Making changes to my own website

[Golddoor]

I had a website designed by some one and every time I make changes she want to charge me out the ass for it. For instance she charged me $75.00 to add a link and delite some contact info for me. Can I do some thing on my own to make those types of changes on my own? And if so how exactly do I do it?

[peekaboo]

theoretically, you can make all the changes yourself.
whether or not you can realistically do it will depend on a few things.
i think that if your web designer simply created the site for you and you have access to the server where the files are hosted then you should have no problem except knowing what you are doing.
if you do not have access to the server then i think you're stuck.
you can ask your web designer to transfer the hosting account to you but if she wants to charge you for it, i don't know how you'll avoid paying.

i hope you own the domain name. you could try saving all the webpages and then hosting your domain with all the saved pages on a server of your choice.

changing the content requires a little bit of "knowing what you are doing" but if you post what it is you want to do, someone here can tell you how to do it (probably).

[Overkill-GB]

If you do not have access to the domain or hosting and are unaware of it details or login information you are stuck, and if shes charging you too much the best option is too cancel her service, as there are a lot cheaper ways of creating your own site.

Out of interest may i look at your site as i could be able help you. I enjoy making websites as a hobby and always looking for a new project.

If you do decide to cancel i suggest checking out Godaddy very cheap hosting and plenty of support apart from it is very basic and you will need to know a bit a bit making a website, as it doesnt include a website builder in the basic package you may find it harder. But learning and getting started is easy enough and i would be happy to help you :)

You can make a site with Paint & Notepad its that easy you just need to know what your doing. But for begginers i may reccomend Frontpage 2003 it is indeed cheap now as it has been out a while.

[mairving]

If you do decide to cancel i suggest checking out Godaddy very cheap hosting and plenty of support apart from it is very basic and you will need to know a bit a bit making a website, as it doesnt include a website builder in the basic package you may find it harder. But learning and getting started is easy enough and i would be happy to help you :)

I very strongly don't recommend GoDaddy as a host. As a registar they are good, as a host they are pretty cheap but it is much more difficult to even get the most simple thing done. Their support is awful as well.

Golddoor, in answer to your question, I would consider a CMS (content management system) to make managing your site much easier. If you want to add a page, a link or pretty much anything to your site you can do it in the admin area with little HTML experience. I usually use Joomla (http://www.joomla.org/) or Wordpress (http://wordpress.org/) depending on the site needs.

[Overkill-GB]

Mairving, what difficulty did you find with Godaddy i found them very cheap and easy to get setup, what support did you not receive?

[mairving]

Mairving, what difficulty did you find with Godaddy i found them very cheap and easy to get setup, what support did you not receive?
I had setup a site on another server. Transferring it and setting up a database took quite a bit longer than it would normally have taken me maybe 8 hours instead of around 30 minutes or so. Their control panel is awfully clumsy and lacks a lot of functionality.

[mairving]

Here (http://www.webhostingjury.com/reviews/Go_Daddy) are some additional GoDaddy reviews.

[Overkill-GB]

I can agree with you on the Control Panel very unefficient when deleting or making a database takes several hours varying on verifying which is very anoying.

It seems that pricing is Cheap, Support ok, and reliabilty + overall very poor which i suppose is a fair play.

[Golddoor]

theoretically, you can make all the changes yourself.
whether or not you can realistically do it will depend on a few things.
i think that if your web designer simply created the site for you and you have access to the server where the files are hosted then you should have no problem except knowing what you are doing.
if you do not have access to the server then i think you're stuck.
you can ask your web designer to transfer the hosting account to you but if she wants to charge you for it, i don't know how you'll avoid paying.

i hope you own the domain name. you could try saving all the webpages and then hosting your domain with all the saved pages on a server of your choice.

changing the content requires a little bit of "knowing what you are doing" but if you post what it is you want to do, someone here can tell you how to do it (probably).

Ok great thanks for the info!!

If you do not have access to the domain or hosting and are unaware of it details or login information you are stuck, and if shes charging you too much the best option is too cancel her service, as there are a lot cheaper ways of creating your own site.

Out of interest may i look at your site as i could be able help you. I enjoy making websites as a hobby and always looking for a new project.

If you do decide to cancel i suggest checking out Godaddy very cheap hosting and plenty of support apart from it is very basic and you will need to know a bit a bit making a website, as it doesnt include a website builder in the basic package you may find it harder. But learning and getting started is easy enough and i would be happy to help you :)

You can make a site with Paint & Notepad its that easy you just need to know what your doing. But for begginers i may reccomend Frontpage 2003 it is indeed cheap now as it has been out a while.

Im using Godaddy already. They are my host and domain. And yes I own the domain name.

My site is www.firstamericangroup.us Please take a look and give me some feed back on it?

[Overkill-GB]

Hmm, I like the banner apart from the adress etc should be seperate.

The layout is nice or though i think it should be more structured with borders/tables and also the whole thing should be centered

As for compatibility works in most resolutions fine and most browsers including Firefox, Opera, IE7

I find it quite loose, but i like it keep up the good work. The pages are nice and i like how you have embedded images into the text. So with a little bit of work i think it would be a succesful project.

Keep me posted :)

[Golddoor]

Hmm, I like the banner apart from the adress etc should be seperate.

