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mary rosenblum
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Hello, all!
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, and tonight we're talking about
websites. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short stories and
will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask
and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for
you..
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mary rosenblum
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sigh, microsoft is earning
it's bad reputation tonight...
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mary rosenblum
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but I think I'm back now.
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owlybear
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I got my query back from Dog
& Kennel. The editor wrote on it "Brian you are always invited to
submit your material for review. E-mail submissions are accepted" so
I'm emailing it to her . Hopefully she'll accept it for the magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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Owly, I had to post this!
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you..
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mary rosenblum
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this is what you want, when
you mail off a query letter! Good for you,owly!
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about
websites tonight...
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mary rosenblum
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partly because I've received a
request for this topic from some website regulars...
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mary rosenblum
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and partly because Gary and
Chris's excellent html tutorial...
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mary rosenblum
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is up and available.
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wingedwarrior24
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mary, am I right in thinking
most mags from the market mag only publish two to four issues a year?
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mary rosenblum
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Not at all, winged.
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mary rosenblum
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Most magazines publish
monthly.
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mary rosenblum
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A few publish weekly, like
Woman's World...
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mary rosenblum
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and some are quarterly, or
less often, like Talebones..but those are generally...
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mary rosenblum
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the small press mags.
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mary rosenblum
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The major magazines are nearly
all monthly.
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sailor
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Not all browsers are created
equal. Are there guidelines or lowest common denominator rules to give your
web site the best chance of working on Netscape and MSN?
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mary rosenblum
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There are indeed, sailor.
Books (or websites) that offer 'how tos' will generally..
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mary rosenblum
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tell you what you should do in
order to make you site look good for a wide range...
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mary rosenblum
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of users including people who
don't download graphics and will see text only.
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mary rosenblum
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The people I know who are
serious web designers also have friends look at pages with a variety of
browsers and conditions.
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mary rosenblum
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There are a LOT of factors to
consider...
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mary rosenblum
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but realistically, if you are
putting up a personal page and simply trying to make yourself visible...
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mary rosenblum
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don't worry TOO much about it.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask people you know who use,
say, Mac instead of PC, or a laptop, or an older browser to take a look at
it...
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mary rosenblum
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and if it comes out decently,
then you're probably going to look good for most users.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, and on the LR site
actually...
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wolf122
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Are there any sites that help
you build and get a page started, and how expensive are they to maintain?
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mary rosenblum
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We have Gary and Chris's very
nice 'how to' website with good screen shots.
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mary rosenblum
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Website
article
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gskearney
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Since the Mozilla and Firefox
browsers are both free I recommend downloading and using one of them to
check your site to make sure it works. Of course you should check with IE
too if one of those is your main browser. --gk
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mary rosenblum
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And some people still use
netscape, so that's worth checking, too.
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mary rosenblum
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There are a LOT of informative
sites and articles and use groups on the internet...
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mary rosenblum
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you can start googling around
and see what you come up with .
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mary rosenblum
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I found a couple that are good
starting points.
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mary rosenblum
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Information resource
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mary rosenblum
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This is one that covers
hosting and domaine name registration.
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mary rosenblum
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There are quite a few others.
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neo
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Why bother with different
browsers and computers when most everyone uses IE on a PC?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, neo, that really isn't
the case.
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mary rosenblum
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A LOT of people use other
browsers, and you CAN ignore then, but you lose some visitors that way.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not hard to find someone
to look at your site wiht another browser.
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sailor
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How much time do you spend
maintaining your web site? Do you retest links periodically to make sure
they still work?
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mary rosenblum
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I spend maybe an hour a week
most of the time, sailor...
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mary rosenblum
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and I do retest links, but not
that often...
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mary rosenblum
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because most of the links on
my site are to friends or organizations I have strong connections to...
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mary rosenblum
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so I usually hear if they're
changing url.
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jr souza jr
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Most people are connecting with
broadband today, and most of these broadband services ie verizon cox cable
offer free web space to users and startup pag tools that easily buid basic
sights
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mary rosenblum
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Nearly every commercial server
now offers free webspace and this has a couple of advantages...
