The 2-Hour, 2-$20 Dollar Bill Website

0 Comment(s) | Posted Sep 2, 2009 by Pat Morrell

Patrick Morrell

For the inaugural blog post on the Three Ships Media homepage, the ideal topic was clear: a step-by-step logistical breakdown of how we got the site up and running.  To make things more interesting, as the lone Word Press rookie and least tech-savvy of the group, I undertook the task.  Though expecting an all-nighter, with (minimal) help from an out-of-office web design guru – Matt Brown of 336 Creative (www.336creative.com) – I was able to get our site up and running for under $40, and in less than 2 hours.

As a result, we at Three Ships Media are proud to present: the “2 Hour, 2 $20-dollar-bill” Website.  And as Graham, Zach, Caroline, and I all hope will become commonplace, your thoughts, comments, and criticism are more than welcome.

1:12pm – What will the site look like? First we make a sketch on a whiteboard.  We agree that the focal points of our site will be the centralized, rolling blog you see here, a prominent logo, and social media feeds in sidebar.  A Spartan site, and one that serves our purposes perfectly.

1:21pm – Buying the domain name. I log on to GoDaddy.com, and lock up www.threeshipsmedia.com and www.3shipsmedia.com for $14.95 total.  Having never done this before, I feel quite accomplished.  Matt Brown, however, is not particularly impressed.

1:29pm – Finding the right template. We opt for WordPress – simple, easy-to-manage, efficient.  First step is finding a theme, so I Google-search “free WordPress template” and select www.smashingmagazine.com, where we find 100 unique themes.  Selected the “Fusion” theme as it will allow us to expand/contract the page gutters when needed, provides ample blog space, and features a sidebar for widgets and social media feeds.

1:40pm – Finding a site host. We initially look at WordPress’s preferred hosts – DreamHost, Laughing Squid, bluehost – that offer deals starting at $6.95/month.  However, our trusty resource Matt offers to host our site on his page for $20.00, buffering the offer with a service guarantee.  He also concedes that my GoDaddy purchase 19 minutes ago was actually quite impressive.  We go with Matt.

1:47pm – Transferring to host.  Start transferring site to Matt’s host-server with the one-click WordPress install from Media Temple.

1:58pm – Transferring to host.  Still transferring site to Matt’s host-server.

2:09pm – Grammar Lesson. “What‘re you doing?” Graham asks.

“Websiting,” I say.

“That’s not a word.”

2:16pm – The inevitable fist-shake moment.  Matt explains, “This is how it works sometimes.  It’s a ‘hurry up and wait’ game.”  I explain I’ve got this great angle for a “2hr, 2 $20 dollar bill” blog idea and we’re pushing the “2 hr” part.  He shrugs.  I shake my fist at the ceiling.

2:19pm – Making Use of the ‘Wait’.  While waiting, I decide to polish the other elements of the page (“About Us,” etc.) and get them ready for upload.  We also format the logo.  (Make sure that you use and EPS file so you can grow/shrink the image without losing quality/clarity.)

2:26pm – Matt takes the helm after I almost crash his Macbook while using Dreamweaver script editor to build a few additional elements in HTML.  Unless you really know what you’re doing, stick to the WordPress template and don’t try to write/de-code HTML.  It’s a losing battle.

2:28pm – The Homestretch.  The Domain Names System officially transfers to the new host.  We upload theme settings, and began setting up the façade of the website.  We’ve got the template, and our graphic up, so now we’re ready to install static and dynamic content.  Social media links set up as well.

3:02pm – Time to Spare.  With the 10 minutes we have left, I set up email accounts for our management team.

3:11pm – Good to Go.  ThreeShipsMedia.com is up and running.  Total Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes.  Total Cost: $34.95.  I rest assured that I can still, in good conscience, write a blog about creating a website in under 2 Hours, for under $40.

Resources:

http://wordpress.org/ – “Forums” tab features a good bit of helpful advice.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/08/100-excellent-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes/ – WordPress themes.

http://www.crowdspring.com/ – A great way to get graphic designers bidding on you.  Logos, Stationary, etc.  This is a great site.

Filed under: 3SM Logistics