Ok, my band, Versatility, is doing its first show in about a month, June 18th. The thing is, is that i wan to get a website up and running, so at the show we can say "visit us at http://www.**********.com and we will tell you when our next show is" and stuff like that. So my question is, whats the easist way to get a great, decent looking website??? i am willing to learn html, but if there is an easier way do tell..or if u can recomend a great book on it. Basically, im asking how to go about starting a website for my band.
I am the guitarist/singer, lol, so just to keep this post specifaclly about guitar......
whats your favorite chord :P
(mines D major :P :P: :P)
RIP Dimebag
There are alot of options for website hosting and design.
Check out Godaddy.com they have a free WYSIWYG type site builder if you host with them.
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
I am fond of Dsus4 myself.
A friend at work uses Blogger.com. She likes it and recommended it to me. I haven't looked into it yet.
Check it out. It's Free!
I use Cool Page to edit my website pages - it's so simple even I can't stuff it up.
My website is hosted by Freedom2 ( http://www.argonet.co.uk ). They're reasonably priced.
Best,
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
First, using http://www.register.com/ find out whether the domain name you want is still available or not. Once you have selected a domain name, find an ISP who will host your site. I have seen banners by yahoo for $15-20 / month.
With some creativity and few hours on html/javascript/photoshop, you will be able to get a decent site up.
As missileman recommends, WYSIWYG type site builder are easy to use. If you would like to cusomize things further, http://www.w3schools.com/ has a good basic tutorial on html. You can always find more by googling.
Good luck and do post back if you need any help.
Cheers
Latest addition: Cover of "Don't Panic" by Coldplay
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=502670
E maj. 8)
Stairway to Freebird!
wow, o many replies so fast!!! thanks!
i went to that w3 website, just finished the tutorial, that site is great...i thought this was way more complicated (which i am sure it will get lol)
but anyways, i am off to check out the what u see is what you get thing! thanks, when i finally get the ire done...ill show u all!
RIP Dimebag
Microsoft FrontPage is a good program albeit expensive. Good WYSIWYG editor. Word can be used limitedly for web page creation.
~Mike the Redneck Rocker.
"The only two things in life that make it worth living are guitars that tune good and firm feeling women" - Waylon
Sorry, but I have to disagree (strongly) with the FrontPage recomendation. FrontPage, while its wysiwyg may be good, is a poor html generator - meaning the quality of the html it generates is poor. In typical Microsoft fashion, it handles too many things in a proprietary manner. This may sound like a minor point, but it will cause problems down the road.
You can slap together a web page (or a few) pretty painlessly with FP, but there are far better ways. I don't use wysiwyg html editors because I don't like them. But if wysiwyg is important, you'd be better off with an alternative to FrontPage - a Macromedia or Adobe offering (or someone else's).
-- John
"Hip woman walking on a moving floor, tripping on the escalator.
There's a man in the line and she's blowin' his mind, thinking that he's already made her."
'Coming into Los Angeles' - Arlo Guthrie
i think learning html is the best way to make webpages but then it all depends on the person. theres been alot of changes in browsers and how they read code and how picky certain browsers are, makes it kinda of difficult to solve some problems if you dont use a program to churn out html. One of the best ways to learn html is to take apart other people's code
if you want to use a program, i suggest macromedia's dreamweaver, thats the best one i've seen so far.
Quite a few of the web hosting companies provide quick and easy templates that will get a basic, and sometimes not so basic, site up quickly. It wont look the most original on the web but for someone that doesnt know HTML and all its qwerks it is a great route.
I use POWWEB and they have been great for me. Approx $100us sets it up for a year and that included the domain registration.
HTML can be easy but setting up a page that you can be proud of when you give out that WWW address can be MUCH more difficult.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
Hi,
I'm a web designer and do it for a living so thought I'd better throw my little bit into the pot. I completely agree with PappaJohn on his comments although Frontpage can definitely be a starting point for beginners, the HTML it generates isn't great but is 100 times better than using something like Word or Powerpoint and using 'save as a webpage' which will certainly cause lots of problems and probably won't work cross browser.
There are also HTML validation issues that should be met which will be in the next version of WAI Guidelines (Web Accessibility) which by law must be met so that websites don't discriminate against disabled users (blindness, colour blindness, poor sight, slow learning etc). I only mention this because FrontPage and even some of the better tools like Macromedia Dreamweaver won't generate 100% valid HTML and at some point you will need to correct the problems caused by it if you decide to use it as a starting point.
http://www.sitepoint.com is a great site with many different skill levels that I still use on a regular basis so might be a good place for you to start.
Also try using the following link to check that any HTML you create is actually valid. It will tell you how many problems you have and where the problems specifically lie.
I initially learnt the basics of HTML first and found that when I moved to Dreamweaver and it created invalid code it was easy to correct so would definitely advise this approach if you have the time and patience.
Good luck.
I was reading the latest issue of 'Guitar and Bass' magazine and found a small article about: http://www.totalband.com
I've not looked at that site, but the magazine seems to think it's a great start for up-coming bands to get a website up and running. You do have to pay, but packages start from £2/month.
Thanks so much guys n gals, it really has helped! I workign on it, a bit each day...and we'll see where it takes me!
RIP Dimebag
