Commercial Website

[Scarpozzi]

My cousin is wanting to pay me to design a website for some products that he's wanting to sell. I know a lot about basic web design and can always manipulate templates, etc... I'm just wondering if anyone has any shortcuts they would like to share to help me get a website off the ground for him.

What I'm looking for:

1. A template or design to offer an ordering system or an easy interface to a mySQL database for order & inventory tracking
2. Good, cheap Graphics software to create or edit a logo and pictures of the products on the site (I have a copy of Fireworks that's a few years old, but could possibly afford to buy something if need be)
3. Any step by step design tips to get this off the ground.
4. A decent webhost for this that will provide good/great service at reasonable prices.

Thanks for any advice.

-Scar

 

[xtknight]

2. Try Gimp maybe?
4. 1&1 hosting? No personal experience but I hear they're good.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Check the forums at www.WebHostingTalk.com for all of the above.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Check the forums at www.WebHostingTalk.com for all of the above.

Thanks....yeah...I have thegimp at work....It should be able to take care of all my logo and graphics needs as soon as I start getting ideas.

 

[Diz2K2]

You may want to look into an open source e-commerce solution such as oscommerce. You should be able to modify it to your liking. It does require some work but it could give you a good basis to start with. They have good documentation also.

Demo: http://demo.oscommerce.com/

 

[Markbnj]

Call Network Solutions or one of the other major hosters. They have ecommerce packages that can get you up and running quickly for a couple hundred bucks a year, fast servers, and decent support.

Photoshop Elements is great for web work, and at $80 purchased online it qualifies as cheap in the realm of graphics packages.

 

[Cpt. Duke]

I recommend www.oswd.org for some nice templates, and Dreamhost.com for hosting.
PM me if you have any specific questions.
- RJ

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: 1DJCherny
Dreamhost.com for hosting.

I'm going to have to disagree. You need to go with a reputable hosting site who can guarantee uptime, not a hosting company who oversells all their packages. Of course, I'll recommend telnap.com, ran by our own DeviousTrap. The service is great, prices are comparable from what I can tell, and Eric is one helluva guy.

Tell him blurredvision sent ya .

 

[Hersh]

OScommerce will definitely be the way to go for you especially since it does not seem like you want something quick-to-go type of package here.

As for hosting, look for 'Fantastico with Cpanel' in the hosting features as this will be the easiest way for you to get OScommerce started. Any host who has been operating for at least 5 years without a whatever-hosting-sucks.com type of domain out there WITH a STRONG and VISIBLE customer base (active company forums for example) is a pretty trustworthy host. I've personally had experience with over dozen hosting companies (both as a client and employee) and can only recommend one or two great companies.

If you have decided to go with a certain host, before you pull out your credit card, ask around to see if they would be reliable... heck, you can even PM me for opinions if you want to.

Good luck!