Web Design, any tips or suggestions?

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jlg6184

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I recently decided to try my luck with a computer repair business, have my domain registered, have the DBA taken care of, and am in the process of web site design and possibly using 48HoursLogo to get a logo.

I haven't really made a webpage since 2006, and that was basically just HTML and a bit of Dreamweaver. I noticed that making websites, while is very similiar to those days, there are some big differences, especially with people preferring CMS. I will likely be using WordPress, but am running into difficulties with figuring out the best way to use it and with designing in general. Been looking at free templates for the time being, as I don't have a ton of funds, any advice in that regard would be wonderful.

Also, I have been looking at several of Technibble's users' sites, to try to get some ideas, and have noticed several people have images on their sites, and was curious, is there a place to get free to use images? I don't want to run into issues down the road for copyright issues, because I used a picture I found that wasn't royalty free, so I figured I'd see if you guys had any places you used.

Any advice, whether I asked above or not, would be greatly appreciated.
 
Wordpress is very good, however it can be a steep learning curve if you are not up to date on CSS and PHP. It has done the same as many other software products, started of nice and simple and easy to use and been added to over the years to end up with something that can appear quite complicated.
If you are prepared to spend quite a bit of time learning wordpress you can end up with a great site.
If you want to save your time for other purposes (Marketing etc) then what 16k said above :)
 
16k_zx81 said:
See my sig

.....................
Click to expand...

I have seen your sig before, but I can't afford that at the moment. I only have a small amount of money left to put into this, and I am leaning toward getting a logo made over buying your pack. Nothing personal, and I am sure the content is superb, but I just can't really afford it.

anglian said:
Wordpress is very good, however it can be a steep learning curve if you are not up to date on CSS and PHP. It has done the same as many other software products, started of nice and simple and easy to use and been added to over the years to end up with something that can appear quite complicated.
If you are prepared to spend quite a bit of time learning wordpress you can end up with a great site.
If you want to save your time for other purposes (Marketing etc) then what 16k said above :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am still trying to figure it out, takin' some time, but I am hoping I will get there sooner or later.
 
this may help

I've been using joomla for years and recently took a second look at wordpress since it has matured well beyond a blogging platform. The best theme's I've found were from rockettheme for both CMS systems. I have developer accounts with 7 theme makers but I keep going back to them because their gantry framework at the heart of the themes allow you to change things without getting too far into coding if at all and allows for some great flexibility in moving things around and tweaking colors. I would highly recommend watching their tutorials before you start, I waited til I was frustrated for a week before I did and most of my answers were right there the whole time. Elegantthemes is another good one for wordpress but you will need to be decent at coding to get the themes to look as good as they do in the demos, but is worth mentioning because they do turn out great as well. let me know if you have any questions.
 
lward1 said:
Theme Forest has a pretty good selection,
http://themeforest.net/item/udesign-wordpress-theme/253220 I'll be using this one here in the near future.

I did demo 16k package and it is awesome, if you can squeeze it out I would suggest it for someone that has limited experience with web design.
Click to expand...

I purchased the bundle ThemeForest had last night. I also have looked at that particular theme as well, but I am not sure if I am going to shell out more to get that as well.

Ciaran said:
Have a look at Artisteer for making your own templates

http://www.artisteer.com/
Click to expand...

Will do, thanks for the link!

Thank you for all the recommendations guys, it is very much appreciated.
 
After a few days of back and forths trying to figure out what I am going to do with my site, I have grown to pretty much hate WordPress, I haven't the slightest idea what I am doing. I remember HTML being much easier. Are there any good tutorials that any of you know of that could help? I understand the basics of Wordpress, but can't ever seem to make any of my templates/themes look even remotely good.
 
Most themes should have a built-in help file, that describes how to 'set-up' the theme. If you follow the directions, it should end up pretty close to the theme's demo.
 
