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Hey Yola users, how do you prepare to build a site?
Hey Yola users!
Preparation is a very important step in the site building process and can really jump start the future success of a website.
We are in the process of putting together a new tutorial which will encompass all sorts of website preparation ideas. Since you all are in the throws of site building, do you have any tips for site preparation, are there specific things that you do when preparing to build a site that you think would be helpful to others who are starting out?
If you do, we would love to hear them!
Thanks,
Emmy
Preparation is a very important step in the site building process and can really jump start the future success of a website.
We are in the process of putting together a new tutorial which will encompass all sorts of website preparation ideas. Since you all are in the throws of site building, do you have any tips for site preparation, are there specific things that you do when preparing to build a site that you think would be helpful to others who are starting out?
If you do, we would love to hear them!
Thanks,
Emmy
I’m excited!
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Inappropriate?If your purpose is to get visits to make money in any way...Check your ego at the door and do all you can think of to make your site appeal to your target group that might be interested in what you are offering.Just keep that in mind as a theme on every page.
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Inappropriate?#1- Make a data template of the information you want to display.
#2- Make a flow chart of where you want that information to lead.
#3- Remember the K.I.S.S. principle! People want to get where they want to go quickly.
Now, pick a page template that fits the image you want; add widgets to set windows for the layout you need from the data template, add the type of data widgets you need inside this template; link the data in the widget to the location you want the data to lead to.
#4- Save and publish.
I’m wow
2 Comments
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how do u make a data template can u please show me how -
Hi Denise,
Did my explanation below about creating a flow chart give you some ideas about making a data template? I believe we are using the terms interchangeably, and referring to a site plan. -
Inappropriate?Well, one of the most important things I do first is think, is this website a good idea?!
I put myself in the visitors shoes and think what would I expect, and would I like to see when I visit this page.
Check out your competitors to see what they provide and see how you could make yours better. eg. If your selling something like a classified ad space, if your competitor is charging €3 for an ad, maybe you could charge €2.
And last, what special thing can you provide? Like, what is the main factor that people would come to your site for. Find out what it is and sell it!
The good websites are the one's that you have thought out. Ever had one of those a spare of the moment ideas where you plow into it a website idea to later find all the holes in the idea and sink like a boat, and just lose interest?! Prepare your website idea and layout. I sometimes plan out my site on a sheet of paper. Remember, Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!
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Inappropriate?Really interesting question! It is called site building and there are so many similarities between site building and building a house. The most important similarity is that you have to make plans for both before you start working. The more exact your plans are, the more easier and quicker the process will be and the more satisfied you'll be with the result.
First you have to have a goal with your site, this is the base. Then a specific content should be compiled (which could be developed time by time). As a next step you have to find out the page and menu system of it and at last comes the design of the site (template, banner, background, fonts, etc.) While I mentioned the design lastly, I'm aware, how important it is.
You can always make changes, add contents, but the basic planning of your site will determine how you can improve it in the future. Don't forget to add some content (e-mail, guest book, chat, etc.) to give your visitors the possibility to communicate with you, if they wish.
I followed this process more or less. I'm an architect, so maybe this is the way, how I work. Maybe others use different methods.
Anyhow, this is my 2 cents! Happy site building everyone!
I’m thankful for the great opportunity provided byYola!
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Nicely put Valika!
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Inappropriate?Thanks, Boomer! It was an interesting experience for me, I never thought, that I will be able to make a website myself. That's why I'm really thankful to Yola!
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Inappropriate?Emmy,
I would include the concept of making 1 page exactly how you like it then using the hidden 'save page as' feature to quickly replicate the page and continue the same styles throughout the site.
Lee.
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"hidden 'save page as' feature"??? Please, where is that? I do many similar pages and would love to use this feature! Thank you!!!
Sister -
Hi Sister - here's how:
Here's how to use the Save As function:
1. Navigate to the page you want to copy (this is not available on blog pages).
2. On the Yola toolbar, click on the down-arrow next to the "Save" button.
3. Choose "Save Page As"
4. The "Save Page As" dialog box will pop-up asking you to name your new page, (and give you the chance to change the page heading, and decide whether or not to include the new page in your menu).
