Help with website ideas!! what to do?
 

Hey everyone,

I'm wanting to put together a website to showcase video, audio and photo content for a media conglomerate and production co. that I'm trying to put together.

there are a couple different routes that I am considering:
1) The Free Route: Although I'm trying to stay away from another MySpace page, I'm conisdering doing a BlogSpot or GoogleSite, something that will feel a bit more professional, but I would like it to be segmented for each form of media encompassed. I guess if anyone has experience with these and could give some suggestions, or you know of any other free sites, that would be great. I have a vimeo site already and could embed those videos anywhere.

2)The Legit way: I am pretty dumb when it comes to the actual process of setting up a legit .com website. I can deal with the whole design aspect, but am not sure about how to go about publishing. I considered doing a .mac account and doing an iWeb page, seemed kind of pricey for the amount of storage, but seems simple enough to get a decent webpage up and running quickly.

I also have a copy of Adobe GoLive CS2 that I have messed with and am pretty confident that I can design a decent page in that program, and have more flexibility as far as layout and such, but I'm just kind of in the clouds as far as what service to use for hosting, where to buy a domain name, etc.

any suggestions or wisdom from those who have experience with this animal would be GREATLY appreciated!! if you know of any good resources to simplify the whole process, please advise!!!

thanks so much,
Brendan

Brendan,

I can't answer all your questions but you might like to consider the following:

1. Most hosting companies will steer you (automatically) through the process of setting up your domain and your hosting account so you probably don't need to worry about the technical side too much.

2. Check this site for indepndent reviews (by customers) of hosting services: Web Hosting Reviews - User Reviews on Web Hosting Jury

3. Consider using a content management system like Joomla or WordPress or Drupal to build your site. I set up my site quite quickly in Joomla and have been very happy with it.

Good luck.

Ian . . .

I agree with Ian. I think you will be surprise how easy it is to set up a website using a content management system.

Here is some help to clarify some basic information that you probably are asking, but don't know.

1) You need to purchase a domain name and a hosting account. Domain names are usually $8-$20, while a hosting account is usually around $100ish per year.
2) Becuase this is your first time, i suggest to buy the domain name at the same place you are going to host the account. (As a more advance user, i purchase domain names from godaddy, and host them somewhere else. I suggest keeping everything at one place)
3) Use wordpress or joomla for your first Content management system
4) I would also look into installing XAMPP on your computer (which includes apache & mysql), which allows you to test different CMS on your machine without having to upload everything to your server.

Is there a recommended site or easy way to get a paypal store/web page?
I only have a Mac (powerpc) computer, and I am worried that most of these sites are either only compatible with PCs or there tutorials are only offered in PC jibberish.
I know I could probably use any of them, but as a beginner I would like a mac friendly interface and support.

I plan to make the page in flash and have another page that is a paypal store.

thanks guys!
awesome feedback so far, just the type of advice I'm looking for as someone new to web design. Great sites btw. Question:

1) If I went the Joomla route, or any CMS for that matter, can i use designs/logos, etc. created in photoshop for the site, or how much flexibility will I have with actually editing the layout?

guess I just need to jump in and test for myself and do as much research as I can, but thanks for the starting points and advice!!

any other advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated too, keep em' comin!

~brendan

Aric, sorry I can only offer pc jibberish! I'm sure there are plenty of Mac users that talk your language and can offer better advice.

Brendan, yes, Joomla is very customisable - if you know a little html and aren't afraid to jump in feet first with some php tinkering then you'll be able to do a lot. I have no skills in either department but a bit of messing around coupled with some common sense and I managed to customise the default template to meet my needs. I played with the graphics that make up the template, added my own logos etc and I guess I spent about two or three days in total.

Joomla is not without its restrictions but it is the easiest tool I have found so far.

