# What are you using to build your websites?



## musicalweather (Aug 24, 2018)

Or do you even have your own website if you've got a Soundcloud profile?

My website is sorely in need of a revamping. For the last couple of years, I've actually been sending people to my Soundcloud profile, so I've been less aware than I should have about how outdated my website is.

Now I see that it should be completely overhauled. But am wondering if it's worth all the effort.

Your thoughts?


----------



## pbattersby (Aug 24, 2018)

I used Wordpress. I started with a free template that I liked, then customized it and added my own branding. I used to be a programmer so customizing Wordpress to add some new functionality that I wanted was not hard for me to figure out. I like having that level of control over my web site.


----------



## Alex Fraser (Aug 24, 2018)

Wordpress is the standard for getting something up and working quickly. If you want to get more hands on with the code, Bootstrap is also a good option.


----------



## Thomas Kallweit (Aug 24, 2018)

I also would recommend wordpress, if you want to host the site by yourself and have webspace.

Another option - if you don't have many pages to build - could be the free MOBIRISE - good for portfolios eg. 
It's WYSIWG and for the building you need no coding. But: If you want to change laters you still need an editor (or can buy an addon). 
Therefore I use Brackets (but there are good others too). 

Also sometimes recommended as free WYSIWG prog:
Microsoft Expression Web 4 (never tried it though)


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Aug 24, 2018)

Godaddy. I've had mine there for years and it's incredibly easy to build your own site with their 100's of templates. Including hosting and domain, I pay about $80 per year. Plus they have really good 24/7 support.

www.jeremyspencer.ca

I literally made this one recently in 30 minutes.


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 24, 2018)

I've made websites for other composers and creatives using Wordpress, Squarespace, and Wix.
Choose *Squarespace* if you want a modern and aesthetically pleasing result with minimal effort. It has its limitations, but those are designed to stop you from making bad choices.
If you want more control over design, *Wix* offers more freedom with design choices while still being very user friendly and easy to understand and navigate. That freedom can come at a price though, and it's often easy to tell a wix site from the odd design choices made by an inexperienced developer. (Please, don't use a different font on every page)
*Wordpress* ultimately allows for the most control, and can be the most cost efficient, but can be the most daunting for inexperienced web builders. That's not to say that it's particularly complicated (it isn't), but when compared to the other options I listed, it can seem that way.
There are a lot of great looking premium themes for wordpress you can buy for $40-$60 that give you all the plugins you need, make the design choices for you, and let you focus on replacing the demo content with your own.
To clarify... "Wordpress" comes in two forms. The ".com" version which works similarly to the other "pick a theme and go" services like Wix and Squarespace, or the ".org" version which you install on your own hosting service and have complete control. I can't speak for others, but I will always be referring to the ".org" self-installation wordpress.

Feel free to reach out if you want a hand with any of those options.


----------



## chillbot (Aug 24, 2018)

I'm currently using @Jdiggity1 for website needs.


----------



## gregh (Aug 24, 2018)

Wordpress plus DIVI - incredibly easy to use and modify pages with https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/


I use Namecheap to host /domain register normally

but Squarespace etc if you are not confident / couldn't be bothered with wordpress+DIVI


----------



## JohnG (Aug 24, 2018)

I'm using the guy who built v.i. control's website, Andre Lefebre. @creativeforge

it's here: www.johngrahammusic.com


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 24, 2018)

JohnG said:


> I'm using the guy who built v.i. control's website, Andre Lefebre. @creativeforge


Which is using Wordpress (for the OP's benefit)


----------



## SchnookyPants (Aug 24, 2018)

gregh said:


> Wordpress plus DIVI - incredibly easy to use and modify pages with https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/
> 
> 
> I use Namecheap to host /domain register normally
> ...



How does that "Audio Player" work at DIVI? Do you actually NOT use SC and upload to _them_?


----------



## gregh (Aug 24, 2018)

SchnookyPants said:


> How does that "Audio Player" work at DIVI? Do you actually NOT use SC and upload to _them_?


I embed from soundcloud or bandcamp or spotify or use the player. Same for video. The only disadvantage of the player is that you have to upload a file to your own site. The advantage is you have more control over the look


----------



## jhughes (Aug 24, 2018)

My main website is via WordPress and my duo site is via Squarespace. I prefer the WordPress layout but I've used it longer. It allows a lot of custom options. Squarespace is good in that it's already mobile optimized, wordpress required more work for that. The whole reason to use one of these is search engine optimization, allowing your site to get more viewers.


----------



## gregh (Aug 24, 2018)

jhughes said:


> Squarespace is good in that it's already mobile optimized, wordpress required more work for that.


One of the virtues of DIVI is that it handles all the responsiveness stuff for different size devices very easily. I'd link something to show but unfortunately (and as usual) our internet is down to a crawl - a common problem in Australia


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 24, 2018)

gregh said:


> One of the virtues of DIVI is that it handles all the responsiveness stuff for different size devices very easily. I'd link something to show but unfortunately (and as usual) our internet is down - a common problem in Australia


Maybe turnbull tripped on the ethernet on his way out


----------



## SchnookyPants (Aug 24, 2018)

gregh said:


> I embed from soundcloud or bandcamp or spotify or use the player. Same for video. The only disadvantage of the player is that you have to upload a file to your own site. The advantage is you have more control over the look



Cool. Thanks, Greg. Have a Pav on me.


----------



## gregh (Aug 24, 2018)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Maybe turnbull tripped on the ethernet on his way out


yep- from his router to the rest of the country - Mr Internet lol. Still, it only cost us $60 billion


----------



## musicalweather (Aug 25, 2018)

Thank you all for this information. Very helpful.