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mary rosenblum
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one is that you don't usually
get the popup ads that you have to put up with on the free sites...
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mary rosenblum
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like geocities and yahoo...
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mary rosenblum
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and two, they nearly always
offer a 'template' that you can use to make a site without ever having to
write a single html tag.
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mary rosenblum
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Although that does limit you
some.
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mary rosenblum
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And Gary, you have much more
knowlege about things computer than I do, so speak up whenever you have
something to add...or to contradict me for that matter!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll defer to you.
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sojourner
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Mary, do you suggest author use
their own name for the domain (bobsmith.com) or something catchy
(yoohooshorts.com) ?
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neo
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Isn't it better to look
professional with a paid host and your own domain name?
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mary rosenblum
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If I want to find out if an
author has a website, I'll look for bobsmith.com first...
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mary rosenblum
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or simply google Bob smith.
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mary rosenblum
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Catchy is fine as long as
people can find you. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Nearly every writer I know
uses his/her own name for the domaine name.
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mary rosenblum
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And you can register your
domaine name and direct it to your earthlink or comcast or yahoo site.
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gskearney
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You bet, the student becomes the
teacher, eh?
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mary rosenblum
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experience trumps, gary. :-)
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sailor
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Is Firefox out of beta testing?
How reliable is it? I've heard good things about it but don't know anyone
actually using it.
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mary rosenblum
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Ditto here, but Gary probably
knows more.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm going to have Gary come up
here onstage with me, so that what he has to add will be in the
transcript...
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mary rosenblum
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because while I know the
reasons to use a website..
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mary rosenblum
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he beats me in technical
knowlege.
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gskearney
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I use it and like it. I have had
a couple of problems but very minor. --gk
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mary rosenblum
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Hi, Gary.
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Gary Kearney
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Ah, it worked.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep. You can handle the tech
answers, I can answer the why questions. :-)
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brooke
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Hi Mary, and thanks for
adressing this subject. What are the rules concerning when it is or is not
appropriate to let an editor know about your website without sounding rude?
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mary rosenblum
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Brooke ALWAYS let an editor
know that you have a website! And offer to place a link to the
publication's homepage!
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mary rosenblum
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Editors LOVE websites.
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Gary Kearney
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Free advertising
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mary rosenblum
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I have permission from editors
to post the start of upcoming stories when the issue of the magazine is
out.
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neo
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Firefox use is gaining on IE,
but according to statistics, more than 95% of visitors use IE, so why
bother designing a site for a Mozilla engine?
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mary rosenblum
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You get this one, gary.
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mary rosenblum
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Are those numbers right?
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Gary Kearney
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You don't really need to do
much different. Just check to make sure it works.
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Gary Kearney
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Most code will work fine on
either.
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Gary Kearney
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The numbers are close.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not a separate design,
but some things may not be where you put them witht a different browser.
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sojourner
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Thinking of professional
appearances, when contacting editors, should a writer use a home address or
get a P.O. Box?
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mary rosenblum
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Sojourner, more than the issue
of professionalism, most writers do not want the general public to have
access to their home address...
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mary rosenblum
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and thus use a PO box.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, and tonight we're talking about
websites. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short stories and
will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask
and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for
you..
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sailor
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I've heard you have to register
your site with the search engines or people won't find you. True?
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mary rosenblum
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It may help you show up on a
search sooner...I never registered my URL and you can google my name and
find me...
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mary rosenblum
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but there is a site that
allows you to submit your URL to all the major engines...
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mary rosenblum
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takes a bit of time.
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Gary Kearney
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There are differing opinions.
There are lots of people who will ask for money to try to increase your
visibility, but a lot of them are scams.
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mary rosenblum
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http://www.howtoweb.com/corner/submit.htm
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jr souza jr
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actually Firefox is keeping pace
with IE specs to assure that the majority of pages already designed display
correctly in Firefox
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sojourner
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I think the point is to focus on
content, not fancy glitz, on your website and then it should work on all
browsers. One should always verify when possible.
