Help with web site

[snapdragon]

I have a 1 hr appointment tomorrow with a web desginer . 1 hr is not alot of time & I want to make sure I get the most out of it . Help , what cusdom featuers should I make sure I ask about ? I have a Smugmug Pro account that I am useing for now and will most likely try to get the most out of that for now . Please help with Ideas , Questions ,I can take with me tomorrow . What do I need ??????

[private]

What kind of site is he designing for you? Are you planning on getting rid of smugmug? If so, why?

[oldwolf]

same question as private. are you getting rid of smugmug and why?

if he's building your website from scratch on a web server then that poses different questions than if you keep smugmug and he's designing something around smugmug.

some things to keep in mind is your portfolio and price list. how easy is it for you to update those? will he give you instructions on how to do it or talk you through it while you write down the steps?

way too many questions if he were designing it from scratch so i won't type them all up until we figure that out hehe.

[garncarz]

number one fast load times, easy to navigate for simpletons like me. i had a hard time figuring out all of the little icons to post here. simple is better.
i was in IT back 10 years ago then changed to ARMY and gave up computers and now everything has changed. i remember before the internet really took off, called a computer to get a list of other computers to find files, no graphics just list. yes i am young but that is what i did in the late 80's early 90's then bought a mac for wife's school for home use for the first time in 2006. things changed alot in that time. be light on the graphics.

garncarz

[snapdragon]

No I am going to keep Smug Mug , I like their service &their printing , I am just not very good at setting the site up . There have all of the instructions on Smug mug on how to do it your self . I have spent way too much time trying to get it looking & working right so am seeing a web desginer to get some help . I figure the more I know upfront about what I need for a good photo site ,the more time he can spend on setting up what I need rather than me & him spending the Hr trying to figure out what it is that I need . I have never done this before and chances are he has not set up too many photo sites . I just like to have as many of my ducks in a row as possiable . So any advice any of you can give me would be most welcome .

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by private

What kind of site is he designing for you? Are you planning on getting rid of smugmug? If so, why?

It is a photography site , I already have the site it is SnapsDrops Smugmug . com , but it needs some professional help ,I am no computer wiz I am keeping Smug mug .

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by oldwolf

same question as private. are you getting rid of smugmug and why?

if he's building your website from scratch on a web server then that poses different questions than if you keep smugmug and he's designing something around smugmug.

some things to keep in mind is your portfolio and price list. how easy is it for you to update those? will he give you instructions on how to do it or talk you through it while you write down the steps?

way too many questions if he were designing it from scratch so i won't type them all up until we figure that out hehe.

Sorry , I did not explain it very well . I have a Smugmug pro acccount, and will be keeping it . I want him to make it run smoother , look more professional, he will be working around what I have already done . LOL took me weeks & I am betting if I know excatly what to ask for he can do it in the hr .T hat is what I am hoping for anyway . I don't want him to give me a stack of papers that I will have no clue as to what to do with . Cameras are so much easier .
I want him to finish what I have started ,if that is possiable . I want to log onto my site & get him to snap it into shape . is that expecting too much ? I honestly do not know what he will think of what i have done so far or how much he will think has to be changed . Thanks for the tips , I will keep those in mind .

[oldwolf]

so you're keeping smugmug. that makes things a bit easier. make sure the guy you're talking to has experience designing within the limitations of smugmug.

setting up your gallery/portfolios should be easy enough. he'll just link the different sections of your portfolio to your albums there so you'll just update those albums.

have a plan of what you want the site to look like. draw it out on a piece of paper if you have to. this will give him an idea of what he'll need to do to make it look like how you imagined it will be. this is very important if you don't want to spend your whole hour trying to figure out what you want it to look like. have links to websites if you have to show him what you mean.

will there be a contact form on your site? something customers can fill out and click on a button to email you to contact you or will you just have a link they click on that will open up their email client/program. if they click on a link to email you then will it be hard for bots to get a hold of your email addy? there are ways to get around the dumber bots that just farm email addies.

if you have a page with a price list, make sure he/she explains to you how to change the prices when you decide to change them. as a matter of fact, make sure he gives you some instruction on changing basic things, like your contact info, price list, your about me page if you have one. things like that.

they'll need access to your smugmug account or they'll have to program something on their account to test it out. if they have to buy an account to test it out then they'll expect you to cut and paste code into your account.

if you give them access to your account then ask them how long it will take them to finish the job. when the time comes that the job is suppose to be finished then change the password.

will they support their code if something doesn't work the way you want it to work or the way you envisioned?

can't think of anything else off the top of my head. just take good notes during the meeting and when they present the final product.

good luck.

edit:

just updated the thread. if he's never programmed or coded a page for smugmug before then it might take him a bit to figure out the tags and stuff for the css. if it's minor tweaking then he should be able to figure it out easy enough. if it's a bit more indepth (some things that we think are simple, really are not) then it might take him a bit to figure out what code he has to insert.

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by garncarz

number one fast load times, easy to navigate for simpletons like me. i had a hard time figuring out all of the little icons to post here. simple is better.
i was in IT back 10 years ago then changed to ARMY and gave up computers and now everything has changed. i remember before the internet really took off, called a computer to get a list of other computers to find files, no graphics just list. yes i am young but that is what i did in the late 80's early 90's then bought a mac for wife's school for home use for the first time in 2006. things changed alot in that time. be light on the graphics.

garncarz

Thanks ,Simple is best that is for sure ,but I am afraid I need help with that too yup I am a # 1 simpleton when it comes to this stuff .

[snapdragon]

[QUOTE=oldwolf;289819]so you're keeping smugmug. that makes things a bit easier. make sure the guy you're talking to has experience designing within the limitations of smugmug.

, Can you come with me ??? I should have ask you to do this for me . Thanks for all of the info , I will copy it and take it with me . I am so lost , like a bab in the woods . .