i am interested in setting up a website for my bed and breakfast business

i admit i dont really have a clue about all this....i have tried to create a website using a free trial of a serif website creater and then i hoped to find a cheap domain through one of the sites that were listed in the thread before this. however i guess serif and other programs are for more complicated design because i got knowhere and all it did was confuse me lol

if i used for instance 1and1 would it have a simple wizard to help me create the pages and necessary links, and easily allow me to upload photos?

i am looking to create a site that simply gives information to potential customers; with a 2/3 pages that display prices, about us, photographs and contact details with a view to *perhaps doing online booking in the future if its not to complicated/expensive

any ideas would be welcome thanks

it might be a plan to have a look at Web Templates, Flash Templates, Website Templates Design - Template Monster there have ready made web site there ,that all you do is edit them a bit and upload them cost start at about $65

if that not what you would like then it will give you a plan of what you would like to make you web site like

The easiest way to create a web site would be to create a page in MS Word or powerpoint and save it as a web page or HTML. You will need to put some links in to the different pages etc. Typically your startup page will be called default.htm. Once you have the pages ready depending on your operating system you could test them on your local pc. There will be step by step instructions out there on the web to tell you how to do it. I do think however you need some basic knowledge to be able to link pages together. If struggling with word then look for a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor as this will hide the detail behind the page from you and you can concentrate on getting the pages laid out well. I am hesitant to recommend any as there are many out there and I haven't used them for quite a while now. When you have your pages ready you will need to buy a domain. (They go from about £10 a year depending on who you buy them from) and you can upload to the site using ftp. This can be done in windows and again there should be some straight forward tutorials out there to get you started. I hope this helps although I haven't given you a step by step guide as to how it's done.

My tool of choice for building websites is Dreamweaver.
You can download a 30 day trial version HERE.

You can also have a look around your PC for something called Microsoft Frontpage, I'm pretty sure it ships with the Office suite?

Before you go looking into domains etc, have a bash at creating some basic sites on your desktop so that you get a feel for things.

You should also learn basic HTML so that you can look at the code and tweak bits & bobs to suit, and to get a basic understanding of what goes where, nesting, tags etc.

Start by creating a page called index.html, and a couple of folders called images & pages (or whatever you like).

Your index page is your home page & the one everyone will see when they visit your site.

Then create another page called "accommodation" and place this in the "pages" folder.

You will then have to link from the index to the accommodation page, and then create a link on there pointing back to your home page.
That should give you a basic feel of how to tie pages together.

The same with the images, you can store them all in the "images" folder so that everything is nice & neat.

Once you're OK doing this, then you can add other pages such as rates, directions, menu, local amenities, contact us etc.

As long as all your folders, images, pages etc retain the same relative path, then you can grab the lot from your desktop & drop the whol kit & kaboodle up to your webspace.

There's nothing stopping you transferring your data up to your webspace just now (VM give 50mb), you just won't have your own custom URL yet.

HTH.

go a google search fro free websites and templates some proveders do it for your for a small fee

h**p://www.bravenet.com/

For some who dont want the trouble of learning and finding the software, putting in the time and effort etc, I think that 123-reg is a cheap half-decent solution. Make your own website | Website builder | Design | Essex
123-reg are known for their fairly cheap prices for domain names or hosting, but you can also build your own website simply from their templates. Its free with a domain name, or pay less than 30 quid a year all in with hosting and get more choice. Its not bad in my opinion and a decent quick start which you can then learn from.

@ Jaymar13

Was any of this information helpful at all, or are you just bl00dy rude and don't bother your arse replying when people have given you the advise/help you asked for?

frontpage is probally the easiest to set up also google do a free website builder

don't use 1and1, a bunch of a-holes, although they are rated as one of the best, they aren't in my mind.
there are plenty of decent cheap or free domain hosts out there. have at look at a company called globat, they're pretty good for basic sites, i've had issues with them but that was due to some php issues but that wouldn't affect you.
why don't you offer a web designer a night or 2 in your b+b for his wife and 2 kids and in return he puts a site together for you and gives you an hour or 2 training on how to maintain it??? :wink:

Originally Posted by Seedy_r0m

@ Jaymar13

Was any of this information helpful at all, or are you just bl00dy rude and don't bother your arse replying when people have given you the advise/help you asked for?

perhaps it might be worth asking yourself the question of why i may not have replied back to anyone next time you feel like taking a guess and ranting at people, and the reason is i simply havent had the chance to sit down and spend enough resonable time to dissolve it all!
now that i have, i am thrilled with the helpful responses from everyone and now all i need to do is work out whats best for me and see how i get on. despite your touchiness seedy r0m, i do genuinely thank you for your contribution, and ironically you gave the best and most comprehensive tips. its just a shame people jump to conclusions when they dont know the score