5. Click "OK" and you're done. The newly created page will now appear up in the Page drop-down arrow of page choices, so you can go back to it again if you chose not to include it in your menu. -
Hello Marije, Thank you! When I went to look last night I didn't have anything needing to be saved so the down-arrow did not appear. Just tried it on my test page and there it is. This is great!
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Inappropriate?well for one ist depends on what you want on yur site
1. lots of info stating what yur site is about
2 widgets
how u want yur site to look like style
I’m undecided
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Inappropriate?Awesome everyone, this is wonderful information and will be included for sure!
Keep it coming if you have more!
Emmy
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Inappropriate?Hey all,
Another user, Stewart Scott, gave some great site preparation tips on another thread if you would like to check it out: How to Build a Website.
This is a great thread, I am looking forward to the tutorial that comes out of it!
Emmy
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Thanks Emmy
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Inappropriate?Another good idea with Yola is to do all you changes in a temporary page not shown in menu. When it is done correctly, save as the page that is shown in the menu. By creating in a temporary "build" page, if something goes wrong, you still will have the original to fall back on to try again. And it is always a good idea to have backup pages of everything too! Remember that when saving the backups and build pages not to list in the menu!
I’m talking from experience!
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Excellent suggestion. Wish everyone would take this to heart. There would be a lot fewer tears over broken sites! Of course the ideal is for us to give you a way to revert to an earlier save. Hopefully we will get there one day, but for now your advice is certainly the wisest way to proceed with the building of your site.
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Inappropriate?"Saving Data"
When you add data to your site, epecially if you are using several file locations, open the file first, then upload. This saves time so you do not have to later move the data to the files if up-loaded first just to file manager. Same with images, open where you want to image to be stored, then upload. Be sure the names are correct because if you change them later, yola will not know where to look for what was already set to your page and will just be an "x".
I’m talking from experience!
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Inappropriate?hello, I think is smart with the economy like it is I think it helps people out thanks yola and all the ppl are great too that work here , u couldn't ask for better ppl than here ,
I’m confident
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Inappropriate?I have a question how do u make a flow chart1 Comment Add a comment
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In a flow chart, you map the steps from start to end with "it is' or "it is not". Thus if it is, you go to the next step. if it is not, you go back to the step to see why. Hard to explain without your purpose. Give me more details and I will make an example for ya!
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Inappropriate?Hi Denise,
I believe what the person was referring to is a type of flowchart, map or plan of how you would like your site to flow. You can do this however you would like, I prefer to do it on paper. What I do is put my main site concept at the center of the page as this is my home page. Then like spokes on a wheel I start branching off of that with sub-topics and pages that I want to be on my main navigation.
So if my main site concept was Skateboarding I would have that in the center and then the spokes coming out would be the other main pages of my site that go on the main navitation such as:
Skateboarding Tips
Skateboarding Apparel
Skateboarding Videos
Blog
About
Contact
Then I make notes to myself about the type of content I want to be on that page. If I want to have subpages of those pages, then you can do the same thing. So for Skateboarding Apparel the possible branch-offs from this page might be:
Skateboards
Hats
Shirts
Shoes
etc.
Doing this helps you to organize your site content to make sure that you cover all the topics you think are important hopefully not missing anything major, choose a style that supports your pages and research your content before hand. This also makes the sitebuilding process much more intuitive.
Hope that helps!
Emmy2 Comments Add a comment
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thank u emmy but I have another question if u don't mind can u or is there anyway to take 2 websites into 1 like take yola site and put into freewebs.com please let me know ok I really need to know
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Hi Denise,
Do you want to download your site from the site builder and upload it to freewebs.com? You can download a site from the site builder and upload it to a server that supports php, but it is a bit complicated and can be difficult to do and then maintain. Let me know if that does not answer your question. -
Inappropriate?Based on my own experience, here’s my share on how to prepare in building a site:
1. First of all, think of a theme that you really like best or where your interest is. This is where your whole site will be rolling. Focus on a single theme as much as possible to avoid conflicts and loss of concentration.
