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Post by Michael John on May 5, 2009 15:53:01 GMT -5
I've been looking for a free place to have a business website for a while. Until now, all I found was sites that gave you very basic templates and very little space to put stuff on your site (5Mb LOL). Well, a few days ago I found the Micrsoft Office Live Small Business site, and it seems that they give you more than adequate tools to set-up and run a damn good site, plus 500Mb of space. For me, the problem is that it's not nearly as simple to build a site there like it is on the cheap sites. I don't have much experience in all of that HTML, Flash, Java, etc, so I'm at quite a disadvantage with the learning curve to get started. Can anyone here point me in the right direction to help me get started?
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Post by cpdad on May 5, 2009 20:42:35 GMT -5
not sure i can really help....but my shops website is run from the same place....its simple....but yet effective. www.cooksmachineshop.commy boss lady built it....with lots of cussing along the way ;D....but she got pretty good at learning the set up....if you see anything that you may need help with....give us a call....i will hook her up with you....kev.
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Post by Michael John on May 6, 2009 13:47:32 GMT -5
That's a nice-looking site! The added complication for my site will be that I need a shopping cart system with a PayPal checkout. I made a skeleton for a site on Google, but they don't allow enough space for all the pics I'll need, and my method of accepting PayPal payments is a bit funky ... which is why I want a shopping cart with integrated PayPal checkout. The Google site was very easy to make, here's the link to it: sites.google.com/site/mojavegemstones/Home
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kjohn0102
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2006
Posts: 774
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Post by kjohn0102 on May 6, 2009 15:01:55 GMT -5
Michael John, adding paypal shopping cart should be pretty simple for you-you create the html code for the buttons and add all of the information on paypal-look under merchant tools-create buttons. I host on Yahoo, and use IWEB (we are a Mac Family!) to create my pages. IWEB has the ability to add an HTML snippet. I don't know anything about the Microsoft Office site, but if you can insert HTML code within their templates, than you'll be good to go.
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Post by Michael John on May 6, 2009 16:08:16 GMT -5
LOL part of the problem is that I don't know diddly about that HTML stuff.
I need a "typical" in-site shopping cart system which allows people to put stuff in their cart, calculate and add shipping, give a total, then direct them to PayPal for payment. I'm clueless about how to do all of that. I can do all of the basic stuff ... make pages, customize the colors, insert graphics and text, etc ... but I feel that I need to have the typical shopping cart and payment system which people are accustomed-to. As you can see in the sidebar of the Google site I made, I had an idea for payment that would work, but it requires extra effort for the customer and allows for too much opportunity for "error" ... plus it's just blatantly "unprofessional".
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dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 7, 2009 8:03:15 GMT -5
The site that I host my website through gives me 10TB of space and I am only using about 500MB, lots of room available. If you don't find anything else to your liking I should be able to set aside space and upload a shopping cart program like OsCommerce for you to use. This should include a paypal link. Dean
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nancyid
has rocks in the head
No stone goes unturned.
Member since January 2009
Posts: 563
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Post by nancyid on May 7, 2009 13:30:24 GMT -5
If your goal is to operate a business from your site you should have a professional do the job for you. There is nothing more irritating than a site that is difficult to navigate and an amateurish site is usually a turn off when someone is considering spending money there.
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Post by stonesthatrock on May 7, 2009 14:07:47 GMT -5
oh michael i know you pain. i found some collage students that will do it for free to make their portfolios. Don't know how good the work is, but i will find out soon. i couldn't do it on my own. I was even willing to pay someone here, but i had no takers.
mary ann
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Post by Michael John on May 10, 2009 19:42:21 GMT -5
I just found and downloaded Mozilla Seamonkey. It has an HTML editor. Can I use it to organize stuff that I want in my MS Office Live Small Business site, then just like copy-n-paste it there? Would that be a good way to do it?
dsmith14469 ... I looked at that OsCommerce a bit. I LIKE open source! Will that integrate with the MS Office Live Small Business site building application?
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Post by akansan on May 10, 2009 20:00:10 GMT -5
MJ - my guess is probably not. Any cart that is a full functioning cart is going to require a database somewhere. Most hosts allow you a certain number of databases (my host allows up to 25 databases). If Office Live gives you access to a MySQL or SQL database and allows PHP, then the answer would be yes. If it does not, the answer is no. Microsoft isn't known for being open source friendly.
If you're truly wanting a site, there are hosts out there that cost less than $10/mo and give you access to any number of open source things. Much of the open source items are well documented with active communities out there to help newbies get up off the ground. I use OSCommerce on any ecommerce site I build, as it's such a full-featured cart. In fact, it's the core code of a couple other carts that have come along since (Zen Cart comes to mind). My host offers the Fantistico suite that is basically an instant install of about 30 different open source products.
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1rockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 286
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Post by 1rockhound on May 10, 2009 21:20:56 GMT -5
I will completely agree with akansan. There are numerious hosting companies out there. Heck godaddy offers a plan that I think is only $4.95 a month with adequate space and data bases. Oscommerce is an awesome and easy program to use, to be honest I would stay as far away from any Microsoft applications as they are many years behind in coding. What I mean is when I build a site I have to write hacks for internet explorer just to get the same functions that I get in every other browser.
