Website Design Advice Needed

[thecajunboy]

My band has switched drummers, and the former drummer did our web design. I've been nominated to take over duties, and we'd like to make some changes. I've figured out how to do the minor stuff, but I'd like to do a revamp. What's the best way to approach in a DIY fashion? It needs to be easy.

[mathman]

My band has switched drummers, and the former drummer did our web design. I've been nominated to take over duties, and we'd like to make some changes. I've figured out how to do the minor stuff, but I'd like to do a revamp. What's the best way to approach in a DIY fashion? It needs to be easy.

There are many answers possible here. First off does you host have any special requirements? There are lots of choices for website software nowadays. Wide range of prices also. I guess a bit more info would help the advice.

[murkat]

check out my sight, stupid easy.

weebly.com

[thecajunboy]

The band's site is hosted by GoDaddy.

[moozak]

check out www.bandzoogle.com ...it will do everything you need.

[gorch]

Definitely it needs more details for serious recommendations.

[thecajunboy]

Okay, more details.

We're only a half-sack cover band.

We don't intend to sell anything.

We pay somewhere around $80/year for a dot.net domain at GoDaddy.

All we want to do with the site is advertise shows, host gig photos, band member bios. You know, basic stuff.

We don't want to add to the monthly payment plan we already have.

Looking for something that is pretty much drag and drop simple that we can use with the GoDaddy site. But we don't want it to look too generic.

Thrift-minded is our motto on this item.

[kizanski]

Step 1: Stop hosting with GoDaddy.

[mathman]

Sounds like a wordpress site would be ideal.

[thecajunboy]

Step 1: Stop hosting with GoDaddy.

Why?

[gorch]

Step 1: Stop hosting with GoDaddy.

Why?

Good question! It worked until now, you should be able to keep the ball rolling in the future. What's the link actually? You did not tell it. It's not in your profile either. Help me if I'm blind.

Addition: Do have the access password to the webspace? Who receives the bill? Is the domain name part of the webservice or do you have another ISP for the domain?

I just want to check if you have full control on it.

[kizanski]

Step 1: Stop hosting with GoDaddy.

Why?

The short answer is "Because they suck.

The longer one is that, while you may have the capability to "build" a site using their templates and WYSIWYG interface, you are severely limited on what you can actually do with the space that you are renting.

For someone like me who builds a site from scratch (using any of the Web authoring programs like Dreamweaver, for example) and wants to upload it via FTP, their base plan does not allow it. Since 99.9% of GoDaddy users have the base plan, I'll bet this is the situation for you as well.

Sure, you can upgrade your plan, but then you're past the price of most of the other web hosting companies that don't advertise during the Superbowl and lead you to believe that you're going to see a naked Danika Patrick if you visit their site.

Their McDonalds or Walmart: arguably the biggest, but far from the best.

[thecajunboy]

Thanks Kiz. And yes, it appears we have the base plan. I do have access to the site, and we're paid up through November, hence one of the reasons we figured we'd stay there.As far as I know, everything was done through GoDaddy. The site is HERE. It's normally accessed through an index html, but I deleted the enter site button from it and added some under construction text to keep the average loon out. The site is pretty amateurish and we never put a whole bunch of emphasis on it. Our former drummer is the type that thinks the bands sounds better if it has a website. Transferring ownership and all that jazz will be easy. We're all still friends.

[polara]

Just set up a page on Facebook. Have the index page for your band's domain link to it. Trying to even scratch the surface of the social networking power of Facebook with a stand alone site is madness. Hook it up to your reverbnation account and you've got all your media hosting and scheduling there too.

I run marketing, PR, social media, advertising and events for a good sized tech company...the days of controlling your message by hanging a sign in front of your business are long gone. It's now all about the conversation among your marketplace. Setting up your own site as opposed to jumping into social media is like setting your business up on a back road instead of in a busy mall.

[kizanski]

Just set up a page on Facebook. Have the index page for your band's domain link to it. Trying to even scratch the surface of the social networking power of Facebook with a stand alone site is madness. Hook it up to your reverbnation account and you've got all your media hosting and scheduling there too.

I run marketing, PR, social media, advertising and events for a good sized tech company...the days of controlling your message by hanging a sign in front of your business are long gone. It's now all about the conversation among your marketplace. Setting up your own site as opposed to jumping into social media is like setting your business up on a back road instead of in a busy mall.

Unfortunately, this is all 100% true and accurate.

[mathman]

Facebook will soon rule the world. So yea, facebook may well be the way to go. If you haven't much experience using something like dreamweaver or any of the other web design software, then facebook or a Wordpress type site may be the best way to go. Wordpress allows for a lot of advanced features without having to use specialized software. We've moved all of our school sites to a wordpress install. Personally I preferred building my site but I have to admit that wordpress is simple and powerful.

wordpress hosting

[thecajunboy]

Totally agree with the Facebook thing, and we already have a site there, and it really is where we do most if not all of our communication to the public. The website is there pretty much just to say we have one, so killing it is probably the best option for us, especially when you consider that we don't aspire to be the best thing since the application of shovel to snake neck.

[Ting Ho Dung]

I'll host your site for free. You have to pay the $12 a year for yourdomain.com . Pay a friend a few $ for a new site and be done with it. (Don't ask me to do it, I'm done with that shit!) To do it yourself and do it right you need at the minimun PhotoShop and DreamWeaver. And you will have to learn to use them. They have a high learning curve and are expensive. The free alternative is to download Ubuntu and learn to use it. Gimp replaces PhotoShop and I forget what is there for DreamWeaver. I also have blog software on my server. It has several skins depending on what your application is. This is what Life Without Joel is on. It's called Bevolution or something close to that.