Jump to content

Broadland Memories new web site


Brian

Recommended Posts

Many thanks for your replies.

 

I use Wordpress for the website blog but honestly don't know my way around it well enough to have a clue how on earth I could recreate the main website using it. I have to be honest and confess that the thought of migrating the site to an entirely new platform fills me with dread and would inevitably end up causing me a lot of anxiety and stress ... which is something that I really need to avoid (believe me!).

 

I use Serif Webplus. I've been through all the "against" arguments about Webplus in the past and I know it has it's limitations, but it's a system I know how to use, has (mostly) worked for me and I think I would rather stick with it and hope that the listed specs on the latest version are right that it will now be compatible with mobiles, tablets etc., which the website is currently not. Certainly, before I even consider switching to something else like Wordpress, I would like to at least give what I am used to a go and see if I can get it to work.

 

Advertising from Google .... no!! From what I've seen with adsense, you don't appear to be able to totally control what Google decides is related to your website. I really really so not want to consider that sort of advertising. Bespoke, or sponsorship type advertising ... hmmm .... still very reluctant at this stage.

 

Costs? Well ... the current Webplus is listed at around £90 although I may be able to get a bit of a discount as I am an existing customer. Virtually all the software I have been using is massively outdated and has therefore been incompatible with the upgrade to Windows 8 on the new laptop. To be honest, they have long been in need of an upgrade anyway as their features are extremely limited, but I struggled on with it. I have managed to upgrade photo editing and desktop publishing software reasonably cheaply by buying slightly older versions secondhand which do work on 8.1. The other main issue now is going to be Microsoft Word. I am still using 2003 on XP at the moment! It seems this will not work in 8.1 however. I appear to be looking at around £100 to upgrade that for just one computer (lifetime license). How much the upgrade of my PC to Windows 8 is going to cost, I have no idea at the moment. I am lucky that my best mate can do it for me (no labour costs, bless him), but we haven't looked into how much else will need replacing at the same time, or thought about costings. Hopefully not too much as it had a massive rebuild a couple of years ago and I'm happy with the speed and hard drive capacity, and the processor is apparently compatible. (All over my head)

 

Ongoing costs in adding material to the archive. I never added up what I used to spend on buying photos and films for the website, transfer costs etc ... but it must have been at least £500+ a year. Yikes! The sky is the limit on how much some of this stuff can set you back. I have been lucky and picked up cine films for £10 ... but equally, I paid £140 for one from the 1930s. Transfer costs were not cheap either, although I am hoping that a very kind offer I received last year from the chap I have been using, to transfer them for me for free in return for a good plug on the website will still stand ;) I guess that's a form of sponsorship really.

Equally, photographic collections can fetch some silly money at times ... prices that I wouldn't dream of competing with even if I had funds available! I've been increasingly priced out of the collectors market in recent years but I'm eternally grateful to those people who send me their photos, memories, films (thank you Bill) etc which at least ensures that the archive does keep growing at minimal cost to me. I have been given access to some truly fantastic collections over the years and long may it continue!

 

 

Many thanks for all your suggestions and support cheers

 

 

 

Carol

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Carol,

 

There's nothing wrong with using something you are comfortable with. I had a quick look at serif webplus and it looks ok, there probably are better tools out there although if you know it then stick with it ;)

 

I'm still developing on a xp machine with office 2002 as is many large organisations around the world :) There are free software alternatives to office (openoffice for one and google docs (although the later is dreadful!), but both allow you to save in .doc(x) format).

 

Adsense isn't brilliant and as you say you don't have 100% control but you can easily restrict things even down to individual websites and it can offer a good return if you have a lot of traffic for little effort (I was getting a couple of quid a day when i used it).  I am with you on your reservations.. last resort ;)

 

It sounds like you are gearing more towards a donate button, I can see you have done this before for your DVD's. Again I'd say go for it, if you get enough donations you could even find someone to do at least the hard work for you :) 

 

Good luck :)cheers

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'd say go for it, if you get enough donations you could even find someone to do at least the hard work for you

 

:lol: :lol:

 

I'm far too much of a control freak to farm too much out!

 

 

Mind you, the spammers who target the website email account seem to think I have multiple staff, a fleet of company cars, issues with all manner of office related problems that they can solve and a need for doormats with logos on them! :naughty:

 

 

 

Carol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly, I often go back over the website re-reading things and looking at photos and videos it truly is a very special and wonderful resource recording the valuable history of the Broads.

