# Website development



## monkey44 (Aug 2, 2016)

Not sure where to ask this - please point me to a better topic if you will ... 

I'm pretty tech weak when it comes to website building - and am building a site now, but keep running into what might be tiny tech issues that I can't get past. Frustrating ...

Can anyone point me to a 'web page' teaching class and caters to "not beginners", but will give me at least the middle of the road skills. I don't need a 'high-tech' do everything site, just the basics so I can show my work and get some sales for my images and books.

I've been struggling with this for a while, and have very limited tech knowledge -- I can get it done if it works, but as soon as a minor squeak arrives, I'm lost ... Thanks BD


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 2, 2016)

Building and operating a website is a big job, and will continually require training as changes to technology come along.

What tools you use to build the site can make a big difference as to the training you need.

Are you trying to build from scratch using html? Word Press, or other tool?

Just keeping the site secure from hackers is a big job.

For a photography site, it may cost far less to just use Smug Mug, particularly if you plan to use it to process payments.


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## Halfrack (Aug 2, 2016)

To echo Mt Spokane, you really need to decide if being a web developer is what you want to do. It's a huge commitment, and takes away from photography. If you want to show you work online, there are a number of sites like smugmug, photoshelter, 500px or (insert one of thousands of sites here). Their basic editors let you customize your look, create galleries and move on.

If there is a specific custom need you have, post it, but generally speaking 99.99% of photographers should be with one of these hosting outfits. Do what you know well, and outsource the rest. The $10/month is a pittance to a client unable to see your work because of a configuration issue or package update.


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## monkey44 (Aug 2, 2016)

No to smugmug, I have books I refer to my Amazon site, and other articles I write and post on the site. Photo sales is not my business in that sense, I'm more a photo-journalist and writer ... so make my money selling words and photos as a package - for publications.

I'm using Wordpress, (I think?) but will change if it's more practical ... I basically need a intro or "show me" lessons to I understand the process of how sites act. I'll never do anything complex, only want to learn to use the tools the website offers - but am so tech-challenged now I can't get a frame of reference.

I wish only to develop a display site, not interactive. My actual sales go thru other channels (Amazon etc) ... But I can't seem to get this to work properly, and it's probably very simple to fix if I could understand the instructions better. That's kinda what I need, not true commercial website building for a business 'building sites'... only for my personal site ...

I have a few photos up now, just as examples to help me develop it -- for example, when it opens a photo, a little window opens that says "copyright protected" ... but when a person tries to click the next photo, it won't allow it unless you 'back button' that window out. But, some friends go and tell me it won't work properly ... I don't know how to fix it ... that's just an example of what frustrates me ... it's the little things, not the whole site. I want to maintain it simply, not develop a fancy website.

If anyone wants to see what I mean ... www.billdelorey.com -- any suggestions about the "learning web" experience would be great ... 

OR, if you know anyone that would help me (don't mind paying a fee) fix things when they go out of whack, that would be great too. When I ask for assistance, most Techs want multi-dollars and want to take over development and maintenance - I don't blame folks for that, Techs are in business too -- but can't afford that kind of service ...

Any advice here is welcome ... BD

Whopps need to explain better - when you open a photo, and click thru a series, when it gets to the end and you try to close the last photo (the x) it opens the protect window ... but it won't let you close the photo - it continues to show the protect window -- there are other issues but this one is an example of my techni-capped self that frustrates me.


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## Orangutan (Aug 3, 2016)

monkey44 said:


> No to smugmug, I have books I refer to my Amazon site, and other articles I write and post on the site. Photo sales is not my business in that sense, I'm more a photo-journalist and writer ... so make my money selling words and photos as a package - for publications.
> 
> I'm using Wordpress, (I think?)


It's essential to know which web platform you're using; developing web content can be very different from one platform to the next.



> I wish only to develop a display site, not interactive.


That's very good -- securing a web commerce site is at least an order of magnitude more difficult than doing content development.



> I have a few photos up now, just as examples to help me develop it -- for example, when it opens a photo, a little window opens that says "copyright protected"


A knowledgeable user can always extract a photo from your site, you can only make it somewhat more difficult.




> OR, if you know anyone that would help me (don't mind paying a fee) fix things when they go out of whack, that would be great too. When I ask for assistance, most Techs want multi-dollars and want to take over development and maintenance - I don't blame folks for that, Techs are in business too -- but can't afford that kind of service ...


