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Most website makers make it pretty easy to design your own website without you needing HTML knowledge, plus they're free (unless you want a domain name. Those do cost money, but not really all that much). I went with Weebly for my website, although I find using them can be a bit fiddly at times.Here's my website if you want to take a look to see how I went about doing things.
http://melissaajensen.weebly.com/
I mostly just use it as a place to link all my works for easier access. I actually consider my author blog to be my author website.
First, prepare to pull out your hair and start drinking again.Actually, using Wordpress or similar development environment is not too bad.
Learn a bit of HTML, CSS and PHP by using the FREE tutorials at W3Schools. www.w3schools.com. These guys wrote the web standards, so their info is always correct.
Use Google heavily to:
1. Search any problems you have, however take great care in how you formulate your search or you'll get garbage.
2. Don't take advice from "Joe's Built-In-My-Garage Forum". You'll get much better solutions from the more reputable sites.
3. Every search will yield people advertising the "perfect solution" for only big $$$, and almost all of that information is available for free.
4. Search for reviews of any open source software that you might be considering. Some of it is gold; some of it will very literally ruin your project.
Also, when you do find a forum that does offer good, reliable advice, don't just use it to solve one problem. Scan the topics and pick up tips as you go. In a very short time, you'll learn a lot, and possibly, when you run into a problem, you'll remember seeing it on the forum. Don't reinvent the wheel, go back to the forum and see how other people solved the problem.
Lastly, did I mention the drinking?
I haven't coded in years, but it looks like I'm going to have to take a refresher myself if I intend to blog.
Good luck.
Mod
Jay wrote: "First, prepare to pull out your hair and start drinking again.Actually, using Wordpress or similar development environment is not too bad.
Learn a bit of HTML, CSS and PHP by using the FREE tuto..."
My job is doing a pretty good job driving me toward drinking, so I'm already halfway there!
J.D. wrote: "Jay wrote: "First, prepare to pull out your hair and start drinking again.Actually, using Wordpress or similar development environment is not too bad.
Learn a bit of HTML, CSS and PHP by using t..."
If Riley says that you can do it all on a GUI interface, I'd check that out first. Like I said, don't reinvent the wheel.
I like blogger (for blogging, obviously) because they make it super easy to switch between html and drag & drop posting. I had a website back in the late nineties and I recall there being an html free option back then as well, so most sites won't require too much.One thing to keep in mind with WordPress is that their layouts are easily and often hacked. This comes from my IT professional husband, not me.
check out KompoZer. It's a freeware WYSIWYG user interface to create an html page.http://kompozer.net/
I built my site pretty easily with it.
I've been using webs.com for years to host my site. I only pay about $25 a year to keep my domain name.
www.edwardodson.com
One.com is free for the first year, and you get your own unique domain name, free, too. You do not have to know HTML, though it takes a couple of sessions to get used to the tools. Your website and domain after the first year is $29.99.
I switched from ipage when i wanted to save some money.
I switched from ipage when i wanted to save some money.
WORDPRESS. It is so easy, and if you learn it you are also learning a marketable skill.
Wordpress all the way - it's easy to use and excellent to create beautiful visuals - plus you don't need any HTML, CSS knowledge, you can just plug and play. I build more technical site now but with Wordpress you can blog, run competitions, build your email list, sell books, etc.
Mod
Wordpress is cheap and easy. They can host your website at very reasonable rates as well. If you are clueless (like me) it will get you off the ground rapidly. I am still not sure that it can handle ecommerce as to date I have had no book in publication
Christina wrote: "One thing to keep in mind with WordPress is that their layouts are easily and often hacked. This comes from my IT professional husband, not me...."I can second this. I've hosted dozens of Wordpress installations over the years. Yes, they are a major target and get hacked a lot, and the problem has grown in recent years. If you keep up on them, the problems are much reduced, but the WP community cannot resist the urge to fiddle for the sake of fiddling, which constantly creates new vulnerabilities, so you have to stay on your toes.
This applies to standalone WP installs, not the wordpress.com service. I have no experience with them.
I use wordpress.com to host several websites.The service is intended to host a blog, but you can add pages as you wish. If you don't want a blog but only a "website" with pages, you can select to have a static page as your "landing" page, and not show any blog posts anywhere, which leaves you with only a website with pages.
Here are some examples:
https://pherajenkins.wordpress.com/
https://inselgartenstade.wordpress.com/
https://keenanlaskin.wordpress.com/
All 3 pages use a blog as their "home" page, but you can easily disable it, or rename it "news" and make it a menu button if you want a welcome/intro page as your "home" page.
(PS: the designs are all free pre-made templates, I just had to click on what I wanted)
And I did what Kat is talking about, using a static landing page and several pages for the different sections.
All,Thank you for your help and suggestions on this post. I can now officially unveil my author website! Check me out at https://jdcuneganbooks.wordpress.com/.
I feel all official now. This is pretty sweet.
I'm thinking I need to build my own website, rather than simply relying on Goodreads and social media to get the word out about my books. But I have no HTML knowledge and a limited budget.
What are some of the things you guys do in creating/hosting your websites?