Websites Completed
Often, a client will come to me with a site that they started on their own, or with the help of a less experienced designer. It is usually most cost-effective if I simply help them complete the site. Given my desire for perfection, the final site will likely reflect my wording and approach more than the original designer’s, but I control expenses by not doing a complete rewrite. I’ve listed those sites here.
TheGingerCat.net
This site is an example of a WordPress site built for a client who had no website experience, so had left it up to the original designer. The designer guided the client’s choice of WordPress theme and structure, and implemented it; the beautiful header was provided by another professional. The client sought my advice – on the recommendation of a colleague – once the budget had been exceeded but the site was unfinished.
When I inherited it, the layout needed some fine-tuning, as did the wording and the “widgets” for Facebook and other links. It also needed integration with newsletter software to handle signup and bulk emailing – for which we used MadMimi. The client is very happy with her current site, and it only took a few hours of modification time to make it spring to life. The site now uses a premium WordPress template, but there was really no reason not to use a free template – the look and feel could easily have been created with, say, Twenty-Eleven or 2010 Weaver, in the hands of an experienced designer. And yes, I would have suggested another domain name, given that the .com was already taken.
The website has since been removed, but I’ve included a screenshot of the front page below.
StrongFineArt.com
This site is an example of a WordPress site built for a client who again left it up to the designer. The designer guided the clients’ choice of a domain name, WordPress theme, and structure, then only partially implemented it before requiring additional hours to complete the site, which prompted the client to seek my help. I advised the client that the domain name was too long and that the theme did not support the kind of “shopping cart” she needed – one that supports a variety of different sizes and types for each piece of art. Since she is a small business, PayPal is a simple and competitive solution. So we implemented the (free) Weaver theme with a better domain name; I was then able to build the new site from scratch for less than half the cost the prior designer had charged for an unfinished job.
The client intends to maintain the site herself, with occasional help from me if required. She is in the process of reworking the site with a new name – with my help, when necessary – but I’ve included a screenshot of the original front page below.
HepatitisC.HCVAdvocate.org
This was a rewrite/redesign of an existing Google Blogger blog. Shortly after I took over website maintenance for the HCVAdvocate group (main website, above), Facebook arbitrarily blacklisted the blog. Unfortunately, based on all the customer forum complaints about this, we expected a delay in hearing back from Facebook when we protested the blacklisting. Months later, we’ve not heard a word!
Because another of their blogs was also blacklisted, we decided to move them all to the client’s very reliable host – at no additional cost except my time for redesign and import of old posts. Plus, since the owner created the posts for these blogs, he had to learn WordPress – which he did very easily.
HepatitiscMedications.HCVadvocate.org
This is a completely new blog that I am currently designing and will maintain for the HCVAdvocate group (main website, above). This blog is not yet “live”, so the image below may look nothing like what it looks like as you read this.
The client consolidated medication information for his audience and thought it best to have it as a separate blog. An excellent idea, since we were able to index the meds by med name (Table of Contents on the left) and by genotype (Summary Pages on the right and the top menu). The client merely had to categorize and type each post according to its name and target genotype(s).
CedarRidgeChristmasTrees.com
This site is a simple WordPress site built in about 5 hours, including the time spent locating and touching up the pictures.
Below is a snapshot of the home page of the site on 5/29/16.
The WordPress platform has gained huge popularity in the last few years, so has become a target for hacking and malware infection. I’m now using two security plugins to (hopefully) protect all of my WordPress sites.
