This is just a quick post to capture some of the things I learned when helping my friend set up a website for a rescue group, in this case Maine Sheltie Rescue.

We did the basics in a way that I would do my own site:

1. Register a domain. I like to use 1&1 for that but really any company would be fine.
2. Buy hosting. I always recommend Hostgator because they’re pretty cheap, they’re fast, and they hardly ever go down.
3. In the domain registration edit page, change the DNS servers to be your hostgator servers. You can find this by logging into Hostgator cpanel and scrolling all the way down. Look on the left for your Name Servers. They will be something like “NS1234@hostgator.com”
4. Install WordPress. Also on Hostgator cpanel, scroll down and find Fantastico. Click on that, then WordPress/New Installation and follow the instructions.

The final part which should be the easiest is to choose and install a WordPress theme.

This took forever!

We were trying to find a free animal or rescue type theme. But two that my friend picked just wouldn’t install properly. And I’ve installed lots of themes.

I found the simplest is usually the best. In the end we went with one of the default themes that comes with WordPress, Twenty Eleven.

It installed very easily, has a simple user interface that lets you quickly change the header image, background image, menus, etc.

Making the header was pretty easy. I used Photoshop, but I also recommend a free photo editing tool called Paint.net.

I got the images of the shelites from Google but eventually we’ll replace these with some of their rescued dogs. To get them from Google, go to their Advanced Image Search. Down near the bottom, change the Usage Rights to “Free to use or share, even commercially” and then put in a keyword near the top. This will bring up images that are free to use.

I created an image with a plain colored background, a couple of sheltie pictures, and their logo. Voila.

I don’t remember exactly what I searched for to find the pawprints for the background. Either ‘free pawprint background’ or ‘free pawprint wallpaper.’

So here are a few things I learned in the process.

1. Don’t be hung up on trying to find a animal or rescue theme. Any theme will do if you can change the header image easily. Look instead for something where the header isn’t so big that you have to scroll down to see the text. Twenty Eleven is very flexible and I recommend it.
2. For the menus, I recommend having the top level not be clickable. So for example, Maine Sheltie Rescue has Learn as the first menu choice. If you notice, you can’t click on the word Learn, only the choices under it. The way to do this is to set up the top choice as a Custom Link. Use # as the url, but then after the menu item is in the menu column, edit it and delete the link of #.
3. Another menu tip: if the menu items are static pages, create a page for each. But if they are something to be added to, like New and Announcements, then make the menu item point to a News category. That way any post you create and put in that category will show up under that menu item.
4. Do NOT put an email address anywhere on any page. There are programs called spambots that search through webpages looking for email addresses. That’s one way you start getting spam to those addresses. Instead use a Contact Us form so that the email is hidden. Contact Form 7 is one of my favorites.