Help with designing simple website for a disabled person

treecreeper

hi everyone, i am a graduate of IADT but unfortunately i am an oldie now and disabled.
i still can shine at the photography and would love assistance in setting up a webpage so that these images can be seen by the professional community and others.

maybe a student needs to do a module on 'web designing' he/she can help on mine, as part of it! (suggestion:) i am in the bray/greystones area and really would appreciate imput.
thanks
treecreeper

Trojan

Hi treecreeper, you say you're disabled so you need help - can you tell us specifically what you can and cannot do (particularly in relation to computer usage), so we can give you relevant suggestions?

treecreeper

Yes i do need help.
I can do most things but find it difficult to post images on Flickr although i once did.
I can resize images to post on facebook and can use photoshop, and the adobe packages.
i can use skype, internet for information and forums to communicate/
my technics are poor in the sense i get a bit afraid and find it hard to grasp.
but feel that once a bit of practise is in place i can fly.
i use the laptop, apple macbook pro daily and have a good large monitor now which is wonderful.
i have a good printer and do good images.
i find it hard to start back at photoshop and would love some learning on this and refreshing.
i have had difficult few years as had to try find a suitable place to live so photography and learning and stuff has been on hold.
an exhibition with a major newspaper has been mooted and i want the opportunity to prepare for this and have my work in the general domain of professionals for viewing and for exposure.
i do well in learning now on one-to-one basis but evening times i am so tired i am spaced and this is a disadvantage as i cannot get out to classes or groups.
i am finding it hard to source day time learning and not without trying.
i have a good manual on Web design but so far have not delved much as i feel a personal imput would help me better, i lose concentration and get tired easily.
in other words the body is stacked up against hte mind and willingness.
the body is absolutely the pits against me!!!
i can use photoshop and have done some punchy ads and cards and that sort of imagery and computer useage but it would look basic in the scheme of htings.

saa

Hi there this isn't the solution you're looking for but it might be some help.
I thought I would never be able to do a website, I had no idea where to start, I don't even know how to use Flikr either.

I selected a template on Google sites, uploaded my images straight from my computer and all the options were on the edit page it was really user friendly and there are plenty of step by step guides and Youtube videos to help.

In the time being while you're looking for someone to make your website maybe the Google site would work as a great template to show them what you want to do but more professional.
After I built my website (in a day) I googled 'register domain' and got mywebsitename.net for only 7 euro a year (I also thought domains were going to be so expensive!)
Good luck!

treecreeper

thank you ssa for your response. as you can see people have answered and i am getting braver..soon i shall get the hang of it, but your suggestions too were/are useful. i am actually sitting at the desk more of late which is a wonderful feeling i have to say. so maybe progress will be made. i am hopeful and more optimistic.

watchingd

Hey treecreeper,

Web design is a fairly daunting proposition, I know from experience, but using the right tools is the first and in many cases the only hurdle!

I would definitely recommend Joomla if you were thinking of creating a website. Joomla is a content management system, basically it allows you to manage your website from a user friendly administer menu.

Register365 and other hosting companies usually have an easy install with Joomla meaning you don't have to do any website coding at all. From here you can find thousands of free templates online for Joomla which allow you to have a website up and running straight away.

All this allows you to get to the fun bit fast, uploading your content i.e. photographs and general information about your own work. Joomlas "back door" or administration side, like I said earlier, is very user friendly and once you get the hang of it it will be as intuitive to upload photo's and change text as you currently are able to do on facebook.

I decided to share some information on Joomla and the things you can do with it:

Here is a template I think would be great for some photography:
Photography Template It gives you a large background to display photo's and keeps the text to a minimum as to not interfere with the artists work.

Here are a few other demo's of templates:

Template 1

Template 2

Template 3

All these can be found on the following website: http://www.bestofjoomla.com

If you do go with this type of website feel free to message me on here if you need any help. Here are two other website that would also offer help in the form of a forum community:

Official Joomla site

Irish Joomla community

There are also other content management system, but for beginners I don't think you can go wrong with this. Hope it helps!