How to make a website in a hour: notes from Zita Podany’s talk, March 17^th 2019

Some of use have used Weebly, some WordPress, some Blogger, some Wix, some googlesites…  Zita recommended Weebly; it may not be the most robust, but it’s easy and it keeps up with the times—use of images, handheld devices to read webpages etc. She followed up her recommendation with an excellent demonstration of what it has to offer. Here is my attempt at interpreting her instructions, for anyone wanting to “try this at home.”

1. Go to https://www.weebly.com/
2. Create an account using your email address and a memorable password.
   1. You don’t need to give them your credit card. You don’t need to pay anything!
   2. If a spinning wheel appears and won’t go away, just try a different browser – Firefox, Edge, Chrome…
   3. In fact, whenever something doesn’t work, or a spinning wheel appears, try a different browser. (Weebly is great but, like Zita said, maybe not as robust as it might be. Logging out and logging back in, reloading the page, and other minor tricks can work too.)
3. Add a new site. Choose a domain name (Weebly will check if the name is available. Your site’s address will be sitename.weebly.com for a free website, which is not a problem)
4. Choose a theme. Weebly shows you pictures of sites to choose from. Don’t choose based on the image—you’ll probably change the image soon. Choose based on where the menu is (top bar is good) and what you think of the fonts.
5. Then build your site, starting with the first page (give it a title!).
6. Weebly is a “drag and drop” system. The left hand side of the screen has lots of things you might want to have on your page.
   1. Use the mouse to drag things onto the page.
   2. Look at the blue lines to see where things will land—just below something, next to something, etc.
   3. Don’t worry about getting it right. You can change anything by dragging on the page, moving the blue lines, moving the blue “handle” etc. And
   4. If there are things you don’t want there, use the X to delete them.
7. Add pictures from by dragging the picture box onto your page, clicking in it, and either selecting or dragging from your computer. You can add pictures from the internet, but be aware there might be copyright issues – better to use your own. But that’s not all you can do:
   1. You can make your pictures into links
   2. You can place lots of pictures in a grid/gallery – they’ll all be resized to fit; each can be linked to something – e.g books that everyone should read
   3. You can make a slideshow of pictures, and even change how it moves from one picture to the next
   4. You can add a contact form, ready-made with space for your reader to add their name, email (so you can reply) and a question or comment
   5. Add text, add titles…
   6. Move around those “blueline” dividers to make larger areas for text next to a picture.
   7. You can add files in the same way – even Powerpoint Presentations!
8. Then start thinking about additional pages. At the top (as opposed to down the left hand side) are words like Build and Pages. Click on Pages to
   1. 1. Add a page (use the plus sign)
         1. If you start writing a blog, you’ll want to post every week (but a webpage can just sit there with no new posts)
         2. You can use a blog to post events. Just call the page “Events” instead of calling it “Blog.”
         3. Add a new “post” to your blog by clicking on the “new post” button at the right of the bottom menu bar
         4. Use categories when you post blogposts. That way readers can search for posts on dogs, posts on cats, etc.And choose what sort of page you’re adding – even a blog page!
      2. Click on the page in the left hand bar, to
         1. change the name of the page
         2. change the size of the header (or even take it away)
         3. make the page private, password protected, only visible from a link you share with friends…
         4. and other good stuff. (Amazing, isn’t it!)
9. By default your new pages are at the end of the navigation bar, but you can put them wherever you want. Use the left hand Pages menu to
   1. Move your pages around in the navigation bar (click and drag at the left)
   2. Or even place them as subpages – just drag them around in the left-hand menu, then look at how the navigation bar lists them. There’s LOTS of stuff going on behind the scenes – stuff that would take ages to learn and to write, but Weebly lets you do it just with a few click and drags.
10. You’ll probably switch from Pages to Build to Page to Build etc, adding, editing, changing, moving things around…
11. Then, when you’re done, click on publish. And DON’T PANIC. Nobody is going to see what you’ve done unless you give them the link. Just think how many pages there are out there…
12. Just don’t click on UPGRADE (you’d have to pay). Also, those icons in the build menu with orange flashes are upgrade-only items.

Some final snippets of advice:

1. • Don’t make your reader have to think.
     • Look at how your site will appear on a cellphone (there’s a small screen icon at the right hand of the top bar (Build, Pages, Theme, … Help, and a screen icon). Click on the arrow next to it to see the mobile version
     • Keep useful information at the TOP, because users don’t want to search or scroll (That’s why you pick a theme with a top navigation bar)
     • Don’t start your page with a huge picture. Front page maybe. Inside pages should have smaller headers.
   • Do make your reader want more
     • Your Home Page is where you put your Elevator Pitch – who are you; what can you do for your reader; make them want to learn more.
   • And don’t start your home page with WELCOME or HELLO WORLD. (Aghgh! My page starts with Welcome!)