Rapidweaver for Mac
 

For Mac I'd recommend getting Rapidweaver as good website creation software. It's cheap and very easy to use (it is the same company that made iWeb for Macs/Apple - but that's way too limiting). Much simpler than the pro level Dreamweaver but plenty of complexity (beneath the user friendly surface) for those that know how to use it and want it there. It'll get you up and running with a website super fast as the interface is so simple and intuitive for any Mac user. It'll let you set up QT videos but you'll then soon want to get Flash capability added (e.g. JW Player). My website was built with it in just a few days about 5 weeks ago and has been "tweaked" almost daily since. Still not where I want it but it's starting to get me business and enquiries already!

Later on as your skills grow look at some of the more sophisticated options. By then you'll know a lot more about what you want and can make better informed choices for your needs with some initial hands on webmaster knowledge under your belt. Good luck!

thanks Ian, I am familiar with some basic HTML coding, so I think I can pull that off, but in reference to the Mac/PC question, does Joomla play well with OSX?? Mac is my primary machine, so I definitely need OSX compatability, should have brought that up from the get-go.

please advise

Andy, I will look into rapidweaver as well as a Mac option, thanks

Joomla! • View topic - Is it mac compatable?

Try this Brendan. I don't have any Mac savvy at all I'm afraid!

Andy, who do you use for your hosting?? if you don't mind me asking.

thanx

On a personal recommendation from another videographer mate that uses them I'm using a UK company called Streamline as my website host but I bought my domain name from someone else for peanuts. Streamline offer different packages depending on how much traffic you expect to need so I just went for an "unlimited power user type one" since I figured that when I want to host HD video that's what I'll need and when I'm finally successful so many people will be hitting my site it'll be necessary.....well, maybe one day! Actually, I have some Flash HD video (720p) on the site already but in one the private client areas and it works just fine.

A 2 year deal with them worked out a bit less than £40 per year which I thought was fine. That's currently about $60.

My advice would be something like a Dreamhost account ($10/month). You can find coupons that will give you half off or more of your first year.

Use their one-click Wordpress install. Best way to set up a website ever. For example, our whole website is Wordpress:

DVcreators.net

Choose a theme built for video, maybe like this:

RevolutionTwo.com

but there are many more.

If you want more bandwidth throughput than Dreamhost allows, one trick is to host your media files on Amazon S3. That gives you world-class bandwidth, but only charges for what you use, which is pretty reasonable.

Like Andy a few weeks back I went down the Rapidweaver (Mac only) route and am happy so far.
Up until now I did not have any good things to say about my .mac subscription (as a method of online backup I feel that it breaches the UK Trades Descriptions Act) but I now have a use for it - it's fantastically easy to tweak and update a website using Rapidweaver. I've found that I've done a massive amount of tweaking so that's been a big timesaver.
For my .com address I went with UK2NET about 13 years ago. This is independent of the website host and I like it that way.
With UK2 I can point my domain to any website I create and it shows up as my domain when people visit it.
Rapidweaver is easy to use and there is a large community of third party developers making templates and plug-ins which makes for infinite variety and some powerful add-ons eg for e-commerce (I haven't used that one and can't vouch for it).
It comes complete with such things as blog and online calendar built in which I have found useful.
The online support via the forum is good.
BTW if anyone is planning to take a look at my website - I am still working on the showreel for the frontpage. This is built with their most basic template. There are more with the basic package and you can buy from third parties cheaply if you don't like what comes as standard.
There is a columns plugin for columns and a blocks plugin which gives you pretty much a free hand in page design and layout. Lots more like this from third party developers.
I suspect that streaming video from my .mac account is not going to work well enough (based on experience of visiting .mac based sites) but I hope to be proved wrong.
In another thread on DV Info Amazon's EC2 service was recommended for hosting video. I haven't tried it yet but intend to.

ps I've just noticed that Josh's post mentions Amazon S3 which is I think what I am referring to. It seems horribly technical but I'm sure there's a way through it.

I can add one more shout out for RapidWeaver. For hosting, there is a company called LittleOak.com that I have 4 domains registered with. Cost wise for large amounts of video bandwidth, I'd go with someone larger like BlueHost.

