Site Design

Some who view this site may be prompted to publish a site of their own or for their model engineering club or similar and if so, may be interested in the approach I have taken to produce what is seen here. It does not of course have to be as large or involved as this site is.

Whilst an absolute beginner when it becomes to Web Design I have, as a control systems engineer, been involved in programming at many levels. With that background I was keen to produce the site using the HTML programming language but after some consideration decided that at this stage in my life that using a program that did a lot of the donkey work for me would be a quicker and easier approach and therefore a more sensible way to go.

Easy Website Building

I first obtained a copy "Easy Website Building", being one of Computer Active's " Ultimate Guide's", that was published in magazine form in March 2008. This can still be had from the publishers as can others in the series. Computer Active is well known for its "Plain English" approach to computer magazine publishing and "Easy Website Building" makes a very easy introduction to the subject for one starting from scratch as it covers the whole process right through to choosing your domain name and a server on which to host your site.

WebPlus 10

The publication, among other things, reviewed a few website building programs from which I chose Serif's "WebPlus 10", Serif are well know for publishing very capable programs that are relatively easy to use and at a very reasonable price. Another major plus is that they still provide printed manuals for their software rather than relying on one provided on the CD, surprising when one finds that the overall cost is only a few tens of pound. An updated version is now available known as "WebPlusX2", still at a very reasonable price.

I also obtained a copy of their PhotoPlus X2 photo editing program which integrates well with with WebPlus 10 though it is not essential, any photo editing package will suffice. Again it is provided with a printed manual, is easy to use and is not expensive.

If you do want to have a go at producing a web site then “Easy Website Building” and “WebPlus 10” will make the process a relatively easy one. If you already have an insight into desk top publishing or using a word processor beyond just simple text documents, then a very easy one.

WebPlus 10 and its successor, WebPlus X2 are capable of much more than I have used to develop this site, Typically, creating an E-commerce site with shopping baskets and payment methods such as PayPal. Also provided are templates that would permit a web site to be created and up and running in a matter of a few hours. If say you just wanted a gallery for your photographs then this would certainly be easily achieve by this method.

For details of the these two items click on the pictures of the relative books.

UK2

For a Domain name and a hosting package to permit access by the internet user I have used UK2. I found the technical assistance given by this company excellent. Replies by E-mail within the hour even in the evenings and at weekend. Serif was almost equally as good. If though your website is small your Internet Service Provider will probably provide hosting space for you at no extra cost.

Building your own Web Site

UK2