|
Post by houstonceng on Jul 21, 2020 10:34:25 GMT
Hi All. Our MES webmaster wants to give up to concentrate on his work, so we are looking to take over the job. He, and the directors, agree that the website is looking somewhat jaded and is in dire need of a complete redesign. It was, in any case, hosted on the webmaster’s business and designed, by him, using the now unavailable MS software.
We have been looking at the various software and hosting services offered by GoDaddy, Wix, etc, and every one of these seems to be aimed at small business operators and start-ups that are trying to sell goods and services. Apart from that, we are getting bogged down in the technicalities of transferring hosting and URL vs some that want customers to use their addresses.
Has anyone any experience of using this sort of software to design a new website and can give any recommendations OR has used a commercial designer that offers a good, not too expensive, service to clubs such as an MES.
|
|
|
Post by Roger on Jul 21, 2020 11:43:09 GMT
I used Wix to create my business web site years ago, and that was easy enough to use. I haven't updated it in ages though, so I expect the tools and templates are better than what I had to work with. I just wanted something simple where I could create a series of pages and add images that could be clicked on. It's not great, but it's good enough for my needs.
|
|
stevep
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,070
|
Post by stevep on Jul 21, 2020 11:52:25 GMT
We recently moved our web hosting over to INIOS (1 and 1), at an initial low cost for a year.
I design the web pages in raw HTML, so can't offer any advice on authoring tools. I understand Wordpress is the latest thing.
|
|
|
Post by shedman on Jul 21, 2020 14:33:50 GMT
Hi it seems to me you have two sections, a set of mainly static pages at www.modeleng.org/ and this forum. If this structure is to continue then any of the main hosting companies can support this approach. Ionos is one that I use for hosting also TSOHOST , you can have a content management package such as Word Press plus the forum or you could just do the static pages in HTML and an authoring tool such as Dreamweaver. . For the Forum I would strongly recommend looking at Simple Machine's Forum www.simplemachines.org/ it is very powerful, easy to use and is Open Source it uses a MYSQL database again opensource. Here is an example www.marston-sunbeam.org/sunbeamForum/index.php. If you were to migrate to SMF then it should be possible to import the existing forum, clearly you would not want to loose the existing content!
|
|
|
Post by houstonceng on Jul 21, 2020 16:28:53 GMT
Sherman
I wasn’t talking about this site, but referring to the website of the MES of which I am a Director, Treasurer and Member. Essentially, we need a site that we can post info for the general public, like open days, photo galleries, etc, and a page or two which only members of the MES can see if they login. These latter for lists of the committee members, copy of the latest magazine and, possibly, a “for sale” page.
Basically, the same sort of content that other MES have.
|
|
|
Post by shedman on Jul 21, 2020 16:44:01 GMT
Apologies my misunderstanding. What is the URL of the website you are referring to?
|
|
|
Post by houstonceng on Jul 21, 2020 19:26:40 GMT
The current website is WDMES.co.uk but we don’t propose to update this one, as the webmaster owns the hosting. Probably have to buy another domain and host.
|
|
|
Post by springcrocus on Jul 21, 2020 22:14:54 GMT
Andy,
No reason to change your website address, just get the current owner to transfer it to another person or organisation, assuming he doesn't want to keep it himself. Once transfer of ownership has happened, your club can continue with the same address.
If he does not wish to pass the address over to the club, then you are probably better off with a new domain and one less member on the books.
Surely, there is another member of your club who can generate a new website from raw HTML, same as stevep does and as I do myself. If not, any young student of computer studies could do the initial work for you. Try your local college, I'm sure one of the students would be glad of the opportunity to create something meaningful and give them valuable experience.
I moved my hosting of "stevesbritannia.co.uk" from "123-reg" to "cheapwebhosting-uk.co.uk" over a dispute about SSL (an important consideration nowadays) and am well-pleased with the service I received during the transfer and setting up of the new service. Might be worth dropping them a query via email. info@cheapwebhosting-uk.co.uk
Regards, Steve
|
|
waggy
Statesman
Posts: 744
|
Post by waggy on Jul 22, 2020 15:07:33 GMT
Good afternoon Andy,
We use Simplesite, easy to use and costs £111 per annum.
Waggy.
|
|
|
Post by shedman on Jul 23, 2020 10:42:35 GMT
I agree, you can easily keep your existing address as long as the owner is happy for you to have it. It is worth getting an SSL certificate for the website as Google search downgrades sites that are not encrypted. There are open source certificates that can be used with IONOS and TSHosts and are free. With regards to the actual website it looks straightforward although there will be some complications if you want areas that are password protected, a content management system such as WordPress would give you that capability and can be developed with no HTML coding expertise.
|
|