Free and Easy Website Design for Museums and Historic Sites (American Association for State and Local History)

Museums and historic sites faced with small budgets and staff can find it intimidating to redesign or create a website from scratch. Concerns over resources make coding and designing (or hiring someone to do so) daunting and expensive. It does not have to be so. Content creation is inescapable when making a website, but designing and constructing a unique website can be as simple as taking an afternoon to use a color chart to pick a color scheme and paste in text from a Word document. All of the tools discussed in the book are free at the base level, and some offer upgrade packages with even more features. The advice and techniques are all created with an eye to making websites work for smaller institutions with limited budgets and timeframes. Every museum professional has come across issues when adapting general software for an institution's specific needs, and the information in this book will anticipate some of these needs by offering easytoimplement workarounds and information on related software or services that integrate with each website. Features include: Howto guides for Wix, Weebly, WordPress, and Google Sites Detailed comparisons of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors by cost, features, and easeofuse so that you can easily identify which platforms meet your needs Mythbusting of common website and computer assumptions Stepbystep content and design planning guide Basic HTML coding tricks and tips for the slightly more advanced users (or those who want to become so) - A free companion Web site includes links to online resources, ongoing updates to this book to keep it current, and links to other free online tools and software. Go to http: //(http://www.freethemuseum.net) www.freethemuseum.net to request access on this author-created and managed companion site. Museums and historic sites faced with small budgets and staff can find it intimidating to redesign or create a website from scratch. Concerns over resources make coding and designing (or hiring someone to do so) daunting and expensive. It does not have to be so. Content creation is inescapable when making a website, but designing and constructing a unique website can be as simple as taking an afternoon to use a color chart to pick a color scheme and paste in text from a Word document. All of the tools discussed in the book are free at the base level, and some offer upgrade packages with even more features. The advice and techniques are all created with an eye to making websites work for smaller institutions with limited budgets and timeframes. Every museum professional has come across issues when adapting general software for an institution's specific needs, and the information in this book will anticipate some of these needs by offering easytoimplement workarounds and information on related software or services that integrate with each website. Features include: Howto guides for Wix, Weebly, WordPress, and Google Sites Detailed comparisons of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors by cost, features, and easeofuse so that you can easily identify which platforms meet your needs Mythbusting of common website and computer assumptions Stepbystep content and design planning guide Basic HTML coding tricks and tips for the slightly more advanced users (or those who want to become so) • A free companion Web site includes links to online resources, ongoing updates to this book to keep it current, and links to other free online tools and software. Go to: https://freethemuseum.wixsite.com/aaslh to request access on this author-created and managed companion site. "Museums and historic sites faced with small budgets and staff can find it intimidating to redesign or create a website from scratch. Concerns over resources make coding and designing (or hiring someone to do so) daunting and expensive. It does not have to be so. Content creation is inescapable when making a website, but designing and constructing a unique website can be as simple as taking an afternoon to use a color chart to pick a color scheme and paste in text from a Word document. All of the tools discussed in the book are free at the base level, and some offer upgrade packages with even more features. The advice and techniques are all created with an eye to making websites work for smaller institutions with limited budgets and timeframes. Every museum professional has come across issues when adapting general software for an institution's specific needs, and the information in this book will anticipate some of these needs by offering easy­to­implement workarounds and information on related software or services that integrate with each website."--Page 4 de la couverture Halftitle 2 Series 4 Title 6 Copyright 8 Dedication 10 Contents 12 Foreword 14 Preface 16 Acknowledgments 21 Introduction: Mythbusting 23 Part I: Prepare Your Website 26 1 Planning Your Website 28 2 Designing Your Website 39 Part II: Craft Your Website 52 3 Getting Your Website Started on Weebly 55 4 Getting Your Website Started on Wix 85 5 Getting Your Website Started on WordPress 110 6 Getting Your Website Started on Google Sites 130 Part III: Expand Your Website 146 7 Basic HTML 148 8 Showcasing Your Collection 170 9 Moving Forward 189 Appendix A: Additional Resources 190 Appendix B: Website Planning Guide 192 Appendix C: Webmaster’s Keyboard Shortcuts 198 Appendix D: Color Names for HTML 199 Appendix E: HTML Tags 204 Appendix F: Stop Words 207 Glossary 228 Bibliography 235 Index 238 About the Author 243 Alongside a general introduction to website development and design, this book features instructional guides for four of the most popular WYSIWYG editors. With an eye to the specific needs of museums and historic sites, Free and Easy Website Design for Museums and Historic Sites leads readers through the process of building an online presence and adapting various technologies for museum use. This book emphasizes the importance of harnessing the power of the Internet for cultural institutions.-- Provided by Publisher