Web Auditing

[claudeEGYPT]

OKay, i know, two threads on the same day..

Anyway..

I wanted to know all the tricks and trades that you use for your internet sites:
To begin with, i wanted to know what programs you use(Flash, Dreamweaver, Frontpage, etc)
I also want to know the procedures that you go through in order to set up your site.. Do you pay for a domain? Do you have an online web host for free? How much do you pay(if yes)?

Finally, i would like to know the steps in building a site, here's what i know so far:

First, Dry Run(Pen and paper sketch of the design you have in mind) with all the features that you want on board as well as the problems you might face.

Second, Web design, the tough part with all the codes and technical aspects, creating images for your navigation, etc.

Third, Launching beta state of the website, fix bugs, change layouts, etc.

Fourth, Launch the full throttle site, all's finished and ready to go.

Am I good so far?
This will help a lot!
Thank you in advance!

[glikster]

Part of the Dry run is to get the web-data flow down. Usability experts often make use of note cards and make a sort of flow chart:
What pages will you have and how will the navigation flow between them...

[andres_pad]

yeah, ive JUST started the beta testing on mine, feel free to try it out for me!
www.users.on.net/ferrazer/portfolio

i really really found that to start with, grabbing someone elses and looking at it deeply helps. and the other big big thing is site-maps (or web-data flows as glikster called them) they really really help.
also, try and do just one page, get it really the way you want it, and then use it as a template. mega help!

i use dreamweaver personally, and if you know how to use a CSS, they're really hand for tiny changes that affect all the pages (eg link colour)

anyway, i doubt that was any use, but let me know if you wanna know more!

[claudeEGYPT]

Hey Andres, i understood some of what you said.. but you havent answered one of my questions: Do u pay for your account? Or is this a free hosting service?
I know most of the HTML codes, some CSS but i dont know a thing about PHP or ASP.. do i need to know those?

Also, what are site maps? How do they help?

[samsite999]

It depends on what you would like to do. If you want options were the user can vuisit and make notes on pages, leve comments then ASP will be needed. I use quight a lot of ASP mainly because i have not had time to use or lern ASP. I would pay for your hosting. The free stuff does not cut the ice, if you want to use ASP you will need a web hoster that uses ISS webserver (windows) not lynux ect. I use fast hosts, i got my domain from them as well. I pay about £7 a month and i get a lot for my money

[Norwin]

Hey Andres, i understood some of what you said.. but you havent answered one of my questions: Do u pay for your account? Or is this a free hosting service?
I know most of the HTML codes, some CSS but i dont know a thing about PHP or ASP.. do i need to know those?

Also, what are site maps? How do they help?


I made my gallery (gallery.norwinschmidt.de) with PHP / MYSQL.
very usefull....

I have an administration where I can easily upload my pictures :) They are directly shown in my gallery :) (Well I have to put them in frames before)

But it is much more dynamic than with only html.

[claudeEGYPT]

Good to know, So yall pay for this stuff.. and audit your websites yourselves?

@Insane: How did you learn PHP? and what's MYSQL?
@Sam: Do you host your own stuff with all that gear that you have?
Who do you go to for this kinda deal?

[Norwin]

I started with small projects... (counter, shoutbox, guestbook etc...)
It will take some time to learn PHP. If you want to save some data you will also need MYSQL.
MYSQL ist a databank which saves your data in a table. PHP works almost never alone. It is always a mix between PHP and MYSQL.
(btw: This forum is in PHP / MYSQL too...)

[jadefoodog]

allllllways pay for a host and buy a domain. wellll the first time yo pay for one you will never do free again. yeah learn html , php/mysql, and css. but for a true gallery it would take you years to learn enuff to do it on your own. but still might be fun to learn.

i did web design for many years professionally got burnt out bad and havent done a singlke one in a long time. now i host my photography on pbase.com lol

[andres_pad]

Hey Andres, i understood some of what you said.. but you havent answered one of my questions: Do u pay for your account? Or is this a free hosting service?
I know most of the HTML codes, some CSS but i dont know a thing about PHP or ASP.. do i need to know those?

Also, what are site maps? How do they help?


my account just comes free with my internet provider, but you can get other free ones too. if you just want to play aroudn before you buy, you can edit the complete HTML of your site on blogger, so that might be useful for you.
PHP and ASP, well i know NONE and i made my site so yeah :P

as for a site map, i just draw one out on some paper, of what links i want each page to have so that when im constructing them, i remember what to have in them, and i also dont leave any pages out by mistake!

if you guys want,. i can upload the one i did for my site

[claudeEGYPT]

Sure, i would like to see every aspect of this, And yes, i want to experiment before i buy the real thing... should i get a Blogger acount?

[sezcat]

might as well, blogger's fun to mess around with :P [not that i do on my main site... actually i don't at all, but the intention was that i was GOING to :P haha] but yeah, www.blogger.com - its free AND easy :P

[andres_pad]

haha, well when i FIND my camera, i'll try and remember to take a shot of it :S i havent seen it for a few days....



oooooh i know! its in my bag :P