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"My New Freeola Website Diary"

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Wed 21/01/15 at 12:29
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
I've been toying with the idea of setting up my own site (4DGamers.com) for a while. I already run another site where the Web Host has the only access to the coding and contribute to another, so it was high time I dusted off my little coding knowledge alongside a new domain and a web host that would be flexible and cost effective.

Freeola was only one of my choices but as I'd been with them as an ISP before and had a long history with the company, plus knowing that their customer support is pretty helpful, I decided to use them for my Domain and Web Hosting.

Day 1
=====
At first I wasn't sure what tools to use. There was no way I could code enough to come up with a site from scratch and Freeola offered their Instant Pro site construction. It was, however, a rocky road to success as Instant Pro, while a great instant website builder, just wasn't flexible enough for my needs.

Day 2
=====
Some help on the Freeola forums pointed me towards a One-click install option for several Web Design tools.

Day 3
=====
Looking at the options, both Joomla and Wordpress were powerful enough for my needs, while offering further development once set up. Having worked on several Wordpress based sites before, I decided to go with that.

Honestly, the install was far easier than I could have ever imagined and I was up and running with Wordpress on my Freeola Site within 30 minutes, including the install itself.

I choose a theme from the huge amount on offer, designed a banner and popped a few older stories on the site to see what it would look like. By this time it was pretty late at night and my wife popped her head around the door and made grumbling noises.

Day 4
=====
Theme changes and logo changes were on the cards and a brand new banner had been designed to go with the current logo. I found the perfect theme that contained a slider showing the latest posts and that was flexible enough for me to add my own bits and pieces to the site.

At the same time, I checked out the Freeola Email options and created a couple of email addresses. However, I may have to wait until the site has some way to get money coming in before I use the email pro option that allows you to have incoming and outgoing email without a Freeola internet connection.

Day 5
=====
More articles added, moving menus and sidebars around and adding a few affiliate links. Still getting to grips with CCS and working out how to do more complicate changes behind the scenes. I've also now applied for the Freeola Website Promotion service.
Fri 23/01/15 at 12:06
Moderator
"Are you sure?"
Posts: 5,000
pb wrote:
A few spam comments but, hey, at least my site is getting visitors.

FYI - I haven't used it, but I'm led to believe the Akismet Wordpress Plugin works very well!

[s]Hmmm...[/s]
Fri 23/01/15 at 07:43
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Day 6
=====
A few spam comments but, hey, at least my site is getting visitors.

Thinking of making the mobile section into a separate page in itself to mirror my other site. Really could do with a different layout on that page, but let's see what happens first.
Wed 21/01/15 at 14:09
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Hmmm... wrote:
Quick work.

I wouldn't use the 'frames' option though - use the MyFreeola options to put an SEO friendly '301' redirection in place.


I didn't know the difference, so thanks, I've changed it now.
Wed 21/01/15 at 13:56
Moderator
"Are you sure?"
Posts: 5,000
Quick work.

I wouldn't use the 'frames' option though - use the MyFreeola options to put an SEO friendly '301' redirection in place.

[s]Hmmm...[/s]
Wed 21/01/15 at 13:47
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Thanks, I registered 4dgamers.co.uk and set up forwarding to 4dgamers.com.

I'll need to try and get Google Adsense set up for the site when it's a bit more established.
Wed 21/01/15 at 13:10
Moderator
"Are you sure?"
Posts: 5,000
Glad to hear you are up and running pb.

If people are serious about their name/brand/domain then I always recommend they register at least the co.uk and .com pair if they are available.

I know a few people who have kicked themselves when they didn't and someone else grabs the name and starts their own website etc.


Good to see Google has already indexed your site.
WordPress Tip Use SEO friendly URLs rather than "?cat=7" etc.


CCS =CSS :¬)


[s]Hmmm...[/s]
Wed 21/01/15 at 12:29
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
I've been toying with the idea of setting up my own site (4DGamers.com) for a while. I already run another site where the Web Host has the only access to the coding and contribute to another, so it was high time I dusted off my little coding knowledge alongside a new domain and a web host that would be flexible and cost effective.

Freeola was only one of my choices but as I'd been with them as an ISP before and had a long history with the company, plus knowing that their customer support is pretty helpful, I decided to use them for my Domain and Web Hosting.

Day 1
=====
At first I wasn't sure what tools to use. There was no way I could code enough to come up with a site from scratch and Freeola offered their Instant Pro site construction. It was, however, a rocky road to success as Instant Pro, while a great instant website builder, just wasn't flexible enough for my needs.

Day 2
=====
Some help on the Freeola forums pointed me towards a One-click install option for several Web Design tools.

Day 3
=====
Looking at the options, both Joomla and Wordpress were powerful enough for my needs, while offering further development once set up. Having worked on several Wordpress based sites before, I decided to go with that.

Honestly, the install was far easier than I could have ever imagined and I was up and running with Wordpress on my Freeola Site within 30 minutes, including the install itself.

I choose a theme from the huge amount on offer, designed a banner and popped a few older stories on the site to see what it would look like. By this time it was pretty late at night and my wife popped her head around the door and made grumbling noises.

Day 4
=====
Theme changes and logo changes were on the cards and a brand new banner had been designed to go with the current logo. I found the perfect theme that contained a slider showing the latest posts and that was flexible enough for me to add my own bits and pieces to the site.

At the same time, I checked out the Freeola Email options and created a couple of email addresses. However, I may have to wait until the site has some way to get money coming in before I use the email pro option that allows you to have incoming and outgoing email without a Freeola internet connection.

Day 5
=====
More articles added, moving menus and sidebars around and adding a few affiliate links. Still getting to grips with CCS and working out how to do more complicate changes behind the scenes. I've also now applied for the Freeola Website Promotion service.

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