 

I appreciate that you don’t want to make the website commercial – if you decided to have adverts run by Google, the likely click through rate would not make a significant income anyway.  I don’t think it would be seen as a bad thing however to be more ‘commercial’ – perhaps through small sponsorships through local companies – I do mean small to them but would certainly help in your operations such as equipment and your time given over to the website so perhaps an open mind to such is no bad thing.

 

Of course the easiest way to seek help is through donations from people who visit the website, having a ‘donate’ button much as this form has.  However this is would provide a very variable source of funding – take the discussion on this forum about Dylan Winter’s videos – he used to sell them on DVD but many stopped wanting to purchase them so he put them on the web asking for donations for each one then posted the results of income and it was pitiful.

 

You could also look into Pateron: https://www.patreon.com– people pledge money for what you create.  You can then set goals – such as ‘new batch of photos to be added when I reach £100 goal’ which encourage people to support the cause – they give, you give back something in return.

 

Now as for the technical side I’m afraid I would steer very clear of Windows 8 – I personally am unable to work with it because it is so disjointed in some unhappy marriage of ‘Apps’ and ‘old fashion’ Windows.  Windows 10 looks promising but since you know how to use XP I think the best route would be to get Windows 7 – looks like XP works the same as XP and then when it’s support is one day phased out, move up to Windows 10 (or whatever it is by then).  Windows 8 will require a learning curve and the way it ‘feels’ is very much something different to what you would experience in XP.

 

You can get decent stand alone desktop computers these days – have a look at this with a solid state hard disk drive http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B5CTTDGfor £369.00 and pair with a nice large 24” monitor for £99.99 here http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FB6C3GM - just a couple of thoughts.

 

There are plenty of ‘Blogging’ platforms out there too – and hosts which can be configured to seamlessly work with them, I used to use BlueHost: http://www.bluehost.com/- for Wordpress which is cheap and reliable and takes certain hassles of hosting your own Word Press site out of the equation or finding a webhost whose backend works well with Word Press. 

 

Anyway I’ve said enough for the time being, and sure there will be a great deal of supportive comments that follow help keep Broadland Memories running smoothly.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone.

 

I've got on alright with 8.1 so far, but having come straight from XP I have nothing in between to compare it to. There are features I like and some that infuriate the hell out of me, but I'm getting there with it. I'd forgotten that it had already been pointed out to me that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade to 7 users too, so that may well keep costs down.

 

I didn't have the greatest experience of off the shelf desktops in the past ... I had  Medion PC, the components of which were bespoke for the machine and could not be upgraded when things went wrong. I'm sure that I could buy something a lot better than that now, but it may not have all the features I require (video capture card being one example off the top of my head). My friend has actually done wonders with what he has built for me in recent years so I am happy to continue with that for as long as he is!  What I have now is pretty high spec (well high enough for me anyway) and it will hopefully just be a case of new operating system and some additional memory. My monitor is not that old really, and I have been happy with it so that's fine. 

 

That will come later in the year though ... for now I'd just like to sort out software updates to try and get the website running properly and accessible for as many visitors as possible .... and have the ability to keep on top of updated versions in future to avoid these issues. I certainly don't need or expect to get a fortune with a donations button  .... but every little helps as they say! I've never set out to make money to cover the time I put in ... perish the thought! It's a hobby .. a labour of love and I give my time freely. If I ended up with excess above what I need to continue running the website, then it would be ploughed into buying the odd film or photographic addition to the archive.

 

 

 

Carol cheers

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Carol,

 

I'm a fan of your website - Have been for ages.  I view it regularly and one of these days (Years then) I will get up in our loft and sort out my Late Mum/Dads slide films, cine film etc and get the lot over to you FOC.  There is a massive amount of material commencing from the early 50's.

 

Anyway I digress:-

 

In days gone by I would have been in a position to simply chuck some cash your way.  Those days have definitely gone by, so sadly that's out.

 

BUT - I do have a floating asset - 'B.A' of course, maybe we can use her to raise some funds for you?

 

Just a suggestion - You organize a raffle / auction / sealed auction etc or whatever you please for NBN members to have a weekend onboard say from a Friday to Sunday at a mutual date to suit.  I'll do the skippering thing.  That leaves room for 5 crew (or 6 If two share the 3/4 double bunk).

 

I'll pay for getting mysen there and back, the diesel used onboard for the weekend and the pump-out costs, the winning crew will have to provide their own food and beer chits etc

 

Hope this helps,

 

Ball your court

 

 

Griff

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Broad Ambition? Not for prize or reward I hope?  :River Police   :naughty:

 

 

Certainly not my way, if Carol runs with this idea it would be costing me, so no prize or reward coming my way - Therefore I would hope that I'm all above board and proper like?

