Website Hosting

[Rattus79]

So, I've been tasked with creating an ecommerce website for work, just Great! I have very little working knowledge of HTML, or coding, so I need a package solution.

It needs to be able to process payments and track stock, as well have multiple price points, be aesthetically pleasing and run quickbooks intergration.

I've looked at using Bigcommerce and decided that I'd prefer to use an Australian based server, but they would be just about perfect.

We have an existing website, but it's terribly dated, and is only 800 px wide. I'd like to keep my google rankings (we're page 1 for a couple of products)

The Question:

Who are you using for your hosting?
Do you have a website designer that's reasonably priced?

Is there something that you think I should know?

[livio]

Greg, A while ago I would have said you can do this anywhere, I would seriously consider having a look at drupal, joomla and wordpress. You can find modules to simply plug in and do what you need. There are enough people using this not to have to re-invent the wheel so to speak. You can purchase templates or themes on line and there is enough of a community to be able to help you create and deploy what you want. You can choose which database to use, mysql, postgres, oracle etc. You will want support for HTML-5 these days it is far superior to flash and more secure. Anyhow I hope this enough to get the ball rolling for your

Kind Regards
Livio

[geoffsta]

Rattus. Which host are you using now? Do you have trouble with them? I have a host that has never let me down. Powweb. reasonably priced. I cannot recommend which software to use because I don't know your products. But any that supports ecommerce and ebusiness should do the trick. The hard part would be to have the skill to make the site look impressive and easy to use. You might have to look at outsourcing.

[Rattus79]

Geoff:
We're currently using a local web developer to do our website, but he's not exactly cheap for the hosting - $60 per month.
The website itself is VERY simple and has it's own Wysiwig interface. I've tried to get him to update and include a shopping cart, but he just doesn't seem to listen to what I want.
I even put it in writing, I asked for products in a 3 x 3 array, with a navigation bar on the left panel.

I ended up with 1 product per line and the navigation on the right ....
He also can not provide the quickbooks accounting intergration we require.

As to products: We sell commercial and retail textiles, so it needs to be able to do colours and sizes, as well as have multiple price points for bulk purchases, I'd like to have a simple pull down menu for it.

My HTML/SQL/CODE IN GENERAL knowledge is sadly lacking. Last time I did any serious coding was done in GWBasic and consisted of a hangman game, so outsourcing the work is a bit of a given, but product photos and updating it will be my responsibility.

[geoffsta]

Rattus. I'd like to see someone like Kym to put in his 2 bobs worth.
I did a quick search for free stuff.. http://www.webappers.com/2010/07/09/15-best-free-open-source-ecommerce-platforms/ That might help out.

Most host providers give databases as part of the plan. Usually sql. Real easy to use and navigate. This is my host http://www.powweb.com/ And I've only had my site go off the web twice over 4 years, and only for a short amount of time.

[woononabutch]

http://www.powweb.com/[/URL] And I've only had my site go off the web twice over 4 years, and only for a short amount of time.
Hi Geoff, I've built a site for a Probus club and am looking for a hosting company (currently using software providers site "WebPlus") I've had a look at powweb site and am impressed with just the basic info they give, looked at other sites and nowhere near as much info. Our Club site is just an area to tell the public what we're all about and with an area for members to login for club related matters. I invisage that we would have a lot of photos and videos in the future.. Would yuo recommend POWWEB for this type of site??

Cheers
Chris