I normally have a short break at the beginning of the New Year. This year it is complicated by the fact that transfer of my resources for artists sites from one host to another now appears to be unravelling in a major way.
I really have no time for websites which say one thing and then do another. Credibility and trust are important attributes when delivering a service.
I'm now looking to move all my content again so I can regain control over it! Hence short break in posting and possibly more short breaks in the future.
As a result I am now reviewing options for how and where to put my information sites in future and currently exploring SquareSpace - which does its level best to look like "the Apple of website provision".
In the meantime I'm admiring the roller coaster effect of my brand new whacky wavy wooden box for my new set of 60 LIGHTFAST coloured pencils by Talens Rembrandt. Talens were one of the original two companies who participated in the coloured pencils lightfastness trials run by the ASTM Subcommittee D01.57 on Artist Paints and Related Materials which produced the Lightfastness Standard for Coloured Pencils and which is currently working on one for Pastels.
I've been banging on about lightfastness for years - and I became a member of that Committee a while back.
I'm shifting my website too and looked ar several options including Squarespace. They're the best at self promotion and their interface looks pretty but isn't as intuitive or powerful as they claim imo. Best I found was Weebly. Not ad pretty but very powerful and very easy and intuitive; true drag and drop. I like the way they're set up with a freemium model as well, some of the others seem less friendly in giving limited trial time or being too expensive.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Katherine with the website move.
ReplyDeleteWordPress.com is fantastic and free. I love it and have created websites with it for myself and several groups i volunteer for. I'm sure you've alresdy considered it though. Square space has a great reputation too.
ReplyDeleteKatherine,
ReplyDeleteHave you come across a product called PERCH ? It enables one to keep the design of a current website but makes it easy to upload and add-in your own content & updates. I'm thinking of using it myself..sounds good for someone like me with no HTML knowledge or web designing experience.....
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteHave you come across a product called PERCH ? It enables one to keep the design of a current website but makes it easy to upload and add-in your own content & updates. I'm thinking of using it myself..sounds good for someone like me with no HTML knowledge or web designing experience.....
I've been using Squarespace for my website and my husband's website for about a year. They have great customer service, you can open a ticket to ask a question, and they respond within half an hour, so its a great resource to learn to use the software. The websites look great on mobile devices, and its nice to have some basic metrics built in. It is easy to make changes once it is set up.
ReplyDeleteSome of the templates have good blog capabilities, and other templates have blog pages that don't have a right hand column which is a liability. The newsletter sign-up dialogue box is difficult to tailor to a small size to put on a footer or static left-column menu.
At this point I feel limited by the options of the templates. There is the option to alter the CSS code, but if you use CSS for anything other than minor alterations, there is no customer support for the CSS modifications. Any template based web building product is probably going to have the same limitations with templates designs, however.
My priority at the moment is that the website MUST have a responsive design and look as good on a mobile as it does on a desktop - albeit it might look a bit different!
ReplyDeleteI just think it's absolutely pointless going for anything less given the amount of readers now reading via mobile devices
Yes, I agree, that's one reason I went with Squarespace, their sites are completely responsive and look beautiful on any device.
ReplyDeleteI love Squarespace, I have been using it for over a year. The customer service is stellar. I think they offer the best looking sites with tons of options. www.jillehlert.com
ReplyDelete