Thinking of switching to Concrete5

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I have been a member of Concrete5 for four years now. At the time I joined, I was really confused as to which direction I should go when it came to starting my own web site. My Hosting Provider is Hostmonster and I understand that I can install Concrete5 within HM.

At the moment, I am using Yola.com for my website. Even though I like what they have to offer, over the years I have learned a bit of coding. In fact, every page on my current site I coded myself. I am not an expert by any means and am still very green when it comes to all of this stuff.

Would my website in your opinion be a good fit for Concrete5? My needs are simple. You will notice on my site that I have a lot of content mainly because I do a radio show as well as interviews.

I really look forward to hearing back what I should do. I would like to be able to easily manage my site like I currently do with Yola, but maybe take it in a different direction? Like I said, I am so new to CMS's.


Thank you so much!!

Randy
http://www.mcran.com

rmcellig
 
madesimplemedia replied on at Permalink Reply
madesimplemedia
I think C5 would be great for your site, much nicer to edit with than Wordpress.
rmcellig replied on at Permalink Reply
rmcellig
Thanks for your comment. With Yola there are things I would like to do that are not yet available in Yola. Here is an example.

When you go to one of my pages

http://www.mcran.com/it2013.php...

you will see that I put some table code above the listed shows that acts like a nav bar of sorts. I'm just playing around with ideas. It would be great if I could apply this code to selected pages and if I need to alter the code, those selected pages would reflect the changes. Right now I have to copy/paste the code on the pages I want to have it which is a real pain.

I would assume that Concrete5 will allow me to do this kind of thing? All of my content (shows, interviews etc...) is stored in my Hostmonster account. I understand I can install Concrete5 in Hostmonster? Once installed then what? Do I go to an online web site to create my site? Any videos you would recomend me watching so I can understand how this all works?

When I want to make changes to my current site, I just go to the Yola web site and sign in to my account and choose the web site I want to work on.

I want my site to look minimalist and simple to maintain. I would imagine that Concrete5 is not only for corporations but individuals like me who just want something that is free, easy to use and maintain.

I also want to mention that I have been using Linux for the past year or so, after using Macs since 1988. I love the Linux way of doing things. So much freedom. I hope that Concrete5 is like that :).

The total number of pages I have on my current web site are around 15-20, just to give you some info on where I am with my current web site.

One thing I love about Yola is the fantastic supprt they have. I am hoping that Concrete5 also has a1 support even for green newbies like me.

Thanks!!
enlil replied on at Permalink Reply
enlil
Thanks to both "global areas" and "stacks" c5 allows you to EASILY edit content that will then render across many pages with one edit! I think you'll appreciate having chosen to develop with c5! Give it a shot. And if you ever have any questions, as dumb as they may seem, post it here in the forums. There's always someone here willing to give a hand!
rmcellig replied on at Permalink Reply
rmcellig
Thanks! Makes me feel like I have a circle of support if need be.

I think a CMS like C5 might be just what I need because my site is all about content. I have over 800 (maybe more) radio shows I have done since 1988 that I currently have uploaded to Hostmonster. They are all mp3 files. Same format for the interviews I have as well. My challenge has always been how to present them on my site. At the moment I am using HTML tables with CSS but I'm sure that because C5 is a CMS, the specialty would be content management? Am I right regarding this?

I will install C5 into Hostmonster and see where I go from there. Maybe I could set up a test site to see what it looks like and what C5 has to offer. If C5 meets my needs which I am sure it will, I will transfer from Yola to C5.

One of my main reasons in doing this is to save money. I'm sure there are free simple web themes I can check out?

I know right now I am searching youtube for all the videos I can find on C5 that will give me a feel for what this new adventure for me is like.
enlil replied on at Permalink Reply
enlil
There is surely a good number of free themes to get you started! I would suggest working with Greek Yogurt to get a feel for how things work as this is a free core theme that comes with your c5 installation and there are many of us knowledgeable enough to answer any questions you may have in regards to it. Get that test site going and let us know if you have any questions!
VidalThemes replied on at Permalink Reply
VidalThemes
Hi rmcellig

I have a number of videos available that will show you how Concrete5 works with themes, they are specifically aimed at the themes I sell on the marketplace, but they would still give you a good overview of the things you can do with Concrete5, you will see content being added, the file manager being used, blocks being set up, just general get your site set up sort of stuff.

Obviously some of the stuff in these videos is specific to my theme, but it will give you an overview.

http://nova.vidall.co.uk/docs/homepage-setup/...

I would have given you a link to my YouTube but its down at the moment.

EDIT: Its back up now
http://www.youtube.com/user/VidallVideos...
rmcellig replied on at Permalink Reply
rmcellig
Thanks so much!

I just installed C5 on Hostmonster so I now have a test website to see how quickly I can get things going.

I have my six basic web pages created, but now I have to create about 15 sub pages for the Archives page and want to know what is the fastest way to do this? I want to first setup the basic structure of my site regarding the pages. Once I have that done, I have all of the code for each page that I would like to copy/paste to each page and see what happens from there.

I have noticed that changing things seems to take longer than when I use Yola.com. Is this because the backend server is very busy or is there something I can do to speed things up?
enlil replied on at Permalink Reply
enlil
you can use this to add the pages quickly:

http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/add-multiple-pages/...
enlil replied on at Permalink Reply
enlil
as far as the speed is concerned... are you asking in regards to while in edit mode, simple page load times, ?? Do you have a link you can share (or pm me if you'd like)? The link on your profile page leads to a 404...
rmcellig replied on at Permalink Reply
rmcellig
I'll send a link tomorrow. It's while I am in edit mode.

On Wednesday, October 30, 2013, concrete5 Community wrote:
rmcellig replied on at Permalink Reply
rmcellig
I thought I would post the following to give you a feel for what I need to do in C5 as I begin using my test site. Currently there is nothing much on the site. What I need to do first is quickly set up the pages I will be using. Then I think I will paste the code I have in the appropriate pages to see what they look like. This way I will have a basic framework to start from.

My goals using Concrete5 are as follows:

- Design a simple and functional site where visitors can easily access my pages through a straight forward navigational method.

- I am more concerned with functionality and layout than what type of theme I am using. I have a lot of content that I need to organize in a logical and functional manner for visitors. When designing my site I always design and organize it from the visitors perspective.


My test site:http://67.20.76.108/~mcrancom/test/...

My current site:http://www.mcran.com




My hopes are that Concrete5 will allow me to do what I need to do in a timely and straightforward manner. Once I get my test site working the way I want, I will migrate from Yola to Concrete5 as my web tool of choice. I appreciate all the help, advice and assistance as I explore this new and exciting avenue for me.

I would also like to mention that I have the code I used in seperate files for each page on my site. It’s mostly html table code along with some CSS.

You will notice on my current site that my page layout is as follows:

Home

Bio

Interviews

Resources

Shows-Playlists

Seperate pages for each year of shows:

IT stands for my radio show called In Transition

-IT2013

-IT2012

-IT2011

-IT2010

-IT2009

-IT2008

-IT2007

-IT2006

-IT2005 (this page includes shows from 1989-2005)

IHTSB stands for my friends show (I’ve Heard That Song Before)

-IHTSB2013

-IHTSB2012

-IHTSB2011

-IHTSB2010

-IHTSB2009

-IHTSB2008

-IHTSB2007

-IHTSB2006

-IHTSB2005

-IHTSB2004

Contact

(these pages are currently accessed from the Shows

-Archives page:

In Transition Snippets

The Bennett Archives