I bought this domain name a few years ago, and for a long while, it was just a showcase for my various under construction graphics.  I always hoped I’d eventually have a reason to make it into a real website.  When I sold my book, that seemed to be a good enough reason!

I wanted a blog, but I really wanted it to be on the main index page, not an external page or buried elsewhere in the site.  I started working with Blogger’s “publish to FTP” option and found it pretty easy to use. 

The menu bar to the left was created using Adobe Photoshop (to create the graphic itself) and ImageReady (to position and code the links).  For my main index page, I customized my Blogger template by pasting the HTML created in ImageReady into the sidebar.  I host the image itself on Photobucket, and Blogger uses image mapping to define the location of the links.  That way, I have my main menu content available--and consistent with the rest of the site--but I am able to feature blog content on the front index page of the site.

The blog archives and some other supporting content are basically just blog posts.  This gives me easy access to edit them and not to have to build an entirely separate page for them or republish the entire site.  The archives, for instance, are updated monthly, and to do that, I just go back to the “Archives” post and edit it to add the next month and any new tags that I’ve created since the last update.

The remainder of the site is created using Apple iWeb.  I used the same menu bar graphic used in ImageReady, except I didn’t bring any code over that would map the position of the links.  Instead, I use the shapes tool to create boxes, which I then drag to the spot where I want a clickable link and resize to fit the text I want linked.  I make the box a hyperlink, then I turn the opacity down to zero, and my original image is visible beneath the link. 

One important thing to know about iWeb is that if you are using a non-traditional font, or even a traditional font with a fancy text effect (such as a drop shadow), it will turn your text to a graphic.  This disables highlightable text, the ability to copy and paste, and search engine effectiveness.  There are basically two ways around this: (1) use a simpler text treatment, or (2) allow the text to be turned to a graphic and then include important searchable keywords as alt text, which will help with search engines (but still doesn’t allow people to copy and paste your text).

I’m self-taught in all of these programs.  I’m a big fan of self-empowerment and independence and being stubborn enough to do figure something out by yourself.  If you have any specific design questions, drop me an email at 80kay (at) katiealender (dot) com. 

Or, if this all sounds like too much work, and you’re looking for full-service web design, check out Rock the Rock Creations.

Thanks for reading!

The “home” icon seen throughout the website is used courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

(c) Katie Alender 2004-2008.  All rights reserved.   SITEMAP