Back in the late 90′s when I build my first website it was necessary to know some basic html code in order to get a page on the web. Now it has become extremely easy and there are several services that can help create a site. Its become so easy I manage a personal blog for family, professional site with portfolio and this site. In this day and age it is expected that designers and technicians have some digital presence on the web so employers can quickly and easily look at their work. Here are some things to know and some services to get you started. In later posts I will discuss some of the services in greater detail.
Three things you need for a site
1. Code: A web page can be as simple as some basic text on a page that with the right code can be published to the web. This code tells a web browser how to treat the text that is placed inside it. You can create a site with little or no knowledge of this code but the more the know the better you may be able to fix problems or add features to your site. After a quick search on the web here is a site tutorial by EchoEcho.com or video tutorials on You Tube posted by EdzJohnson. You can create text in a simple text editor, on MS Word or an html editor like Adobe’s Dream Weaver that is then saved as an html file. Below I will show you programs and services that are easy to use and they create the code for you.
2. Hosting Space: Creating an html file is the fist step, you then need to store that file or files on a server that is connected to the web. There are several companies that do this I use GoDaddy to host my site for about $4o a year.
3. Web Address: Last you need a way to point people to your site this is through your web address. The site address is really a standard ip address made up of a bunch of numbers, so you can purchase the right to an address that forwards to your site. Again I went to GoDaddy and pay around 10 dollars a year for the right to toddproffitt.com.
I do not recommend creating a site from scratch here are some free and paid services that can help make and maintain the site.
Recommended Applications and Services
WordPress.org- is a free blogging platform that is used to create a site or blog. It’s an application that is run from a web browser and allows you to create several pages as well as one page that can be used for a blog or news for your site. I like to use the blog posts to separate each production I want to highlight. This version of WordPress requires you have storage from a hosting service from someone like GoDaddy.
Advantages: I use this for my professional site, and its very flexible, gives you limitless themes for free or paid, and plugins that make it much more useful. It allows you to paste in code from other services like Flickr and other photo services, which allows you to easily import a slide show of your work.(see Put Those Photos Online-A Review of Photo Sharing Sites)
Disadvantage: The disadvantage is it has a learning curve and you may need help from your hosting service to get it started. You need to have a little geek in you to use this service and it is not easy to get a resume to format to a page.
Examples: http://www.toddproffitt.com
Quick tip 1: Like something you see on a site or can’t figure out how that made that link send you and email? Look at the source code. Most browsers under the view menu let you look at the source code, simple adapt the code to fit your situation. If you are having trouble finding the code use the find option in your browser copy the text you are looking for, switch to the source code and find that text.
WordPress.com is the same software as wordpress.org but hosts the site for you with some limitations.
Advantages: It gives you a powerful service for free. It limits the themes you have access to but there are lots of themes that are beautiful. Because there is less to customize the learning curve is smaller. I use it for this site and this is a site
Disadvantages: You can’t use a slide show from any photo service. You need to upload your photos to WordPress.com directly or use there approved slide show service Rockyou.
Examples: Colin Chauche Jessica Bertollo and Julie Shelton
Quick tip 2: Don’t pay full price for your web hosting or web address. Services like GoDaddy sponsor popular tech podcasts and have offer codes up to 20% off. Here are several from the internet podcast network Revision 3
Google Sites: is yet another free service from Google that hosts and creates a site for you in a matter of minutes.If you use Google products this is a good choice.
Advantages: It works seamlessly with other Google products like Picassa for your photo slide show or Docs for an easy upload of the resume.
Disadvantages: There is a learning curve and some things should be easier, like creating multiple pages. I took a couple of hours to create a quick site as an example was frustrated how many menus are hard to find. I never found a great solution for links to my multiple pages. The themes look ok but are not nearly as attractive as all the other services.
Examples: http://sites.google.com/site/toddproffitt/ and Kate Stack
Quick tip 3: Look at your site in more than one browser and on more than one operating system. Don’t assume everyone uses the same web browser as you. Once your site is up check your site on, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Chrome. If you have access to different computers check it on a mac, pc, iPhone or other mobile platform. Then have your friends and family check to make sure it works on their computer.
iWeb: is an application that only runs on the Mac os. I include it because it is easy to use and the sites it creates are beautiful. Once you create a site on iWeb it easily uploads to any hosting program. It has the most functionality when you use Apple’s Mobile Me service that costs $99 a year. That is a bit high for a hosting account but you get a ton of services most hosing programs don’t offer.
