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Creating a new website

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  • 20-02-2013 1:39pm
    #1
    The Dagda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,345 ✭✭✭


    I want to create a new website, essentially an online catalogue for products I currently sell in our business.
    I want to create a separate "brand" for the website, and have purchased a domain with, IMO, a "good" name.

    The vision I have in my head is that there would be 7 sections;

    1. Home
    2. About Us
    3. Contact
    4. Sales Department 1
    5. Sales Department 2
    6. Sales Department 3
    7. Sales Department 4

    The main requirement is that I want to be able to add and delete items easily.

    My questions are; should I get it designed from scratch or use a template? And if using a template, where is a good place to get one?

    As I said it's just an online catalogue really, I don't want/need e-commerce, initially anyway.

    Thanks in advance...


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    #2
    roast
    Registered Users Posts: 2,320 ✭✭✭roast


    Wordpress would be worth looking into.
    It's aimed at Blogs, but is pretty customizable, to the point where you could create a full-featured website. Easy to install, add pages etc.

    People keep telling me about Joomla, apparently quite easy to use, adapt and maintain also. Have no experience with it myself though.


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    #3
    cgriffin
    Registered Users Posts: 61 ✭✭cgriffin


    roast wrote: »
    Wordpress would be worth looking into.
    It's aimed at Blogs, but is pretty customizable, to the point where you could create a full-featured website. Easy to install, add pages etc.

    People keep telling me about Joomla, apparently quite easy to use, adapt and maintain also. Have no experience with it myself though.

    Would agree with this. Woocommerce or Tribulant are pretty good Wordpress Shop Plugins in my opinion.
    Also some great SEO plugins like SEO Ultimate.


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    #4
    dahamsta
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,659 ✭✭✭✭dahamsta


    A 3rd for WordPress, unless you envision having thousands of products down the line with high levels of turnover, in which case you should consider the likes of Magento.
    The Dagda wrote: »
    should I get it designed from scratch or use a template? And if using a template, where is a good place to get one?

    It really comes down to your budget. If you have a good starting budget, then setting aside roughly €1-2k will get you started with a bespoke theme that'll set you apart from the competition. If your budget is limited, then a template is a good idea, but choose a commercial one just to give yourself a bit more exclusivity. You'll have a choice of thousands with a budget of just $100 or so.

    Just make sure you don't get carried away with customisation. This is the cardinal error most self-managed site operators make, they switch this and change that and end up with a monstrosity that doesn't work. If you're in any doubt, contract someone to handle installing and configuring the webapp, and updating it with your logo and details. It's no harm to have someone to hand anyway and it'll be right. Budget is difficult to fix here as every site and theme is different, but it could be as low as a few hundred to as high as a grand for a complex site.

    Finally, no matter what platform you run, keep it and any extensions or themes you install up to date religiously. Otherwise you will end up contracting someone to fix it, and it'll cost a lot more in the long run. If in doubt, any doubt whatsoever, contract someone to handle it for you.


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