How a newbie can build a site in two days (Part II)
Let’s break your own myth…you can build your own website like me without going to a computer school, listening to your professor’s blah lulling you to a deep sleep.
I broke my own myth, I’m a newbie like you and I still consider myself until now because I still want to learn new things. As I’ve said…it’s only a matter of will and action.
You have to will it and not be lazy into putting in real time what you want. It is like falling in love. Love is not only emotion, it is an act of will. Do you believe it?
You need passion when you want to build something, be it a career, a business, a relationship or like what we are talking about: a website.
Passion, passion, passion until you dream of html/css codes in your sleep and waking up the next day after a few hours of sleep thinking what you want to create in your website.
Scary? come on! Not at all, it’s fun!…ok let’s begin. I’m more motivated now because it’s Valentines day 
Hearts day should remind you of that important person in your life now or before. Do you remember how you were starting to know him/her? How you go nuts figuring out your partner’s eccentricities? Yet, you continue on investing time and patience on this person. Why? It’s all because you will it!
Idem for website building…ok?
Now let’s roll up our sleeves…take a break from being busy with your deadlines and spend a time learning something new, trust me on this, it’s worth spending a little time now to save a lot in a few days.
We’ve talked about having basic computer skills, having or borrowing a personal pc, access to the internet.
Put it on paper, mobile phone or rocks (or at least on screen). Make it short and sweet, yet also as specific as you can.
Sense of purpose
Surprisingly, people start building sites without creating a clear idea of what they want their site to achieve. The first step is to always ask these basic questions:
What do you want the site to do for you? Your answer should be based on your own internal goals. Do you want to tickle your Tourette Syndrome ? (ADD in short or attention deficit disorder) Do you want to promote your business or sell your products? Do you want to share information about your hobbies, collections, your personal life or your neighbor’s life? Do you want to criticize your government, Microsoft or attack a group? Set these goals early and specifically.
Sense of place
Plan your background, the colors for your site, your graphics. Now remember these basic pointers basing on my own experience:
1) keep your graphics files small. Cyberspace has the unique trait of being the first medium where you can actually bore your readers by being too exciting. There should be a balance between the graphic “wow” and the real-time “now.”
The more graphically intense a site, the longer it can take to download. The longer it takes, the higher the probability that the visitor will leave before it’s done.
This is true …I’m so impatient waiting for a page to download even for 10 seconds…I just leave and jump off to another site.
2) Make your design for easy reading. Don’t trade readability for style. Every time I see a background too strong for my eyes or I couldn’t read the context because of the background graphics, smoke goes out from my nose or ears! Treat your site like a showroom for cars, an art gallery or a hotel…where your visitor will be at ease moving from one room to another.
Start planning now.
PS
I mentioned on my first post about free hosting, here’s my addendum:
If you’re looking to create a website that will last, you should register your own domain name (yoursite.com), rather than using a free host. Why? Here are the problems with free websites….
- You won’t have nearly as much freedom when it comes to building and designing your website
- The amount of space for your pages is limited and you may not be able to add functionality (order forms, contact forms, interactivity such as chat rooms, gaming, etc.)
- You’ll also have to wonder if it will be around the next day should the company decide to fold or start charging a fee
- You may also have to put up with annoying pop-ups and banners on your pages. Also, the support is usually very poor since they are providing the service for free
- And most…you can’t put up your own ads…that is if you have the intention to earn with Adsense, Adwords etc
To be continued….