2. Select for the best web host (like Yola, I like it for having an unlimited space).
3. Decide whether your site is for personal or business purpose. If it is for personal, you don’t have to worry much and if you are planning to have a site for commercial and business purposes, prepare yourself and consider some information needed like Paypal which is mostly used in running online business.
4. Make a list at least of your target main menu. Be organized. For example, if you are planning to have a photo site/blog, think of main navigating menus like HOME, ABOUT, GALLERY/PORTFOLIO, CONTACT PAGE and etc. Don’t try to incorporate your online GAMING hobby unless it is entirely personal and all about yourself. The fewer menus I think the less complicated.
5. Search and look for an inspiration or other sites with the same concept as yours. This would be of great help in building ideas for our own.
6. Choose for a suitable web template for your theme. Of course, there are lots of templates you can choose from your web host (like Yola) but always consider your theme in choosing template. If you want to personalize your template, make a design of your own and upload it but be sure that your web host is able to do such. Then start thinking of your own identity like making your own banner and logo. This is not necessary but definitely a good point to recognize your site.
7. Prepare for your information and images needed.
8. Do one page at a time. Do not try to mix things up. Try to finish one page of your site before jumping into another. In working within a page, try also to organize your information and images in convenience to your visitors/readers.
9. If you are beginner in building a site, do not hesitate to look for its Help section or any forum that can guide you through (getsatisfaction/yola, the best!). As much as possible, learn the basic html/css because this can make a lot of good things in making a site.
10. It is not necessarily to publish it if you think your site is not yet ready but be sure to save your work from time to time.
11. When everything is set and done, publish it and I advise you to purchase for a domain name. Keep on updating your site. Get to know how to make more hits and traffics especially using the Google. Submit your URL link to any affiliated sites. Register also your site to some social networking group if you still have time to do it.
12. The most important thing, be PATIENT. Building a site is not a one sitted-process.
So, there you have it, hope everybody get something useful in my shared information. Have fun and happy building a site!...and glad I am back!
I’m living my life creatively with http://digital-retouching.net
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Excellent - Thanks for sharing Grace!!
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Inappropriate?how do u make a sub emmy??2 Comments Add a comment
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Whell, you take an Emmy, a dozen roses every day for a month, plus alot of money and a priest. If you are a luck guy, soon there sould be a sub Emmy or two! :)
{---Just kiddin Emmy---} -
Hi Smithy,
Are you wondering about creating sub-pages? Right below this comment Kershnee has given some instructions for creating subpages, let us know if you are referring to something different! -
Inappropriate?Hi Smithy,
Are you referring to subpages? If so, here's how to:
1. Create the pages you need. When you create the page untick the "show in navigation" box so that these pages won't be automatically added into your main navigation menu.
2. Now that you have your content, you need to link it all up. You can create the links using the text editor widget.
- drag a text widget onto your page and click to edit it.
- Type the text which you want to be the link to the sub-page.
- Highlight the text, and from the text editor tool bar, click the link button (10th from the left next to the image button).
- Click on the "..." button next to "page". It should give you a list of all the pages you have just created.
- Choose the relevant page and click "OK" and you will have a link to this page.
If you didn't untick the "show in navigation" box and would like to take them out of the menu, simply click on "Edit menu" and drag-and-drop the pages you don't want in the menu into the panel on the right hand side. Do the opposite to include them in the menu again.
For detailed instructions and a working example, please click on the following link: Creating Subpages - http://www.yola.com/tutorials/creatin... -
Inappropriate?hi,
kershnee that doesn't work!! what i am trying to do is that when a visiter hover over the word i want the thing with the links drop down if u get what i mean??7 Comments Add a comment
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Hi smithy - try going to http://yolacodes.yolasite.com and perhaps there is something there that will meet your needs. Please look under navigation menu. Please also read the rules first before grabbing the codes. Thanks.
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do u have to make your own nav bar??
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This may be another alternative: http://www.yola.com/customer-support/...
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that 1 don't help either!!
