I need help to get a website - any offer

Subject: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:14 PM

Hi there

I am a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist.
I need a website.
All the usual stuff - biog/soundclips- easily updateable (by me) section for news of latest gigs/reviews/contact details. Need something cheap to set up and maintain.
If you think you can help someone who is imbecilic when it comes to technical computerspeak, and doesn't have a fortune to spend - although I wouldn't ask anyone to do it for free. Please get in contact.
[e-mail]

all the best
al

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:25 PM

I've done a few...

Robin

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Ed.
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:28 PM

As an NTL customer, you already have webspace. As such maintainance costs shouldn't be an issue (they're already included in what you currently pay).

Writing webpages isn't difficult (although writing good ones takes a little more effort).

If you want to PM me, telling me what exactly you want, I'd be happy to advise (for free). Don't pay anyone more than £50

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:41 PM

You might want to send a PM to hesperis. She does this sort of thing as a business, and I get the impression that her fees are quite reasonable.

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:43 PM

Also, for something quick and easy to do, even a novice could do it, check out IUMA.com, where you can have your own webpages, with soundclips, comments page, events coming up page, etc. It's a good start and when you get your own site you can put a link in at IUMA and still keep your pages there, PLUS it is free.

Another easy place to make one on your own, without any knowledge of codes is www.tripod.com. Here are a couple of examples of what I did with one of their templates. (I have a little bit of know-how, so changed the looks of some things a little, but it's mostly with their templates. Again, it is also free.)Kat's Mudcat photos, etc. and, Kat's book site

Good luck,

kat

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 03:58 PM

Try PM'ing Spot the Dog - He maintains Swinton Folk Clubs web site on NTL here.

Good Luck

DtG

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: black walnut
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 04:03 PM

Jack Cole, a great folk musician and supporter of the arts himself, did my website. You can email him at Foundation Software: [e-mail].

~b.w.

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 04:04 PM

For my website, I purchased MS Frontpage software. It makes designing, publishing and changing my website very easy for a guy that does not speak html. I have webspace available on my ISP server which comes with my monthly $20 fee. If you have any problems working with MS Frontpage, there are lots of people at MS and at your ISP that can help you.

Good luck,
Mike

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Rasener
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 04:28 PM

Did you know that MS Publisher has webpage templates, that are so easy to set up (common sense) and it is all saved as html with any links set up automatically.
Just needs to be uploaded then.

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Ed.
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 04:48 PM

NEVER use MS Publisher for web pages! Or MS Word, or Frontpage. I don't have time to explain why right now, but trust me here!

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Maryrrf
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 09:23 PM

What is so horrible about Front Page???? I think it works pretty well....

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 10:14 PM

Me too, Mary. I don't know diddly about html coding, but FrontPage makes it easy for me to do my own web design, update performance schedules, add graphics and sound bytes, and easily upload these changes to my web server. I have used it for years and would recommend FrontPage to anyone who wanted to build and maintain their own website.

Mike

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 10:29 PM

Well, Front Page may be useful for very small sites with minimal fiddling changes. but EVERY "Twiddle till it looks like what you want" HTML publishing package create massive bloated code, that often has severe errors in it (causing parts of your site to not display on some PC O/S- Browser verion combinations!), and the code is MUCh larger than it needs to be - meaning that your site takes much longer to download and display than it needs to. And that's just for a start - Ed will no doubt expand on that at his leisure... :-)


Oh, and PLEASE, don't use WORD to generate a web page - it often produces even more frightful results.

As a brief example of the possible horrors - a friend once sent me a block of HTML code that was about 10 Kb long - I've mentioned it in a previous early thread - it just did a horizontal line - using the "-" chatacter. There is a very short HTML command which does this in a few characters, but this brain dead "writer-program" combination result used a set of seperate font commands (for EACH "-" on the line) to 1) set a font Size, 2) set a font name, 3) set a font color (each colour was diferent shade of grey!) and of course close each font command. Apparently what had happened was that the page had been scanned, the colors of the line (represented as - chars) dithered to varying shades of grey, and then Word had 'mungled' it as well... :-)

Robin

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 10:45 PM

Hey, I need help too, and I'm in about the same pickle, er boat as the person who started this thread. Can I call for help to any of you folks offering as well?

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Max
Date: 12 Apr 04 - 11:18 PM

I recommend Pene Azul. I've seen his work (mudcat.org) and am always impressed.

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: Rasener
Date: 13 Apr 04 - 01:29 AM

Comments about Word/ Frontpage and indeed Publisher are quite correct. I have written massive macro's in the past and Microsoft, repeat instructions time and time again if you set them up automatically. I was fortunate because I taught macro's at an advanced level, and consequently knew what I was doing.
HTML is similar and yes instructions are duplicated and as you say large unnecessary files are created, which are then difficult to edit.

However, many people just want a simple website, and do not
understand html or never want to.

As to somebody else setting up a website for you, thats fine if you have money to spend.

So in the short term there is nowt wrong with people using software that is available to do the job in a simple way.
However what people perceive as simple, very often turns out to be fairly complex and beyond their understanding
Unfortunately people with little experience want a website now.

I seriously recommend that people who want to set up a website follow a course on web design which includes html. These sort of courses can be found at the colleges, adult education and indeed Learn Direct. However you do need to have at worst a good knowledge of computers, before setting out on this route.

Its a big learning curve, and you have to start somewhere, but in the end it pays back huge divideneds.

Subject: RE: I need help to get a website - any offer
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 Apr 04 - 02:33 AM

Villan, I agree totally - my previous attempted post got lost...

I would be happy to assist genuinely SMALL sites for musos - say, I don't have a copy of "Rise Up Singing"... I'm sure many musos have some CDs they have made... I'm sure we could work something out...

Robin