Final Project

This has definitely been a whirlwind! I didn't think it was possible to learn so much in such a short amount of time (and celebrate two big holidays). This course has shown me that it is very easy to get a website up and running. Will that website look good? Probably not initially, but you can work on that over time.

I've learned that there is really no excuse for a business to not have a website. Web building is affordable (for the most part) and fairly easy to do. I found WordPress to be PRETTY easy to use, but I spent a lot of time researching different plugins and tools. When I was in college, I had to maintain a WordPress blog. Had I not done that, it would have been a lot harder for me to use.

After this course, I plan on taking what I learned/achieved and applying it to my Dad's actual bakery website. I know how to do a lot of basic things to clean it up. I may ask a graphic designer to help me with some of the creative, though.

I also plan on taking another class - maybe more hands on. I learn best through repetition and tutorials. It is hard to learn when you aren't in a classroom setting. This course made me realize how hard it can be to learn and focus on work at the same time. It was an amazing introductory to hopefully more classes to come!

My webpage still needs a lot of work. I couldn't figure out why my social links won't click through and how to get the slideshow off every page. I tried different plugins, but couldn't get it to work. On my gallery slide, I tried to create tables for the images to sit in, but WordPress only lets you edit the HTML so much. This is one of the times I didn't like WordPress because I couldn't change the format. I knew exactly how I wanted it to look, but felt stuck.

For my page, I included an About Us, Contact Us, Gallery, Cupcakes, Cakes, and Order Form. If this site was going to launch, I would have purchased the premium version of some of the plugins so their logos wouldn't be showing. The Order Form doesn't work entirely since I did not input all my merchant/account info, but it is a start!

Getting the site registered with various search engines has helped a lot. I noticed if I type in certain keywords - it pops up on Google! I was so excited to see this.

Shopping Methods

Like I mentioned in my previous post, there are so many WordPress plug-ins. Adding features to a webpage has never been easier. I started my research by Googling different payment methods. I found an article that talked about WordPress specific payment methods, so I started to read it.

LINK: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/wordpress-paypal-plugins

As I browsed through these, I read each description and wanted to find something that made sense for this project. Some of the plug-ins were designed for music, downloads, etc. I wanted something simple and straightforward.

I finally settled with the Simple eCommerce plug-in. It was extremely easy to set up and within minutes it was up and running. While WordPress really limits me with how I can edit the HTML, it is a QUICK way to get a website up and running. I purchased a few books this weekend about WordPress and how to create a "child theme" so I can edit the HTML. I am excited to learn more about this and take my website one step further.

Interacting With Consumers

For this assignment, we focused on adding interaction to our webpages. I was not sure what type of interaction I would need. Discussion boards and forums didn't seem to make sense. I felt these type of interactions made sense on Facebook. I decided to go with a page counter and an email database.

It would be great to have an email database, so we can send consumers special promotions and coupons. This would not only benefit the consumer, but could drive more store traffic. I was impressed with how easy WordPress made this to set up. The benefit of WordPress are all the plug-ins. They take one second to install and then you have a new asset to your page. 

I also installed a page counter. This would be good information for the bakery, so they can see how many people are visiting their page. For a small business, this information could be valuable. We want to know how many people are coming to our page. It would be even better if we could hone in one where these people are coming from and who they are. There are additional plug-ins that allow you to capture more information. I plan on looking into this more. 

Getting My Site Noticed

Creating a meta tag and description made a lot of sense to me when I read the Wiki. I understood the purpose and how it could help my site. At first, I struggled a little bit with how to set mine up. WordPress allows me to edit the code, but only so much. I was excited to discover that WordPress had builtin plug-ins that allow you to set up SEO.

I used a general description of the bakery including the city/location and the main business product (wedding and specialty cakes). This was pretty easy to set up. I need to do more research on meta tags though to ensure they are working as efficiently as possible.

I registered my site on Google, AddMe.com, and Submit Express (which added it to various search engines). In addition to these tools, I would add the website to the business Facebook + Twitter pages. There is a lot of traffic to business social media pages, so this would encourage those visitors to go to the page to seek more information.

Registering the site with Search Engines was a lot easier than I expected. I figured it would take days and tons of approvals to get the site registered.

Web Hosting

For this project, I will create a webpage for my Dad's bakery - Meringue Bakery. They have an existing webpage that is very outdated. I would like to completely revamp this page to bring it to life. I researched other local bakeries in DFW to get an idea for what type of information I want to provide. 

I want this website to provide an overview of services (wedding cakes, cupcakes, specialty orders), basic information (location, hours, phone #), and a gallery of completed cakes. I want prospective consumers to visit this page and feel WOW-ed by the cakes they see. The images should inspire them to visit the bakery. For this project, I think visuals are key - more so than text - since the product is a cake. 