Also something that you have not mentioned yet is a domain name. You should purchase a domain that is short and easy to remember and spell. Do not go with a hosting company that offers free domains with you hosting. The reason is they now have you to where you will not be able to transfer to another hosting company if you wanted to because they own the domain and let you use it.. I personally have my domains registered with a completely different company than my host for that very reason that I have total control of my site and domain....
Jason
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dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 10, 2009 22:12:02 GMT -5
From what I can see Microsoft Office Live Small Business won't support OsCommerce because you need full php and MySQL which they don't appear to offer. I use POWWEB, it is about $100 per year with 1 terrabyte of space. They offer free install programs, the ecommerace programs they offer are OsCommerce, Zencart and Agrocart. They also offer other website building tools which make designing and upgrading a web site easier than writing base html code. Here is there link to their plans. : www.powweb.com/powweb/hosting.bmlDean
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Post by Michael John on May 10, 2009 22:26:25 GMT -5
LOL you guys are WAY over my head! For now, I just want something that's relatively simple and FREE. As time goes on and I accumulate experience and knowledge, I can go-on to bigger and better, but for now, I just need a site up and running. I'm thoroughly convinced that I don't have the "chops" to do what you guys do, so I have to accept my limitations and do what I can for the time being.
I started work on my Home page on the MS site, and it's going slowly. Their tools and navigation really suck. My needs are very simple, but they're obviously geared toward those who need much more. I'm just trying to "dummify" it for myself, and I know it's do-able ... I just have to familiarize myself with their lame way of doing things (typically Microsoft). They give you 500Mb, and it's FREE, so I'm willing to suffer through their shortcomings.
I'm a long-time Firefox user, but I never tried Seamonkey before. It's pretty cool. It sort-of reminds me of the old Netscape bundle. The HTML app is simple, logical, and straight forward.
If you know anywhere else where I can get 500Mb and FREE, please let me know. I'd rather use just about anything else than Microsloth.
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1rockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2008
Posts: 286
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Post by 1rockhound on May 10, 2009 22:55:13 GMT -5
MJ I did a little looking online and found a free web host that allows php, mysql databases and just about anything you would need in a hosting company. here is the link x10hosting.com/signup.php If you need any help I can upload Oscommerce on the server for you. Once you get Oscommerce installed on the server there is absolutely no coding required it is as easy as writing an email. Did I forget to mention no coding required. Trust me it will be much less work than what you are trying to do right now. If you go to Catmandewe's website www.idahorockshop.com it is running Oscommerce. It has a fully functioning shopping cart all you have to do is put your paypal email address in the admin area of the site and all payments will be sent strait to your account. Jason Jason
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Post by akansan on May 10, 2009 23:08:58 GMT -5
I can give you a couple other examples of OsCommerce sites, but I did a bit of code editing. However, the main edits have explicit instructions left by helpful coders. (Find this on this page, add this after/change this/delete this.) www.therockinspired.com is my OsCommerce "typical" installation.
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Post by Michael John on May 11, 2009 0:15:06 GMT -5
Hmmm ... I took a quick look at X10hosting, and it appears that they offer 500Mb and FREE! That's good enough for me. Anything has to be better than that Microsoft mess.
Jason, I have NO idea what all of those abbreviations mean ... PHP, SQL, etc. Also, I don't know what you mean by "upload Oscommerce on the server for you", but if that's what I need, by all means, I'll take you up on it! LOL
Okay, I'm going to go sign-up and see what happens from there! I'll keep ya posted.
THANK YOU ALL
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Post by Michael John on May 11, 2009 0:45:08 GMT -5
Well, I signed-up for an account on X10hosting but got an error message at the end of sign-up. I had to submit a support ticket to see what the prob is. Pffft, I dunno ...
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on May 12, 2009 0:48:21 GMT -5
I've been using Yahoo for my business site. They give you the site builder software. It's all done with insert, drag, drop and size for photos. Text is done in text boxes that you insert where ever you wish. It has a good open set of fonts and color. Because my stock comes and goes I didn't put in a shopping cart. I just give each item a name and price and an email address that they can send their request. I then respond with availability and pricing. In my case a shopping cart would complicate things. Anyway the yahoo business sites are $9 a month. I don't recall the limitations but I have 20+ pages and I don't think I'm coming close.
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pamee83
starting to shine!
Member since December 2008
Posts: 38
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Post by pamee83 on May 12, 2009 12:45:02 GMT -5
Thanks for all the info Rockhound...I have recently been offered to have my domain name registered outside my hosting site....I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.
I use StartLogic to host my site (www.fragmentsofthepast.com), they offer the OSCommerce and it is very easy to use. I go to PayPal to get the html coding for my product then paste it into my site and it is good to go. I have trouble with the shipping calculator so just ask clients to email me their shopping cart and I send them back an invoice. So far it has worked very well for me.
One issue I do have with StartLogic is that sometimes editing can be very slow. If I edit during non peak hours (early morning works best) I can usually get a lot of changes made in a short time.
Good Luck MJ...web building will be very frustrating until you understand your program, one day soon tho it will all seem like second nature.
If anyone swings by my site and has any suggestions...please let me know! I am new to this as well and am always ready to learn tips and tricks.
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Post by Michael John on May 12, 2009 14:19:33 GMT -5
I'm still dealing with x10hosting in trying to get my account started. They seem to be having a lot of difficulty getting something as simple as a new user signup fixed. I asked them to just erase all my info and let me try re-doing the signup, but they ignored the request. I dunno.
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