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mary rosenblum
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And I suspect...Gary?...that
the more complex your site, the more script and java you use..the more
people will have problems, yes?
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Gary Kearney
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all excellent points
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Gary Kearney
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Simple is better.
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mary rosenblum
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And this is where we need to
talk about WHY have that website at all.
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mary rosenblum
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And believe me, I dragged my
feet for years. In the SF field, that got me a lot of razzing.
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geezer
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At what point should we get a
website? I can't think what I'd put on it right now.
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mary rosenblum
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You really NEED a website when
you have something coming out in print or in print...
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mary rosenblum
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and the reason I say this is
that advertising in the traditional sense...
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mary rosenblum
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ads in magazines, TV, etc...
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mary rosenblum
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just doesn't happen for
books/stories...
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Gary Kearney
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And you can get feedback from
friends and family without sending them printouts.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, just be careful of that
'published' definition!
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mary rosenblum
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If it's published on a public
website it's PUBLISHED>
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mary rosenblum
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No first rights to sell.
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mary rosenblum
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But most writers I know are
now putting the opening or their story or a vivid scene up on the site...
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mary rosenblum
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with a publisher's blessing.
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mary rosenblum
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The internet can provide the
cheapest and most important advertising you can get...
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mary rosenblum
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whether it's from your website
or a blog.
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mary rosenblum
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If people start forwarding
your webpage or the link to your blog to their friends...
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mary rosenblum
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the effect can propagate very
rapidly.
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mary rosenblum
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People advertise your
book/story/article/name for free.
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jmr
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At what point in a writer's
career would it become necessary to have a website?
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Gary Kearney
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I LOVE free stuff.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, we all do. And if a
friend of mine sends me a URL and says, 'look here', I usually do.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have something to offer
the public soon, or think you will...do it now.
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mary rosenblum
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Put up short short stories...
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mary rosenblum
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yeah, they're published, but
maybe now you have some fans...
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mary rosenblum
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who will go buy your book or
the issue of the magazine your first 'sold' story shows up in.
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neo
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How do you get people to
advertise your stuff for free?
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mary rosenblum
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Ah...simple and not so, neo.
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mary rosenblum
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You make it something they
want to show other people.
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mary rosenblum
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The big thing on the internet
from what I see...
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mary rosenblum
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is this 'I found something
cool' drive.
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mary rosenblum
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People find something and they
show it off...'look what I found'...
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mary rosenblum
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and if that's your site, your
name, they're advertising your stuff for free.
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neo
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How will people find or know
about your website?
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Gary Kearney
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Google and other search
engines.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep...
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mary rosenblum
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and exchanged links are
another good ay...
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Gary Kearney
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I've had people contact me from
all over the world, and I haven't really pushed my site out there.
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mary rosenblum
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'I like your site, can we swap
links'.
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mary rosenblum
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Same here.
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jr souza jr
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promotion of webs and blogs has
become the foder for RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication) The XML format
language used in RSS feeds notify people of changes and updates to you
sites as they happen. It IS the way that promotion of sites is and will
happen in the near future
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mary rosenblum
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I've read about that, and the
web design people I know really push the 'change your site weekly' issue.
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mary rosenblum
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So you know much about that,
gary?
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Gary Kearney
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I've been reading, but I think
it's a little past the keep it simple stage at this point.
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Gary Kearney
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I'm still learning how to best
use a blog.
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mary rosenblum
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It is indeed, but on the 'keep
it simple' end of things...
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mary rosenblum
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the idea is to make changes in
your site regularly...
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neo
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People seldom visit search
engine results lower than the top ten -- how can I get my website listed
there?
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mary rosenblum
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Other than paying for a slot,
I think it's just traffic that ranks sites, isn't it Gary?
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mary rosenblum
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The more people who visit, the
higher you rank?
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Gary Kearney
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Yeah that's true. There are
books and websites dedicated to improving your rankings, but you need to
spent a LOT of money.
