Opinion: Woes of website construction

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By Ward Degler

Building a website is one of those things that by the time you finish, you’ve forgotten why you started in the first place. Like the time I built an addition to my house, a project that was supposed to take three months and stretched out for eight years.

I decided a couple years ago to give up doing art shows. All that hauling and lifting and setting up and tearing down had become a labor that left its mark on my body long after the show ended. Besides, there was always the threat of rain or cold. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a dripping tent in 40-degree temperatures hoping that someone will come by that can’t live without one of my paintings. I did that a couple times and seriously considered setting fire to my artwork just to keep warm.

Instead, I would put together a website. No more cold and rain.

My Friend the Web Master offered to put it together for me. While he didn’t imply he could do it in a single afternoon, he also didn’t discourage me from believing the web-building ads on Facebook. You know, the ones that promise “three clicks and you’re done. Go get a second cup of coffee while the orders start rolling in.”

Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. For one reason, when you put together a website, you’re not dealing with just one company. Website construction is like brick-laying. And each brick comes from a different source.

You have to have a company that will host your website on the internet. Another company has to provide the design work. Still another has to handle payments for what you’re selling. There are others in charge of type fonts, I think, and another probably picks out background colors. There is licensing, too, and a long line of costs. You never quite get your credit card put away before another payment shows up.

Bottom line, however, My Friend the Web Master has done a wonderful job. It has taken since last summer, but each step forward has been a thing of beauty.

He announced last week that we were finally ready to launch. “Go live,” as he put it. And then nothing happened. Seems we had used the wrong email address for something. Then, we discovered that in case someone did order something, there was no way to see who they were, where they lived or what they ordered.

Easy fixes, I’m told. He just has to get yet another company involved. A few more days, tops.

Now, if I can just remember why I wanted to do this in the first place.


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