Blog instead of a website, what do you think?

Why does it have to be and "either / or" decision between a website or blog? Why not integrate a blog into a website? You can check out mine, although the blog admittedly does not have much (just too busy these days), and the integration is nothing more than popping up a window to get to the blog. I'm sure those with more technical savvy can build tighter integration.
 
kxl said:
Why does it have to be and "either / or" decision between a website or blog? Why not integrate a blog into a website? You can check out mine, although the blog admittedly does not have much (just too busy these days), and the integration is nothing more than popping up a window to get to the blog. I'm sure those with more technical savvy can build tighter integration.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have a blog as part of my site because i currently have nearly 1000 photos on my fine art photo website, and so the blog functions as a "What's New" page that people can go to for my latest work without having to wade through all the old stuff trying to figure out what I've added today.
 
I've been trying out expressions as a replacement for my out of date and never updated web site.
http://stevemphoto.my-expressions.com/index.html
http://www.stevemphoto.com
The blog format at expressions is much less of a hassle than a web site. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can get as polished a result from a blog as a web site.

I like Chris Crawford's idea of using both. I guess what I really need is some decent design and web work at my site and a blog to supliment that.

There's a suggestion for Expressions...how about a complete package?
 
dazedgonebye said:
I've been trying out expressions as a replacement for my out of date and never updated web site.
http://stevemphoto.my-expressions.com/index.html
http://www.stevemphoto.com
The blog format at expressions is much less of a hassle than a web site. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can get as polished a result from a blog as a web site.

I like Chris Crawford's idea of using both. I guess what I really need is some decent design and web work at my site and a blog to supliment that.

There's a suggestion for Expressions...how about a complete package?
Click to expand...

I designed my site in Dreamweaver using my own design rather than a template. I have wordpress installed on my server for blogging. That's probably a lot of trouble for someone who doesn't do web design and doesn't have time to learn by practicing, as I did. If you do have some free time and desire to do it, I'd still recommend getting a good book on web design and a copy of dreamweaver and doing your own. It isn't hard, just kinda tedious and really time-consuming. I don't like packaged solutions and templates because I want my site to be unique, but I know most people don't have the time to study and play with software to do all that.
 
dazedgoneby:

Good point.

We really appreciate our members; that's why there are so many templates which are easily configurable. Choose the closest one to what you need and play around with it. Your own looks pretty good already.

Some are good for choosing for 'photoblogs' such as my own at ClaremontPhoto, while others are good to choose for 'galleries' such the ones nativexpat or enigma janitor have.

Some people such as Flak seem to be using web designers even! That site looks totally professional and I would never ever dream they were running it on Expressions for just $3 a month. Take a look.

Almost anything can be configured from the templates: disable comments, disable the date posted, change colors, change font and so on.

When I get stuck with mine I go to our Google Group and search there. If nobody has asked that question before I'll ask it now and likely get a wonderfully helpful response after a few hours.

So, to sum up: we are really helpful people, but we don't do design for members - we show members how to do design for themselves.

Do get in touch with any specific questions and we'll show you the way.
 
I actually did web design going back about 12 years now. It's been a while since I kept up with the tools though. I think I've got a copy of dreamweaver around somewhere.
It's more the time to do the work and keep it up that's a problem...that and I might like fancier functionality than I could easily manage with my out of date skills.
I looked at pro services like foliolink http://www.foliolink.com/accounttypes.asp but $250 to set up and $350 a year is steep for me...of course, if it helped me sell a few things, it'd be worth it.
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
dazedgoneby:

Good point.

We really appreciate our members; that's why there are so many templates which are easily configurable. Choose the closest one to what you need and play around with it. Your own looks pretty good already.

Some are good for choosing for 'photoblogs' such as my own at ClaremontPhoto, while others are good to choose for 'galleries' such the ones nativexpat or enigma janitor have.

Some people such as Flak seem to be using web designers even! That site looks totally professional and I would never ever dream they were running it on Expressions for just $3 a month. Take a look.

Almost anything can be configured from the templates: disable comments, disable the date posted, change colors, change font and so on.

When I get stuck with mine I go to our Google Group and search there. If nobody has asked that question before I'll ask it now and likely get a wonderfully helpful response after a few hours.

So, to sum up: we are really helpful people, but we don't do design for members - we show members how to do design for themselves.

Do get in touch with any specific questions and we'll show you the way.
Click to expand...


I could not find a template that gave both gallery listings and recently posted image thumbnails, so I modified one of the existing templates.
That level of putzing is easy.
 
I have to give my thumbs up to Expressions too.

I have my commercial website which acts as a contact and portfolio conduit for clients. On the links page I have a link to my blog, which consists of images, the year the picture was taken and the country in which it was taken.

I want the site for clients and therefore it must have images worthy of their interest without being diluted by those images that ebb and flow from me as time passes - which is where the blog comes in.

Not so much a diary/journal as a place to upload and display snaps of things that make me glad I have a camera, certainly not necessarily things I want to 'showcase' to new clients immediately....though if they wish to view my blog they can via the website.

Works brilliantly....though I doubt many people actually view my blog, but that doesn't really matter :)
 
Simon:

Thank you for the endorsement.

I look at your blog, and I know that Luc Rabaey does too - and he's a photographer well-worth having looking over your work. And I'm certain many other people enjoy your photos there too.

It takes a little bit of thought to get your Expressions photoblog configured just right; it did with me, and then it runs like a dream.
 
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