 

The sponsorship idea is a fair one too, if that happened some historical footage or Richo's craft would fit in well methinks

 

 

Griff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clive ... I couldn't possibly impose .... you're already sponsoring half of Broadland !! :naughty:

 

But thank you. Whilst it's not a route I want to go down at the moment, I am not ruling it out for the future depending on how things go.

 

 

Griff ... you are such a sweetie! Wow ... that is a very unexpected and generous offer .... but too generous. I honestly wouldn't feel right accepting. The thought of having to almost beg for money via a donations button is something which doesn't sit easy with me in the first place, so you can imagine that I would feel mightily uncomfortable with such a large gesture. But thank you so much for the offer. The thought and your kind words mean a lot to me ... and you can have a hug next time we meet! :)

 

 

Besides which ... I would be too tempted to bid on it myself, which would somewhat defeat the object of the exercise! :lol:

 

(I will take you up on the offer of photos and films when you have the time to sort them out though :D )

 

 

Thanks to everyone. As I said, the idea behind a donations button isn't to bring in piles of dosh. If you visit the site and get any sort of enjoyment out of it, and have a couple of quid to spare to help towards it's running costs, then that would be wonderful. I'm not looking for massive donations. If I can just get something to help towards the costs then that would be great. I'll continue to chip in what I can and muddle along whatever happens.

 

 

 

Carol

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the wealth of imagery gathered here would it not be possible to sell mugs, table mats and other printed items featuring bygones Norfolk & Suffolk imagery?

 

I realise there might be a copyright issue but I'm sure you would get a number of orders from broadland lovers.

 

There are loads of places on-line that let you upload imagery for printing on these gift items.

 

Be up front and add 100% mark up + p&p to your cost price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many thanks folks.

 

 

I did look into the possibility of calendars in the past as I do probably own enough old images to create one without breaching anyones copyright. The problem is cost and the fact it is such a niche market really. I have no space where we live and don't want to end up with boxes full of merchandise I can't sell and have not been able to recoup costs on.

 

I have a friend who is a graphic designer and obviously has contacts within the industry for getting pretty much any sort of promotional ephemera printed. The problem is quantity. Short runs of items are so costly. Yes, the likes of bonus print etc. offer printing on anything from 1 to 500+ items, but in my experience the quality can be rather ... erm ... poor (putting it politely). I don't have the funds to outlay in the first place, and a markup on top of even 50% would just make these things so expensive for what you get. Add to that the fact that I have to drive three miles to get to the nearest post office, which if I just sell one item a week, all adds to the costs.

 

We do have some bits and bobs which I need to get sold on Ebay and down at the local auction which should hopefully bring some funds in to help with computer equipment. So if anyone is in the market for some ghastly 1970s German china birds, an antique nest of tables or a c1840 writing slope ....  :naughty:

 

 

 

Carol

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you should be able to have items printed at for example vistaprint etc & delivered to the buyer? Thus avoiding the hastle of post office etc. I think with items such as mugs & key rings etc the quality of the image is less important. Just an alternative to the donation button if that is not to your liking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I genuinely did look into the idea of this a few years ago and the prices charged by the likes of Vistaprint and Bonusprint just make it economically unviable.

 

My only experience of Vistaprint was extremely poor quality products. Bonusprint are better BUT they charge £7.99 + £4.99 postage for a single mug ... that's £12.98 before you start. Add on to that the fact that PayPal will charge me a percentage of that money I receive as a fee .... I would need to put another £1 on top before I even started to get into profit.

 

I wouldn't pay £15+ for what is a bog standard, pottery mug however pretty the picture on it was, and I don't think many other people would either. It's great for family mementos, but not really viable as a fundraiser.

 

Besides which (and call me a snob :naughty: ) I really wouldn't want the Broadland Memories name being associated with over priced, not particularly great quality merchandise. The only way to make it work would be to bulk buy from a reputable producer ... but I know I wouldn't sell very much even if I had the space and funds to go down that route. It was a nice thought ... but it's a non starter really.

 

 

 

Can I just add that I am extremely touched by the generosity of people who have donated so far. As of this afternoon, a total of £195 has been donated which is going to be a massive help towards the costs of software and PC upgrades. I am working my way through replying to everyone individually, but a huge thank you and virtual hugs to you all. cheersbar

 

 

 

Carol

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick update ..