RapidWeaver doesn't come with a calendar, but there is a plugin called RapidCal that will integrate your iCal with it. I use a calendar called WebCalendar in an iFrame for group editing of calendars.

There's a program called PayLoom that lets you setup a shopping cart, GoogaLoom as well. I've also just used the code PayPal has generated and pasted the HTML code into my sites.

I've used e-Junkie for e-commerce and again, it's as simple as taking the HTML code they generate for you and pasting it in the RapidWeaver page.

Here's a link to their user fourms. I'm an active member there, if you have any RapidWeaver questions, post them there.

Realmac Software Forums | RapidWeaver Support & Mac Chat

Grant

RapidWeaver looks okay, but does anyone know any advantages over Wordpress?

The themes look fine- but they charge for each one... and the plugin support looks meager compared to Wordpress.

Plus it costs $79 more- are there any pros?

Another plug for Rapid Weaver - if you're on a Mac. Their template system makes updating your website so much simpler. Using it with IPOWERWEB. My site is: Good Light Pictures. I only have some temp media on there, but check out the embedded flash video, took me all of 30 seconds to add in Rapid Weaver (let me know how it plays on your computer). The video is being streamed from a Vimeo +plus account. Also the photo gallery plug-ins are nice and are easy to update as well.

My website has always languished because I was fed up with tweaking every page in Frontpage 2003. I also tried WordPress for awhile, but it was too bloggy for me, and I didn't like having to go back and make a lot of changes to the CSS/HTML files. Rapid Weaver's templates let me get the site functional very quickly, and make updates very, very easy.

I'm using SkyBlueCanvas - The Lightweight CMS as my CMS. I chose it because it's a lot lighter than Joomla, doesn't require a database and to me at least is better suited for a small website.

Here is my: Our Fire
Please don't be scared by lack of images, my preferred style is very minimal.

Sorry, I forgot that I licenced RapidCal separately.
I bought a book about Wordpress and went down the Rapidweaver route because it seemed like less hassle to learn.
As for the cost. I suppose it depends on how much value you put on your time or paying someone else to do it.
I'm not saying that Rapidweaver is perfect eg after designing my site around a front page consisting entirely of video I discovered that the dropdowns in the menu only work on a mac not on a pc ie they won't drop down over the video on a pc, which screws my site design concept.
Rapidweaver help via the forum have been very responsive on a number of occasions.

Another thing to consider - do you have a lot of time on your hands? If so, then by all means, spend hour upon hour working on your website. But if you're running behind on 12 different projects at the same time, you might find it a better business decision to simply hire a web professional to get it done.

My wife loves to remind me of that when I get these kinds of money saving DIY ideas...

It's a fair point. I've spent 55 hours on my website so far (and that excluded researching how to do it) and it's still not finished.

I used to build websites for money, now I'm so busy that I don't even have the time to build from scratch for myself, hence a open source CMS. :))

Thank you all for the excellent feedback!! This type of info is indespensible. In all honesty, I really don't have all that much time on my hands to be constantly tweaking my website and handling a big learning curve as far as site construction (work a full-time job and 2 other part time gigs in addition to video/audio work). So I'd like to make a compromise between ease of use and most professional look/feel and i definitely want to do it myself for the experience and lack of funds!!

All the sites that I have seen from people who responded to this thread are great (whether CMS or Rapidweaver, etc). The main things I need as far as my site goes are a Home Page, Informational Section, Video Section, Audio Section and Photo/Design section...I think eventually I would like incorporate some kind of PayPal/shopping cart structure in the future if I can get it off the ground.

Josh,
I'm very familiar with the DVcreators site, I think it's a good example of what wordpress is capaple of, but there is a lot more going on there than I actually need. I'm definitely going for something more stripped down and simple for my needs, and not so much a "blog" structure...is there a lot of flexibilty with wordpress' site construction/editing??

Thanks again y'all keep the advice coming, it's great to have this much info. centralized in this thread for when it actually comes time for me to make my decision!