Advantages: It is very easy to use and has a small but very attractive group of themes. It integrates well with other Apple products, including iPhoto. Simply make a gallery of your work in iPhoto and drag it to the page you want to show off those pictures.
Disadvantages: It’s only on the Mac is the biggest disadvantage for those who don’t own a mac. Of the services we are looking at its is expensive. iWeb comes in the iLife suite which costs $79 but again you get a lot more that a web creator for that price.
Examples: Greg Kaye and Curtis Phillips (both scenic designers?)
Quick tip 4: What a professional site should include: resume, contact information and pictures/portfolio. Don’t forget to when you create the text for your email to use at for the @ symbol or use a picture of your web address. Spammers have bots that troll sites looking for your web address, this hides it from those bots.
Deviant Art: Ron Grimshaw recommended this site to me, I had used Deviant Art for research but never knew it had a portfolio service. The service has a free and paid premium version. The free service you are limited to 100 photos and the web address they provide. The Premium service has unlimited photos and more options in creating the portfolio and runs $4.95 month or $29.95 a year.
Advantages: It was the easiest and quickest of all the services to use. It walks you through the process including uploading the photos.
Disadvantages: It is very structured and there is very few options to customize the look of the site. The few options you have look really good.
Examples: http://toddproffitt.daportfolio.com, Ron Grimshaw, Abigail McCarthy
Quick tip 5: Google, Google Google. Search for other designers and technicians sites and see what they are doing. Then steal the best layouts and color schemes.
Squarespace: is a hosted website and page creator all in one. It is a paid service that runs form $8 to $50 a month. It has a 14day trial that has most functions of the full site.
Advantages: Site looks great with many themes to start from then customize. It allows you to import from many other sites and services. I imported my portfolio from my WordPress blog in minutes. I created a second portfolio using their gallery creator and it was really easy to use and looks great. I was able to create several pages in a small amount of time.
Disadvantages: Small learning curve but once I got into it was quick to create a site. The video tutorials did not help me very much. The biggest disadvantage is the cost per year is much more than the other services and it cost extra to use your domain name.
Quick Tip 6: Plan out what you want every page to look like on paper before you start. Just do a simple doodle of what the header, sidebar and pages look like and it will save you hours of work once you start. You will change it from the original doodle but a good plan will save you much-needed time.
Examples: http://toddproffitt.squarespace.com/ (will expire early March) and Nick Smith (found through search)
FolioSnap: a fully paid service, for full disclosure I have not tried this site but a couple years ago in researching my site I found many designers use this service. A colleague of mine Carol Blanchard has used this service and had this to say “For me it has become the most cost-effective and easiest way to obtain a website that I can change without needing web developers tools.” It is a fully paid site and has several pricing plans starting at $18.99 to 58.99 a month.
Advantages: Carol says ” It is as simple as logging in, uploading the new photos, deleting anything I no longer want. Changing formats, styles, wall papers, etc. are just as easy too.” The sites look very good and present the work in an easy way.
Disadvantages: Carol says “Down falls? Well, I have to say that getting a PDF file on it requires that you get in touch with the administrators….but can be done quickly with no added expense.” To me the expense is a too much for a young designer or technician.
Examples: Carol Blanchard
Quick Tip 6: Don’t expect once you get a site up employers will come beating down the door. This business is still about networking, once you get that interview or send out that resume you will have a place for directors, managers and producers to see your work. You can promote your site on the dozens of social networks out there but still the best way to get that job making that personal connection.
Conclusion: Here are only a few ways you can get your work on line. This is not a fast process and it will take some time and management to keep it updated. You can do this completely free but some of the paid services are well worth the investment and can save time with much more attractive results. In future posts I plan on going more in-depth with several services but for now this will start you on your way to getting your work up on-line.
UPDATE:
Since writing this I have found several new services but have not have time to give them a full review below are links to the service and examples when i have them.
Anna Slocum http://www.annaslocum.com/default.html
Ariella Lebowitz http://ariellalebowitz.sharemyartwork.com/portfolio/
Wix.com —
Sophie Schneider http://www.wix.com/sophiesschneider/costume-design#!
Taylor Morse http://www.wix.com/mors4982/tmorsephotography
webs.com —
Jaime Samson http://jamesrsamson.webs.com/
Kristen Fletcher http://kirstenfletcher.carbonmade.com/
Drew Vangenderen http://drewvangenderen.yolasite.com/
As i find more services ill post more soon. Thanks to Anna, Drew and Theresa for helping me find these.
dt4pa
Todd Proffitt
"Mike"
JoyinLight
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