Posts Tagged ‘CMS’
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
I need a new website, but I don’t know which kind to choose? The designer is telling me I can have either a completely custom one-of-a-kind website or a Content Management System, but I don’t really know what they mean?
So let’s discuss this . . .
A Custom one-of-a-kind website is just that. No one else will have the same design, layout, etc. The designer uses the HTML and CSS languages to bring your vision to life. There are no templates, no set structure or skeleton to work with, just a blank canvas and you & your designer’s imagination. If you want your website to resemble your desk, a blueprint, a spinning globe, or even a pizza box. . . you can do that. Of course it always depends on the level of expertise and knowledge your designer possesses, but truly the sky is the limit in the case of a custom website.
Yang to the Ying i.e. the negative to the positive. . . if you need to make changes, you better brush up on your foreign languages ’cause you’ll be doin’ a lot of corresponding. . . with your computer that is. You gotta know code, at the very least HTML and CSS in order to make changes and on top of that you’ll need to have a program such as dreamweaver installed on your local computer and know how to work the program or there will be no changes here. I hope you have LOTS of extra time on your hands.
Now if you don’t need to make changes very often, this is great, especially if you host your domain with the designer. At Y Desygn if you use our hosting, we make up to 2 hours of changes each month for free.
Or you can use a Content Management System (CMS) such as Joomla or Wordpress. These are theme driven or in other, less pc terms TEMPLATED. Now just because it is a template, doesn’t mean it can’t be custom. When you are looking at CMS themes, you want to look past the logos, colors, images, and text. These will all change or not depending on your preferences. What you want to focus your attention on is the structure. Kind of like when you are looking at a house. If someone else is living in the house, you look past their couch, paint on the walls (at least try), and sometimes even what’s on the floor. You envision how your stuff would look arranged in the room with the RIGHT paint color and flooring, the flow of the house. Do I like where the kitchen is situated? Do I like the open concept design? Or the bedrooms all on the second floor? This is how we need to look at the CMS, just look at the structure, will your information, pictures, colors, etc. look good in this “space”?
Yang to the Ying, in other words, the positive - If you need to make changes on a regular basis, there is an admin panel that you can login to to add or take away content, add or take away pictures, etc. etc. You can create blog posts, you can manage comments and basically your website. You don’t need the designer’s help, unless of course you royally screw up and delete your site or some other nightmarish scenario.
Another positive of the CMS is that your blog is directly connected to your website, people don’t have to go to a different domain or subdomain to get to it, nor does the brand change from page to page, it all stays very consistent.
This is a brief overview of the two styles of websites. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will be happy to help you figure out the right software for your next adventure!
Tags: Blog, CMS, Content Management System, CSS, Custom Website, HTML, Joomla, Wordpress
Posted in Uncategorized, Web Site Information | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
One of the most difficult aspects of the web design business that we have found is in educating our clients on what it is that a.) they want, b.) they need, and c.) what they can afford. My goal for this post is to explain the differences between the two major types of websites that we generally create for our clients in a way that helps you make better decisions about how to proceed with your project.
Corporate/Informational
The first type that I will be talking about has a few different names; it is generally called a “Corporate“ web site, or an “informational” web site. Just as the second name implies, this type of web site provides information to browsers about a company, their products or services, and a way to connect with the company to receive service. Usually these web sites are anywhere from a couple of pages to 20 plus pages. They provide information about the services or products, but they do not have a “buy” button so purchasing products from the web site is not possible. This type of web site includes an element of education; educating the consumer about the particular solutions your company can provide. They also may include features such as newsletter sign up, get a quote, video downloads, and so forth. These web sites can either be fully customized or template driven depending on client preferences and how much control the client wants over changing information on the web site.
So if the client doesn’t need changes very often and would rather be hands-off on the web work, a custom site would most likely be a great fit. The designer can get really creative and build something very unique to fit the business. Now on the other hand, if the client has changes to make on a regular basis, say a calendar that needs to be updated weekly or articles to add, etc. A template which uses a Content Management System (CMS) would be the best fit. CMSs allow clients to easily navigate the “backend” of the web site and make their own changes quickly and easily.
E-Commerce
The other major type of web site that we create frequently is called an e-commerce site. E-commerce sites are a bit more complicated as they are written in a dynamic language called PHP. They typically include hundreds, if not thousands of pages. These pages are often just “pieces” of the website that when “called” will come together to form a page. E-commerce sites are templated and come with a limited amount of features.
What we run into oftentimes with clients is that they like the look of a certain web site that they have seen “out on the web” and want pretty much the same thing. Now, this is great, don’t get me wrong, it makes our jobs a lot easier when the client knows exactly what they want. The problem comes when we have to explain that the features of the web site that they enjoy and want to incorporate for their site are not built into the base price of the web site. These special features must be custom programmed into the site and will cost extra, sometimes quite a bit extra.
So here’s my analogy. . . Say you are looking for a new car, you see a commercial for this slick machine with all the bells and whistles. You then head down to the local dealership and ask to see one of these machines. The salesman takes you around the lot and shows you what they have in inventory. When you look at the sticker prices on the cars, you notice that they vary depending on the features added. Now I know many of you have purchased a vehicle in your lifetime, so please bear with me. So the base price of the car you just have to have is in the range that you can afford, however it doesn’t have all the features that you’d really enjoy like a nice sunroof, navigation, the two tone seats, etc. You can upgrade and purchase packages that will include some of these features, however that requires more money. So, you may have gone into the dealership thinking you were going to drive off in this new car with it fully loaded, however your pocket book dictates that while you can still drive off in the car, not all of the bells and whistles will be driving off with you.
This is how it works with e-commerce sites. If you are a big business and can afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars on your website, you can pretty much have whatever functions you want. But and this is a big ole but, if you are a small business owner with a limited budget, you really need to consider what features are most important to the functionality and usefulness of your customers and which of them will fit into your budget. You can always, when funds become available, add additional features or modify the website according to your needs down the road. With web design, nothing is ever set in stone.
Still have questions? Or want a free quote to create your next web site? We are happy to help. Contact us at info@y-desygn.com or call 602-574-7714.
Tags: Arizona Web Design Services, CMS, Corporate Web sites, custom web design, E-commerce websites, Informational Web sites, templates, Website
Posted in Web Site Information | 28 Comments »
