So what has changed in ten years

[rb2five]

I was a designer from 1999-2004, flash,html,css1,photoshop,tables, frames, etc.

Looking to dive back in, where should I start and how outdated am I,lol

what are the "must haves" today as a designer?

 

[gatekeeper72]

Around a year ago I believed the same thing, but since discovered that WP is so versatile and "drag and drop" friendly that I can get any site created, however complicated, and I don't need to know any of the back-end programming behind it.

If, however, you feel you need to understand the coding behind a site then that is quite different...

I think what happens..Where I get stuck in WP, is that I get confused wondering "where is the code?" along with certain things where I want to implement the code, as in "how do I do this, or that?" Also, not being able to look at it as a completely fresh, new thing, because I am always wanting to put a code in somewhere...If that makes any sense at all...I almost wish I never learned HTML, because I think I would be able to look at it as a fresh new thing, and my brain wouldn't become mush trying to learn WP...lol..But I'm starting, and I only mean Starting to grasp it, now that I know I have just been looking at WP all wrong, all along...I hope that makes sense.

 

[dnrevolution]

I get confused wondering "where is the code?" along with certain things where I want to implement the code, as in "how do I do this, or that?"

I was exactly the same, but I promise you that if you take a few hours out to go through a few free WP training courses online you will see how it all works together seamlessly, and you may well start to think "why take the time coding at all!"... I know I did, and it was a revelation for me in many ways, and left me much more time to focus on designing sites.

WP101 & WP201 are two really good courses online, and i'm pretty sure they are free. Also, googling "free wp courses" and doing the same on youtube will provide a wealth of info for you.

Responsive sites are the future really, and WP makes it so so easy to make them.

 

[gatekeeper72]

I was exactly the same, but I promise you that if you take a few hours out to go through a few free WP training courses online you will see how it all works together seamlessly, and you may well start to think "why take the time coding at all!"... I know I did, and it was a revelation for me in many ways, and left me much more time to focus on designing sites.

WP101 & WP201 are two really good courses online, and i'm pretty sure they are free. Also, googling "free wp courses" and doing the same on youtube will provide a wealth of info for you.

Responsive sites are the future really, and WP makes it so so easy to make them.

Yeah I spent hours yesterday watching tutorials, and I did learn some things, but they were so Boring, as I already knew some stuff like copying and pasting, etc..Plus they guy's voice was very monotone, almost put me to sleep...lol...But it was a WP for beginners. One was almost 2 hours long, the other was about 3 hours long...I also saved them so if I get stuck, I can just go back to them, once I figure out what I'm doing, and if I can add a script, and app, or not with WP somehow, where I'm going to get the script, or even how to write the script myself, and figure out how to embed it. However it didn't show me how to implement affiliate links, and what not, and that also is something I do need for some other domains.
Also, as I stated before, I will need something that I can embed a script, after finding one, and I do need to learn that coding for those 1 or 2 apps I want to develop. But I guess, Baby steps...Hopefully I will get there. I am most definitely determined!
Thank you for those, (WP101 & WP201...I will have to check them out!

Also, very good to know that I'm not alone here

 

[Rado_Ch]

You can try a little different learning approach too and I suggest that based on personal experience. When you take on something new like learning a CMS if you read/watch tutorials, even a lot of them, you might be left confused. That's because you are filling up with theory while you don't have enough practical knowledge to understand what is what.

I believe its easier to find a host, have them install WordPress for you (should not take more than a couple of minutes) and just login and start tweaking around. Check every single section, see what options are natively available in a basic WordPress installation, just take a long tour and you will see that many of the things are self-explanatory. So the next time you read/watch tutorials the information will seem much more logical.

Once you are past this point and start working actively on your website you will soon see how easy it is to find new things. Lets say you want to put Captcha on your website but don't know how - you go to Google and type "wordpress captcha plugin" and voila - you have a number of choices. The plugins are a little tricky because of the open-source nature of the CMS and there are a lot of badly written plugins too, that don't function properly or make your website more vulnerable. But if do your research, check user reviews, ratings and such, you will easily avoid most of those traps.