~brendan

Brendan, have you checked out this page: Home - OpenSourceCMS
It might help you find the best solution for you. It has demos of most of the open source content management systems, whether blog, or portal or usual website.

I just wanted to clear up some of the mac-related questions.

I use a mac, and have been dabbling with wordpress and joomla for quite a while now. Since these "content management systems", as they are called, are all server-based (meaning that there isn't any application that you run like Dreamweaver or GoLive on your computer to set it up, but rather, it's managed over the internet through an administrative back-end), there's absolutely no problem at all designing with them on a mac.

The only difference when developing a site using wordpress or joomla with a mac is going to be the FTP application that you use. Since these services are server-based, you need a way to communicate with the server and transfer files. To do that, you use a service known as FTP. The best FTP client on the mac is Transmit, although it runs for $29.95. There are other free alternatives, like Cyberduck, but I can't recall too many off of the top of my head.

As far as rapidweaver goes, it's nice software if you don't mind being tethered to their templates. The last time I used it (granted, this must have been 2 or 3 years ago, and they could have added much more customization since then) I just couldn't stand being limited to their templates. Sure, you could change the images and text and such, but what if I wanted to change, say, that blue bar under the logo to a green bar, I wouldn't be able to do it. A lot of the code is also not the most refined or speedy code on the net. With that said, it's still worth downloading the free trial and trying it out, it is AMAZING software if it suits your need.

Best of luck,
Glenn Fisher

For customizing CSS or PHP, I use TextWrangler (free) to load text files right off the server, change them, and save right back to the server.

To resize and upload images, and to encode and upload video, and to manage remote media, I use DV Kitchen.

Wordpress has a plugin I highly recommend, one-click install, where to install a theme or plugin, you just copy the URL, paste and click install, no need to download and upload.

I have Cyberduck, but don't use it much.

Just to add to Glenn's point about FTP . . . you don't actually need an FTP client with Joomla or WordPress, other perhaps than to install the software in the first place (which in my case was a one click install option provided by my host, so no FTP software needed).

As Glenn says, everything is server based - development, admin, content creation, template and plugin uploads, the works. All uploading of site graphics, video etc is also done from within Joomla/WP, ie server based.

The occasions where you would find an FTP client useful would be, for example, if you make any changes to the template graphics and need to upload the new files. I had a bad night last night so my brain isn't working particularly well this morning, but I can't think of any other situations where you would actually need an FTP client. I'm sure someone will set me right!

rapidweaver
 

so after much research and great advice, I decided to go with Rapidweaver to build my site. I found that you don't have to be tethered to their stock templates by any means. You can download a blank template and customize however u want (with help from CSSedit and textwrangler)...there are other developer tools and some great tutorials out there as well:

RapidWeaver Developers - Download SDKs

I haven't had much time to play with yet (holidaze), but am doing the tutorials currently. I wound up going with Lunarpages for hosting, good deal, good reviews. There customer service is great so far too.

I used one of the generic rapidweaver templates to make and publish a placeholder to make sure everything would work correctly.

Home

thanks for all the great advice, I'll surely be back for more as I undergo building my site..ahah

~brendan

Don't forget BlocksBox,BlocksBox. It's a theme that isn't a theme. It's a canvas for whatever you want it to be. Does require Yourhead.com Blocks plugin, but makes site design as flexible as you want if you don't want to get into the HTML/CSS coding.

There are a few things to consider. I used to be a marketing consultant specialized in helping startup and small companies establish themselves in competitive markets. You can think about these points:

1. The image and quality of your website, your logo, letterhead, Biz Cards, all your business communications and promotional material, and just about everything else visual about your company acts as a surrogate of your quality until real evidence shows up.

2. Your image and website must communicate effectively and distinguish your company from your competitors. Half of that communication is visual. The other half is text copy that should be created by an experienced copywriter.

3. Websites are not always the rendered the same in all platforms and in all browsers, but they do have to be optimized to be perfect in them. And mobile devices must be included as well.

