AccessRomance Classes

[croco]

Welcome
First, I'm happy you could make it and I hope you enjoy taking a look with me at author website trends in 2010.
Thanks so much to our lovely host, Access Romance, for having us this week. If you've got any problems posting questions or comments, please let me (croco AT crocodesigns.com) or AR (http://www.accessromance.com/services.php#contact) know.

Little Warning
This workshop won't only be for beginners, but some topics will have advanced parts (with code examples -- and sorry, but there's no time for a HTML/PHP crash course). Please don't be scared, and use the workshop to learn what's possible, even if you are not the one to apply it to your own site.
Also, as I'm not only a WordPress fan girl, but many author sites and blogs are powered by this open source software nowadays, be prepared to hear a lot about WordPress references.


Introduction
The author website trends I'm showcasing and discussing with you this week are not trends based on any kind of statistics but are based soley on my subjective opinion.

Since the 2nd half of 2009 I've had authors contact me with different needs and questions when before. Of course, there's always some form of development, something new to add or to change where websites are concerned. Still, I felt the need to talk with you about the recent changes in expectations of functionality and accessibility of websites. Please note, that my main focus here is on the one who updates the website, not on the reader or visitor (though they will profit from what we do).

A website has two faces, the public one that the visitor/readers sees, and the administrative one, that's not accessible to the public, the one only for the eyes of the webmaster/webmistress. For me it's always been important to not only have a visual attractive site with interesting content that's easy to find and regularly updated, but that's also attractive to the one who manages the site. If you find updating your site easy and comfortable (instead of frustrating and time-consuming), you won't hate spending time doing said updates. That's my philosophy and I always strive after improvement here.

Of course, I know reality, and with looming deadlines between conventions and chats, a day job, and most important family and friends, not everyone has time to manage her/his own site. Yes, the day has only 24 hours. Sad but true.
Still, I hope you take some ideas from this workshop of improving your site, too. If only to talk shop with your webdiva/designer.

For all who don't have a website yet, but think about having one in the near future, I hope this workshop may give you some thought-provoking impulses for your very personal online home.

And last but not least to all webdesigners attending, please take my ideas and give them your own spin, build upon them and maybe create the next new trend.


Schedule
Day 1 (Monday, July 5): The Power of the ISBN-13, part #1
Day 2 (Tuesday, July 6): The Power of the ISBN-13, part #2 (for WordPress only)
Day 3 (Wednesday, July 7): Google Me! Or the power of SEO.
Day 4 (Thursday, July 8 ): Social Media Love
Day 5 (Friday, July 9): FAQ


Documentation
I do my best to compile all lessons in a PDF document after the workshop, that I then offer as free download from my website. I keep everyone posted here when it will be available.


I'm looking forward to a wonderful week with you all!

Please be so nice and introduce yourself here. I'd love to know who's listenting, ahem... reading, in.
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Frauke
Croco Designs

[Marfisk]

I know you're probably not here anymore, but I was out of town when the class started and took too long to get myself in gear. I'm a PHP programmer who maintains her own website and I'm looking forward to some suggestions for how to make it more maintainable.

Cheers,
Margaret
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http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com

[croco]

Hi Margaret!

I'm still here and try to do my best answering your questions if you've got any.
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Frauke
Croco Designs

[Marfisk]

Thanks . No questions so far, but absorbing the ISBN stuff. I haven't had to do much with that because my short story sales don't have as many avenues, but I'll be ready when the time comes.
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http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com