As for your question about the ownership of the site with WordPress you have two choices - wordpress.com and the self-hosted WordPress (my suggestion with the hosting partner). Wordpress.com are a free platform however they have the same issue as Weebly - they don;t give you access to your files/database and you have to stick with them. The self-hosted WP (as your hosting account) are completely under your ownership and you can do pretty much everything that you want.

Hope that helps

 

[dnrevolution]

Oh yes, many of the WP courses will send you to sleep... wp101 & 102 are pretty good 'though

Here is an example of a site that literally took me just one day to create. I made it recently, and it was my first attempt at making anything with WP. It's not the best looking site in the world, by any means, but it's functional, completely customizable (within seconds), and required no coding skills whatsoever on my part:

<link removed>

As for the affiliate links, etc.. it's super simple. You can do it in seconds with 'text' widgets and put in there your banners, text, links etc.. everything you need.

 

[dnrevolution]

The self-hosted WP (as your hosting account) are completely under your ownership and you can do pretty much everything that you want.

Absolutely. And hosting can just be a few dollars a month, and if you use cPanel it will also automatically install WP for you - just a couple of clicks and you can be in to the interface, or 'back end'... where it's all design-related decisions, for the most part.

Getting a theme, from places like themeforest.net, is the best idea for development and entails you making simple changes to the theme that will create a unique and impressive web site for you.

 

[gatekeeper72]

You can try a little different learning approach too and I suggest that based on personal experience. When you take on something new like learning a CMS if you read/watch tutorials, even a lot of them, you might be left confused. That's because you are filling up with theory while you don't have enough practical knowledge to understand what is what.

I believe its easier to find a host, have them install WordPress for you (should not take more than a couple of minutes) and just login and start tweaking around. Check every single section, see what options are natively available in a basic WordPress installation, just take a long tour and you will see that many of the things are self-explanatory. So the next time you read/watch tutorials the information will seem much more logical.

Once you are past this point and start working actively on your website you will soon see how easy it is to find new things. Lets say you want to put Captcha on your website but don't know how - you go to Google and type "wordpress captcha plugin" and voila - you have a number of choices. The plugins are a little tricky because of the open-source nature of the CMS and there are a lot of badly written plugins too, that don't function properly or make your website more vulnerable. But if do your research, check user reviews, ratings and such, you will easily avoid most of those traps.

As for your question about the ownership of the site with WordPress you have two choices - wordpress.com and the self-hosted WordPress (my suggestion with the hosting partner). Wordpress.com are a free platform however they have the same issue as Weebly - they don;t give you access to your files/database and you have to stick with them. The self-hosted WP (as your hosting account) are completely under your ownership and you can do pretty much everything that you want.

Hope that helps

The only thing about that is, I did try that before, but not with what I know now. I got stuck, confused, frustrated, after having everything on my site wiped out..Only to go back to HTML.
I think having more tutorials available now at my disposal, I will probably be able to utilize it better now. Plus I am much more determined! Where as before, I couldn't even figure out how to change the template name...Or take out "Just another Word Press Site"..etc.. etc.. etc..Now I know how to do stupid little things like that. Or can always go back to the tutorials I have saved in case I get stuck.
Also, I think I would rather go with a hosting partner anyhow, (and thank you for letting me know that about WP hosting too!) as I think a hosting company (not WP) would have better support with my files, hosting, and so forth.
Does Anyone here know of a good one that has great support, and is cost efficient for unlimited domains?
The one I have now, and have been with for years, is really good with support, but they are really outdated with their site builder, only supporting HTML, and is much more costly than what I have found with more updated ones.
Also, I would like to get all your opinions on "justhost.com" Have any of you heard of them?
I am thinking of going with them, but I haven't researched them as of yet, but I spoke with them for over an hour yesterday, and what they offer for unlimited domains for a new customer, seems to be a good price, and the guy I spoke with was really friendly and helpful..And from what he told m, they have been in business since 94'...What makes me leary is they've been in business for that long, yet I've never heard of them till yesterday. Then again, I am usually the last to know about anything...lol

 

[gatekeeper72]

Getting a theme, from places like themeforest.net, is the best idea for development and entails you making simple changes to the theme that will create a unique and impressive web site for you.

Thank you for this resource!