Below is my general outline

Homepage

• Large static image of wedding cake + text with brief information about the bakery and the services provided
• Links to other pages
• About Us - background on the bakery 
• Wedding Cakes - will have a gallery within page
• Specialty Cakes - will have a gallery within page
• Cupcakes - will have a gallery within page
• Contact Us - hours, phone number, map/address, email
• Order Form 
• Links to social media pages (Instagram, FB, Twitter) 
• Link to schedule a free consultation

Sites I visited for research: 

• http://www.elizabethscakesplano.com/
• http://www.sweetarleens.com/
• http://www.paninicakes.com/
• http://dallasaffairescakeco.com/
• http://www.soonjasbakery.com/
• http://anniesculinarycreations.com/
• http://societybakery.com/

Web Hosting:

In all honesty, I was not impressed with any free host site I found. I felt like they were all gimmicky and I wouldn't trust them. If this is for a proper business, I would prefer to spend $10/month to ensure it is done correctly. I liked some sites that had great templates, but in turn you had to use their name in your URL OR you couldn't edit the code itself. I felt like this was a big limitation because there are certain parts of my website I would like to customize. 

I read a lot of articles about best free and premium web hosting sites. After reviewing these articles below is my feedback -

Wix - I really liked the templates and user flow of Wix. I found it really easy to design a webpage. It flowed very easily and had a lot of room to customize. I did not like Wix because I couldn't edit the code. I could add code, but not alter the entire page. 

50Webs - I  felt OK with this website because it didn't look like a gimmick. I liked that there are no ads and that I can use WordPress. I am struggling to understand the portal and how to use it. The user flow feels very outdated and confusing. 

GoDaddy - With all the marketing they do, this is the first company that came to mind for me. They do not have any free options, but apparently offer great customer service. They also offered a lot of benefits like email accounts (since I would want the brand to have an @meringuebakery.com email account), and 24/7 support. 

Web Authoring Tools

When I first learned to code, I had to use notepad. This assignment opened my eyes to the benefits of using a more advanced web authoring tool. The three tools I looked at were DreamWeaver, Kompozer, and Aptana.

I was unaware of these applications and the amazing benefits they provide. Before I looked at the tools, I wanted to make a list of assets that were most important to me Debugging/validity, cost, time, and template abilities were all important to me.

I found debugging to be the most important because I have wasted so much time looked for quotation mark that was left opened or a carrot that did not close. This feature will save me a lot of time and stress on my eyes.

I have an old version of DreamWeaver on my Mac from college. I've tried to use a few times, but it confused me. There are so many features and it made me really overwhelmed. I love Adobe programs, but they definitely take a while to master. After reading numerous blogs, it seems that this is definitely one of the best programs to use. After this course, I plan on digging deeper into this application.

After watching a video on Aptana, it really interested me. As I did my research, it offered a lot of the benefits I was looking for. However, once I downloaded the software I was really confused. It seemed like a lot to learn and I need to learn the basics first before jumping into a more complicated web authoring tool.

For this course, I decided to stay with Kompozer. Once I learn the basics, I will be better equipped to jump into different applications (like DreamWeaver and Aptana). Kompozer offered a lot of benefits like validity, free, and it is fairly easy to navigate. One thing that is hard for me - I am a design person and the functionality of this application feels outdated and I don't feel like I have a lot of control. I can draw my dream design on paper, but it was hard to bring the paper to life in Kompozer. This could be from my lack of experience with it, but I struggled a bit in the beginning.

HTML Intro

When I was in high school, I took Web Authoring. Despite HTML being very meticulous, it was something I really enjoyed. I tend to be a little all over the place, so something like HTML was something I never thought I would like. In college, I got a second chance at taking a similar course in HTML. I really, really loved it. When I was bored at home, I would open notepad and start creating very basic sites. It was fun to create a webpage and have so much control over it. 

It has been a few years since I played around with HTML, so this exercise was very helpful. As mentioned in the assignment, there is definitely something helpful about writing the code our yourself. I forgot how easy it is to make mistakes. Finding one carrot to close or a quotation mark you missed can make you go insane. When I first learned to code we only used notepad. The new text editors that are out really help with missing a close carrot or quotation. My eyes definitely appreciate the help. 

This exercise also helped me discover a lot of new tags and codes. I found myself Googling different topics and how to put them in HTML. I think it may be good to invest in a book with codes because there are so many to remember. It is like learning a foreign language.

A few months ago, I purchased an "Adobe Know-How" course here. I started watching the videos during my lunch break and after work. It has helped me learn a lot. Several things have changed since I was in high school ten years ago, so these videos were a good refresher. The series goes through HTML 4.01, XML, and HTML5. I didn't realize a lot of tags such as <b> had changed to <strong> (although I think both can be used?). If you are ever interested in purchasing the videos, they do a lot of holiday specials and it is very cheap. I definitely recommend these tutorials. 

Although it is the easiest site to find on Google, I really like the W3Schools page. It has all the codes in the world that you could need: http://www.w3schools.com/