Some history and a facelift for sbsmarthomes.com

[pkoslow]

Hi Squintz,

Thanks for the suggestion... I think that in any resolution 1024x768 or lower that at least part of the page is cut off.

I'll try to move the contacts link higher, or maybe even duplicate it both places.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[elcano]

Hi Paul,

Nice looking website. Are you coding static pages? Or are you using any type Web Content Management System? The CMSes are more difficult to start but much easier in the long run.

 

[pkoslow]

elcano,

Static pages only... I knocked it together with FrontPage and a Flash editor called Swish for the animation and slideshow.

My current plans are not very ambitious for the web site. I just needed something professional looking to present contact info (which is also now at the top) and a brief outline of products and services.

I only expect to add a couple more pages... the products page will only reference products and manufacturers with a short description and links to their sites. I don't have any plans to offer on-line purchases with a shopping cart. Doing so is actually against the dealer agreement I have with several vendors (besides... Martin at AutomatedOutlet.com and a few others already have this area well represented!)

I'm not a web guy, so my knowledge of CMSes is little... I've always thought it was designed to manage content on large sprawling sites with LOTS of content. Am I missing something, should I reconsider based on the limited scope of my website as described above?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[elcano]

Not all CMS are equal. This presentation gives a very brief explanation a few of the types of CMSes. This is a paper that expands the information of the presentation. It is very good.

The author of the paper calls what you have as an Informational Brochure. Very few pages and updated with low frequence (about once a week). The main advantage is that as long as site is running, anybody without HTML knowledge can post new information easily.

One of the most populars CMS in that category is Mambo (and the recent fork Joomla). You can find a gallery of Mambo/Joomla sites here.

Most probably you will not want to do the investment now, but once the business gets up to speed you might want to have a CMS to make easier the task of keeping the site up to date.