4. Websites should be optimized to have the maximum rankings with search engines.

5. For those not experienced in website design and general branding, this is very, very time consuming. And the time and resources dedicated to the website often detract from other more important tasks.

I often see small companies and startups try to save a buck or two and do the website, brochure and other stuff internally. Rarely do they have all the internal competencies to produce something that helps them get positioned properly in the marketplace and often they do more damage than good to their company. Ironically, a $5000 investment to get a talented creative group to do this step can help them easily recover that investment through increased sales.

.

• I've got a different take on this. I agree with everything Ken has just said, and would say that for many it's maybe wisest to leave it to the pros. I also think the 'off the peg' sites carry the risk of looking like they are just that. But, if you're at all savvy with a bit of simple coding, I think it's worth the effort trying to do something a little different. After all, we're all creatives here aren't we...?
  
  First off, be very careful buying your domain. Some sellers will retain ownership (seriously!) and you'll only find that out later. Don't use the same company for your web space - if you fall out with them you have twice the problem if they're also your domain host. It's happened to me. Check out what they won't let you do. One company I was with didn't allow the uploading of zip files! I use UKreg for my domain (ridiculously cheap and with free email and host name forwarding) and 1&1 for the space.
  
  Free HD hosting is really good these days. There's Vimeo, Exposure Room, and of course YouTube. You can embed externally with all of these. But I would question whether HD is such a good idea if your target audience has to sit and wait for it to download first...
  
  I like the look of Revolution, but check out Virb, which is free. Here's an example Viral Mistry on Virb.com. He uses Vimeo (free too, but they also offer a cheap 2 pass encoding service with extra features) but you can go elsewhere for free hosting - look at my Video Embedding Comparison Tests (all free) and notice how my own URL stays up top virtue of UKreg's host name forwarding. As for customising the Virb look: Free CSS Templates
  
  I've been creating my own showreel page on Virb too Karel's Showreel (very much work in progress, and yes Ken I'll be replacing my name up top with a nice professional graphic) but I'm now toying with the idea of moving it to 1&1 and doing some clever things with Javascript, but I won't go into that here. Not just yet anyhows.
  
  Or you could use ExposureRoom: SHOWREEL 2008 By Karol Pupiec or even Vimeo's own site: Sweetheart Films but they're both a bit cluttered and don't allow much customisation, which is where using Virb comes in.
  
  My main point is that nowdays you can do it all for free (or very cheaply) and it doesn't have to be MySpace!
  

Hey Karel, thanks for the heads up with Exposure Room. It's a new one to me. Here's a list of video hosting sites I found some time ago Top 31 free alternatives to YouTube (video hosting sites) Chaos Laboratory

Although YouTube doesn't have the Pro appeal of Vimeo and Brightcove, it does have one massive advantage: it's the world's second largest search engine today and it is tightly integrated with the world's largest search engine. And I heard that 80% of all Internet traffic emanates from YouTube now. Acknowledging the increased size of the content on Youtube, it still demonstrates to my marketing brain that there are a lot of people spending way too much time on YouTube.

As for the Pro vs. DIY debate, it all really comes down to do you want to save money, or do you want to make money. Most money made today comes from investing in something that has potential to grow. The investment for a pro looking image is not that high today.

Here's a helpful hint for those who believe that a better image results in better sales. Today web and creative agencies need videographers as video continues to become the medium of choice for Internet communcations. Many are willing to do favors in return for favors.

Good tip! And an excellent link - I'll post a link to that in my revised 'web hosting comparisons site' (coming soon).

I think Exposure Room offers the best in technical quality available for free (but only just) which will be important to may people here. Unfortunately their site is a bit clunky, though you can embed it elsewhere - but they only offer 3 fixed sizes and the UI is not very clean (see my link at the bottom). It's certainly the one to use if you want to show off something at it's best possible quality, but maybe not if the design of a web page has higher priority. Here's one of mine: Culture Club (you may wish to turn your sound down) There are elements you can change, like the header, but not a lot. Most of these sites want to develop a 'community' but I've found there are few real pros actually hanging out in any of these.

