# Website help



## 2scoops (Jul 31, 2007)

Few questions about getting a t-shirt website designed

Which is the best freelancer website?

What coding method is the best for coding a website, I needs something professional, yet easy for me to update myself (upload new designs/change text), i don't want to be hiring a coder everytime i need to change a design.

What sites are considered some of the better designed, i've seen a few like t-shirt hell, has anyone else got any examples of what they consider a good design?

I don't yet need a shopping cart (although i will request that the coder make it easy for me to add one if i need one). I will be paypal or google checkout only to begin with. I will probably need a log designing too, I have an example of the type of logo i'm after.

Is a budget of $500 - $1000 realistic?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Which is the best freelancer website?


There's a few good ones like elance.com, rentacoder.com, ifreelance.com, guru.com and designoutpost.com. I personally like the way designoutpost works.



> What coding method is the best for coding a website, I needs something professional, yet easy for me to update myself (upload new designs/change text), i don't want to be hiring a coder everytime i need to change a design


Not sure what you mean by "coding method"



> What sites are considered some of the better designed, i've seen a few like t-shirt hell, has anyone else got any examples of what they consider a good design?


Try a few of these past threads:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t7150.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t22724.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/ecommerce-site-design/t1849.html



> I don't yet need a shopping cart (although i will request that the coder make it easy for me to add one if i need one). I will be paypal or google checkout only to begin with


I would say your best bet is to START with a shopping cart if you're already having someone do the work. It will make it the easiest for you to add new products, change pricing, add coupons, etc.

Having a shopping cart to start off with will give your initial customers the best possible shopping experience. There's really no reason to wait for a shopping cart. 

There are great FREE shopping carts out there that will tie into PayPal and Google Checkout. Getting one from the start will only help you do more of the site management yourself.



> Is a budget of $500 - $1000 realistic?


For a website design layout, coding into HTML or XHTML and a logo. $500-$1000 is pushing it a bit.

It could probably be done, but it would take a lot of shopping around, low bids, waiting for designers, etc.


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## SkullMachine (Aug 7, 2007)

You can also expect to pay a bit extra if you plan on being able to update the site yourself. Implementing a CMS (content management system) is typically regarded as an additional service above and beyond just designing and programming a basic site.


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## 2scoops (Jul 31, 2007)

SkullMachine said:


> You can also expect to pay a bit extra if you plan on being able to update the site yourself. Implementing a CMS (content management system) is typically regarded as an additional service above and beyond just designing and programming a basic site.


 
Thanks for your advice, I think i'll probably get a logo and flash banner designed for me now and then work on getting the website done later. I have a real concrete idea of what I wan't from the logo, maybe breaking it down a little will simplify the project.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> think i'll probably get a logo and flash banner designed for me now


Be careful with the use of flash in ecommerce


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## 2scoops (Jul 31, 2007)

Rodney said:


> Be careful with the use of flash in ecommerce


 
Actually i'll probably just get a logo


About the content management system. Would it be fairly easy to manage without it, i know some very basic html, how to link to an image or another page etc, edit text, ftp etc. I designed a very simple template based website in frontpage years ago. Would this be enough or can it be a bit of a nightmare to change content?

Is there any pitfalls to watch out for with rentacoder type website, can you get stung for extra charges, what about copywrite?

I'm also unsure of the wording for the project description, i don't want to just point them to the busted tees site and say give me something like that, what web terminology should i use?

Can anyone recommend a free shopping cart, i keep hearing about oscommerce, is this the best one to use?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Can anyone recommend a free shopping cart, i keep hearing about oscommerce, is this the best one to use?


There are TONS of recommendations in this forum for shopping carts  All you need to do is search:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tags/shopping-cart/

I usually recommend cubecart because it's easy to customize and has a great support community.



> Is there any pitfalls to watch out for with rentacoder type website, can you get stung for extra charges, what about copywrite?


All you need is someone to install cubecart for you.

If you know HTML, you could probably do that on your own. They provide full instructions and video tutorials on how to get it up and running.

Then, if you wanted to give it a custom design, then you would just edit the templates.



> About the content management system. Would it be fairly easy to manage without it, i know some very basic html, how to link to an image or another page etc, edit text, ftp etc. I designed a very simple template based website in frontpage years ago. Would this be enough or can it be a bit of a nightmare to change content?


If your site is just selling t-shirts, then you don't need a content management system. You just need a shopping cart.

The shopping cart will produce all the pages for you. You can edit what goes on the pages using the shopping cart's admin functions.


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## 2scoops (Jul 31, 2007)

Before I get my website done I want to get a logo for the website done separately. I'm not sure what format to get it done in, what's best for websites? whats best for printing out onto documents or garments? I've seen some terms like vector and vector ai, gif, tif, whats the most likely formats I'll need for a standard website?

Thanks


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## 2scoops (Jul 31, 2007)

Rodney said:


> There are TONS of recommendations in this forum for shopping carts  All you need to do is search:
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tags/shopping-cart/
> 
> ...


I've pretty much ruled out doing the website myself, I'm probably going to use a freelancer site. So i'm looking at what I need to put in my bid request, should i specify that the site be built with a particular shopping cart like cubecart or something like oscommerce?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

2scoops said:


> Before I get my website done I want to get a logo for the website done separately. I'm not sure what format to get it done in, what's best for websites? whats best for printing out onto documents or garments? I've seen some terms like vector and vector ai, gif, tif, whats the most likely formats I'll need for a standard website?
> 
> Thanks


Ask for your logo in vector format. Usually .eps and .ai files are good choices.

From there, you can save it in web formats like GIF, JPG or PNG. 

You would use the vector for printing and the web formats for your website.



> So i'm looking at what I need to put in my bid request, should i specify that the site be built with a particular shopping cart like cubecart or something like oscommerce?


Yes, be as specific as possible about exactly what you need and you'll get better bids.


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## TripleT (Apr 29, 2007)

Elance.com is a great site. Be sure you take Rodney's advice and do some research first - it will pay off many times over.

If you go to Elance (or another site like guru.com), and look it over, you will probably get an idea of what you need to post to get your project started.

$500 to $1,000 is too large of a spread. If you post $800 to $1,000 you will get bids over and under that amount. Good Luck


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