 

[dnrevolution]

Does Anyone here know of a good one that has great support, and is cost efficient for unlimited domains?

I am using a2hosting.com for around $13 per month. It has unlimited domains, unlimited traffic, and very good WP support.

Also, I would like to get all your opinions on "justhost.com" Have any of you heard of them?

I think that justhost are a 'white label' of hostgator, and are owned by the same company. I have not heard many unsavoury reports about them and they could be worth going with!

 

[gatekeeper72]

They are a sister company of Hostgator, as they explained to me, but they seem to be cheaper with their introductory price...But that is for a 3 year sign up, more for 2 years, and more for 1 year, etc.. as with most companies.
But paying a 1 shot of $144 or so, for unlimited domains, for 3 years isn't bad at all IMO...Not that I plan on keeping all my domains that long, but I will be able to add on more I think..I hope...Plus I do plan on keeping at least 1 or 2 of them for myself unless I am offered a crazy amount, after building it out.
Where as the hosting site I am with now, even though their support is great, and have been with them many years, is outdated with their site builder, and for only 1 domain, my domain renewal fee is over $20 a year now, plus the hosting on it, used to be $49 a year, now is $79 a year...And that's just for the 1 domain.
If I want unlimited with them, is around $130 a year, unless they're going to jack up the price again this year...Who knows...But I am probably done altogether with that site, and hosting company anyhow...
Just want to weigh my options, and not get ripped off with hidden fees, or costs, and be able to own my site.
Also, With justhost, (and I'm assuming any other hosting company as well) I can keep my domains on Godaddy, and just change the nameservers, as I would with parking for the hosting. That way I can renew all my domains on Godaddy with a coupon code or something, and won't be as costly...

 

[dnrevolution]

They are a sister company of Hostgator, as they explained to me, but they seem to be cheaper with their introductory price...But that is for a 3 year sign up, more for 2 years, and more for 1 year, etc.. as with most companies.
But paying a 1 shot of $144 or so, for unlimited domains, for 3 years isn't bad at all IMO...

Yeah, it's a very good price, in fact. What you may wish to consider 'though is:

a) are your hosting needs likely to change within those 3 yrs?
b) will they live up to your expectations, re: quality of service and "up-time"? (if not, you're still tied to them for 3 yrs).

I've been with hostgator in the past, and they are pretty good. Also, and I don't know if this will actually work (if you're taking advantage of a "deal" with them), but many hosting co's will offer an affiliate sign up commission of about $100 or so. And so, if you sign up as an affiliate first, and THEN take the hosting it could work out very cost effective for you).

 

[gatekeeper72]

Yeah, it's a very good price, in fact. What you may wish to consider 'though is:

a) are your hosting needs likely to change within those 3 yrs?
b) will they live up to your expectations, re: quality of service and "up-time"? (if not, you're still tied to them for 3 yrs).

I've been with hostgator in the past, and they are pretty good. Also, and I don't know if this will actually work (if you're taking advantage of a "deal" with them), but many hosting co's will offer an affiliate sign up commission of about $100 or so. And so, if you sign up as an affiliate first, and THEN take the hosting it could work out very cost effective for you).

Well, as far as "a" goes, what hosting needs are you referring to? I am planning on buying selling domains, and building out sites for the long term..
Also planning on keeping 1 or 2 of the domains, merge together, build out an app that will be big.

"b"-I have no idea..I have never tried them, that is why I wanted someone that may have? Also I didn't think about being tied to them for 3 years...but in all actuality I could chuck it up as a loss if it came down to it, as all I would have to do is change the nameservers through Godaddy, if I decided they suck, and wanted to go elsewhere, because they wouldn't hold the domain, just the hosting. Then again, am wondering if I will be able to change hosting companies if I build out a big site without losing the site altogether. I didn't think about that. As you can see from my posts, I have a lot running through my head right now..ll..But thank you for bringing these things up, as I hadn't even considered those issues.
Although, it's good to know that what you say about using hostgator in the past, and knowing they are pretty good, does give me some assurance.
Also, I never considered signing up with them as an affiliate, as I didn't know they would offer me that...Hmm...That is something also for me to consider. How exactly would that work? I have never had an affiliate program offer me a sign up bonus before....
Thanks for mentioning these things!

