Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Gene-- Setting up a web site is very simple, really. And if all you really want to do is to create a place for your own gallery, there is really no need for any fancy dynamic programming as in ASP, JSP, or ColdFusion. I would not recommend those technologies for a novice. The learning curve alone will more than frustrate you and make the process onerous rather than fun. Once you get your feet wet, you might want to go that route, but I would not suggest it at first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a static HTML Web site. In fact, it would be a great idea to get very proficient and comfortable creating a static site first before you move on to creating a Web application (that's what a dynamic site is, a Web application). It is essential, anyway, to be able to create good static pages and also learn how sites are organized before moving on to those technologies, anyway. Speaking as one who does this all day long at the day job--I recommend using Macromedia products. They are extremely easy to learn. If you have Photoshop and use it for processing your images that you've scanned, or that are already in digital format, that's great. It also isn't necessarily necessary, if you don't have it. I really like the functionality of Dreamweaver MX and Fireworks MX, both of which are packaged as a bundle as MX Studio (along with Flash, too, and Freehand) and are a great ensemble for creating your pages, managing the site itself, and processing images. Also, if you find yourself interested in ASP, JSP, or ColdFusion sometime down the road, Dreamweaver MX has everything you need in the interface to work in those languages, already built-in. The program itself is a great teacher, and Macromedia has great tutorials built-in to the software to help you find your way. Also, it has a code-view option that allows you to see the source code while you are also working in a WYSIWYG GUI. (What You See Is What You Get Graphical Interface). Dreamweaver also has a very good FTP utility built-in (this is the function that allows you to connect to your Web server and upload your HTML and graphics files), and it helps keep things very nicely organized. As for hosting, there are also some great and inexpensive options out there for that, too. On some of our projects, we work with a company in Texas pretty frequently--Global Knowledge Group, in College Station -- www.gkg.net - -- and you can register a domain name there for less than $10 a year, and they also have some very reasonable hosting options, too ... some as low as $5 a month. I have several sites registered and hosted with them for about $10 a month apiece. They also have a deal going that gives you a break on hosting if you register your domain with them. They are also long on customer service and very easy to work with. (I have no association with them in any business capacity other than being a customer, and have had very good luck with them). (N.B.: I would NOT, under any circumstance, register a domain through Verisign. They are very pricey, customer service is awful (they're too big) and when you find out that there are other less expensive options out there for renewing and re-registering, you'll have to give up your first-born child to get your domain out of their control. They aren't happy to have lost their monopoly on domain registrations, and will do whatever it takes to make it hard for you to tear yourself away from them.) Kit On Nov 14, 2003, at 1:38 PM, grduprey@rockwellcollins.com wrote: > Of > course the photos will be from Leica cameras - Just to keep this on > topic. > I would really like some help/advice to get me started. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html