Friday, 01 January 2010 09:05
Week 1
Before even beginning to set up a website we first have to clarify your goals for the site. It’s a good idea to write down what you wish to communicate to you visitors. Are you selling something? Is it an idea or product? Are you sharing some bit of knowledge or talent? Are you commenting on the state of affairs or a particular subject? Sharing photos or videos?
Once we have a clearer understanding of how you expect a site to perform its function then we can break things down into their respective parts. We will have the main content, which we will need to attract visitors. Keep this fresh, interesting as well as regularly updated. There no point of announcing a new site if the content isn’t there. You also want people to stick around and explore a bit so attracting their attention with some nice images is useful as well. A wall of text can be off putting for many web visitors. Think more in terms of a glossy magazine than a hard cover book. So take some photos or find some that relate to what you are posting.Okay, now that we have the what we need the how and that’s why you are here isn’t it. So let’s start by looking at some blogging platforms that are available free to use on the internet. These are programs that one can update and add content fairly easily to and don’t require much web designer knowledge at first. When you want them to do more and more things, then a bit of design and coding can go a long way.
There are hundreds of blogging platforms available online. Most you have to pay for. I’ll be showing you the best of the free ones. The most popular and oldest is Googles Blogger or Blogspot (Google bought Blogspot and combined the two just to avoid confusion). There is also Tumblr which has many nice designs or templates right out of the box. It is important when choosing a blogging design select something that relates to you topic. If it’s gardening then a floral or green themed design would be appropriate. Most blogging platforms give you a selection to choose from during the sign up process. The third one I would recommend Typepad, they have a simple free version and some helpful blogging tips and tricks you should look at for blogging.So here are my recommendations:
http://www.blogger.com/ Best known and most popular. Plenty of features and recommended for beginner and intermediate blogging also has a French version. It has free customable templates for users. You can use your own registered domain name too.
http://www.blogspot.com/ same as Blogger
http://www.tumblr.com/ this blog platform is sort of a mix between social networking site like facebook and a blog. It contains many features but doesn’t have a French version. Geared towards more trendy and web savvy individuals with a laid back, informal attitude. If you want a good looking site this is the one to use.
http://www.typepad.com/tips/ good tips on blogging typepad is very simple and has a French version. The extended feature rich version costs money.
http://wordpress.com is probably the best and most powerful blogging platform. This can make 
your blog look and function like a real website with many features including ecommerce so you can sell items online. It has the steepest learning curve but if you plan to expand your blog into a full website this is an excellent choice. To get to most out of Wordpress you can use thier program on your own hosting account you can get this from www.wordpress.org
your blog look and function like a real website with many features including ecommerce so you can sell items online. It has the steepest learning curve but if you plan to expand your blog into a full website this is an excellent choice. To get to most out of Wordpress you can use thier program on your own hosting account you can get this from www.wordpress.orgThere are much more complicated applications available such as Typo3 and MovableType. These are good for professional independent blogging but paying for a hosting account is required. Expect to pay around $5 to $10 a month to have these blogging platforms.
I may have mentioned some terms during the first week that you aren’t familiar with I suggest you look at my definitions section and get a feel for some of the web terminology that is out there.
Just one last thing http://technorati.com/ is a blog resource site which indexes all the top blogs. This may be useful for looking at what makes a successful blog and getting ideas.
Try some of the blogging platforms above by creating a free account and seeing which one you feel most comfortable with. If one stands out that’s great.
Remember web design is as much research as actual creating, so poke around and see what’s’ what.
And start organize some content for the coming weeks!
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