{Nov 21, 2011

If you’re working with CSS or HTML,  W3Schools is an indispensable source of information and help on these topics. It explains the functionality and syntax for pretty much every variable of these…languages? If you’re using a CMS, like Cargo or Virb, you’ll need to figure out where and what to modify to get the result you want. Its always a good idea to copy your “good code” into a text document before you mess with it. That way if you mess it up, you can revert back to what worked. Some goodies from W3 Schools:

• learn about how to style text with CSS
• learn how to style links
• learn how to style your background
• learn about padding – the clear space around an element

f Christopher

Here’s a reminder of the content management systems (CMS) we looked at in class:

Cargo Collective. A basic account is free, but is limited to 12 projects and 100 MB of storage. You can edit the CSS, but no HTML editing or a “vanity” url on a free account. An upgraded membership is $66/year and has unlimited projects, HTML editing and a custom url.

Virb. Free trial for 10 days, from there its $10 a month. It includes unlimited projects / pages, HTML and CSS editing, and allows for a custom domain.

4ormat. There’s a free 30 day trial. From there, there is a basic and pro plan ($4.99/month and $9.99/month respectively). You can set up a custom domain, edit HTML and CSS and the basic account is limited to 50 pages and 100 images, the pro account allows for 1000 pages and 1000 images.

See for yourself how the  features and plans of each service stack up:
Cargo  vs. Virb vs. 4ormat

I like Cargo and Virb better than 4ormat. Cargo perhaps has nicer templates, but Virb is easier to customize if you don’t want to get into editing CSS. Remember the advantage to these types of options is that once you dial in the site design, adding, removing, and modifying content is easy. If you have someone who is willing to help you out, I would suggest you have them help you set-up a hosted CMS system (like Cargo or Virb). That way you won’t have to rely on them every time you need to update your site. Additionally, the hosting offered by these services is cheaper (or at least competitive) than what you might typically find from services that offer only hosting.

If you’re not going to use a hosted service, Topher has made a good suggestion for hosting. Although not as inexpensive as Topher’s recommendation, I’ve had a good experience with Dreamhost. Whatever you do, if you are going to have an email address associated with your domain, I suggest using Google Apps – its free, and it provides the same functionality of gmail (your RISD email is run on Google apps). If you want to analyze the traffic that goes to your website, I suggest you set up Google Analytics. Its also free, easy to set up, and easy to use. Both Google Apps and Google Analytics can be added (or come with) Cargo, Virb and 4ormat.

f Christopher