Post by EquusAdmin on Feb 28, 2012 17:47:21 GMT -5
So you've made some staff members, have a gorgeous farm all ready to go, and your horses are perfect specimens - what's next? Why, a website to show this all off, of course!
For role-playing purposes, a website for your stable is absolutely necessary. Through this website you can post your horses' profiles, pictures of your stables, blogs, events, and, of course, the all-important foal crops. It's the best way to show off what you've got and interact with others in the equestrian community. Also, several breed registries require each registered horse to have a profile online, so chances are you will need a website for that anyway. Why not go all out?
WEBHOSTING
First things first, you need to pick a host for your website. There are many options out there, but some popular sites within the community are: blogspot/blogger, weebly, moonfruit, yolasite, and livejournal. It doesn't matter what site you pick; pick something YOU'RE familiar with and go from there. One thing to be aware is that blogging sites such as blogspot have a limited number of pages for each site so you may run out of profile space for your many horses. Not to worry, though! You can always post profiles as blog posts to give yourself some extra pages.
GENERAL PAGE DESIGN
Now that you've decided on your webhost (for now! You can always change it in the future), it's time to design your website. There is no right or wrong way to design your website, but there are some general guidelines you should probably adhere to. After all, you want people to enjoy visiting your site, so make the experience as good for them as you can. While some sites are fancy, with Flash and with gorgeously-coded HTML, the old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) can also be applied here. You have to remember that you don't know what computer someone is using, nor their web browser, nor their screen resolution. Your carefully designed masterpiece of HTML and Flash may not look so good on someone else's computer - if it even shows up at all. While you don't need to sacrifice style for function, you should keep in mind that people have come to your site to look at certain things, and it's no good if they can't even find these things or can't get your page to load properly.
Another thing to keep in mind for your site's appearance is the color scheme. This seemingly simple concept can often make or break a site's readability. You want something that is classy and pleasant to look at, something that is easy on the eyes. People are going to be reading through your site, after all, and you want them to check out everything, not turn away after a page. The best idea is to stick to NEUTRAL colors for both font and background: blacks, whites, and their derivatives. That's not to say you can't use color - you can! - but if you choose to use a colorful background, make sure to use a neutral font, and vice versa. Be smart about how you pair up your colors as well - a white font on a white background isn't going to be easy to read. Likewise, a bright red font on a black background isn't pleasant either. If you do choose to go with a color, it's usually best to make the background a color and use a simple black font. Make sure you don't choose a bright, eyesore of a color for you background though - no hot pinks, sunshine yellows, or bright turquoises. Something more muted is much more pleasant to the eyes.
One more thing that is essential to your site's readability is your navigation. Now that you've made sure that people can read your text, you want them to be able to find the text, right? The most common and effective technique for navigation is to have a sidebar or topbar with your main links on it. If you have a link to say, Stallions, you can either have people click on the page to take them to a listing of individual stallion profiles or have a drop-down menu appear with each individual stallion's profile linked. Make sure that people aren't sent looking for your various page links - they may just give up trying to find your beautiful foal crop!
PAGES
Now that we've talked about how to get to your various pages, let's talk about what pages you should have. Depending on what you are intending to do with your stable, a variation of the following pages should be included:
- About: It's a good idea to have a page to introduce your stable. What breeds you're focusing on, if you're a breeding stable, just general information can go here.
- Staff: For role-playing purposes, this is an important one. Introduce your staff here!
- Facilities: We all like to fawn over gorgeous facilities, so show them off!
- Events: Planning to host a community event? Then you need a page to explain the details!
- Registry information: If you're hosting a breed registry, you NEED to have a page explaining that.
- Sales: If you're selling horses, then an easy-to-find sales page is a must. List your available horses for sale and your rules here.
- Services: Does your stable offer training? Stud services? Well, tell us about it so we can use those services!
- Horse profiles: This is the important one! You want to have profiles for each of your horses. Some registries require profiles, but furthermore, people like to look at them. Especially if they're interested in purchasing one of your foals in the future, they want to see your horses! You can break them down into categories and have all your stallions together or you can have an individual page for each horse. No matter what format you choose to go with, make sure to have some essential information listed for each horse, such as name, breed, if the horse is registered and where, and, of course, pictures. If you're competing your horse in community-based events, the profile page is the place to brag about how awesome your horse is doing. Biographies and statistics make profiles even better, so anything you can tell us about your horse, do it here.
