trying to create my website on the cheap

skintjenny

hi all
i need to create a website this weekend to advertise my artwork- my x was meant to do it but then we split up so....
the reason it needs to be done so soon is because the domain name i bought (from 123.reg) has been put in an exhibition catalouge with my work in, so i need a site to be there for when/if people search for me!

i have had adobe fireworks recommended to me but when i tried to download the programme it said it wasnt avaliable till july 1st?!

does anyone have any recommendations for free software i could download thats relativley easy for a non-computer-expert to use?
if it helps i have quite a new/good laptop, and use windows vista -ive just tried looking at a page about frontpage express, but the website said it doest work on vista?

any help would be greatly appreciated, panicking a little!
many thanks
jenny

bob_a_builder

These were recommended on here recently, and I made a note of it for my own possible use later

http://www.spanglefish.com/

sorry to whoever orginally posted it couldn't find the post again

isofa

TBH if you aren't skilled in this area, you are just going to create a poorly designed site, which visitors will think reflects badly on your artwork.

As you are showing something visual with importance on design, find a professional, or at least a friend with skills to help.
Or upload all the artwork to Flickr or Picasa and route the domain to your account there, to at least show off the artwork.

Sites created in Frontpage stand out like a sore thumb.

skintjenny

thanks i'll look at spanglefish now,
i think i might try getting some proffessional help - or going on a course to learn how to do it myself, but i really need just a simple website uploaded to sort me out until then.

is it easy to route to flickr or picasa?

thanks for the warning about frontpage, now i know thats one to avoid
jenny

isofa

To route (forward) traffic from your domain to another site, just open up the 123-reg control panel and edit the webforwarding to whatever address you'd like it to go to, dead easy!

skintjenny

ace!
sorry to be annoying, but i have one more question-
ive already bought the 123-reg domain name, but have been looking at other site building tools like mr site, and they all come with a domain name!
could i transfer the 123 domain over or would i have to start with a whole new domain and then redirect from the 123 name... does that make sense?!
thankyou thankyou thankyou for taking the time to respond so far!
jenny

isofa

You can transfer it from host to host, you may be charged a small amount from one, or the other (or both!).

Or you can have another at Mr Site and just route the traffic from your 123-reg one to the Mr site one.

Have a look at the 123-reg "Transferring Domains" info.

esuhl

If you just want to set up something quick & simple with text and images (i.e. no funky animations, posh menu bars, etc.) you can knock something up pretty quickly by writing the HTML code yourself. There are lots of straightforward demos and tutorials on w3schools.com.

I agree with isofa: since you're showcasing your work and want a professional look, trying to create a polished site yourself may be a bit of a nightmare... not to mention time-consuming. I would definitely get a few quotes from professionals.

It might be an idea to search the web for some appealing layouts so that you can show them to your website designer - it might help explain the effect that you're looking for.

skintjenny

thanks again isofa, very helpful!

i think for now i shall use flickr (much more moneysaving) then try and find a web site designer to help me out or see if there are any free computing courses in my area for over the summer- otherwise i'll have to get someone to help me update it all the time anyway

thanks again to all replyers, youve been immeasurably helpful!

jenny x

isotonic_uk

you could try doing all this in a content management system. Free ones out there are Joomla and Wordpress

wendy05

heres a solution that i found doing a quick google.
http://www.leigeber.com/2008/05/ajax-image-gallery-slideshow/
its a very simple but effective one page slide show, the bottom thumbnails scroll. demo link below -
http://sandbox.leigeber.com/slideshow/ with some tweaking you could modify it to add some blurb etc.

if you want to be more adventurous here are a couple of free website software that you can use pretty much out of the box so to speak. check their demo galleries
http://plogger.org/
http://gallery.menalto.com/
http://www.zenphoto.org/
http://coppermine-gallery.net/