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  1. #1
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    Choosing a website builder?

    I'm sort of thinking about getting a website with my own domain name, but I'm not really sure the best way to go about it. I've always been puzzled by the amount of websites that offer website building packages and all that stuff. I'm just looking to create a good looking site that I can upload pictures and audio to.

    I've been looking at www.website.com and they seem pretty professional.

    Have you got any suggestions on the easiest/cheapest and overall best way to create a personal website?

    Thanks.

    (Sorry if this shouldn't be in Computer)
    Last edited by mmoc6dd45b8008; 2013-02-01 at 06:57 PM.

  2. #2
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    Get a web host that works with a CMS like WordPress

    Buy a wordpress template that you like if you don't want to build your own

    Learn wordpress
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by llDemonll View Post
    Get a web host that works with a CMS like WordPress

    Buy a wordpress template that you like if you don't want to build your own

    Learn wordpress
    And how is that easier than using a template from that site in the OP, for example?

  4. #4
    Depends on what you want to use, but wordpress would work for you. Also have you thought about making your own site yourself? It's overall pretty easy and you'll learn a lot along the way, if you do want to make one yourself I suggest you start here I found these tutorials to be really good and it says 30 days but I went through it in a weekend. Then after that I'd pick up some Javascript and also looking into HTML5 & CSS3 is a good idea.

    As far as hosting a site goes I use this site.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Iamanerd View Post
    Depends on what you want to use, but wordpress would work for you. Also have you thought about making your own site yourself? It's overall pretty easy and you'll learn a lot along the way, if you do want to make one yourself I suggest you start here I found these tutorials to be really good and it says 30 days but I went through it in a weekend. Then after that I'd pick up some Javascript and also looking into HTML5 & CSS3 is a good idea.

    As far as hosting a site goes I use this site.
    Sorry, I don't understand why I need to create my own site. The templates and customization options look good on the site I already mentioned...

  6. #6
    I use Intuit for my business sites. The program they have basically makes it click and drag things where you want
    Quote Originally Posted by kasath
    is anyone in this group under 18? my parole officer says I'm not allowed to play wow with anyone under 18

  7. #7
    You asked for the cheapest and easiest ways. Cheapest way is to do it yourself and why would you do that you ask? To gain experience in something that can help you in your career.

    Easiest would be WordPress as it's very simple and easy to use. Take a look at WordPress, a lot of people use it due to the community and ease of use and customization.

  8. #8
    I design and develop websites for a living. When doing client work, I always use wordpress as the CMS. The poster above who suggested it was 100% correct.

    Don't use a website builder. They produce horrible, bloated code. If you don't want to learn HTML/CSS yourself, it's worth the few bucks to hire someone who knows what they're doing.

  9. #9
    Deleted
    No matter which CMS you pick for creating a web site you will have roughly the same limitations. All sites are made in more or less the same way, and the quality of the site is more often determined by the quality of the theme/template you use rather than the CMS.

    I'd recommend you browse the web for a template you really like and use the CMS it's made for. There are plenty of sites with collections of templates. TemplateMonster.com comes to mind.

    However if you really just want to get "something" and get it without effort, it's real easy (2-minutes-easy!) to set up a blog/site in Wordpress.com and pick from the free templates available. If, at a later date, you want to get better hosting, buy your own domain name or change your template, there's a plethora of simple tools out there to help you change/move your site - and changing the template is a matter of clicks.

  10. #10
    Deleted
    I don't understand. Wordpress looks to be a blog, but you can ugrade it so can you get stuff like a domain name, and that costs tons. How is that different than creating a website with www.websites.com and upgrading?
    Last edited by mmoc6dd45b8008; 2013-02-01 at 07:52 PM.

  11. #11
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Sarithus View Post
    I don't understand. Wordpress looks to be a blog. You can choose to upgrade your account so that you can get stuff like a domain name. How is that different than creating a website with www.websites.com and upgrading?
    Well for starters it seems like you pay between $5-7/month at Website.com while at Wordpress.com you can get started for free. Wordpress.com is a blogging tool but it's easily customized into feeling like a regular site should you want to. The reason I recommended it is because it's easy and free which seemed to be what you wanted out of a CMS. "Building your own website" in some tool rarely ends well for many reasons.

    Anyways, Website.com may or may not be much different from Wordpress.com. I've never used their service so I don't know. If you feel like it may be something for you, check it out!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mest View Post
    Well for starters it seems like you pay between $5-7/month at Website.com while at Wordpress.com you can get started for free. Wordpress.com is a blogging tool but it's easily customized into feeling like a regular site should you want to. The reason I recommended it is because it's easy and free which seemed to be what you wanted out of a CMS. "Building your own website" in some tool rarely ends well for many reasons.

    Anyways, Website.com may or may not be much different from Wordpress.com. I've never used their service so I don't know. If you feel like it may be something for you, check it out!
    Well, I'm open to whatever, but all I want is a good looking and very simple site that I can upload my paintings and voice work to. Probably literally just 2 links that take you to the images and the audio files. Having to learn code just for that seems a bit odd.