 

[SimpleDomaining]

To make tutorial less boring you should be watching it on as needed basics. Let say you need to ad affiliate links to site. You determine you want amazon links. So you go to search and ask how to add amazon links to wordpress. Watch tutorial then go install the plugin and add your links. Or better to ask first how to add any plugin to wordpress. Because you add the rest the same exact way a.k.a. 3 clicks- click search. Click install. Click activate. Done.

 

[dnrevolution]

As far as "needs" are concerned, I think you will be just fine. It is only when your sites become very popular (and use up a lot of bandwidth) that "shared" hosting schemes, like the ones we've been discussing, become impractical.

And, yes, it is a small enough amount for you to perhaps chalk it up to experience, if things really didn't work out (this is unlikely 'though!). As for your concerns about the hosting co. holding on to something, have no fear - if you have a site that takes off, and you fancy a change of host, it can all be done instantly and remotely by you... and all you do is update your nameservers - which takes seconds to do.

Hostgators' affiliate program is very attractive. In fact, I am looking at doing something with this right now, but let me quickly give you the link for their affiliate program, just to give you an insight in to what hosting co's are capable of paying, or are amenable to pay!

http://www.hostgator.com/affiliates

As you can see, there's a hefty $2625 up for grabs IF you can get 21 people to sign up with them in a month.. Do that each month and it's a nice income, and they will still pay it even if customers later decide to cancel! wow.

 

[dnrevolution]

To make tutorial less boring you should be watching it on as needed basis.

Great point. I found many of the tutorials on WP mind numbingly tedious, but a few were very good and by absorbing the advice little by little, as you suggest, it really made it oh so easy.



Cheers,

 

[gatekeeper72]

To make tutorial less boring you should be watching it on as needed basics. Let say you need to ad affiliate links to site. You determine you want amazon links. So you go to search and ask how to add amazon links to wordpress. Watch tutorial then go install the plugin and add your links. Or better to ask first how to add any plugin to wordpress. Because you add the rest the same exact way a.k.a. 3 clicks.

Yeah, I do learn more by hands on, but I guess I watched them, only to see if I would be able to do those things, and get a feel for it again. I did learn some things, and I think by watching them first, then saving them, to refer back to later when I need them, is the best way for me. It is truly boring, but I learn more that way. Like studying for a final, or something..If that makes sense...I am one that loves to learn new things.

However, Now that I know I can do those things, I will probably take that advice, and not watch anymore, unless it's about how to implement scripting code, or where to find scripting code for a particular niche, or app code, or how to write code and implement on WP, or whatever. Just to see if I can do that somehow, and know that I can learn how to do it, beforehand.
I am pretty sure, if I have to pay for it, the script is going to cost quite a bit, if I can't write it myself, and may have to sell my car, or something for it...lol...j/k..I will find another way...

Anyways, you are right...Like I said, I do learn better hands on, I was just trying to see if it was do-able for me, as it wasn't before when I got stuck. I think what happened was, before when I had switched over to WP, I watched a few tutorials by the same person, and that person didn't teach on where I got stuck, and for some reason, I didn't think to reach out for other tutorials, or maybe I couldn't find anymore..IDK..It was a couple of years ago I think...So it's vague...

Thanks for your advice though.

 

[gatekeeper72]

As far as "needs" are concerned, I think you will be just fine. It is only when your sites become very popular (and use up a lot of bandwidth) that "shared" hosting schemes, like the ones we've been discussing, become impractical.

And, yes, it is a small enough amount for you to perhaps chalk it up to experience, if things really didn't work out (this is unlikely 'though!). As for your concerns about the hosting co. holding on to something, have no fear - if you have a site that takes off, and you fancy a change of host, it can all be done instantly and remotely by you... and all you do is update your nameservers - which takes seconds to do.

Hostgators' affiliate program is very attractive. In fact, I am looking at doing something with this right now, but let me quickly give you the link for their affiliate program, just to give you an insight in to what hosting co's are capable of paying, or are amenable to pay!

http://www.hostgator.com/affiliates

As you can see, there's a hefty $2625 up for grabs IF you can get 21 people to sign up with them in a month.. Do that each month and it's a nice income, and they will still pay it even if customers later decide to cancel! wow.