It's not just the money, it's an issue of organization. There's a multitude of ways to organize a web site; people who do it professionally tend to use similar organizational structures on all sites so they can make updates in very predictable ways. If your website is structured differently then the contractor must re-learn your site each time a change is made, and you'll pay for that re-learning time.

Here's my advice:

Step 1: determine which web platform you're using. You need the name and the version; e.g. WordPress 4.4 or Drupal 8.0.

Step 2: search Google for "getting started with x" and "create photo gallery in x" where "x" is your platform.


Good luck.


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## Halfrack (Aug 3, 2016)

So you're on Wordpress, which I can tell by going to the admin page.

Your 'protection' of images is false - http://billdelorey.com/wp-content/gallery/sports/ - I can pull down anything. 

So from your further explanation, you're not looking for a photography portfolio site, but more of a blog/content with photo powers. Take a look at SquareSpace http://squarespace.com and the new Adobe MyPortfolio https://www.myportfolio.com/ and some of the other hosts in that space. You need a site where you can showcase your works, no matter the medium.

One thing I would recommend is that rather than linking off to Amazon immediately, have a local page talking about it, with a 'to purchase on Amazon' button at the bottom. That way a person can look over your work without constantly leaving your site to go to Amazon. Plus if you set it up with analytics, you can see how long folks are on a page, and how many folks go where.

There are a number of 'pay what you want' deals on how to X in Wordpress (or other web technologies) places you can look include :
ttps://deals.slashdot.org/
https://deals.geekwire.com/


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 3, 2016)

Canon Rumors uses wordpress, its very adaptable. I also have a wordpress site. If I were serious about actually operating it as a web site, I'd pay someone to set it up, and I'd manage the content. 

You can pretty much get help for any level you need, but I have no specific references to give you. That's a good way to get into trouble, since there are so many different expectations.

Software budgets can be grossly overrun, because we tend to want to make changes as we go when things did not appear as expected.

I think you might be asking for someone to give you paid advice or help you get by issues, but you can bet that one look at the coding, and they will want to redo the entire thing to meet their standards.


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## pwp (Aug 3, 2016)

My website which is a 100% bespoke build is due for a major refresh. I'll be using a Squarespace template. Very simple for a complete mug to build. http://www.squarespace.com/#photographers

OP, it's probably blindingly obvious in 2016, but whatever you do don't include any Flash content on your new website. Adobe Flash is a constant security hazard and Adobe has just about given up issuing patches. Most browsers now longer support flash, and Adobe will most probably dump it forever very soon. 

If anyone following this thread still has the Adobe Flash plugin on any of your computers, the smart advice is to delete it permanently straight away. You'll scarcely miss it. If you must view a site using Flash, I think Chrome still runs it without the Adobe Flash plugin.

-pw


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## monkey44 (Aug 3, 2016)

Thanks for the advice guys -- it's my plan to have only a "visit and see it" site, not interactive, no video, no pop-ups, just plain content. I'll discuss my books, my nature and sports articles, and our ongoing wilderness research, and just allow folks to read it.

Then, at the end of each 'segment', then will have a link to the sales page at Amazon ... I do sell my photos individually, upon request, but my work is usually a package of words and photos to a publisher (travel magazine, for example). Most of my non-published sales are books thru Amazon, altho if someone asks, I can also sell/send the print copies direct to buyer.

I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. The photos up now are just samples to test the site. I'll figure out the best way to protect those and then put up the 'goodies' .... My hope is to shoot a .jpeg of the articles, and then find a program that will protect jpeg files, so the photos and words are protected. I know, some tech folks can get content no matter what, but I want to protect it from the casual random user who thinks all web content is public - It ain't !!

Good idea to change that HP link to data on the site, rather than link to Amazon and back - will make that happen - then link from the content to the sales pages after the "read" part.
I'll put the first chapter of each book up, and if interested, the reader can click to it at the bottom. That will work well.


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## monkey44 (Aug 15, 2016)

anngrant said:


> To start with, I'd highly recommend you to subscribe to this blog - http://www.templatemonster.com/blog/one-wordpress-hack-day/ . I'm pretty sure, it will make you stronger in web design issues. At least, I cannot go without its daily newsletter.



Good one - that should help me -- thx


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