Would be nice if that could be done here?

Paying or free? I think that if you pay you need to pay a substantial amount. A cheapo company will give you an off the peg solution you could have found yourself with some research, and it often looks that way. To me anyway. I'm not saying that everyone should have a fancy site, but that it's always a good idea to look a bit different in a way that says something positive about you. But then most folk here will understandably have other higher priorities.

The biggest question is - who is your target audience? Answer that and the answers to a lot of other questions, like HD or HQ?, become clearer.

p,s. Vimeo and ER both say they're about to launch new improved versions. So keep watching the skies...

Worth keeping in mind that many (maybe all?) of the free video hosting sites prohibit uploading of commercial work or using the site for anything other than personal use (that seems to include Vimeo and Exposure Room. YouTube allows it). How strictly they enforce this I don't know.

Interestingly, two of my (big name) clients are asking me to produce low cost rough and ready videos that simply get their message across without high production values. They want them to be put on YouTube for the very reasons Ken states - massive exposure potential. They are technical messages aimed at senior IT managers who don't care about or appreciate the gloss and just want the bare details. They can deliver ten of these messages for the same price as one full production. The good part for me is that they are now making ten times as many videos (well, almost) in a time when I was very worried that my revenue was going to suffer badly because of the economy. Because I'm in their face all the time, I'm in a strong position to be their first choice when they go back to making higher value videos when the world gets back to normal (whenever that is . . .)

It's a question of knowing what your audience wants and expects to see (and obviously the above is wholly irrelevant to someone making music videos or drama etc).

Absolutely.

copyright?
SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT SIGNS CONTENT LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH YOUTUBE

MCPS-PRS Alliance & YouTube sign ground-breaking agreement

Currently Warner are kicking up a fuss but I see the YouTube - Warner Channel is still live. It's all about HD. Why buy the DVD if you can download an HD version? We'll see a fresh agreement soon.

Forgot to mention that YouTube and Vimeo can do this http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?swf...D18&fs=1&hl=en but Exposure Room can't.

Just before YouTube went HD I was hoping to create a Vimeo channel as a showcase for a series of videos I am about to do for a client. Here's the pilot "test" video which I purposely did to be 90% entertaining and 10% promotional YouTube - Giacomo Castellano with the Masotti X100M Modern 100W in HD Video I asked Vimeo if it was OK and they said no good. Moreover, Vimeo does not strictly define commercial usage, as most videos on Vimeo are promotional in one way or another. Until they strictly define their commercial use policy there will always be a risk that someone will claim that it is promotional and the video will be taken down.

Fortunately YouTube started doing HD better than Vimeo and for free.

I remember going into a pub here with my baby daughter quietly sleeping in her carry cot. We discreetly put her in a dark corner. The landlord saw her but said nothing. Then my goody goody other half asked "It's ok if we bring her in here isn't it?"
"Now you've pointed it out, I have to tell you it's not. You shouldn't have asked."

I think a lot of internet hosting sites operate much the same policy.


Nice video Ken. He almost looks cool. Wish I could play like that.

You're right, of course, Karel, but it's a dangerous way to run a business.

There's some very precarious business models operating out there...

Hey I like the way you have two windows on videoit, but I thought you'd want to know (1) it took about 10 seconds before anything happened here (2) I got no sound.

XP Chrome.

re (1) is it possible to link to a very short video that would load very quickly which would then automatically follow up with something a bit longer? Just a thought. Would be useful elsewhere though. I think they do something like that with the ads running before videos on the Guardian site, for instance.


EDIT nor on IE, and everything that's 250pixels from the left slips down off the page. Don't shoot the messenger...

There certainly are!

Thanks for the for the heads up, Karel. I'll look into it. There is no sound with those clips, by the way. Are you saying you are using Chrome?

And IE.

"The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters."

I need a smiley here.