Quotes
Advances in computer technology and the Internet have changed the way America works, learns, and communicates. The Internet has become an integral part of America’s economic, political, and social life. ~Bill Clinton
One of the Internet’s strengths is its ability to help consumers find the right needle in a digital haystack of data. ~Jared Sandberg
Filed under: INTERNET QUOTES, BUILDING WEBSITE IN TWO DAYS, LIFE by quotesincan.com
parang life. plan it.
anyway, yes, that’s exactly what i di. alam mo, when i started, my purpose was all about entrepreneurship articles for all of OFW’s eh kaso Euleh was also doing the same thing. Eh nauna yong gwapo kaya pinabayaan ko sya at nag-evolve ang reyna elena. so, in my case, although i had an idea in mind, i have my own strategy, and although i planned it, i ran into another twin blog who’s doing much better than me, so i guess you must have a plan b.
wow ross - you should have been the teacher for all of us. we all tried to go nuts without these instructions.
listen people.. follow her lead. she knows what she is talking about. we all had to struggle to create our sites/blogs - - follow the basics.
happy valentine’s day! {{{{HUG}}}}
Chuva,
I’m just sharing my experience…parang gusto ko ng mahawa ke Reyna Elena, cge pa..purihin mo pa ako …pang pakintab yan ng ADD ko! hehhe
I wish you had a grand hearts day!
Reynz!!!!
welcome to my site!! Y
your comment was considered as spam kaya hindi lumabas hehehe
Very well said …lahat ng plan laging me plan A, B, and C
Oh kita mo…you didn’t plan to meet a lot friends din dun katulad ng mga diwata at enkanto dun!
oo nga po eh, gusto ko din sana ng may blog host pero di ko pa kaya…in-email pa nga ni reynz yung tungkol sa bluehost.com pero nung gina-visit ko, ayyy sabi ko di ko pa ‘to carry…
sandali lang akong nawala dito, ang dami ko ng na-miss na kasiyahan ah!
pero, talagang antozzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz
JC,
cguro parang ang conversion ng Bluehost eh 300 PHP/mo….parang nag load ka sa cp mo…
kaya lang full yr ang minumum na bayad dapat eh…
well, praktis ka muna mag blog…then i copy/paste mo na lang pag me host ka na, k?
C5,
sus me at inaantok pa..sleep ka muna dun sa gilid ko! Yun husband mo siguro ang me fault kaya ka inaantok ano?
ahahaha!! ross - - katawa ka.. eto pa.. ang galing galing talaga!! sobra.. pati ang contents, may relevance talaga sa chuvalais!
o ayan..
c5 - tayong lahat ngayon antukin no.. pate ko kahit saan natutulog..
kung may pagkakataon, tulog!
syeeett~! nung bata ako, ayaw na ayaw kong matulog sa tanghali.. ngayon, nag-wi-wish ako and pray, na manalo sa lotto para lang makapagnap sa tanghali!!
Chuva,
sige pa!
ako din antok haay
late na kasi ako matulog kakabasa ng mga blogs nyo at comments sa sites nyo..parang kayo na ata ang naging bago kong pamilya eh
btw, ganyan talaga ang tao ..walang satisfaction: pag me ulan, gusto me sun vice versa..katulad din ng desire mong mag nap now…
z z z z
tenk yu ross ha…hige…try ko ulit sa sabado…kasi naawa na ako sa sarili ko, parang hirap na hirap ako’t gumagapang sa lusak pag sinisimulan kong gumawa ng blog blog na ito… *hikbi, self-pity*
ross, thanks talaga. natututo me. pareho kami ni JC, dream magkaroon ng .com lang na nakakabit sa site name namin hehehe. pag nagbayad ba dyan sa host ek-ek na yan, pwedeng thru card? naghahanap nga ako ng host na andito lang sa pinas para dito na lang ang bayaran. tako pa kasi me mag-divulge ng card infor ko sa internet. mahirap lang ang gyuti ko at kung magkakaroon ng fraud at ako ang pagbabayarin, baka atakihin ako sa puso. kaya ingat ako sa card ko. sa totoo lang (atin-atin lang ito hehehe) dalawa ang dream blog: una, something na mala-probe team ang dating. gusto ko dokyu. pero ang gusto kong kwentong ilagay sa dokyu ko ay yung everyday struggles ng karaniwang tao: basurero, karpintero, magsasaka, mangingisda, pati yung mga taong-grasa. wa na ako paki kung may magbabasa o hindi hehehe. ikalawa, yung tulad sa gusto ni diwa, isang photoblog. pag nakabili ako ng digital SLR, pramis, gagawa agad ako ng photoblog na yan. yung digital cam ko kasi ay hindi SLR.minsan di ko makuha ang gusto kong makuha hehehe
kuta, kaya mo yan! aba’y yun nga mga kemikals dyan kayang-kaya mong paghalu-haluin, ito pa kayang blag blag na ito. go, go go!