Vicenarian said:
Most themes should have a built-in help file, that describes how to 'set-up' the theme. If you follow the directions, it should end up pretty close to the theme's demo.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out, although, now I feel like an even bigger idiot. I will read through the documentation a bit.
 
I figured I'd attempt to bump this thread again. I got in touch with the maker of the theme that I am thinking about using (for the time being anyway), and got the demo xml file. The template works now, but I am still completely lost, which makes me feel kind of pathetic, and even closer to saying "hell with it" and just using HTML. I just don't seem to understand what does what in WordPress. Does anyone know where some really good, idiot-proof tutorials are?

I mean, I get the basics of everything, I just can quite figure out anything beyond that. An example: I was trying to figure out how to layout the basic part of the site, much in the same way many members here lay theirs out. Below are some examples of what I mean:

http://www.dominoitsolutions.org/
http://www.thirsk-homeitsolutions.co.uk/

Both sites have their logos, with the menus below, and a slider of sorts, all of which I can do, to varying degrees of success, but I can't seem to figure out how they put the content below the sliders like that (where they elaborate on services and the like). I'd appreciate any advice at all. Thanks again!
 
Not to make you feel like more of an idiot, but if you have a basic understanding of html and css, then wordpress should be fairly easy. The best thing I can suggest is to find a good template (have you found one?) and use the tools provided with the template to get what you want on the site. You can tweak the rest by editing the html and css. When looking for a template, find one that is as close to perfect (requiring very little editing) as possible.

Other than that, Google is your best friend.
 
PCX said:
Not to make you feel like more of an idiot, but if you have a basic understanding of html and css, then wordpress should be fairly easy. The best thing I can suggest is to find a good template (have you found one?) and use the tools provided with the template to get what you want on the site. You can tweak the rest by editing the html and css. When looking for a template, find one that is as close to perfect (requiring very little editing) as possible.

Other than that, Google is your best friend.
Click to expand...

No worries. I have a pretty good grasp of HTML, used to use it exclusively. Don't know nearly as much about CSS if I am being completely honest, but this WordPress thing is just giving me fits. I am using Redux from Themeforest, but there aren't really any tools provided. I had to contact the creator to get the demo content (xml) to even get the page to look remotely close to the way the demo looked.

Now, I am having troubles editing it to my liking, and getting it to look like I want it to. I have read/watched probably 20-30 articles/videos on WordPress and how to use it, but most seem to indicate that the themes/templates have some sort of framework or tools within them that allow for easy cusomization.

Right now, I mean, I can't even figure out why the "Home" page isn't allowing me to edit/publish it. Most of these problems are with this theme, and I did have a bit better luck with the free themes I have found. Although, I say most of the problems are with this them, I acknowledge that my WordPress skills are sorely lacking.
 
can you provide a link to your site and a link to the template?
 
jlg6184 said:
Yeah, here is the theme:

http://themeforest.net/item/redux-business-portfolio-wordpress-theme/162553?WT.ac=search_item&WT.seg_1=search_item&WT.z_author=OrmanClark

As for the site itself, I am currently still working on try to set the design, and don't have it live yet. Was there something in particular you needed to see on it?
Click to expand...

Seeing the site and the template at the same time would help to put what you have been, (I do not want to put) complaining (but I cant think of a better word), about into context. Sorry, I couldn't think of the right word.

I honestly think you could have picked a better template though. You would have been better off picking one in the $70 to $100 range. Trust me, it pays for itself. The template you choose looks like a free blogger template.
 
PCX said:
Seeing the site and the template at the same time would help to put what you have been, (I do not want to put) complaining (but I cant think of a better word), about into context. Sorry, I couldn't think of the right word.

I honestly think you could have picked a better template though. You would have been better off picking one in the $70 to $100 range. Trust me, it pays for itself. The template you choose looks like a free blogger template.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I PM'd what it looks like when I pull up the template here. Also, I got that template in a bundle of other stuff from theme forest.
 
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