OT question about web sites

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
OT question about web sites
5
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 6:36pm
I know some of you have websites. My question is how easy or difficult are they to make? I have been wanting to make one for some time and I think I could get some sales for my cat beds possibly too.
Melissa
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 6:54pm

They are generally easy to make these days, what with all the non-HTML templates available.

You can also create your own pages from scratch using WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors such as Netscape Composer (you can download it free at netscape.com), and you don't have to know a single HTML code. The beauty of WYSIWYG is that you CAN edit with HTML if you choose to. I used NC to create my website, though it is a LOT of work and I never did get around to finishing it.

Anybody can create a free general interest website, but if you want a storefront on your website, you will need to register a domain (doolittlekys_catbeds.com, for example) and pay monthly hosting fees. The fees go up as you add space, features such as cart/checkout, secure realtime credit card processing; AND you will need to apply for a merchant account if you want to accept credit cards (the easier way to accept cc's is to open an account at Paypal.com, but I don't know if they have realtime credit card processing for online stores - they do for Ebay).

Speaking of ebay, it's probably the best way to start out. You don't pay any membership or hosting fees, but they do charge insertion fees (usually only a few cents depending on your starting bid/price), and they charge a very small percentage of every item you sell. Ebay is a good place to start, because there are no startup fees, and you pay fees only for what you sell. You can even set up a storefront through ebay, if you don't want to take the auction route. Ebay even offers online tutorials on how to get started.

If this all sounds overwhelming... well.... that's because it is! I looked into it a while ago and gave up. But then again... I give up on things pretty easily sometimes. :)

Let me know if you have any other questions - I'll do my best to answer them.




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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 9:15pm

Hi Melissa. If I can build a website you certaily can do it too. It's so easy with the templates built in on a lot of sites and many of them are free.


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Registered: 03-07-2005
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 1:03am

Adding to what everyone else said, I'll offer to help with any questions you have. I'm a computer programmer, and I've set up my own websites several times, from scratch. So if there's some cool feature you'd like to know how to do, just ask. If I don't know how to do it, I can figure it out and share. :)

** Noelle

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Registered: 12-01-2003
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 8:16am
Like Les said you should go to homepage as that is where you will get the most help


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 05-28-2005 - 7:33pm
Thanks everyone for your advice. It all does sound overwhelming to me but I think I can even do a simple webpage like the tech at work was explaining to me. I need to think about what I actually want on it andthen if I have any questions I will be asking! LOL
Melissa