Help re: website for a novice

[PurpleBargeKen]

Hiya. Does anyone know of or recommend a service that could enable me to construct a website. The service needs to fulfill some basic criteria. Namely that it's:<br>
<br>
a. Free<br>
b. Easy+++ for a techno-novice to use<br>
c. Able to provide a decent standard re: layout, etc<br>
<br>
Reason being is that I'm trying to start up a business with a mate who has two steam engines. Our aim is to provide driving experiences for people who fancy a day out with and on a steam road roller and a steam wagon. My mate will do the steam bit and I'll help out with the admin side of things (eek).<br>
<br>
All suggestions gratefully received, cos I don't have a clue how to do websites<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START : --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... ohwell.gif ALT=":"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Ken

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[tinweevil]

I did look for one a couple of years ago. The only free web space sites I found I wouldn't touch with a 20ft pole. The services available were chronically basic and the killer for me was that your site would be uncontrollably littered with other peoples adverts. You get what you pay for.<br>
<br>
Your best bet for free web space is from your ISP. If your ISP doesn't give any free space change to one that does such as <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.plus.net/index.html?pn_sessi ... <!--EZCODE LINK END-->. The web package you get with their basic residential Broadband Plus will cover what you need. The only thing I don't recommend Plus for is registration of your domain, they are a bit pricey. Use <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.titanhosts.net/">titan</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> for that and then transfer the domain under Plus once it's registered.<br>
<br>
Good luck<br>
Tinweevil

<p>1978 <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.triumphowners.com/704">Dolomite Sprint</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
1972 <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.triumphowners.com/754">Spitfire IV</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
1968 <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.triumphowners.com/705">GT6 II</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
1973 <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.triumphowners.com/755">Dolomite Sprint</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
39 anorak points on the Nicholas scale<br>
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[PurpleBargeKen]

Cheers for that. I'm with aol, so I'll see what they offer. <br>
<br>
Thanks for your help.<br>
<br>
Ken<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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[Dolomite16V]

Probably better paying a bit for some webspace, shouldn't be too costly, then you won't be bothered with the aforementioned pop-ups contaminating your site. Personally, I find them really irritating and I won't re-visit sites that have them. Your prospective customers may be put off by such adverts too. Another benefit would be having a simple, attention grabbing address of your own incarnation that is related to the service you are providing ie: http://www.steamengineries........etc, rather than some massive geocities address or similar that no one could remember.

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[Silvery]

For now use the webspace provided by your ISP, and look for various software and packages to try out on it. There's various php based site builer software that might be worth a look if you want to simply upload and use something, or it might be worth taking a look at Dreamweaver if you want to be a bit more involved (or want to adapt an off the shelf package to your needs). A lot of php stuff is open source/ freeware, but Dreamweaver is rather pricey (does have a time locked trial download available though).<br>
<br>
Once you've decided what you want the site to do, if you have the skills to do it, and have a final design sorted, then buy a domain and hosting to put it up properly <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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[miniman]

My $0.02:<br>
<br>
Steer well clear of AOL<br>
<br>
Steer well clear of FrontPage<br>
<br>
Go to Register1 (http://www.register1.net) for top class hosting - £49 / year including domain name<br>
<br>
Put the site together yourself. Personally, I hand-code XHTML and CSS but I do that because I like clean and tidy code. Dreamweaver is excellent but expensive and probably does way more than you need. Don't use FrontPage. You'll need some free FTP software (e.g. FileZilla) to upload the website to your host. <br>
<br>
How many pages do you need? What do you need them to do? (e.g. online payments, bookings??) If it's just 3 or 4 simple pages, let me know what you need and I'll do it for you. My current sites: <br>
<br>
http://www.minispecial.com<br>
http://www.binaryimage.net<br>
http://www.jnbphotography.co.uk<br>
<br>
Would happily knock together something like jnbphotography for you.<br>
<br>
Finally, just in case you missed it: stay away from FrontPage!

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[PurpleBargeKen]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Miniman, I think it might be better if I have a chat with you. We're not after anything dramatic, most likely 3 pages max. Some photos and info about whats on offer. On-line booking would be something to consider though. I'd be grateful for ANY help that you'd be willing to offer. Web design scares me hugely.<br>
<br>
Whats the best way to discuss it with you?<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Ken

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[1300dolly]

http://www.panicware.com do a free pop up blockerwhich i find bloody good, doesn't slow the box down and is easy to switch off if need be<br>
Justyn

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[miniman]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Whats the best way to discuss it with you?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
Just drop me a line at james AT minispecial.com, happy to help.<br>
<br>
Online booking is a tad complex - you can easily have an online form to request a date, but showing actual availability means you have to store (and, more importantly, maintain) that info on the web server in a database of some kind. I would suggest to begin with you just let the site visitors request a date and then get back to them with availability via email.

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[redrichie]

Take a look at <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=l&ai=B0Q ... %3D1and1e1" target="top">1 & 1</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
<br>
This is what i get for £1.99 a month plus £1.99 per year for a domain name:<br>
<br>
<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.crisis-corp.com" target="top">geeky gaming website</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
<br>
and it is all web based, takes about 30 minutes to build.

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[PurpleBargeKen]

Cheers James. Hmmm, simple is better at this point lol+++.<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Ken

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[miniman]

Ken - did you get my email??

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[PurpleBargeKen]

Hi James, just found it now. <br>
<br>
I've sent one back to you. <br>
<br>
Thanks+++++

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