# I need some help with building a site, I really don't know what I am doing!



## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

Okay, so I am wanting to build a website where I would be selling just one design. It is for a cause so I just need the one design. However, I am not very good with the whole web designing thing. I mean not good at all!!! 

I read a post that said you can take credit cards through quickbooks. I have quickbooks already, buy I do not know how I can take credit cards.

I also have adobe GoLive. I think you can use this to make a site, but I don't know how good it is for doing what I want to do. So any tips would be wonderful. I don't know how you would get the GoLive file to the actual Internet.

I just need pointed in the right direction and maybe a few pointers. 

I also do not want to spend much money at all.

Thanks a lot!!


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## Local-Teez (Mar 28, 2009)

Well if you have no html exp. than you would need to use a program like coffee cup or other free or cheep one then you need an ftp client to upload your html to a web host there are some free web hosts out there you can go to wc3.com to get some more help


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

Any other suggestions?? Please


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

Some web hosting, like Lunarpages (which I use) offer carts
like zen cart, os commerce and others.
It is installed already, you just have to personalize it to fit 
your taste/needs. You can use paypal to accept credit 
cards.
There is a huge group of people that support those carts, so 
you can get help with almost any topic you might have 
problem with.


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## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

Do you have a domain name yet?


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## Brantgoose (Sep 7, 2008)

I don't know much about it but i saw this site...Squarespace that looked like a good deal to me. Type in "Threadbanger" and you get 10% off for life of your account.


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

I have not bought the domain name yet. I was thinking about buying it off of GoDaddy but I don't know what to do with it from there. 

Or should I buy it of of this squarespace.com?

Thanks


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

chance said:


> Any other suggestions?? Please


You can get a good overview of how it all ties together here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t25617.html


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## KarenGarcia (Aug 17, 2008)

Hi Chance, if it's only one design you could just put it on CafePress for free, I know some people say the quality of the garments is not that good, but honestly I've had a store there for some time now and I've done pretty good so far, and if you only have one design and you don't really know how to design a site it might be a good choice for you while you think about your other options. All you have to do is upload your image and add it to several items, and if you don't upgrade your store it would be free.
Hope this helps!


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## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

I use Godaddy for my domain names now.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I also register all my domains through go daddy. Another option is that you could use a site builder that all you would have to do is add your info and set it up. An easy one is internetbasedfamily.com, this is the one that I used for the first site I ever built  At the time I knew nothing about building a website, and it was pretty easy for me.


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

Do I need to get a merchant account before I get to far into this? What does that entail? If I put cubecart on my site what do I need to do to accept credit cards?


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## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

I am trying to get cubecart downloaded but I don't understand what they want me to do. Is v3 the free one?


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## aarondkeogh (Apr 1, 2009)

Their really isn't any quick ways to have an e-commerce site up and running, if you know how to do it yourself you can a very basic one up and running within 3-4 days. It will cost you around £60 for your domain and hosting.

I was asking the same question as you 6 months ago and had never touched a website it my life.

Since then I've taken classes, brought adobe dreamweaver and photoshop and have just practised like hell. 
Most entrepreneurs will know that failing is apart of learning so don't be afraid not to get it right first time, just be patient and keep at it! 

You can however download free trails of dreamweaver, photoshop, coffeecup and other software but I personally recommend dreamweaver for websites as their is a lot of tutorials on the internet for beginners. for example check youtube, here are some people that have really helped me in the past.

YouTube - tutvid's Channel

YouTube - wideworldofwebdesign's Channel

YouTube - UENVideo's Channel

These should really help you any anyone wanting to know about html and css web design.


LIKE THE WIND and get learning!

Aaron.

PS. With regards to selling, use

Big Cartel Bringing the Art to the Cart

or you can find html to paste into your website on www.paypal.com


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## docile27 (May 26, 2008)

Try homestead prices are reasonable. Good luck


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

chance said:


> I am trying to get cubecart downloaded but I don't understand what they want me to do. Is v3 the free one?


Yes, version 3 is the free one.




aarondkeogh said:


> Their really isn't any quick ways to have an e-commerce site up and running, if you know how to do it yourself you can a very basic one up and running within 3-4 days. It will cost you around £60 for your domain and hosting.


If you don't need any custom work done to the shopping cart, you can actually be up in just a couple of hours.

That's from purchase of domain name and hosting account, to placing your products on your page, to accepting payments through paypal.

The OP only has 1 item, and if _needed_ could be done *very* quickly.


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## jwatkins (May 15, 2009)

chance said:


> I have not bought the domain name yet. I was thinking about buying it off of GoDaddy but I don't know what to do with it from there.
> 
> Or should I buy it of of this squarespace.com?
> 
> Thanks


I used godaady and i never had a problem.


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## blue642 (May 16, 2009)

For only one design I'd recommend building a site from scratch with paypal integration.

1. 1and1.com for Domain name and hosting (works well, I use them or GoDaddy....)

2. Register for a Premier Paypal account if you don't already have one. Premier allows you to buy and SELL through paypal, by accessing services that allow you to access credit card processing and such.

3. Paypal has a service called Website Payments Standard which is easy to setup, just fill out the information and it generates a code that you put into you website's code. This code generates a button that allows people to purchase your item.

Read more at this link.

4. Collect money in your Paypal account (they process the credit cards or customers paypal account (if they have/use one) 

5. Ship the product (you can generate shipping labels for UPS or USPS in paypal and it will withdraw the funds from the account to pay for them.

6. Collect money into your bank account.

If you have any questions PM me and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction.

You don't need a cart software or extensive deign for just one product, and in this case Paypal acts as your merchant account. very simple, and painless.


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## hickman (May 17, 2009)

Hi,
Another good solution could be joomla. There is a wealth of information of setting your site up, and easily configurable. If you go this route then i would suggest installing a 3rd party Shopping cart to your joomla site eg. VirtueMart. 
As said before there is no easy way, but find this solition very user friendly, require no "webdesign skills" and most of all its FREE!

What the best thing to remember is there are loads of web programmers around who specialise in designing sites, and as a general rule you get what you pay for. So if you realy want a site that is going to stand out from the rest, and give you a good chance of being seen on the net then you realy should consider paying someone to do the work for you. I dont think i would attempt to perform open-heart surgery after studying for a few hours. Its sometimes better to "bite the bullet" and outsource your requirements.

Hope it helps
Jon


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## Vink (May 27, 2009)

Do you have a ballpark dollar amount it takes to set up an ecommerce site with about 20 shirt designs? Something that looks professional and easy to navigate. Can you buy the program or have a some links to find more info?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Vink said:


> Do you have a ballpark dollar amount it takes to set up an ecommerce site with about 20 shirt designs? Something that looks professional and easy to navigate. Can you buy the program or have a some links to find more info?


It depends on who you hire and how they set it up (and how much customization you want). Really too many factors to give a relevant ballpark estimate.

Anywhere from $100 - $5000+

Most webhosts have one click installations of shopping cart programs that you can use to sell products.

If you are willing to take the time and learn, do some trial and error, mess stuff up, ask for help, and keep moving forward, you can do it for the cost of web hosting (like $100 per year).


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## Vink (May 27, 2009)

Nice. Thanks.


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## badappleapparel (Sep 2, 2007)

Try Ewisoft works great, super cheap and easy to use.


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