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mary rosenblum
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But neo, people are probably
going to google your name...and how many other people have that name?
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Gary Kearney
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If someone is searching on YOUR
name you
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mary rosenblum
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If you google Mary Rosenblum,
I come up first on the page, LOL
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Gary Kearney
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will probably be in the top ten
anyway.
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mary rosenblum
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And if you're a writer, they
are going to most likely google your name or a title you have written.
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pook
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gary, what would I enter into
google to find your url?
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Gary Kearney
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I think if you just enter my
name my site comes up somewhere.
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Gary Kearney
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Let me try it and see.
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Gary Kearney
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The new website that Chris and
I did comes up on page 2
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jr souza jr
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googling any part of the actual
URL will always get you first page action unless it is an extremely common
term. Good ratings to get you ranked high when someone searches SCI FI
authors is what you want
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mary rosenblum
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And that is MUCH harder to
get.
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mary rosenblum
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But as I say, most people are
looking for you as an author and they either know your name...
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mary rosenblum
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or they know the name of
something you wrote.
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Gary Kearney
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entering gskearney brings me up
at number 1
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, and Gary Kearney and tonight
we're talking about websites. I've published seven novels and more than 60
short stories and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If
you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question'
button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the
screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me!
Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if
that works better for you..
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neo
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I think it's a lot more
complicated than that. Doesn't your search engine rank have a lot to do
with who links to you and your content (quality on both!)
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Gary Kearney
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That's why I use that instead
of my actual name in a lot of places.
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mary rosenblum
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It's very complicated,
neo...but essentially, the more traffic you have, the more connections and
links, from what I understand, the more likely you are to come up on a
general search.
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Gary Kearney
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That's true, but the search key
is most important. GSKEARNEY doesn't show up much.
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mary rosenblum
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This IS a topic of discussion
at many writers conferences. :-) At least among the tech set.
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dbamarsha
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This may have been asked before
but I was called away from the computer. But, what is the consensus on
using free websites vs. paid? Are they equally as good?
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mary rosenblum
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The free sites that I have
visited, marsha, inflict ads on the viewers.
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mary rosenblum
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The free sites that your
server offers, generally do not include ads, from what I have seen.
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Gary Kearney
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The paid sites also let you do
a few things that the others don't such as install scripts and such to make
your site more interactive.
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mary rosenblum
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And didn't you say that the
server sites won't allow that, Gary?
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Gary Kearney
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Generally the free site that
your ISP provides won't, Mary. But ... some will.
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dbamarsha
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Yes, they do. If you have to use
a free one, should you put a disclaimer somewhere on the site? :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Why not?
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dbamarsha
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Would it be a good place to
offer up a writing sample? Something that you don't plan to submit
elsewhere?
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Gary Kearney
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No, they're giving you
something for free, so you should respect that. IMHO
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mary rosenblum
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Well, there is that...and then
again, the viewer is going to get to look at them, whether you're happy
about it or not.
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dbamarsha
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That's what I thought, too,
Gary. I just don't like some of the banner ads, especially if I don't agree
with what they are advertising.
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mary rosenblum
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And there's a whole NEW
ethical question, that I don't think we'll go into here tonight... :-)
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geezer
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What is the typical fee for a
website?
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Gary Kearney
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That's true, but who actually
looks at those banner ads?
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mary rosenblum
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I think everybody pretty much
knows why they're there and ignores them as much as they can.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's do talk about the cost.
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Gary Kearney
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There are various plans from
/mo on up. Depends on exactly what you want.
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mary rosenblum
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And how much you are willing
to do yourself.
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Gary Kearney
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Adding shopping carts and
bandwidth will increase expense.
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mary rosenblum
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The server where I rent space
is very cheap, but it's no frills. They don't help you much if you don't
know what you're doing...
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mary rosenblum
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and other sites are MUCH
kinder to newcomers.
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mary rosenblum
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But they do tend to cost a bit
more.
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mary rosenblum
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And some 'webhosting' sites
are very pricy...
