Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

Kathya · #1 (**permalink**) 08-19-2009

Hi Team!

I just wanted to share this great resource for those of us who are not very adept at creating websites (myself included!). I spoke with my husband's company IT person who suggested buying Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer (www.coffeecup.com) and I have to say it's AWESOME!

It is what you called WYSIWYG software and the only trick I had was figuring out how to get my site uploaded to GoDaddy.com since they're my hosting company. I spoke with a specialist who explained exactly how to do this and I was up and launched in no time!

I'm very pleased with the software--it's easy to use for those of you who are very tech-savvy. I catch on very quickly to software programs with ease and mastered this one very quickly.

If you have questions beyond what I've shared here, let me know or PM me and I'll gladly provide more info.

Thanks and happy web building!

JLRobinson · #2 (**permalink**) 08-19-2009

Hi Kathya,

I saw your site and I think I'm a little bit jealous.

It looks great... love the colors, logo and layout. I am definitely going to take a look at the software. I have been using the Sitebuilder from Homestead. I have bookmarked your site in my "VA Examples" section to return to for inspiration.

StephanieP · #3 (**permalink**) 08-19-2009

Kathya, I ditto JLRobinson's remark! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your website design!

I love pink and green together anyhow (I would like to have a website using that color combo myself) but I really like how you make just a little bit of it pop on that black background and I really like your logo and how you incorporated the emerald into it. I just love it!

I too will be checking out the software you suggested. Thanks

GalFriDee · #4 (**permalink**) 08-19-2009

Your site is lovely! Congratulations and good luck!

Dee

Kathya · #5 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

JL: Thank you so much for the compliments! I have to admit that before I even started, I did the same thing--I bookmarked sites that really struck me as great and then I went from there. Before I even asked for requests for review from the VA forum, I pinged friends and family to tell me what they did/did not like about my site. I took some advice and made changes and other advice I simply ignored.

I wanted to do something that truly reflects my 'girly' side and my personality and talent and I wanted something that really captures someone's attention. That's why I spent some time on my logo before even launching my site. You wouldn't believe how many negative comments I got on the logo looking to 'sexy' for this type of work, but somehow I went with my gut and now everyone seems to love it! :-)

Just bookmark sites, write what you do/don't like about them and that will give you a great starting point to build your own work of art! :-)

Stephanie: Thank you so much, my friend! I appreciate the kind comments. I think the software is terrific and only took me about an hour or two to learn. I ran into a glitch with being able to change the hyperlinks and when I sent a message to the Coffee Cup IT team, they responded the next day with a fix. I followed the steps and my issue was solved on the spot! I hope you find it helpful if you decide to use it!

Dee: Thank you so much! I will be making a change to the home page as some folks have told me that it's 'too much to read' and the more i look at it, the more I tend to agree...I'm going to redesign this page, break up the text and add some pictures and graphics. Wish me luck!

A_Virtual_Jewel · #6 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

Coffee Cup has been around a while. I was introduced to it when helping create a web page for the local Sheriff's department in my home town with an associate back in the 90's. The WYSIWYG aspect lets you see what you've created by toggling between screens.

Judy

joywilder · #7 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

Fantastic site! I'll definitely have to check into coffeecup.com

Business-Bytes · #8 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

Hey Kathya, I noticed on your contact form that it says: "If you answered internet to question 6, what site?" I think this should be 5, not 6, because 6 is where you are asking the question.

And maybe think about putting your business name followed by the page (home, etc.) in your title tag instead of just "home." The same for your other pages.

LOL - I won't go into my thoughts on tables for layout.

Great concept - I love emeralds!

Nice site!

Kathya · #9 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

Originally Posted by Business-Bytes

Hey Kathya, I noticed on your contact form that it says: "If you answered internet to question 6, what site?" I think this should be 5, not 6, because 6 is where you are asking the question.

And maybe think about putting your business name followed by the page (home, etc.) in your title tag instead of just "home." The same for your other pages.

LOL - I won't go into my thoughts on tables for layout.

Great concept - I love emeralds!

Nice site!

You're oh-so right! See, I TOLD you I was new to web building! I have so much to learn! Ugh! Yes, you're right--i'll have to revisit that page and clean it up. I want to redo my home page, too, to break up the text and add more visual interest.

I'm

by your comments on the title tags...can you explain in more detail to me? I'd love to learn more. Anything helps!

And, thanks so much for the compliments!

Business-Bytes · #10 (**permalink**) 08-20-2009

Originally Posted by Kathya

I'm

by your comments on the title tags...can you explain in more detail to me? I'd love to learn more. Anything helps!

And, thanks so much for the compliments!

In your code for each page there is a beginning <title> and ending </title> tag. For example in there instead of "home," I would put Emerald Virtual Solutions - Home, or even your tagline in there if not too long (and capitalize the major words, too).

Example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the Document</title>
</head>

<body>
The content of the document
</body>

</html>

The title element defines a title in the browser toolbar, provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites, and displays a title for the page in search-engine results. Pretty cool, eh?

Something else that you might work on is the rendering of your logo image and the S, V, and S in your business name. In my browser (Firefox - haven't checked with IE) they are "ragged" looking. The logo might be the way it is being resized, because if I look at that image full-size it looks fine, but when it is the smaller size it is pixelated, so it doesn't look smooth like the larger image does.

Oy. Are you sorry you asked yet?