Yes the contact info should be apart from the header. Thats one of the changes Im needing. I want to add a seperate contact page.

The layout is nice or though i think it should be more structured with borders/tables and also the whole thing should be centered

Yes I was thinking that myself as well. Centered and spread out!

As for compatibility works in most resolutions fine and most browsers including Firefox, Opera, IE7

Not sure what you mean here?

I find it quite loose, but i like it keep up the good work. The pages are nice and i like how you have embedded images into the text. So with a little bit of work i think it would be a succesful project.

You said in your previous post that you enjoy making websites as a hobby. Would you charge to make changes for me?

Keep me posted :)

Thank for the feedback!!!

[mairving]

The likes:
-Logo/Banner is pretty good but I would definitely separate out the contact info and make the name a little more readable.
-Overall color scheme is pretty good.
-Site has a consistent look on all pages.

The dislikes:
-I never like it when the links are the same color as paragraph headers. It can be a bit confusing.
-Some pretty silly pictures. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/patient1.png looks like something from the Three Stooges. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/umbrella.png is pretty bad too. They shouldn't be png's either. Jpg's would give it a much better look.
-Missing standard features, About page, Contact page, privacy policy, etc.

[Golddoor]

The likes:
-Logo/Banner is pretty good but I would definitely separate out the contact info and make the name a little more readable.
-Overall color scheme is pretty good.
-Site has a consistent look on all pages.

The dislikes:
-I never like it when the links are the same color as paragraph headers. It can be a bit confusing.
-Some pretty silly pictures. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/patient1.png looks like something from the Three Stooges. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/umbrella.png is pretty bad too. They shouldn't be png's either. Jpg's would give it a much better look.
-Missing standard features, About page, Contact page, privacy policy, etc.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you 100% on your dislikes. Now I need to change those either myself or with some one else helping me. Im not sure I could do some of that myself?

[Golddoor]

The likes:
-Logo/Banner is pretty good but I would definitely separate out the contact info and make the name a little more readable.
-Overall color scheme is pretty good.
-Site has a consistent look on all pages.

The dislikes:
-I never like it when the links are the same color as paragraph headers. It can be a bit confusing.
-Some pretty silly pictures. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/patient1.png looks like something from the Three Stooges. http://www.firstamericangroup.us/images/umbrella.png is pretty bad too. They shouldn't be png's either. Jpg's would give it a much better look.
-Missing standard features, About page, Contact page, privacy policy, etc.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you 100% on your dislikes. Now I need to change those either myself or with some one else helping me. Im not sure I could do some of that by myself?

[Overkill-GB]

Hey, yeah il help you out for a charge of 0$ :)

What kind of alteration's do you have in mind.

Also as a side note as what i said about compatibility in some web browsers they can distort your layout so for example in IE7 it looks perfect in Firefox the page is shrunk to a quarter of the page.

[Golddoor]

Hey, yeah il help you out for a charge of 0$ :)

What kind of alteration's do you have in mind.

Also as a side note as what i said about compatibility in some web browsers they can distort your layout so for example in IE7 it looks perfect in Firefox the page is shrunk to a quarter of the page.


Ok great. I appreciate your kindness! What do you need from me to get started?

1. I would like it more centered on the page and maybe widened.

2. I have a new phone number to add to my contact as well as email address.

3. I would want the pictures deleted.

4. The quotes page goes to my old email and not my new. Need to change that.

5. delete the whole Mortgage Protection page and link.

6. Change the compatiablity in the web browers.

7. a seperate contact info page.

8. Line up the Aetna banner on the first page.

[Overkill-GB]

Ok great. I appreciate your kindness! What do you need from me to get started?

1. I would like it more centered on the page and maybe widened.

2. I have a new phone number to add to my contact as well as email address.

3. I would want the pictures deleted.

4. The quotes page goes to my old email and not my new. Need to change that.

5. delete the whole Mortgage Protection page and link.

6. Change the compatiablity in the web browers.

7. a seperate contact info page.

8. Line up the Aetna banner on the first page.

Yeah thats fine, Well all i need is your FTP information. Go to your GoDaddy control panel if you do not already no this information.

[Golddoor]

Yeah thats fine, Well all i need is your FTP information. Go to your GoDaddy control panel if you do not already no this information.

You need my Hosting login and password? Im guessing I shouldnt post that here. Do you have an email I could send it to?

[Overkill-GB]

Yeah that would probably be the best solution ive sent my email in a PM

[shadowpr]

Just PM each other that info.

Edit your post and remove your email address

[mairving]

Golddoor and Overkill-GB, please move any business discussions off this post and into either email or PM.

Thanks.

[Golddoor]

Golddoor and Overkill-GB, please move any business discussions off this post and into either email or PM.

Thanks.


Done!!

[peekaboo]

A portable (no installation) WYSIWYG web editor (http://portableapps.com/apps/development/nvu_portable)

[Overkill-GB]

No problem, I'l post updates here that ive done to your site and validate it with you before i put it up

At the moment im tied down with work related stuff but im sure to get started soon, I cant beleive someone charged you 75$ for that its ridiculous. People these days seem to take advantage on stuff you are not to knowledgeble on and overcharge you. I find it hard to trust people now.

[Overkill-GB]

Heres what ive got so far:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/sheerforce/sceeninsurance.jpg