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mary rosenblum
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offering to set up the
website, but charging up to 50 per month.
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Gary Kearney
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There is a site that ranks
ISP's which is noted in the article that Chris and I did.
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sailor
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A lot of server free sites are
for personal web pages only. I think a site promoting a writer would be
considered business.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a fuzzy arey, sailor.
Technically it IS a commercial site...
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mary rosenblum
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I sure as heck deduct the
expenses from my taxes!
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...as to whether the free
site would call it that...
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Gary Kearney
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Some do specifically allow you
to make sales. Again you need to investigate.
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mary rosenblum
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Most writers I know simply
link to booksellers rather than selling books themselves...that's what I
do.
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Gary Kearney
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Ya gotta read the rules when
you sign up.
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sojourner
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I like the Bruce Holland Rogers
is using his blog to discuss the new book he is writing and making comments
on the writing process for new authors.
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Gary Kearney
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Some do self publish though,
and a website with sales capability would be good for them.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, for those who haven't
used a POD house like iUniverse that will handle sales...
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mary rosenblum
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you WILL need to sell through
your website...
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mary rosenblum
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and that will complicate
things a bit.
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mary rosenblum
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I know people who have paypal
and handle it that way...
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mary rosenblum
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or use a secure server service
to take credit cards...
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mary rosenblum
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but that's way behond the
scope of what I wanted to cover here tonight...
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mary rosenblum
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which is mostly, WHY a website
matters.
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mary rosenblum
|
And a simple one is sufficient
for what it does best for you as a writer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
which is getting your name and
work known.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
It can certainly be a
distraction, so don't just jump into it without thinking about it.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
You drown in a sea of books
and you need to find a way to get noticed.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And getting back to the blog
question that I posted prematurely...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that is also something writers
are using, usually in cojunction with their website...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
to attract attention.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT this can be a major time
sink...if you're blogging every day and not writing...how is it helping
you?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it's also a way to get
feedback that a very saavy web designer friend of mine (who is also a
writer) tells me works better than an email link on your website.
|
|
neo
|
Should a blog be part of a
website? Isn't that had to do?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I agree. I've gotten more hits
from my blog than anything else.
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mary rosenblum
|
What say you, Gary? From what
I've heard, it's complicated to do it as part of your website.
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Gary Kearney
|
There's special software that
makes it fairly easy.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
http://www.blogger.com/start
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|
Gary Kearney
|
The only thing I had to do was
fix things so it was actually hosted on my server instead of at blogger.com
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mary rosenblum
|
This is a free blog
site...from pyra labs...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
aha...
|
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mary rosenblum
|
that's where everybody starts
isn't it, gary?
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Gary Kearney
|
And I think you can just put a
link on your own site. It is the most popular at this point.
|
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dbamarsha
|
Would you consider one for to be
too much? They are very nice sites.
|
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Gary Kearney
|
I spend about
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I think price depends on what
you want and how much can pay, marsha. If you like it and you can afford
it, fine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's about what mine is,
too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ten dollars a month.
|
|
brooke
|
Is it okay to link to a blog
from a paid site, since the blog is free and linking to it might be
considered using it for commerical use?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It doesn't sound like a
problem to me, and I AM a commercial site.
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|
Gary Kearney
|
I can have a shopping cart and
even a chat server like we have here. My bandwidth is limited, but I've
never come close to exceeding.
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|
neo
|
for a blog?!!!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
for a website, neo.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
No for my website.
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|
Gary Kearney
|
The blog is free
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the site I posted, is free.
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|
sojourner
|
Once you have a domain, you can
start cheap and then you can always move your site to a service with more
options.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
exactly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
However...and again...this is
a bit of a catch 22...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Any ISP will take more money if
you offer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
LOL, gary. So will I, but
people never want to pay me MORE than the cover price for my books. Too
bad.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The catch 22 is that you have
to have something that people want to read...