Seriously???? Here's the funny thing, I have been an affiliate for hostgator for some time now, (Just now remembered) and they didn't give me Any sign up bonus!
I had no idea about this $2625 up for grabs..I swear, I am always the last to know about something....lol..And where is my sign up bonus? How to obtain that?
I even sat on the phone with one of my clients from my site, walking her through the entire sign up process, and they never even paid me my commission for it...I have Many click throughs, and I know I have at least one sign up from my client, but no commissions, and also no sign up bonus....So I gave up on promoting for them... HMMMFFF!!!

 

[gatekeeper72]

Great point. I found many of the tutorials on WP mind numbingly tedious, but a few were very good and by absorbing the advice little by little, as you suggest, it really made it oh so easy.



Cheers,

I can see both of your points...I truly can, and I would probably advise on that as well.
I think though, after what I experienced, I was just so scared to tread that water again, I wanted to watch them to just make sure, and give myself assurance that I could do it. Plus I did learn some things.

BTW...This is a great thread, and I really want to thank all of you for all of the help, and resources you all have given me! It IS VERY MUCH Appreciated!

 

[dnrevolution]

Oh crikey, so something happened there then!... If I were you, i'd just take a quick look at the affiliate account, and associated stats, to see what might've gone wrong re: getting paid.

At least, if not hostgator you go with, re: sign up's, you know that there's some good money to be made recommending hosting to people

As for the hosting co's themselves, I think, broadly speaking, they're all pretty much the same to be honest - they have outages, and good days and bad days re: hosting sites.

All credit to you for talking someone through the sign up process!.. I'm hoping to automate things, when I get cracking with it

 

[enlytend]

Hostgators' affiliate program is very attractive. In fact, I am looking at doing something with this right now, but let me quickly give you the link for their affiliate program, just to give you an insight in to what hosting co's are capable of paying, or are amenable to pay!

FYI, Hostgator's affiliate program is not the easy money you think - for one thing, getting 21 people to sign up in a month is a LOT. Hosting is a very competitive space. BTW, since they were taken over by EIG, their support sucks.

Hosting - Research hosts on the WebHostingTalk forum. They verify that reviewers have an account at the sites they review and you will get some useful information there.

SEO - Search changes MONTHLY. Google has put out some major algo changes in the last couple of years - Penguin, Panda,EMD, TopHeavy, PaydayLoans, Manual penalties - its what I do, and I read a couple hours a day to keep up. Things like keyword stuffing that worked a few years ago will get you a penalty nowadays. They also frown upon building links to your own site. Don't stress about keeping up or catching up, just develop a good site, write your content for HUMANS (i.e. don't stuff keywords or worry about keyword density), then let people know about it. Focus on the site and your content but have in the back of your mind how you will be promoting it.

 

[dnrevolution]

FYI, Hostgator's affiliate program is not the easy money you think - for one thing, getting 21 people to sign up in a month is a LOT.

Hey, thanks a lot for making that important point. Hosting is very competitive, it's true, and I hope to make hosting commissions by tying it in with a related service that i'll be offering

Fingers crossed!

 

[SimpleDomaining]

These are tutorials you for sure need. How to install wordpress. How to install theme. How to install wordpress plugin. How to replace logo on theme or add header and footer. How to add widget. How to add navigation menu. How to add page. How to ad post. How to add sitemap. How to add security. The rest you will do within all above.

 

[Rado_Ch]

Can I pitch in something about HostGator too? Disregard the fact that I, myself, am working for a web hosting company, I will share my impression as a representative for several hosting companies over the years absolutely objective. HostGator, JustHost and many others are part of one giant company called EIG. EIG started buying companies some years ago and those were among their biggest purchases. However, the clients of those companies (especially the ones who have been with them a longer time) often share the impression that their services deteriorated, some of them often had downtimes, it was a nightmare to reach the support, let alone get some adequate help...well, you get the idea. And as the word spread it turned out that all those companies that went under EIG had experienced exactly the same issues. It just seems that the policy is just to gain a lot of customers (hence why they have an amazing affiliate program) and then stuff as many as they can on a single server. This process is called overselling and often happens with companies that advertise "Unlimited Space" and other things that are not physically possible. You definitely want to avoid that.

