Can you help with setting up a website?

[clovis]

Okay, I hate to admit that I am computer illiterate.

I would like to set up a web site to sell about 30 different items, with the hope that it will grow to 60 items in the next year.

I am beginning to think that an independent web site is the best alternative for me.

I would like to know how to create and build a web site, in step by step format, that explains things in plain English.

I went to our library, and the it seemed that the books were either too indepth, out dated, or not applicable to my needs.

I would like to have a template system, where all I need to do is upload the photos and add a description. I think I would like to buy the software, instead of renting, I think.

I would prefer to do this the right way, the first time, if possible. While I don't have tons of money, I would rather pay for decent stuff that works right the first time, instead of trying to cheap the project to death. Does that make sense?

Any advice offered is greatly appreciated!!!!

Know if there are any good step-by-step web sites that can tell me how to set up the site?

Thanks!!!!
Clove

[rean]

Hey Clove,

Look at purchasing Macromedia Contribute. Adobe bought them out a couple of years ago. I suggest Macromedia because it will be an older yet not too old version, and is very easy to learn.

Rean

[OrganicCat]

You don't need to do any setup or be very computer illiterate at all

Check out Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/

It's pretty easy to setup a small "shop" where you can sell personal handcrafted items (they specialize in it). It's kinda like eBay except there's no bidding, you just set your price and get orders. WAY easier than setting up your own site, especially if you're no computer guru. If you can outgrow Etsy, that means you should be able to hire a web designer, so you shouldn't have to worry about it

[postroad]

Pretty easy to set up a blog on www.blogger.com. You could have a daily reminice on the item you wanted to sell.

[How Do I]

If you find a web host with Fantastico, you can have a very generic store up in about 15 minutes. I'd spend some money to have the template professionally designed. You can usually find designers offering their services in the forums of whichever cart you choose. I think there are addons for most to make the stores SE friendly. Here's three choices I have in my cPanel:


http://shops.oscommerce.com/

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=showcase


http://www.cubecart.com/demos/

If you install these through Fantastico, you get the bare basics. Most the stores you see through the links above (demos/live stores) have been professionally designed, but it would give you an idea of what you could do. These are free to use, unless you want to remove their copyright from the pages, then you would need to buy a license. I believe they all operate that way.

Want to learn html? - I'd recommend that site, even though I originally learned html from this site. You need to also think about branding when selecting a domain name, unless you already have one picked out. I don't know what exactly you sell, but I'd try to also get your niche keyword inserted into your domain name somehow.

[Thales]

You could go with Wordpress, plenty of great templates out there and the WP e-Commerce plugin is pretty slick and fully featured.

Another great option is Magento. I've used it previously for a few different store fronts and it seems to be the best open source option out there. There are inexpensive hosting companies out there that should fit your needs, try looking here .

If for some reason you are still having trouble shoot me an eMail, I've got a server that I host some hobby and family sites on that I could provide you with space on for free. Only thing you would need is a domain name.

-Thales

[lharvey]

Clovis

Your question is simple in theory but complex in answer.

People always ask me "how much will it cost for you to build me a website?"

My standard answer is. How much does it cost to build a house. Do you want windows, doors, bathrooms, kitchen?

In other words the more you want to do the more it costs to do.

Can you learn it? Yes. I did and I too am old. ;-)

The books that you would get at the library go into depth because if you don't know how it works, you can't make it work.

Yes, there are tons of wysiwyg editors out there. They work great until a page breaks. If you don't know how to fix it then you are SOL.

Word press IS NOT the way to go if you actually want to sell stuff. It is a blogging type of affair. However, having said that, if you know the codes behind the pages, you can make WP do some amazing things.

If you are going to sell stuff on the Internet from your site you need to also make sure you have a security certificate in place so that when customers place an order, their transactions are secure and that any information transmitted between you and them via the website is encrypted. You will find that you will not make sale one unless you have a certificate in place. There are those however that will give you personal information via a order form when it is not secured. Lord have mercy on them.

Just remember above all things, do not buy by price, buy by functionality. Just because it is free doesn't mean it is any good.

[clovis]

Thank you for the input.

I guess I was hoping to buy a software thing-a-ma-jig, have it shipped to my home, install it without problems, and input my pictures and copy.

Then find a good site name, and get it bought. And then find a host, which I am guessing I would need. And maybe one of those certificates in place, or use paypal to accept payments.

Then I could press F7, control, delete, snap my fingers and say Abbracadabra three times, the web site would be created, and I would have money flowing into my paypal account as fast as I could spend it.

I could then zip around town in a new Cadillac CTS-V living the high life, while hundreds of underlings filled all those orders...

The Wall Street Journal would be calling to do their rags to riches story about a small town guy made big, and I would have my picture on the front page in one of those cool dot photos they have. The first line would read "You would never know Clovis is a self made millionaire, many times over, except for the 2009 Cadillac he drives."

