Some advice if you are new to building websites.
Though It is not for us to decide how you will work with your n-gen.net CMS we suggest a few simple steps that might get you started the right way.
Depending on how much routine you have in creating websites following these steps might ease your work and get a nice and easy maintainable website running in a very short time.
But do remember that a good Content Management System (CMS) lets you focus on the important part: Creating, updating and deleting content!
Not even the best CMS can create quality content; the system is merely a mean for you to create the content.
Getting started.
1. Start by drawing a sketch and make some notes about your new website.
- You might sketch the front page to get an idea of how you would prefer the front page to look like.
- Make some notes regarding the content: Find out what information should be on which page.
- Consider if you want all pages to have the same header or each pages should have its own individual header.
Or combine it so that all related pages should have the same header, but that header should differ from pages related to another topic.
- Consider if some of the pages are so much alike that it would make sense to use a template to give that category of information a similar structure.
- If you discover that more pages are related you might consider to have your navigation menu containing sub-menus.
2. The building ground: Register a domain and a hosting plan or setup your own environment.
There is a few requirements for your setup - whether it is your own server or a commercial hosting:
- It should be capable of running Microsoft .NET
- The web server should preferably be Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) ver. 7 or newer
- You must have access to a MySQL or MariaDB database server and have the privileges to create a new database instance for your website.
If you go with a commercial web hosting solution you must find a plan for a windows server.
3. Install n-gen.net CMS.
This task can easily be accomplished following the procedure on the installation page.
4. Continue by focusing on the Header.
When you have installed your n-gen.net CMS (and you have performed the post installation tasks) do not be too keen to start working on your first page. In stead you should make the header of the front page as you would like it to appear. In some cases the default header is used so you can start by editing the default header. Alternatively you can create a new header and associate the front page with that header. In principle there is no limit of the number of headers. This means that if you want every page on your website to be associated with its own header that is absolutely an option. The content and thereby the height of your header should not exceed 250 pixels. Remember that the more height your header have the less real estate you have for the (important) content. Try to make the height of tour header somewhere between 90 px and 140 px. he page footer has a size or approx. 40 - 60 px. The height of your footer depends on your font size. So if you have a header of i.e. 250 px and a footer of 50 px and assuming your webpage is displayed in a maximized browser on a HD monitor you will already have used roughly one third of the available space with the header and footer.
Note that the page header and page footer are not displayed on mobile devices so do not build too much functionality into your page header.
5. Now it is time to make webpages.
You have probably already familiarized yourself with the WYSIWYG editor.
If not then take a look at this video for a brief introduction.
Do not waste time by formatting text with different colors, sizes and fonts. Do not make your layout the by putting content into tables. Focus only on creating the content: Structure and type the text and insert photos, images and graphics where appropriate. If your images are not ready in the right format or the right size insert an empty space and a descriptive text so you later on know what you want to insert.
If you have pages that have the same type of information you should consider to make a template out of the page. I.e. you are making a travel guide to cities. Most probably the pages will all have information about nationality, spoken language, currency, what to see and pitfalls to avoid. If you want to create a consistent look and structure to all your city guides then use the first one as a template. To make a template of an existing page is just a three click job.
6. Create the menu.
The navigation is essential to the visitor of your page. That is why the navigation should create a logical structure to your pages. And no information should be more the a couple of clicks or taps away from your front page.