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|
mary rosenblum
|
if you want them to tell their
friends about your blog.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just as Bruce is talking about
the process of writing his book...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Well, what I meant is you might
want to consider the possibilities for upgrading with a given ISP before
you decide to use them for your hosting server.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
To see what options you'll
eventually have, Gary?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Esactly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you want to pay for them?
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|
jr souza jr
|
just to keep terms straight for
everyone and ISP is someone who hoos you to the Internet and 'MAY' have web
hosting services. Web hosts are the services that will hang your page. It
helps to makethe distinction when searching
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
True.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can google web hosting
services
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
And Google web hosting services
rankings too, so you get comparisons.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But do treat blogs as a
potentially double edged sword.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They can be a good promotional
tool, or they can give you a nice excuse for not writing.
|
|
jr souza jr
|
as a further point with
terminology a Domain name service ie Register.com may also oofer hosting
services
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many do, actually...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
And the same for your web page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep....
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I've had to really watch
myself on that one...I find html lots of fun to play with...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
too much so!
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Me too.
|
|
neo
|
Are you advocating writers have
personal blogs, or what kind of content would be best?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, neo, it depends on
whether you have the time to write and post something regularly...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I'd start with a blog or a
simple web site, either one, but time is the key.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is not something I have
done because I'm afraid it would eat into my writing time.
|
|
neo
|
What about design? Some folks
have light print on dark backgrounds--very hard on the eyes. Also, it's
difficult to read lines longer than 10-12 words, so isn't it better to have
your material in columns?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah design issues are legion.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Maybe, columns are difficult in
HTML.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
According to Brigett McKenna,
publisher of Scorpio Press...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
an ebook publisher...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
columns don't actually work
well.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One way to learn design is to
go look at websites and see what you find easy to read and what seems
difficult.
|
|
neo
|
What do you mean? Newspapers and
magazines use them.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
The best advice I've seen is to
cut text up into screen size chunks, and give each it's own page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep, but according to the
people I know who make their living doing commercial web design...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it is as Gary says, although
most users prefer to scroll down rather than to move from page to page.
|
|
jr souza jr
|
As an idea that writers may find
useful and will provide a great promotional tool for your writing and
generate intrest -- now this is a freebie so be nice -- You could use a
blog to create the personalit, phisiology and back story of your character.
Also your mapping of worlds and locations all things you have to do anyway
many of this stuff doesn't go to page but does build characters that write
thier own stories
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu could, jr, but this
prickles the hair on the back of my neck just a bit...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
since if I'm doing this for a
book that may not be out for a year or more...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
an awful lot of people are
going to have access to this between now and then...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I'm not sure I want to
make all that public.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have no control over who
reads it, copies it, or does whatever with it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hints I will offer, but
I"m not sure I would evolve complex characters on a public stage.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Yeah, I don't think I'd want it
out there to far in advance anyway.
|
|
neo
|
Isn't scrolling supposed to be
limited to two screens.?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't know the limit.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Yes, and no. So much is
dependent on the screen resolution of the user.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Brigette, for her ebooks, DOES
use pages and feels that readers like them..they look just like book pages.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
It's hard to control.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Eileen Gunn, author and pro
web designer, publishes an ezine...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you scroll.
|
|
ashton
|
Excuse me...I just got in. Is
there anyway to stop someone from being able to copy something off your
website? Anything at all you can do?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not in any simple way that I
know of. Gary?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
There are a few tricks that
make it a bit more difficult.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I would not put anything on
your website that you do NOT want to be available for copy.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I agree.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Think of it as a 'cast your
bread upon the waters' gesture...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it's idea for stories that
have been published in a magazine...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and are no longer available...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
although you'll have to take
it down if you want to publish it in an anthology later.
|
|
neo
|
Isn't everything on your website
copy righted?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's not going to stop
people from copying it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Selling it, publishing it,
yes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
SFWA has shut down several
websites now that were selling downloads of stories from SFWA authors...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
without compensation or
permission.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We have a competent lawyer on
staff.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Here's a question that takes
us back to beginner questions...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and one we didn't specifically
answer.