@kutangbato,
I know you can do it..hanep sa comments ka nga sa mga sites nila eh…heaven and earth ang dating!
@Bea,
Yes you can use your C.Card..yun din ginamit ko..basta choose your host well ok?
I’m using wordpress and they required my host to have a PHP version 4.2 or more and MySQL version 4.0 or more din…
About security..be careful to look for the https or me padlock yun site pag magbababyad ka na…
Do you know na mas safe pa gamitin sa internet ang card kesa sa resto, shops etc?
ok din ang sinabi d2…
http://www.whatprice.co.uk/financial/credit-card-security.html
Maganda yan idea mo abt probeteam and photoblog…
sana umunlad din negosyo mo so you can buy your dream camera din!
Godspeed!
Ayan ka na nama Ross eh…lam mo pag nakakakita ako ng PHP version ek ek at MyPQRSTUVWXYZ version ek ek ulit, parang may automatic signal sa brain ko na sabing STOP! FREEZE!!!! *self-pity ulit kasi pinamukha na naman ni Ross pagiging BBQ-blogging boba queen.
$kutz - - ha ha ha !! ako rin ganyan. bobang boba ko sa mga version 2.2.1.2.4.5.5 chienes.. upgrade to MySQL and PHP (PUYAT HA PUYAT). haaaay!! pero you know what, pag nakita mo na yung structure, and you’ve used it once, magugulat ka how much you know! diba ros?
$ros - - bilib ako sa raket mo.. gusto ko yan. tulong ng mga tao to create a blog. gandang chienes yan.. i support you 110%! di ka lang nakakatulong with all da impormeyshun, balik balik pa ang awdyens diva? kongrats!
$bea - wow, ready na rin to attack ang bea! in fairness *lingon kung nandiyan si reyna, heyt na ang ‘in fairnes’* *wala siya* totoong malaki ang advantage if you host your own blog. hosting companies are very tricky though, so ika nga ni ros, choose wisely.
$diwa - kanina ka pa wala ha. missing in action ang la/london trabeler natin. HOYYYYYYYYY GISING NA! Tanghaling tapat na. Ubos na ang bulate at kinain na ni mam kutz (aga raw niyang nagising at ng maka-pagentry sa blog!). GISING NAAAAAAAAA!
§KUTZ,
naku yun php xyzx ekek eh kinopya ko lang indi ko rin alalm meaning
§ Chuva,
sshhh napansin mo pala racket ko ha….shhhh
ako walang c.card…so yung domain ko binili ko dito sa halos kapitbahay ko dun sa another village mga 10 minutes away from me pag nag tricycle ako…p800 dun…ok naman…tapos pag may domain na, get ako ng hosting sa http://aushost.org.uk at libre dun basta may sariling domain…yung mga ginawan namin ng website, ganun ginagawa ko…domain sa kapitbahay, hosting sa aushost…3 years ko na ginagawa yun
@bea, or anyone for that matter, kung gusto mo, you can send me 840… (20×2 ang pamasahe sa tricycle eh)…friend ko kayo so i am willingly obliged *oxymoron ba yun?*
Wow..talagang mga resourceful ang mga pinoys!
I still can’t understand how you can get your own domain thru your kabitbahay and still get your hosting sa ibang lugar?
hahah txt mo si Bea…baka hindi nya mabasa yan suggestion mo..