Website Building Assistance

Your Website

Have you ever considered setting up your own website? Have you explored the website-building tools that Yahoo and GoDaddy provide? Is using those tools a little beyond what you can manage?

If so, I can be your website copilot and help you set things up. If you have the raw content such as text and pictures you need to upload to the website, I can:

  1. help you choose a style and format for your web pages,
  2. upload your pictures and text content to the website, and
  3. add whatever useful widgets the service provider toolkit provides, such as a map and a direction link.

If we can sit in front of the same computer and all you need is a single page, I can have the site built and published in one or two hours by using the tools provided by Yahoo, GoDaddy, or whatever service provider you choose.

Yahoo Site Solution Tool

Here is a link to a website that I helped the owner build using the basic Yahoo Site Solution website tool: Healthcare Management Placement and Referrals. It took about four hours to build because of the type and number of pages needed, the style and format to use, and uploading the content for those pages. We were both in front of the computer while this effort was made, so feedback was immediate and changes could be made in a flash. If all you need is a single page and you have pictures and text ready to go, it could take less than an hour.

Yahoo Site Solution Variation

I also used the Yahoo Site Solution tool to build the ElderCare Professionals of Sonoma County site. Using the tool speeded development but the overall style wasn't quite what was desired. I combined the "Cumulus" style with the "Horizon" style to produce the result currently used. This is more labor-intensive, requiring that each page be tweaked.

This was a larger undertaking; I worked with the members of the group to create individual webpages for each member as well as common home/directory/contact pages. Some members required more elaborate styling and layout than others, and those pages took longer to complete.

Stick-Built , Simple

I can help with setting up a simple single page such as the one at Rent-a-Daughter, if for some reason your hosting account doesn't have tools to build a site.

Template-Based, Multi-Page

Rather than building a website using a graphical tool or starting from scratch, you can buy working website code that you modify to make your own. It is more labor-intensive and requires knowledge of HTML, Javascript, and miscellaneous nuts-and-bolts in order to get the site up and running.

Template providers such as allwebco.com have catalogs of templates you can choose from. You can inspect them to find the look and style you need for your website. There are several starter pages provided with each template that cover the basic needs of a multi-page website: home, contact, references, testimonials, and about pages that can be edited to replace the placeholder content with your own.

I customized an allwebco template to build the Gary Forer website. I worked closely with the client to:

This was significantly more effort than using a graphical web building tool, but the template provided a good starting point and allowed wide latitude for customization.

Many of the allwebco templates also come with a customizable Flash script for the opening page, and Javascript to consolidate common components such as menus. A contact page is provided with a form to gather specific information from visitors and notify you through your website.

WordPress and WordPress Integration

I can also help with setting up a WordPress blog with themes, widgets, and plugins, and show you how that is done.

See an example of the more involved effort of integrating a WordPress blog into an existing website: Gary Forer's Blog. Note there is a link in the right side bar pointing back to template-based home page at Gary Forer Home, and that the blog theme approximates that of the home page.

Benefits

I can ride copilot (if you are local in Sonoma County you can sit next to me while I do this) and show you how to build and maintain your website. If you would rather just provide me images and text content and leave the technical details to me, I can do that too.

What You Need to Do

You need to choose a web hosting organization and sign up for an account with them. See the Yahoo Web Hosting or the Go Daddy Webhosting websites, or allwebco if you want to find a template that has the style you need, or do a search for "Website Hosting" and shop around. The Yahoo site offers the option of using the WordPress blogging tool for your website if you wish.

It isn't free to sign up for a website, but it isn't expensive either. Then I suggest trying out the page-building tools the web hosting organization has and see if you can build the site yourself. It's a rewarding experience using these tools to bring together a website on your own. If you get stuck, that's where I come in.

Please contact me to discuss details; my rates are very reasonable.

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