0. Today’s featured website:
1. Going live!
Today we will begin the process of uploading your webpage files to the school website.
What we are doing:
– Uploading a directory webpage with each person’s name with links to individual folders that will have the files for each person’s webpage.
– These webpages will become subpages on the school website, www.medfordpublicschools.org.
– Once your files are uploaded, your webpage will be live online!! Congrats!!
– We will begin with those who are completely finished. Please continue to work on your webpage and finish it today if you’re not yet done.
Link to directory:
http://medfordpublicschools.org/MHS Web Design/
What you would do if launching your own website:
What is your website about? What is the goal of the site? Are you blogging? Are you selling something? What is the purpose of your website?
The answers to these questions will determine how to proceed:
– Just use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr? Maybe try Rebel Mouse (remember that?)
– Use a service like Wix or Squarespace or some other ready-made template (Google Sites, Weebly, etc.)?
– Launch your own site from scratch?
Consider: What are the pros and cons of each approach?
Launching a website from scratch
a. CAREFULLY PLAN THE SITE AND CHOOSE A WEB HOST! Go with a reputable web host and expect to pay a few dollars a month; avoid free hosting as the service will ultimately match what you paid. Check out host reviews on sites like http://www.hosting-review.com/ and http://hostingreviews.io/.
b. Make life easier for yourself and register your domain name through your web host. You will likely save money, will have an easier time renewing, and will have less accounts and headaches to deal with.
c. Depending on the site, consider using a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla. Most web hosts support these; if you do your homework while searching for a host you can determine what meets your needs best- ALWAYS PLAN AHEAD!
d. Make sure your website is responsive so it will look decent on a variety of screen sizes. You can do this from scratch, use a responsive theme for WordPress/Joomla/Drupal, or create one using something like Bootstrap.
e. Check out the resources for launching a site on our After School? page