amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Dannielle · 06-21-2004, 01:52 PM

I just wanted to say I am SO impressed with all the mamas that have taken the time to learn how to create their own sites. You all just amaze me!

tickled-pink · 06-22-2004, 04:37 PM

I second that builderspot is super easy. It is $20 a month and has shopping cart built in. The only thing wrong with it is that it doesn't automatically keep track of inventory but unless you are a super-busy and successful site, this isn't a big deal.

I knew NOTHING when started and I set up my site in 15 minutes. It wasn't as nice as it is NOW, but functioning nonetheless. There are people there to help when you ask questions and often it only takes an hour or so for them to get back to you and often they just fix the problem for you and tell you how they did it. Emily, who works there, has even fixed cosmetic things for me for free, using her own personal software!
(Still have lots of work left to do, I know.)

The best thing about is that they have collected info on the easiest and free thumbnail programs and the best place for info on this and that and they set up deals with other companies like authorize.net (I think that is what it is called.) to set up credit card authorization for little money. The have an easy to read list of the best resources.

As soon as you make a change to your site, you see it right away. You can try it for free, and I highly recommend it. I have turned a few people onto it. To see some sites that I, knowing NOTHING about this stuff, have done, visit www.tickled-pink-designs.com (my site) and www.kboychuk.com (my friend's site). I know they aren't amazing or anything but they are pleasing to look at, easy to read and easy to navigate.

Best of luck!

Natasha.

I make gorgeous, SAFE nursing necklaces! Also, funky jewelry for mom!www.tickled-pink-designs.com

Nutmeg · 06-22-2004, 11:18 PM

At first I used wahmshoppes, but I wanted more customization.

I use Frontpage or just HTML -- I got HTML for Dummies and read it while my dh's family was cleaning a deer they got a few seasons ago LOL.

I tried using Dreamweaver but my brain won'tt wrap around something new yet.

I like using PhotoDraw and Photoshop for different aspects of my site and designs.

I would make my own page through FrontPage then use Mal's cart if I were to do it all over again. I also am learning to use PHP and am pretty happy with how easy that is, plus free is a great price LOL

MommyKristine · 06-23-2004, 09:00 AM

I started out doing my own on the Geocities free sites using templates. I out grew that really fast and upgraded to the Premium geocities which worked for awhile for me just usign their pagebuilder. During this time I taught myself alot of HTML using various websites like www.htmlgoodies.com and www.lissaexplains.com . I then hired a webdesigner (www.sleepingbaby.net , Jan, shes awesome!) Jan took all my ideas and designs and put it all into css format so its all strictly html. At first I was really scared to try to edit my own pages but because geocities is so user friendly I can now maintain them with the basics I know about html. I really recomend learning some basics and then having someone do the hard stuff for you.

I think the key is getting the right format set up initially and getting comfortable doing the basics. Its not as scary or as hard as it looks. It cansometimes be time consuming but with practice it gets better. As far as the graphics, I use PSP8 and I think my web designer uses Adobe Photoshop. Graphics are the fun part!

Goodluck!!