  13. #13
    WYSYG (What you see is what you get) sites are horrible. Most of the time they are non-compliant and are more of a hassle than they are worth. You can teach yourself HTML and CSS in a few days. As mentioned above, Wordpress is a great platform as well.

    In terms of the cheapest AND easiest, doing it yourself will always be cheaper and more fulfilling.

    http://www.codecademy.com is a great place to start.

    ---------- Post added 2013-02-01 at 12:08 PM ----------

    Btw, I browsed through your portfolio..... very nice work.

  14. #14
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Sarithus View Post
    Well, I'm open to whatever, but all I want is a good looking that site that I can upload my paintings and voice work to. Having to learn code just for that seems a bit odd.
    Whoever said you'd have to learn how to code? If you want something custom you will have to learn how to code (or hire somebody who does) but there are many free alternatives. Something Website.com doesn't seem to be.

    If you want a portfolio site then I'm sure there are CMS made specifically for that purpose.

    I Googled it and found this: http://www.portfoliobox.net/
    and this: http://shownd.com

    Perhaps either of those fill your needs?

    edit: I see you use Carbonmade, why isn't it sufficient for you?

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Mest View Post
    Whoever said you'd have to learn how to code? If you want something custom you will have to learn how to code (or hire somebody who does) but there are many free alternatives. Something Website.com doesn't seem to be.

    If you want a portfolio site then I'm sure there are CMS made specifically for that purpose.

    I Googled it and found this: http://www.portfoliobox.net/
    and this: http://shownd.com

    Perhaps either of those fill your needs?

    edit: I see you use Carbonmade, why isn't it sufficient for you?
    I'd prefer to link people to one site than two. As far as I'm aware carbonmade is only for images and not audio.

    I guess I could link this. It's just a very quick idea of what I wouldn't mind my very simple site to be like. (Wasn't intending on posting that on a forum, hense it being so stupid. But I guess it might help.)

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarithus View Post
    I'd prefer to link people to one site than two. As far as I'm aware carbonmade is only for images and not audio.

    I guess I could link this. It's just a very quick idea of what I wouldn't mind my very simple site to be like. (Wasn't intending on posting that on a forum, hense it being so stupid. But I guess it might help.)
    The sad truth is that if you want something to look or behave in a specific way then you probably won't find a pre-built solution for it.

    The only actual solution I got for you that's both cheap and simple is to set up a Wordpress.com account, make one page for sound and one page for images and find appropriate plugins for both of those pages. It shouldn't take you too long and it doesn't cost you anything until you want to purchase your own domain name, a template or whatever.

    edit: Here's a gallery of wordpress themes: http://theme.wordpress.com/ As you can see, many of them aren't like blogs at all.
    Last edited by mmoc0a04ed3db8; 2013-02-01 at 08:27 PM.

  17. #17
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Mest View Post
    The sad truth is that if you want something to look or behave in a specific way then you probably won't find a pre-built solution for it.

    The only actual solution I got for you that's both cheap and simple is to set up a Wordpress.com account, make one page for sound and one page for images and find appropriate plugins for both of those pages. It shouldn't take you too long and it doesn't cost you anything until you want to purchase your own domain name, a template or whatever.
    Do you know if uploading audio to wordpress compresses the files? That might be an option if the audio doesn't sound worse than the original files.

  18. #18
    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    I use wordpress for my website mcsaver.net. It CAN work as a blog, but many people use it for... not that.

    Wordpress is easy, and you don't need to know any web language, really.

    I use a free host that has no advertising. Their service is eh, but it's free. In fact, the only money I pay is about $10 a year for the domain name.

    Domain name from godaddy + 000webhost hosting + wordpress = website in a few minutes

    ---------- Post added 2013-02-01 at 12:31 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Sarithus View Post
    Do you know if uploading audio to wordpress compresses the files? That might be an option if the audio doesn't sound worse than the original files.
    Putting audio on there isn't... Wordpress isn't like a program. It's just software to make the website itself. You would upload the audio to an ftp, and provide a link in your wordpress site.

  19. #19
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    I know I should be trying to find this stuff out for myself, but how does adding a domain name to your wordpress work if it's external? (from godaddy, and not just upgrading from wordpress itself) In other words, if I found wordpress was pretty good and did everything I wanted it to, how do I then go about changing it's domain to what I want and through godaddy?

  20. #20
    There are sites that allow you to ´build a website´ but they are very cookie-cutter and hard to adjust. Also a lot of the free ones do not allow you to put advertisements AND they might even add their own advertisments.

    You can also buy a domain name and have it hosted individually (costs a few bucks a month) and then you can use wordpress or some other program that builds your site for you. There will be a little more customization that you can get with the websites above, but still a lot of limitations.

    The final option, buy a domain name, buy hosting and then use an html editor and learn to build websites yourself. There are many that are WYSIWYG which are about as easy to use as MS Word. I use Mozilla/Seamonkey which comes with an html editor called Composer as part of the package. Doing it this way, you will have to learn a little, which is a good thing... but it gives you complete control over what happens.

    my site is www.explain-health.com

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