[Hidden-tech] Wanted: website assistance for small-business client

[B. Kimo Lee]

Hi Jean,

If your client does decide to make the switch to a CMS — whether Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, TypoLight/Contao, or others — she ought to be aware that a CMS usually requires regular updates of the CMS software, extensions, and and/or widgets/plugins. If the software is not updated, security issues will inevitably follow. Most CMS systems are not usually configured with additional security features, so some knowledge of what to do in that regard is recommended.

In short, she ought to be prepared for this likely additional expense. 

Clients used to an HTML site, which often sit around for years ignored —in terms of software updates — can be in for a shock regarding CMS maintenance requirements. If she is used to paying a $10/month hosting fee, then software maintenance costs of $50 to $150 per month for someone else to monitor the site and do the work might be a surprise. From that perspective, an WYSIWYG editor — as Richard Danek suggested — might suit her immediate needs to be able to add or edit content.

Having said that, with a CMS site she can more easily gain access to many, advanced features, such as responsive design, a blog with moderated commenting, web galleries, etc, which may not be possible with an HTML site, or would have to be built into it. She'll have to decide whether she really wants/needs these features. 

In Wordpress, most of the software updating is now automated but she might need a tech person to help from time to time if she runs into problems. 

As Rich Roth suggested, she might also consider building her site at Wordpress.com — a large, free, multisite platform — where they take care of the software updating as part of the service. She would probably want to redirect traffic from her current zanekotker.com address to the zanekotker.wordpress.com address. It doesn't have quite the same feeling as using one's own domain name.

As for the cost of building the new site, I recommend she contact Tess Gadwa of YesExactly.com. Her team specializes in Wordpress sites for small local businesses.

Best regards,
Kimo Lee


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On Jul 7, 2014, at 6:32 AM, Jean Zimmer wrote:

>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> My website www.zanekotker.com was made half a dozen years ago and does not have a content management system. I’d like to transfer everything in my current site to a Wordpress or similar system that I could manage and update myself. I’m curious has to how much I should expect to pay for the transfer and for the instruction in updating. Thanks for any information you can give me.  
> 
> I'd also love it if I could keep the same design and not change into Wordpress Themes but I gather this isn't possible. Correct? 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Zane 
> zane at crocker.com  	
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