[Leica] Setting up a web site

["Kit McChesney" <kitmc@acmefoto.com>]

Gene--

Setting up a web site is very simple, really. And if all you really want to
do is to create a place for your own gallery, there is really no need for
any fancy dynamic programming as in ASP, JSP, or ColdFusion. I would not
recommend those technologies for a novice. The learning curve alone will
more than frustrate you and make the process onerous rather than fun. Once
you get your feet wet, you might want to go that route, but I would not
suggest it at first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a static
HTML Web site. In fact, it would be a great idea to get very proficient and
comfortable creating a static site first before you move on to creating a
Web application (that's what a dynamic site is, a Web application). It is
essential, anyway, to be able to create good static pages and also learn how
sites are organized before moving on to those technologies, anyway. 

Speaking as one who does this all day long at the day job--I recommend using
Macromedia products. They are extremely easy to learn. If you have Photoshop
and use it for processing your images that you've scanned, or that are
already in digital format, that's great. It also isn't necessarily
necessary, if you don't have it. 

I really like the functionality of Dreamweaver MX and Fireworks MX, both of
which are packaged as a bundle as MX Studio (along with Flash, too, and
Freehand) and are a great ensemble for creating your pages, managing the
site itself, and processing images. Also, if you find yourself interested in
ASP, JSP, or ColdFusion sometime down the road, Dreamweaver MX has
everything you need in the interface to work in those languages, already
built-in. The program itself is a great teacher, and Macromedia has great
tutorials built-in to the software to help you find your way. Also, it has a
code-view option that allows you to see the source code while you are also
working in a WYSIWYG GUI. (What You See Is What You Get Graphical
Interface). Dreamweaver also has a very good FTP utility built-in (this is
the function that allows you to connect to your Web server and upload your
HTML and graphics files), and it helps keep things very nicely organized. 

As for hosting, there are also some great and inexpensive options out there
for that, too. On some of our projects, we work with a company in Texas
pretty frequently--Global Knowledge Group, in College Station -- www.gkg.net
- -- and you can register a domain name there for less than $10 a year, and
they also have some very reasonable hosting options, too ... some as low as
$5 a month. I have several sites registered and hosted with them for about
$10 a month apiece. They also have a deal going that gives you a break on
hosting if you register your domain with them. They are also long on
customer service and very easy to work with. (I have no association with
them in any business capacity other than being a customer, and have had very
good luck with them). 

(N.B.: I would NOT, under any circumstance, register a domain through
Verisign. They are very pricey, customer service is awful (they're too big)
and when you find out that there are other less expensive options out there
for renewing and re-registering, you'll have to give up your first-born
child to get your domain out of their control. They aren't happy to have
lost their monopoly on domain registrations, and will do whatever it takes
to make it hard for you to tear yourself away from them.)


Kit

On Nov 14, 2003, at 1:38 PM, grduprey@rockwellcollins.com wrote:

> Of
> course the photos will be from Leica cameras - Just to keep this on 
> topic.
> I would really like some help/advice to get me started.


- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html