Which brings me to another point. Why are the biggest companies preferred by novice clients? The only viable reason I can think of is the stability of knowing that they have been around for years. But from there on there are quite the negatives. First of all is the mentioned overselling - if the company is looking for a high profit margin this is one of the first things they do. Then comes the support - although such companies can afford to hire a lot of people, train them and make them help clients, the reality is quite different. Which then reflects on the waiting time. I've seen HostGator clients explaining how they were waiting 30-40 minutes to START a chat and the shocking thing is that they make it sound like something completely normal. Well its not! A client should not wait more than a minute, or several if its really a busy day. I will not comment the level of support, because I might get too angry, but I will just say that good support is something that really few companies have so this should be among your main priorities. And that is one of the main separating points between the giant hosts and the smaller ones - you have to treat your clients with a personal touch, like they are your friend, not just some number on the board which you can convert into dollar signs.

Anyways, sorry for the long rant, I just wanted to share a different point of view. I will end with an advice - research your host candidates carefully, chat with them BEFORE you buy and ask them specific questions about your project (not just prices and number of domains). See how you feel with them, how much they really understand about WordPress and make sure they will treat you like you deserve.

Just my 2 cents

 

[gatekeeper72]

Oh crikey, so something happened there then!... If I were you, i'd just take a quick look at the affiliate account, and associated stats, to see what might've gone wrong re: getting paid.

At least, if not hostgator you go with, re: sign up's, you know that there's some good money to be made recommending hosting to people

As for the hosting co's themselves, I think, broadly speaking, they're all pretty much the same to be honest - they have outages, and good days and bad days re: hosting sites.

All credit to you for talking someone through the sign up process!.. I'm hoping to automate things, when I get cracking with it

I did look through it, and cannot for the life of me figure out what went wrong. It shows I have had quite a bit of click throughs but no sign ups, therefore, no commission.
Also, thank you for giving me credit! I spent hours on the phone with her with the sign up process. As if she had never filled out a form in her life. I helped her set up her domain, then get hosting, step-by-step, as in name, address, etc..lol..But I am a nice person...(Sometimes can be a downfall of mine)...A lot of my clients are/were that way, and it was way too stressful for me to get all of my time, and energy saturated, with no pay from them, and offering my help for free...Lesson Learned!
Hence one of the reasons I am getting rid of that site altogether! Even though I truly do want to help people, I need to make money too, and the downside is, there are what I call "Energy Suckers" out there, and I can most definitely help people in other ways while making money.
I may keep the site, (probably not) and only if I do, I will just not be as proactive in it.
But thanks for giving me credit for that! It means a lot to me

 

[gatekeeper72]

FYI, Hostgator's affiliate program is not the easy money you think - for one thing, getting 21 people to sign up in a month is a LOT. Hosting is a very competitive space. BTW, since they were taken over by EIG, their support sucks.

Hosting - Research hosts on the WebHostingTalk forum. They verify that reviewers have an account at the sites they review and you will get some useful information there.

SEO - Search changes MONTHLY. Google has put out some major algo changes in the last couple of years - Penguin, Panda,EMD, TopHeavy, PaydayLoans, Manual penalties - its what I do, and I read a couple hours a day to keep up. Things like keyword stuffing that worked a few years ago will get you a penalty nowadays. They also frown upon building links to your own site. Don't stress about keeping up or catching up, just develop a good site, write your content for HUMANS (i.e. don't stuff keywords or worry about keyword density), then let people know about it. Focus on the site and your content but have in the back of your mind how you will be promoting it.

Thank you for that Hosting forum! That will most definitely come in handy!
As far as SEO goes, I read up on it now and again, and know the do's and don'ts, mostly...I just didn't know about the keyword meta tag thing going away...
I know other things like putting the keyword in the title, and using keywords as much as possible, and having only quality content, and not duplicating content, getting organic backlinks from high rated sites, etc.. etc.. But thanks for the info, and again, thanks for the hosting forum!