite of different hosting options in terms of cost, access to command line etc.etc.

I would gladly recommend my provider to a person it would be appropriate for. Others might hate it.

Note, I hated the likes of godaddy that I used for a few years until I found my present solution when I needed to do a big project that needed lots of flexibility.

-gauss

[target2019]

Important web site topics you find out about the hard way:
- site ownership
- site security
- site backup
- site maintenance
- host security
- host support
- bandwidth
- available disk space
- email security
- admin time
- development time

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 Important web site topics you find out about the hard way: - site ownership - site security - site backup - site maintenance - host security - host support - bandwidth - available disk space - email security - admin time - development time

+1
Consider 3rd party changes that break your site too. This sounds like a job.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 Important web site topics you find out about the hard way: - site ownership - site security - site backup - site maintenance - host security - host support - bandwidth - available disk space - email security - admin time - development time

Is all of that really a big issue for something like a simple Google site? I find it hard to believe that some of these people with simple blogs are putting that much effort into it.

-ERD50

[omni550]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Is all of that really a big issue for something like a simple Google site? I find it hard to believe that some of these people with simple blogs are putting that much effort into it. -ERD50

Shhhhhh...OP asked what time it was. Many others here are telling him how to build a watch.

omni