|
|
paja
|
Sorry to be late. Have you
addressed the criteria you should look for in a web host?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So when you start shopping,
what DO you look for?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You want to start Gary? YOu
give the tech answer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I'll give the 'scared
novice' answer. :-)
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
The first think I looked for
was reliability...AKA uptime.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Then price.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
How can you ascertain
reliability?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I chose my server because a
tech buddy recommended it.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I went to a ratings site where
the ping the providers to see how often the get a bad connection.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Aha...do you have that link?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
It's in the article.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Duh...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't have all your links in
there memorized, sorry!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Anything else besides
reliability and price?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I don't either. I never
remember anything anymore. Google does it for me.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Well, you do need to consider
what services you actually need, like bandwidth, storage space, shopping
carts, chat servers. etc.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm going to give the 'novice'
answer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
for all of you who don't have
a clue how to even start out.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that is ease of use...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some of the web hosting
services provide very clear and easy uploading and instructions...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and others...such as the
server I"m using...are a challenge.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some are much more user
friendly than others, in other words...
|
|
jr souza jr
|
you should also look for web
hosts that provide adequate disk space and transfer as well as email (pop)
accounts and the utilization of thigs like front page extensions CGI ASP
PHP and very improtantly what is the fee for overages and how are you
notified of nearing the limits
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
You may want to consider
whether the provider uses Unix/Linux machines or Windows based servers
also.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As far as what jr said...(I
could hear the collective gasp at all the acronyms you don't know..I don't
know 'em all either)...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Yes, if you want to use MS
Front page to design and build your site you must have the extensions.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, and THAT is important for
those who want to use Front page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The fee for overage...if a LOT
of people hit on your site all at once...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you may exceed the bandwidth
for the site and be charged extra..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but for a personal page that
promotes your work...
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I believe my plan just makes
the site unavailable.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you are probably not going to
have a problem.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
But I've never come close to
having a problem.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My site stays up, and I get
bumped to the next highest use level which I can renegotiate...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but I've never had a problem,
either.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My suggestion is....
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
start by registering your
domaine name with a registry resource...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and set up a free site...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that is a very simple way to
get your 'feet wet'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You don't need bells and
whistles...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and it gives you a chance to
decide what you want to have on your site...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and how you like what you end
up with.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can always find a web host
service later, do a bigger, fancier site...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but even a very simple page
with upcoming publications...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
a personal bio...a schedule if
you're signing...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and links to your books and
favorite places..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
gives you a simple public
persona.
|
|
dbamarsha
|
Is there a fee to register a
domain name?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, marsha. I think I pay 9
per year. I have two registered.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Oh yes. Usually around
|
|
brooke
|
What's your opinion of using
Microsoft Publisher to design a site? Does it make it harder to upload?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Gary?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
No, but it adds a lot of junk
that you don't really need.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
It is actually simpler, but you
wind up having to reload the whole site when you make changes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Gary and Chris's article have
a lot of information on resources..quite a few links.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And most of the free
sites...earthlink, comcast, ATT, have templates you can use to create a
site without knowing html.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I really don't like MS, so I'm
a bit biased, but there are lots of free tools that are as good as
Publisher or Front Page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I believe both yahoo and
geocities, which offer free sites, but DO include ads, also offer
templates.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Tripod is another.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Is that a website creation
software, Gary?
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
It's a site similar to
Geocities or the Yahoo homepages.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, okay. The main thing is is
CAN be simple...and you don't have to know everything Gary or JR do..
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
I discuss it in the article,
and in have site set up there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you can still have an
effective webpage.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it's worth it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And we've gone WAY past our
'Oregon Hour' tonight...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so I think we'll bring this to
a close...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I'll post the transcript.
|
|
Gary Kearney
|
Bye, all. --gk
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do visit Gary and Chris's how
to.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
http://www.longridgewritersgroup.com/rx/wc07/website.shtml
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Website
Article
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you can always tackle Gary
or Chris or Jr in the chat rooms and ask for help.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good night all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Thanks for coming and I'll see
you on the website!
|