# Website/design help and info :)



## shezmc (Nov 9, 2010)

Hey all ..just needing some help and advice please 
Basically I set up my tshirt printing business this year and now I'm slowly developing and next set is a website :/ 
Can someone tell me a basic list of what I need and stuff....
I purchased my domain name few months back and eccomence on 123 domain ... It's slowly getting there but it's pretty basic I want a tshirt / hoody design software so my customers can be more exact 

Hoping someone can help me out again  

Thanx all hope u are all good 

Sherrie


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## SunEmbroidery (Oct 18, 2007)

Are you asking about the elements of a good site?


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## RespecttheCraft (Feb 19, 2010)

well if you got your domain name.. you already have a site. the only thing you need is content. you could pay someone to design you one, or you could make it yourself with one of the many free webdesign programs there are, or you could even borrow a friends professional editor like i did and make your own site. i used dreamweaver and it really wasnt difficult. you can use youtube and google to answer just about any questions you have about using the program. komodo is a good free HTML editor

i dunno anything bout t shirt design software.


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## shezmc (Nov 9, 2010)

thanks for the info.. 
i will have a look around for a website package and maybe see how much to get one made or try a editors software... unsure at the moment

i have the domain and the package am payin for 1.2.3 domain ecommence package monthly but it dont seem to good :/


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## Micheal (Apr 9, 2011)

Use Wordpress. Wordpress is the most popular content management system (as well as blogging platform) used by millions - and it's free.. It has 1000s of free plugins that you can dress your site up with, including a free E-commerce plugin.

Wordpress comes with 1000s of themes you can use, too. Most will work with the WPeCommerce plugin. GetShopped (the ones who make the WPeCommerce plugin) also has some themes make especially for their plugin.

About the t-shirt / hoody design software... I don't know. You may have to hire someone to make that for you (using Flash.) Use Freelancer.com for that.

What I'm going to do is design my own designs, sell them on my site, and advertise locally, and accept custom designs via email / submit form on website, to avoid the "design software". Try to keep things as simple as possible.

Another method of having "design software," you could also try providing them with a t-shirt template where they could download it and use it to design their own t-shirts, having a different one for, for example, t-shirts, sweaters, etc.

Hope I helped


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## freedomshop (May 24, 2011)

Micheal said:


> Use Wordpress. Wordpress is the most popular content management system (as well as blogging platform) used by millions - and it's free.. It has 1000s of free plugins that you can dress your site up with, including a free E-commerce plugin.
> 
> Wordpress comes with 1000s of themes you can use, too. Most will work with the WPeCommerce plugin. GetShopped (the ones who make the WPeCommerce plugin) also has some themes make especially for their plugin.


Have you tried this wordpress interface yet? i want to go that route, but I like the idea of offering color choices for shirts... any thoughts?


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## AntoAlbo (Aug 5, 2011)

I think that Wordpress it is a good solution, it's easy and powerful and has a lot of support. You can use a lot of complex plugin or simply add your custom paypal buttons (like 'buy now' or 'add to cart') to your pages. For my needed the second solution was the best because the plugins were too complex and powerful. I want to keep the things simple and I have done a thing like that. If you want you can see my site in the signature


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## evolvebranding (Mar 30, 2011)

If you have the domain name and the web hosting that will be all that is required unless that is you need a website designer.

We have just finished our website built in wordpress and another in a software called Magento which is for online stores, neat bit of software but be aware it i time consuming to tailor to get it right for the front end.


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

You should work with a pro. You're a screen printer, not a web developer. You're time is better spent working on your business. You can get a professionally made website for as little as $1500 from some companies. I'd think your time is worth more than that.


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## Egonomics (Aug 27, 2011)

making a website through dreamweaver is not complicated at all just watch tutorial videos and you'll get it down in a few days! Our website designer was really hard to work with so we cut him off and I decided to learn how build a site and only took me 3 days to get the basics of it. You can check out our website and you can see its plain and easy to navigate which is really all you need.

But! if you want to get fancy i know alot of companies that use a flash building website thats very easy to use and no knowledge for html,css,php,java,etc might want to check it out Free Website Builder | Create a Free Flash Website at Wix.com


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## STZREEK (Sep 13, 2011)

A lot of options to do.

I would suggest using wordpress and bigcartel mix?

Or just use shopify.

I've been really impressed on how easy it is to customize shopify and integrate into a custom layout. 

Before anything, I would suggest getting a design from a designer, and then code it into html/css;

Then move onto the next step.


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

Egonomics said:


> I decided to learn how build a site and only took me 3 days to get the basics of it. You can check out our website and you can see its plain and easy to navigate which is really all you need.


True its easy to get the basics. Most skills are like that. Its the expertise that takes time though...

For example - Your site looks ok, but its all images. There are very little text blocks for the search engines to index. Its not standards compliant (either ADA or industry standards) and it's not mobile ready. There's no SEO onsite or off and and the site isn't optimized for fast loading.

Free tip for you... move the google analytics code from the top of the to the end, just before the tag. 

There is a bit of a delay when the Google analytics javascript loads. Its usually best to have that delay occur after the content on the page is done loading rather then have that delay occur when the screen is still blank.

These are the things a dev shop is going to do for you. Just because you had a bad experience with one dev, you shouldnt give up on the industry entirely.


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## Egonomics (Aug 27, 2011)

thanks for the free tip headfirst!


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

newageknitter said:


> 1) You can use Flash to play the images on your banner as a slide show.


I would avoid using flash for things like that at all costs. He has a good platform agnostic ajax effect in place. Flash would just limit him and prevent his images from getting indexed in Google image search.


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## madco (Feb 22, 2011)

I have similar problem.
Before I start to look for web designer, I would like to consult with someone experienced in web design, hosting, web e-commerce etc. to get honest opinion related to details and my needs. Can I find consultant or assistant through freelancer.com ? How?


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## Stamp (Mar 26, 2010)

I developed my e commerce site from scratch. I knew little about coding but this website helped me Learn Web Design Online Free
I now know PHP, MYSQL and the good thing is I can now change anything and I'm adding to the site on a daily basis with confidence.
Only issue is it did take me about 6 months to get the hang of PHP but on the link I've given is a great tutorial to do with creating a fast loading basic website. 
I use 123 web hosting and its fine although exspensive. 
As someone else said Dreamweaver is great to get going and later on when you pick things up you can use it more in depth.
I do agree that this is going to take up a lot of time, it will save you money and be great in the long run. At develop php theres a great forum for help, i've also helped with coding myself so PM me if you need.
My sites at http://www.blockdesigns.co.uk if you want to have a look the thing I'm working on now is more the design side as it needs a lot of work.


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## madco (Feb 22, 2011)

Stamp said:


> I developed my e commerce site from scratch. I knew little about coding but this website helped me Learn Web Design Online Free
> I now know PHP, MYSQL and the good thing is I can now change anything and I'm adding to the site on a daily basis with confidence.
> Only issue is it did take me about 6 months to get the hang of PHP but on the link I've given is a great tutorial to do with creating a fast loading basic website.
> I use 123 web hosting and its fine although exspensive.
> ...


You....THE BRAVE ONE !!!


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## alstephen (Jul 21, 2011)

I agree with some of the other responses. Wordpress is really easy and that is what my site is. You can also find many different themes and templates out there for Wordpress to customize your site.

Let me know if you want more info and we can share ideas together. Always looking to collaborate with others in this industry.


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