 

Many, many thanks to everyone who has kindly donated since I added the button to the website. Donations stand at £320 (after taking off Paypal fees) which is absolutely wonderful and I am so touched that people think so much of Broadland Memories. Thank you all so very much.

 

The new software has been ordered from Serif and will hopefully arrive at some point this week. In the meantime, I have been making a start on getting some ideas together for the website redesign. Getting the website to work on mobiles is looking as though it will be slightly more complicated than I had hoped ... essentially it seems that I will have to build a separate mobile site from the way it reads. If this is the case, then I don't think I will be able to have a full version of the website available for mobiles/tablets, but should hopefully be able to do a "lite" version which will have all the picture galleries but may have text only versions of the personal memories/history etc. I don't know yet ... I will know more once I have the software up and running. The priority will be to get the main website rebuilt first.

 

On the computer front, having weighed up all the options, the most practical solution seems to be to go for something off the shelf. Firstly, it will mean that I can get started on the website rebuild straight away rather than having to wait for my PC to be rebuilt, and it also means that I can keep my existing PC as a backup. In the past when something has gone wrong with my PC then I've been rather lost as far as the website is concerned as it is not something that I can work on and run from a little netbook. I will eventually sort out upgrading that to the current version of Windows, but it will be fine as a backup for the time being.

 

Essentially, the donations I've received will cover about half the total upgrade costs, which is fantastic. I think I should be able to fund the other half myself, so any further donations now will be kept in the piggy bank for future purchases of archive material and other ongoing costs involved in its day to day running.

 

I'm not sure how long it will take me to rebuild the site but I will probably need some volunteers who can test it on different devices with different browsers etc. as I go along so that I can try to pinpoint issues before it goes live. The sooner I can get it all up and running, the sooner I can crack on with adding new additions!

 

 

Thank you once again to everyone who has helped with this, both via donations and with advice. It really is very greatly appreciated.

 

 

Carol

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Carol

 

Many thanks for the update. People have been most generous and I am really glad that you can go ahead with the new software and hopefully a new PC as well! Do please keep us posted, I look forward to seeing the new site as it develops.

 

Talking of which if I can help with testing or with anything else please let me know.

 

cheersbar

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Another quick update on progress so far. The new software was installed on my old PC a week ago and I've pretty much had my nose buried in it ever since! It has been slow progress whilst I got to grips with what the software can do, and there has been a lot of trial and error whilst I try to sort out a new design for Broadland Memories which will hopefully work on most computers and portable devices. On that side of things, I think I am just about there now. I have rebuilt several of the main pages and we've tried them out on PC, laptop, netbook, tablet and my old HTC phone .... after a change of font. things are looking quite promising on the display front. It is all working so much better than the current site and, whilst pages do not auto resize (not possible with Webplus) I think I have solved the issues of missing and overlapping text which is the major issue with the current site when viewing on portable devices. Yay! These initial pages seem to load well and the links and buttons are performing nicely so far. The new design is a lot less messy looking too!

 

My next task will be to rebuild all the photo galleries, history and memories pages and, of course, the paper & ephemera sections. Before I get too far into this, I would appreciate a couple of volunteer testers who can also try it out for me on different devices/ browsers etc. I am able to test on IE, Firefox and Chrome but would really like a Mac user to check what I have done so far out for me too. Obviously, I'd need volunteers to check in on the test site a few times a week to check on the new additions as I upload them. Please PM me if you think you can help.

 

The new PC arrived this week and I got it all set up yesterday. It's obviously taking me a while to get that up and running and unfortunately it is taking me away from working on the website! I've been getting up early and working long into the evening to try and do as much as I can and can hopefully transfer what I have done so far over to the new PC very soon. The website rebuild is not going to be quick, but I'm sure it will all speed up a bit once I am happy that the basic design is OK and works

 

I can't import the existing site into the new software (I've tried) so there will be a lot (and I mean a LOT) of mind numbing copying and pasting of text ahead. With how things are looking so far, I am seriously hoping that I may not have to build a separate mobile site after all. I'm not sure that BM is a website you'd necessarily want to browse for too long on a mobile anyway? I don't use any analytics so haven't got a clue how many people access the website via portable devices.  As long as I can make sure that all text, photos, links etc. etc. work on phones and tablets, then I think I will be happy.

 

Thank you so much once again to all who helped make this possible.

 

 

Carol

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't want to look at Broadland Memories in depth on a mobile. With my butterfly website I just have one important page for sightings as a mirror of the PC page. I can't handle the small print. If I want to look at your website with all the pictures and text I want to enjoy it on the big screen, but I am a dinosaur :(

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.