Community Forums › Forums › Archived Forums › Design Tips and Tricks › first time designing a website
- This topic has 6 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 2 months ago by Badlywired.
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February 4, 2015 at 10:15 am #139653malicki1021Member
Hi there, I'm in the process of designing my first website and I'm struggling. Im working with wordpress and trying to google and figure out lingo is not working out. I purchased a theme that I like, but have no clue how to get the the finished product. I downloaded all links suggested for the theme, but how do they all work together. After 10 hours in front of the computer, I don't want to repeat that again today.
http://www.angelamalickievents.comFebruary 4, 2015 at 10:48 am #139656PorterParticipantWe can definitely help you out, though we'll need some more specifics on where exactly you're stuck. Where are you currently? Is WordPress installed? Can you log into your dashboard? Do you know how to select a theme? Is the theme uploaded to your server? Answer as many of those as possible, so we can help determine what's next.
February 4, 2015 at 10:56 am #139657malicki1021MemberI uploaded wordpress
genesis child theme
theme purchased
widgets and what nots
I'm working with a temp website while my current one is upFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:13 am #139659PorterParticipantIs the temp website live (do you have a url for it?) or is it local? You said "Genesis child theme", do you have the genesis framework uploaded, as well as your purchased theme? (you need both). What about widgets?
I'm just not sure what you're stuck on, or where you need help.
February 4, 2015 at 11:48 am #139666malicki1021MemberI have genesis framework and child theme loaded, where I'm stuck is how to put it all together so it looks like the theme I bought. Should I design from the genesis theme or the them I bought? I'm struggling with the "slider" command in the home screen - how do I make my pics slide, my about section and adding my pic, I don't have a function on doing that.
This project is like working on a rubix cube ya digFebruary 4, 2015 at 1:07 pm #139679PorterParticipantWell, you never ever edit the core genesis code, that's simply for whatever theme you use to piggy-back off of. If you need any edits to the code, you would edit your theme files that you purchases, generally only functions.php, and style.css, though there can be exceptions.
In the WordPress dashboard, you should have a "theme options" section that'll have theme specific configurations, which would include the slider you're mentioning if that's a default feature of the theme. Generally speaking, some of these themes will look somewhat "broken" until you add content (posts / pages / images), but it's a varies by theme. Your best bet is to find those theme options, and add 1-2 "test posts" to have some content on the page, to see how it all comes together.
February 4, 2015 at 4:15 pm #139716BadlywiredMemberEveryone thinks WordPress (or any WebSite building) is easy, grab a theme and turn it on, but as you have found out, it can be a very steep learning curve.
Even a pro would take 10+ hours creating a decent site based on a theme, with all the experience of having done it many times before so don't be too hard on yourself.
If you are doing it as an exercise to learn so you can join the ranks of web designers, then keep plugging on, and expect to invest 100+ hours to get basically competent (and maybe take a few courses )
Otherwise, if you area business that the website will be reflecting on your brand and values, you should seriously consider spending time developing the business and get an expert to design & build your site. Please don't take this as me pitching for work from you, it is not, it is just advice to consider.
My experience it takes people at least three iterations before they are prepared to actually INVEST in their online presence, 1st iteration they build it themselves or a friend does or they go for an ultra cheap developer, 2nd iteration they realise they need to fork out some money to get something but they still think of a website as a commodity and they spend some reasonable amount of money getting a look they like, then they realise that although they spent money on a nice looking site, it doesn't actually make their business more successful, eventually they invest in having a website designed to work for their business strategy.
My techy blog WordPress and stuff badlywired.com
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