[derek west]

to build a website.

template

wordpress

pure HTML

decided to let my son loose in building me a website. its to much for me to learn, i'm too old and to be honest, i'm enjoying my carpet cleaning and want to focus on marketting the business, (yes i do listen to you guys sometimes)

anyway, i want him to start right, he's very bright and understands how HTML works and has allready built me a (all be it basic) home page by just typing HTML code.

ive bought a domain name for him, will be getting some pro photo's and a good (new) video plus all the wording to include, so all he needs to know is where to start, he will be building it, SEO'ing it and managing a small add words campaign. with a deadline of 4 months. then on going tweeks. and he will be paid for his results.

as i can't advise him much, i need to know where he should start, hence the question above, i also wouldn't mind if theres anyone out there who he could chat to with any problems he encounters along the line and check his progress like a tutor type person who he can ring everynow and again for advice.

i know its a lot to ask, but not only will it help him with the site but will also give him a bit more confidence talking to people.

my sons 14, enjoys the whole concept of web design and is eager to learn.

anyway, where to start is the first question,

[Dennis]

There is another option, a web authoring package.
I use the free Kompozer http://www.kompozer.net/
Even you should be able to get your head round it. 

[feldon]

Hi Derek

I used Microsoft Small Business a free template design, quite a few different designs and colours to choose from, very easy to learn, and FREE!.

However other you might like to consider are:

Wordpress
Moonfruit
Google

which are also all free, but I believe with Wordpress and Moonfruit you will need someone to host, I'm sure others will correct me if I am wrong!

Somethings to consider are:

Has your domain got your town name in and carpet cleaners ie:

www.anytowncarpetcleaners.co.uk as this will help you get higher in the rankings.

Register with Google places, free to get on Google Maps.

Use back links on your website, I'm sure if you do a search you will find more info on this than I can explain.

I am constantly tweaking mine and have slowly got up the rankings, I don't get a massive reponse but I do get some, and its all free apart from my time.

[ianharper]

Derek

as with all design you should advise hime to build it with SEO marketing in mind just like the tool below. I was a beta tester on this project but it got out of my price range quickly. its now a push button silo style website building tool.


http://www.themezoom.com/

here is google version thats free "wonder wheel" its in the left column under other search tools,


http://www.google.co.uk/#q=carpet+cleaning&hl=en&prmd=ivnscrl&source=lnt&tbs=ww:1&sa=X&ei=CCQ8TaWrLc2WhQfntYjKCg&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQpwUoAg&prmdo=1&tbo=1&fp=c2a5f3cb2b13a8c4


Respect

Ian Harper

[happy mondays]

Derek I should have a couple of hours spare next Sunday to have a chat to him, bring him round mine. 

[derek west]

cheers for that paul, not got him next sunday but can ask his mam if i can borrow him for a while, (wont hold my breathe on that happening  though) what time you looking at?

[happy mondays]

about 4pm mate

[derek west]

he knows general HTML and the basics of css but he just needs to learn the more advanced stuff to give the site that professional edge, the basic site he's done has flowing text across the top, a banner and even a video link but it has the look of a site that lacks smoothness if that makes any sense, it need to flow more. and he said something about absolute placements and working in percentages in stead of pixels, so its more compatable. whoosh with me but i'm sure you lot understand it.

i'll text you in the week paul, see if the dragon has given the thumbs up.

[happy mondays]

  ok mate np

[derek west]

while i'm here, whats the benefits / hinderences between a website down the middle and a website that fills the whole page?

[garry22]

Elastic and / or liquid are designed to expand / contract according to peoples' monitors and browser settings (sorry to be so vague).

The real issue is READABILITY.

I've seen eye tracking tests where eyes get tired really quickly if they have to go a long way across a page and back.

A classic example of good
readability is newspapers.
They discovered (over a
hundred years ago)
that their readers found it
easier to read if they put their
text into narrow columns rather
than one super wide one.

If the text sprawls across the page, it becomes really hard to take in and will lead to many leaving the site early.

Another website crime is light text on a dark background. Trendy designers love it but tests show a reduction of readership of 50% compared to say black text on a white / cream background.

I hope that makes sense?

[derek west]

yes and no

i could easily put the text into columns to keep them interested, i was just wondering if there was a technical reason for some site being full breadth and some centred.

[garry22]

Yes there is.

It's in the CSS. Fixed, liquid or elastic.

One in the centre will almost certainly in a container div that is coded to display in the middle. It will either have a fixed width or a  set of expansion limits (pixels, % ems).

[derek west]

cheers for that gary, my son says he understands how to expand the width of the page, the only thing i need to know is, if there is any reason, for or against in a technical capacity, ie... maybe full screen doesn't work well on some browsers oretc...etc...totally got the reading bit and if we go full width will make sure we have small collumns, but we need to know if we should build full width or stick with a central collumn for reasons un yet known. if you catch my drift.

just bought him a shed load of books off amazon and ebay including html, css, perl, cgi and now looking for some seo books and javascript books. this will be great for his future if he sticks with it. its something he enjoys doing and i get free (ish) websites off him, win win.

[happy mondays]

while i'm here, whats the benefits / hinderences between a website down the middle and a website that fills the whole page?

One cc'ing site I designed and uploaded in the last two weeks uses fixed at 780 pixels, so no issue of horizontal scrolling in chrome etc, it works and looks ok in all browsers and screen resolutions. I prefer to use fixed 80% of the time, but liquid and elastic will look ok if done right and tested. CSS is massive and I would never pretend to know everything about it, I know a very tiny bit about it and do learn something new every day.  Any one that builds sites should test test and test.... keep them simple and straight to the point and they will work and make you lots of £'s    

[garry22]

That's nice Paul.

I must say I prefer a fixed centralised block, particularly since I upgraded to widescreen monitors.

Derek, I cannot think of anything blindingly obvious from a technical point of view (i'm not an CSS expert either - I know enough to get by). The only thing I dislike is that you (the designer) lose a bit of control over how the site displays as it becomes dependent on the monitor set up.

[happy mondays]

this is my point Garry, 780 fixed looks ok in 800 and all others including hand held devices, i myself use 1280 x 1024 this site and most of the others I have made look ok in it.