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it is like the yolatestsite but when u hover over i want the thing to come down automaticlly when u hover over the link!!
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Most likely this can be achieved by changing the command code. If you can choose which drop down menu you'd like, I can fiddle with the code to make it drop down on hover.
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This comment was removed on 07/03/09.
see the change log -
This reply was removed on 07/02/09.
see the change log -
Inappropriate?what i want is when the mouse pointer hover over the link then these links come down!! i want it like that!! plzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Inappropriate?i want it to drop down when i hover plz!! and when u do go to contact on my site which is www.time-to-chat.yolasite.com!! cheers9 Comments Add a comment
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Yes.. I understand that you want the drop down menu when you hover. In order for me to help you though, I need to know which style of drop down suits you best. Then, I can tweak the code to make it drop down on hover. Would you mind selecting a particular style for me to work with? Is it for just one category or for many? You can probably select from either the navigation menu or expand/collapse on the Yola Code site for me to work with.
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i want something like this:-
Games then i want this to come down under games
singleplayer -
Yes... okay.. that helps smithy. What I'm still looking for is the menu look you'd like? Should I just pick one myself and then have you take a look? Would this be the easiest?
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if u choose then i can see if i like it!! cheers!!
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okay.. I'll try my best. Please give me some time to implement this. I should hopefully have time to do this today for you, but you may need to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.
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Take a look at this one smithy and see if this meets up with what you're aiming for:
http://sitebuilder.yola.com/sites/S3/... -
cheers!! can i have that 1 plz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ty m8!!
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Just go to the Yola Test site - log in, then go to the Navigation Menu site and look for your name. You'll need to copy the images (you can look on the sliding js dropdown menu for more information). Let me know if you need further help.
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i do need a bit more help!! if u go to www.time-to-chat.yolasite.com and then u see what i have done on my site and then u could go to the contact page then e-mail me and then i can give u my e-mail and password to sort it out for me!! (if i don't asnwer u with the e-mail then i prob gone to bed cos i am about 8 hours ahead of u!!)
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Inappropriate?adobe would work for me
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Inappropriate?hello can someone show me how to take one site and put it in a another like yola and take free webs.com like the codes please show me how please
I’m happy
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You can copy and paste code into our HTML editor, but you can't upload whole sites built with other software.
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Inappropriate?get a notebook and write down ideas for your website it works for me :3 -
Inappropriate?Hey all!
Thanks for your input on this topic! The tutorial is finished and is published to yola.com, you can find it here: Preparing to Build a Website.
Thanks again for all your input!
Emmy
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Inappropriate?Hi Emmy :
I am a fan of yola
except am having a hard time since I am now trying to update my site
and have wasted last one whole week and am still rudderless
Now have decided to re-read the tutorials (very hard to do)
Any suggestions
naeem
naeem_adamjee@hotmail.com1 Comment Add a comment
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Hi Naeem,
Can you tell us more about what you are wanting to do that you are having trouble with, you said you have decided to read the tutorials, are there specific ones that you are having trouble with? I would like to help if you can tell me a bit more about your website situation.
Emmy -
Inappropriate?When you start to build a website you need a road map of where to go, how to get there and what you want to see along the way. Yola might want to be sure to include some prodding questions when you start to build your site. How many pages, what kind of pages, what kind of information etc. Yola might also give some suggestions ideas for basic pages, i,e home page, picture page, events page, Finally Yola might want to give some basic instructions on how to do a few tasks, i.e how to add comments, how to add a calendar, how to add a counter, how to upload a picture, etc.
By creating a basic website road map you will be helping new users to getting there sites up more quickly with less begiiner questions.
Dennis
www.homerthedulcimer.com1 Comment Add a comment
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Excellent suggestions, Dennis. We are planning something very much along these lines and hope to release it in the first half of next year.
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Inappropriate?Hello gang!
My first thought is: Make it easy to read, and want more.
Rita.
I’m so happy
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Hi Rita,
Thanks for your input! This tutorial was finished a little while ago, please check it out and let us know what you think: Preparing to Build a Website.
CHAMP
CHAMP
CHAMP
EMPLOYEE