On a serious note, can it be that easy to create a site? I don't have a big budget, but understand the importance of value.

I don't think I want to learn html, whatever that is. (No, I really don't know.) I do want to be able to fix and make changes to the website as we add products.

Is this possible at all?

Thanks for bearing with me...hopefully my ignorance will give you something to laugh about.

Clove

[How Do I]

Well, you could pay someone else to develop/maintain the site, but wouldn't that cut into your huge profits. You may have to at least put the 2009 cadillac on hold. HTML is easy. I'm almost sure there are some 10 year old webmasters out there somewhere, probably younger. The gist of it; most everything you post on your site is in tags, you just have to learn what the tags mean and where to use them. It would be next to impossible to make changes to your html unless you had a basic understanding or unless you use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. Even with a WYSIWYG editor, it's still wise to know the basics of html.

You would want to select the domain name that you want to "lease" (around $8.00 - $10.00 year), then have the domain hosted (anywhere from $4.00 - $100+ a month), many that can pull the domain fee directly from your paypal account every month. You can start out with a free template, even if just to play with while you learn html. Throw it on a subdomain of your domain and exclude the bots while you learn. When you feel ready to proceed you can set up your real website through the main domain name. Without a WYSIWYG, you'll probably want to use a FTP client like CoreFTP to upload and download your files. I learned html using notepad and SmartFTP and if I had to do it all over again, that's what I'd still start out with. Frontpage was a waste of good money.

Regarding the links I posted referencing the shopping carts. I believe they are coded with PHP, another whole code altogether. And not as easy to learn as html, in my opinion. You can easily set up a simple store using just html and use a Paypal checkout if that's what you wanted to do.

The bottom line is if you don't want to learn, you're going to have to pay someone. Unless you have a friend or relative that will do it for you. Just one more hat to wear.

[clovis]

Thank you for the reply. I really do appreciate the time and help! I do feel like I am learning something!

Again, thank you to all, and I really mean it.

Clove

[lharvey]

Clovis.

I just sent you a PM.

L

[Nevada]

I always tell beginners to start with a web template. Actually, starting with a template is a smart way for anyone to begin work on a web site.

A web template is a generic web site that was created with easy modification in mind, using a graphic html editor and image editor. You should look for a template with the same basic theme that your own subject matter is about. For example, if you want to run a virtual pet supply store, you should look for a template with a pet theme.

Web templates not only save you a mountain of work, but they also take advantage of the programming and artistic skills of professional web page designers. Web templates typically vary in price from free to $50, but most are modestly priced. You can search at Google for free web templates.

http://www.google.com/search?q=free+web+templates

To give you an idea of how it works, recently I had a local western folk music singer/writer ask me to do a web site for him. He wanted a cowboy/western theme, so I found this template for $2.95.

http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/lonesomecowboy.htm

After customizing the page to his specific needs, it looks like this.

http://desertbreezenv.com/

Note how the cowboy hat next to the menu moves with the cursor, then "hangs your hat" on the page you select. All that was already programed as part of the template, making that advanced feature simple to implement. Clearly, it was well worth the $2.95 investment.

The day may come when you want to design your own unique page from scratch, but you should start out customizing templates.

[Thales]

Originally Posted by lharvey

Clovis
Word press IS NOT the way to go if you actually want to sell stuff. It is a blogging type of affair. However, having said that, if you know the codes behind the pages, you can make WP do some amazing things.

Given that WP has been consistently rated one of the best OSS applications since its development it is definitely a great option. The core of the program is a blogging platform but easy to install/maintain plug-ins add extensibility that couldn't be matched by most other platforms out there.

As far as OSS versus a paid solution, test them both out. I think you'll find that a free program like Magento will serve your needs on a small to moderate scale just as well as something that will set you back a few hundred dollars.

If you are doing this small scale I would suggest going with an open source/free application that has been out there for a while. That will provide you will reliability, a helpful community and some pre-existing things that will save you time. Make sure the back end and administration functions are easy to use, the aesthetics can be tweaked and refined in most programs with relative ease.

As has been suggested, getting an SSL certificate is a must have now. I use RapidSSL and they've been great.

-Thales

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by Thales

As has been suggested, getting an SSL certificate is a must have now.

That's another advantage of using a PayPal shopping cart; you don't need to get an SSL certificate. There's a PayPal shopping cart that is free & easy to configure, there are no monthly fees or minimums to maintain the account, and the SSL certificate issues are all handled by PayPal.

[halfpint]

Like others have said, what you need depends upon what you want. If you want a storefront for people to be able to purchase, it is much more difficult to set up than a website which just gives information and how to contact you.

One thing you might do is check with a local school or homeschool group to see if there are any students there who would be willing to get you started. My son started while in high school, and did a few small business sites and such which benefited the customer and provided a learning opportunity for my son.

