Website advice for the semi-competent website-ist
August 8, 2024 3:09 PM Subscribe
I have a professional website, that I made in Bootstrap Studio. If I want to improve it while still having a lot of direct hands-on input, what's my best strategy?
Here's my website in its full retro glory. It gets the job done, more or less, but certainly could be more polished by today's internet standards. But I don't really want to buy a prepackaged Wix or Canva thing, easy as that might be. BUT I don't have the money to pay a web designer to make something nicer, nor do I have a lot of skills to make anything much fancier on my own (I can fumble my way through HTML and CSS and a little JavaScript and that's it). And I like the sort of homemade quality; I just wish it were a bit more...impressive. What's out there that I could use to make something cooler while still having a lot of flexibility and input? I don't need a domain name or hosting service (I have those). Any kind of advice appreciated; in general I have a lot more time than money.
Here's my website in its full retro glory. It gets the job done, more or less, but certainly could be more polished by today's internet standards. But I don't really want to buy a prepackaged Wix or Canva thing, easy as that might be. BUT I don't have the money to pay a web designer to make something nicer, nor do I have a lot of skills to make anything much fancier on my own (I can fumble my way through HTML and CSS and a little JavaScript and that's it). And I like the sort of homemade quality; I just wish it were a bit more...impressive. What's out there that I could use to make something cooler while still having a lot of flexibility and input? I don't need a domain name or hosting service (I have those). Any kind of advice appreciated; in general I have a lot more time than money.
Perhaps Ghost Pro using one of their themes?
If there's a theme there that you think suits your needs than it's relatively easy. If you want to drastically alter the design or functionality it can be a little more difficult.
I recently launched a site and used a theme called Curie, though I did make a number changes to the code.
One of the reasons I went with Ghost is that it's a flat monthly fee (not including the cost of a template if a free one doesn't suit your needs) and there are no "storage" charges. I use a lot of images and that appealed to me. You might feel similarly uploading music or videos.
posted by dobbs at 7:05 PM on August 8
If there's a theme there that you think suits your needs than it's relatively easy. If you want to drastically alter the design or functionality it can be a little more difficult.
I recently launched a site and used a theme called Curie, though I did make a number changes to the code.
One of the reasons I went with Ghost is that it's a flat monthly fee (not including the cost of a template if a free one doesn't suit your needs) and there are no "storage" charges. I use a lot of images and that appealed to me. You might feel similarly uploading music or videos.
posted by dobbs at 7:05 PM on August 8
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I think the answer I liked the best there was How to Make Your Site Look Half-Decent in Half an Hour By Anna Powell-Smith.
posted by kristi at 5:05 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]