Web Site Building

Hey….I can do that!     

Let’s give it a go, I need a web site and GoDaddy offers free hosting for my domain name purchase so why not see if I can create my own site.  I so don’t want to have one that is a template, I want it to be original.

Let’s see, what software can I use that I already have.  Not much, come to find out.  Wait!  Microsoft Publisher has a web builder.  Awesome!  I know Microsoft software so this should not only be pretty easy but fun too.

Wrong.

A little clarification:  Designing a site is not that difficult (for me).  Upload pictures, choose a background, create a header, type in some content and viola we have a pretty site.  What I have little knowledge of and found out is critical to a good site is all the html work that goes on behind the scenes of a working site.

Now before you laugh, I knew there would be some html work, such as the meta tags but I had no idea how many errors and issues had to be corrected and changed.  I suppose that’s what I get for using a basic program and free hosting?  I really thought that the hosting site or software would handle the coding and make sure there are no errors.  Really, I thought most of that was kind of a template and didn’t need to be combed through.  It’s a site so it all needs to go on there right?  Not necessarily.  Even to the point of some code not closing with a “>”.   What is the point of entering code if the program doesn’t format it correctly?

Well, my site is up and running www.assistantperproject.com and I actually like how it turned out.  The problem I am faced with now is that after running:  www.validator.w3c.org and it coming up with over 400 issues, I can’t figure out how to look at my site through html code to make corrections.  I have seen on other programs that you can switch to html format but I am not finding that on Publisher and definitely not  finding it on GoDaddy which I didn’t think I would, seems like that should be a software thing not a hosting thing.  Am I missing something?  If I can find the html code format for the site then I can make the changes that the validator suggested.

Frustration.

So, for now I will be happy with having a site that people who know me can check out and will have to deal with actually being seen by search engines and not as a code issue at a later time.

I need to step away from if for a day and come back fresh and hopefully with some advice from some techie connections through the various and wonderous networking sites I am immersed in.

It has been interesting to learn so far and I know that when all is said and done I’ll have a web site that I created and will be able to add that to my list of accomplishments.

(and now AR isn't allowing me to upload any more clipart to this blog so I'm submitting it as is)

Oh and kudos to the SEO's and builders who are doing this for a living!