Dawn

[Thales]

Originally Posted by Nevada

That's another advantage of using a PayPal shopping cart; you don't need to get an SSL certificate. There's a PayPal shopping cart that is free & easy to configure, there are no monthly fees or minimums to maintain the account, and the SSL certificate issues are all handled by PayPal.

That's true, but depending upon what application is used determines whether or not having your own dedicated SSL cert. will be necessary. For instance, we offered Paypal payment subscription which offered its own SSL cert. but WHMCS, the system we used for signing up for service, handling support/sales tickets and transmitting vital information needed its own cert. At a smaller level a Paypal's SSL certificate will serve you well enough, but the added expense of your own dedicated SSL certificate will provide an added level of security and even increase sales due to "peace-of-mind". You can grab one directly from RapidSSL or most hosts offer them at a largely discounted rate.

-Thales

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by halfpint

Like others have said, what you need depends upon what you want. If you want a storefront for people to be able to purchase, it is much more difficult to set up than a website which just gives information and how to contact you.

Actually, the PayPal shopping cart I use is menu driven and generates html pages automatically. You just upload the pages and link to them. The html pages handle images (both thumbnails and full sized), product descriptions, prices, and can even calculate shipping charges. When the customer clicks the Checkout button it takes him to PayPal, under PayPal's SSL certificate.

Everyone should try out this shopping cart creating software. It runs under Windows, it's really simple to use, and it's free. Download it here.

http://windowrock.com/cart/paypal_install.exe

All you need is a PayPal account. Here are a couple of examples of an implementation of that shopping cart.

http://audioxclusive.com/panasonicst...nic_video.html
http://www.miadolan-forum.co.uk/shop.html

I strongly recommend a note like the one at the top of the second example, which explains that customers do not need to be PayPal members to make a credit card purchase through the PayPal interface.

PS -- While the shopping cart is 100% functional as it is downloaded, there is a "demonstration version" note at the bottom of each page. You can remove that notation easily, by modifying the page code. When you inspect the code of each generated page you will see a script at the top and at the bottom of the page (that's the text that starts with [script] and and ends with [/script]). To remove the demo notation, remove both of those scripts before uploading to your FTP site.

[clovis]

Thank you all for your time!

I am learning...albeit slowly. I am getting a better grasp on what is available, and what some options are.

Again, thank you!!!! Keep the info coming!!!!

Clove

[Zuska]

It's worth it to have someone who knows how to build a website do the preliminary work for you and then you can do updates yourself. I have a web designer redoing my website at the moment. She's completely changing the format and it's going to be a work in process for a while. In the meantime, she's shown me how to easily do simple changes like rewording and writing articles for example and I use Filezilla FTP program. Once you get the hang of it, it really is easy. It can be overwhelming doing it all from scratch by yourself.

You may want to think about bartering with a web person for services or for what you plan on selling. Some will barter. I do a lot of barter, myself. My weblady is bartering her web design for an herbal apprenticeship with me.

By the way...I started a thread today about my website changes. It's going to be rough going for a while, but you can see the differences in the new pages to the old. The Cedar Mountain Herb School page is the new version.

Good luck!

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by clovis

Thank you all for your time!

I am learning...albeit slowly. I am getting a better grasp on what is available, and what some options are.

Again, thank you!!!! Keep the info coming!!!!

Clove

You'll also need to have the proper applications to create and publish your web site. You can get everything you need for free though. The things you'll need are:

• A graphic html editor, that can also allow you to edit code.
• A good image/photo editor
• FTP software.

Most people use a commercial product for their html editor, such as FrontPage, Expression Web, or Dreamweaver. However, those are all pricey. If you don't already have a html editor you should consider Kompozer, which is a free editor that looks and works very much like FrontPage. Learn more or download here.

http://kompozer.net/

Most people also use a commercial product for their photo editor. Photoshop pretty much has the market cornered on that, so there's tons of help at Google for Photoshop. The problem is that Photoshop costs about $700, which is cost prohibitive for most non-professionals. However, there is a Photoshop clone available for free. Learn more or download here.

http://www.gimpshop.com/

Finally, you'll need FTP software. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is the method most often used to copy web pages up to web space for publishing. FTP software is easy to use, and works similar to the way Windows Explorer works. While commercial FTP software is usually modestly priced, it will still set you back about $40. However, there is free FTP software available. FTP commander is very simple to use and meets the needs of all but the most advanced webmasters. You can download it here for free.

http://www.internet-soft.com/DEMO/commanderftp.exe

If you are an advanced user who needs your FTP software to perform advanced functions, such as to change UNIX file & directory permissions (chmod), then you should consider Filezilla. They only real downside to Filezilla compared to FTP Commander is that Filezilla is more complicated to operate. FileZilla is free and can be downloaded at this link.

https://www.ohloh.net/projects/filez...in32-setup.exe

Good luck!