Website construction

[plantagenon]

OK, I have the computer nous of a Neanderthal. :( I can turn it on, log onto here and look up websites as a user but I need a bit of advice on going a bit further so I can eventually display my pens for sale online. Does anyone know of someone or a reputable company that doesn't charge the earth to set up a website that I can use. I checked out registering business names and a domain name (even that was confusing), but apart from that I am at a loss. I need to be able to put photos on it myself without having to go back to the designer to alter something. Any advice would be welcome but it needs to be in simple english and not computer speak.

Thanks
Greg

[wood hacker]

Greg

Instead of setting it all up from scratch I would suggest you possibly look at a webstore hosting site. For a fee they supply the shopping cart software and set it all up. You then have a login to administer the site, update products, photos, etc. If you have your own domain name you can always set it up to redirect to your hosted store.

This is how my partner set up her own online store selling modern cloth nappies and it turned out to be the simplest option by far.

cheers
WH

[plantagenon]

Thanks WH. But what is a webstore hosting site? Can you recommend one as I have no idea what they do or how to find one. :- I just press 3 buttons to get this computer working, but I can learn.

[wood hacker]

The site she was using was called Minicouture however it was designed especially for work at home mothers.

The software that drove the whole system was called Congo Cart and I believe they do hosting themselves. Link to their site here (http://www.congocart.com).

[plantagenon]

Thanks WH. I looked a tthe site and could only find baby wear but I have sent them an email and will wait for their reply. Certainly is a cheap set up to get on there.

[Scott]

Hi Greg,

Rather than going through the heartache of setting up your own website, how about using a photo hosting website? It's easy to set up an account and upload photos. A photo sharing website like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) is a good example. Hope this helps.

[timberbits]

Hi Greg.

Setting up a website to sell things is now easier than ever.

The easiest way to sell things online is to go through eBay. If you struggle technically on eBay, then setting up a website to sell things is going to be a much harder struggle.

Selling completed hand made pens on eBay is extremely difficult to do. There doesn't seem to be customers on eBay willing to pay high prices for anything, let alone hand made pens.

There are a lot of turn key shopping cart web hosting solutions out there. 1st their are the free software solutions like, zen cart, oscommerce, etc... lots to choose from, where the software is free and online communities (such as this forum - only its a forum about shopping cart solutions) maintain and continue to improve the software.

This type of solutions is good because it is free and there are lots of people continuing to improve the code. Only problem is that you need to continue to upgrade code and keep up to date with any security holes and the like.

There are cheap hosting provides that will host the software on the internet for you for under $100 a year, but you need to do most of the updating yourself and it can be technically challenging even for someone like me (who has spent years as an IT specialist).

The next option is to go with a turn key online shopping cart solution. These guys are different because they do everything for you in the back end. All you have to do is upload the photos and do the descriptions of the product. These guys are a bit more expensive - ranging from $15/month to $69/month for an Aussie provider.

Try eCommerce Web Design, Shopping Cart Software & Online Stores (http://www.ecommercewebsites.com.au/) and Magento - Home - eCommerce Software for Growth (http://www.magentocommerce.com/)

I have used both and would recommend both. Magento is a big provider in the US who use to only look after the big fortune 500 companies. This was because they use to charge about $10,000/year to host you website. However, in the last year eBay has purchased this company and set up a platform for the next step on from eBay.

They will now do it for as little as $15/month, but there is introductory offer to trial it for FREE. Magento is very powerful and you can do some awesome stuff with it. It can be as simple and as complex as you would like it.

Let me know if you have any further questions or need more information.

Timberbits

[plantagenon]

Thanks Scott and David

I will give Magneto a try as I wanted a proper website that will get good exposure. I haven't tried Ebay but when people are trying to buy genuine Mont Blancs on it for $20, there is little hope for someone selling pens that a lot of personal labour went into. However, I got a beautiful collectable 1970s Waterman fountain pen and pen set in unused pristine condition with original box and receipts off Ebay for $60 so I can't complain too much.

[HazzaB]

Hey Greg,

I have my Hosting and website through WestNet, who are now owned by iinet, the hosting and shopping cart is about $45 per month and you have complete control over your site, you need to get a Domain name, available through Westnet, as well,( there are cheaper mobs out there, but you don't get the back up that westnet has provided, they can help with all the 'Dumb Questions that us non geek speaking People ask.'

Now that I have finished a big corporate order, I will be doing some work on my site,

I have enlisted some help from my nephew (Doing a Uni Course in Computing) but the site is as easy as doing a Publisher document, inserting pics and text.

HazzaB

[Dorno]

I bought a template and then got a guy to add the oscomerce shopping cart and it only ended up costing a few hundred dollars in the end and it looks good (i think) but it doesn't serve the real purpose that I wanted it for because I cant add information pages or anything else outside the set template without a great deal of program writing of which I have no idea how to do:( I have my son about to build me a website as he has just started his own small business on the side doing logos and websites
http://http://www.extremelogodesigns.com.au/home.html (http://http//www.extremelogodesigns.com.au/home.html) (http://http//www.extremelogodesigns.com.au/home.html)

his work is quit good and when he has time he has promissed that he will build me one next that I can manage myself without having to get others to do it for me. His name is Mat so feel free to give him a call 0431643291.

I hope I have been of some help

Cheers Ian

[arose62]

I've set up some websites for non-computer folks, and my approach is to use a CMS - a Content Management System.
Examples of CMSs are Drupal, Joomla and Wordpress.

Instead of having to build a collection of individual pages for your website, and make sure they are all linked properly, then upload them to the server, you log into your website, click "Add a new page", then fill in the blanks, and the new page is part of your website, with a consistent appearance like all the other pages.
With a CMS, you may need one-off technical effort upfront to do the setup, but then you can maintain and expand your website yourself, as you are only responsible for the content, nothing else.

I've used Jumba for my domain names and hosting, but I'm a WestNet customer, and am very impressed with them and their support.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Perfect Pens]

Greg,

I also use Joomla for my website, which has Ecwid for the shopping cart.
I bought my domain names through Crazy Domains and have set up the site myself. It has had its challenges, but nothing that a trip to the book shop purchasing a book on Joomla was not able to fix up.
As said above once you gain a little bit of knowledge you are in total control of your site. Web sites need to be maintained on a very regular basis or they get left behind.

Cheers
Tony.

[plantagenon]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I was ready to go for a website but realised I would need a domain name first. I tried to register a name but I was rejected until I get an ABN number. I have lodged an application for an ABN but as usual in dealing with government departments it's going to take some time for the application to be processed. Then I only have to work backwards to everything done.

Greg

[Dorno]

I may be wrong but you only need a ABN if you are looking for a .com.au you will not need it if you are looking for a .com name.

Cheers Ian

[plantagenon]

Very true. An ABN is only needed for a .com.au or a .net.au as I found out the hard way. However, if I want to link a registered business name with Paypal then an ABN is required to complete the application. So having registered a business name yesterday, today I realised it is not the same as an ABN. I lodged an application for that. Geez, I said I was no good with websites but it seems I overlook other things as well. All corrected now and I ended up with a .net domain name as the ABN could take up to 28 days to receive and I couldn't afford to lose the domain name given that it is the same as the business name. All done now - just waiting for the paperwork and then I will try the website development. In the interim I will get back to making some more pens to put on it - trouble is, in the middle of moving house its so hard to get time to anything.

BTW, anyone know someone who can do cabinet making in Brisbane who wants some work on the side to help install an Ikea kitchen and make a benchtop?