That about covers the basics of creating your website. We can go into more details if you'd like, so if you have any further questions, let us know!
For role-playing purposes, a website for your stable is absolutely necessary. Through this website you can post your horses' profiles, pictures of your stables, blogs, events, and, of course, the all-important foal crops. It's the best way to show off what you've got and interact with others in the equestrian community. Also, several breed registries require each registered horse to have a profile online, so chances are you will need a website for that anyway. Why not go all out?
WEBHOSTING
First things first, you need to pick a host for your website. There are many options out there, but some popular sites within the community are: blogspot/blogger, weebly, moonfruit, yolasite, and livejournal. It doesn't matter what site you pick; pick something YOU'RE familiar with and go from there. One thing to be aware is that blogging sites such as blogspot have a limited number of pages for each site so you may run out of profile space for your many horses. Not to worry, though! You can always post profiles as blog posts to give yourself some extra pages.
GENERAL PAGE DESIGN
Now that you've decided on your webhost (for now! You can always change it in the future), it's time to design your website. There is no right or wrong way to design your website, but there are some general guidelines you should probably adhere to. After all, you want people to enjoy visiting your site, so make the experience as good for them as you can. While some sites are fancy, with Flash and with gorgeously-coded HTML, the old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) can also be applied here. You have to remember that you don't know what computer someone is using, nor their web browser, nor their screen resolution. Your carefully designed masterpiece of HTML and Flash may not look so good on someone else's computer - if it even shows up at all. While you don't need to sacrifice style for function, you should keep in mind that people have come to your site to look at certain things, and it's no good if they can't even find these things or can't get your page to load properly.
Another thing to keep in mind for your site's appearance is the color scheme. This seemingly simple concept can often make or break a site's readability. You want something that is classy and pleasant to look at, something that is easy on the eyes. People are going to be reading through your site, after all, and you want them to check out everything, not turn away after a page. The best idea is to stick to NEUTRAL colors for both font and background: blacks, whites, and their derivatives. That's not to say you can't use color - you can! - but if you choose to use a colorful background, make sure to use a neutral font, and vice versa. Be smart about how you pair up your colors as well - a white font on a white background isn't going to be easy to read. Likewise, a bright red font on a black background isn't pleasant either. If you do choose to go with a color, it's usually best to make the background a color and use a simple black font. Make sure you don't choose a bright, eyesore of a color for you background though - no hot pinks, sunshine yellows, or bright turquoises. Something more muted is much more pleasant to the eyes.
One more thing that is essential to your site's readability is your navigation. Now that you've made sure that people can read your text, you want them to be able to find the text, right? The most common and effective technique for navigation is to have a sidebar or topbar with your main links on it. If you have a link to say, Stallions, you can either have people click on the page to take them to a listing of individual stallion profiles or have a drop-down menu appear with each individual stallion's profile linked. Make sure that people aren't sent looking for your various page links - they may just give up trying to find your beautiful foal crop!
PAGES
Now that we've talked about how to get to your various pages, let's talk about what pages you should have. Depending on what you are intending to do with your stable, a variation of the following pages should be included:
- About: It's a good idea to have a page to introduce your stable. What breeds you're focusing on, if you're a breeding stable, just general information can go here.
- Staff: For role-playing purposes, this is an important one. Introduce your staff here!
- Facilities: We all like to fawn over gorgeous facilities, so show them off!
- Events: Planning to host a community event? Then you need a page to explain the details!
- Registry information: If you're hosting a breed registry, you NEED to have a page explaining that.
- Sales: If you're selling horses, then an easy-to-find sales page is a must. List your available horses for sale and your rules here.
- Services: Does your stable offer training? Stud services? Well, tell us about it so we can use those services!
- Horse profiles: This is the important one! You want to have profiles for each of your horses. Some registries require profiles, but furthermore, people like to look at them. Especially if they're interested in purchasing one of your foals in the future, they want to see your horses! You can break them down into categories and have all your stallions together or you can have an individual page for each horse. No matter what format you choose to go with, make sure to have some essential information listed for each horse, such as name, breed, if the horse is registered and where, and, of course, pictures. If you're competing your horse in community-based events, the profile page is the place to brag about how awesome your horse is doing. Biographies and statistics make profiles even better, so anything you can tell us about your horse, do it here.
That about covers the basics of creating your website. We can go into more details if you'd like, so if you have any further questions, let us know!