----------



## Matt Riley (Aug 25, 2018)

I use Bandzoogle. They give me everything I need to sell music online. If you use this link I get a free month  https://bandzoogle.com/?memref=r13746

www.mattrileymusic.com


----------



## Kyle Preston (Aug 25, 2018)

Everything @Jdiggity1 said is spot on! I did web design back in the day and eventually got tired of keeping up with all the trends. Ended up using Squarespace for both my sample site and personal site - mostly cuz I'd rather let their designers keep up with that and not worry about it myself. It doesn't cost _that_ much more. If you know/are willing to learn HTML & CSS, you can still go under the hood and tweak things.

And @ka00, not to start a war with anyone here, but I really can't stand Soundcloud and never understood why it needed to exist. There were already platforms before SC that did what it wants to do far better than it ever has. Bandcamp is one of them and has been really great to artists for a long time. I use it as the central hub for hosting my tunes online and it's never let me down. It's also not ad-driven. And you can heavily-customize the players and discography page which is great, especially for connecting/embedding to your website!


----------



## pfmusic (Aug 25, 2018)

Built my own with WordPress, using the yearly subscription. Took a bit of time to get familiar with it, but it works perfectly.


----------



## MatFluor (Aug 25, 2018)

Built some websites for myself and clients with my "bare hands". Using a static site generator (e.g. Hugo) and nice HTML/Css/js. So, a text editor is all I need. To be fair, I'm a programmer by day (still), so I am used to this abstract kind of thinking designing.

I also host a lot of stuff myself (either home server or vps), cheaper, and I don't trust webhosters (or rather, I like to have everything under my control). WordPress is a security nightmare, that's why I didn't choose that - just soo many attack vectors - all the more important when you host it yourself


----------



## utopia (Aug 25, 2018)

I use tilda and can’t recommend it enough. It’s based on predesigned (by professional website desigbers) blocks that look awesome, have great fonts and fit together very easily.
Check it out- tilda.cc


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 26, 2018)

I began my career as a graphic designer and have built numerous websites. I used to frequent many forums exactly like this, only for web designers instead of composers.

Pretty much all professionals use Divi. It's the gold standard, the equivalent of what companies like Spitfire, Cinematic Studio Strings and the like are to us.

If you were a huge company with a massive budget, you would hire an expensive graphic designer who would probably usual Divi. Using their templates or your own visual skills, your website can look equally as good. Over the years, Divi has been updated many times and it is much easier to use today.

In 2018, Divi is is what a professionally-designed website looks like. Most of the other companies, including the free ones, include templates that look like Divi templates.

There are few things you should think about when you create a website. The first is that people look at them on many different sizes of monitors, as well as tablets, and phones. This is an essential thing, so all web design templates deal with this, but web designers lean towards Divi because it allows the most creative options. So if you opt to follow a different path, I would look at your site on as many different kinds of devices as you can.

The second thing is hosting. If you host with, say, Godaddy, you'll be on a shared server, with a lot of other websites. they are usually slower. If you host your site with a smaller company, it may cost the same only your site will be faster. Many of you may have been going to 8Dio lately and how loooooong you have to wait for pages to load, and how it goes down a lot. It is a great example of a site that needs better hosting, faster servers. They should be with a company that can change their hosting during peak times, like a sale. However, speed is a non-issue if all you have is text and links to Soundcloud and YouTube. But if you want to host your own music and videos on the site and use flashy graphics or big pictures, etc. it does matter. We all know what it's like to go to the opening page of somebody's website and wait for it to load.

Finally, you should think of Wordpress as being like your Computer OS and Divi (or whatever template you choose to use) as being a DAW. You can then buy thousands of plugins like Slider Revolution that work within your templates. So if you have a blog on your site and would like it to look differently, you have unlimited choices. But again, if you go for fancy plugins, you may need good hosting to make them work properly.


----------



## Jaap (Aug 26, 2018)

Also wordpress here (for both of my sites). I find it nice and easy to work with 
For my personal site and demo reels I use realcrafter, which is a great addition and better then soundcloud for these things.


----------



## Tod (Aug 26, 2018)

TigerTheFrog said:


> In 2018, Divi is is what a professionally-designed website looks like. Most of the other companies, including the free ones, include templates that look like Divi templates.



Hi Tiger, I'm just getting started using Wordpress for building a website. Do you have any links or sources of more info concerning this Divi you're talking about.


----------



## MatFluor (Aug 26, 2018)

Tod said:


> Hi Tiger, I'm just getting started using Wordpress for building a website. Do you have any links or sources of more info concerning this Divi you're talking about.



https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/

But boy - not cheap


----------



## Tod (Aug 26, 2018)

MatFluor said:


> But boy - not cheap



Thanks MatFluor, and yeah, I'll need to take a good hard look.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 26, 2018)

It also says in small type below the prices: 

_Cancel your membership or upgrade to a different package at any time after signing up_.

The one time I built a site with Divi, you only had to pay once and you could use the software forever. You only had to keep subscribing if you want to get the updates. The $89 fee means you can make as many websites as you want. I've heard there is a cheaper plan ($69?) for one personal site. You need to get in touch with them. 

There are other companies that do templates for Wordpress that are first rate and cheaper. 
You should also know that once your site is Divi, it will be a lot of work to change to another company because they put in a lot of proprietary code. 

@Tod, if you already have a Wordpress site and decide to go with Divi, you just need to buy it and download it. They will show you through their videos or customer service how to hook it up.


----------



## Tod (Aug 26, 2018)

Thanks Tiger, for the good info. I'm a little confused about this:



> The $89 fee means you can make as many websites as you want.



Does this mean as many websites as I want for ever, or just a year. And once the websites are finished, Divi has no more to do with those websites, right?

Sorry for my confusion, this is all new to me.


----------



## gregh (Aug 26, 2018)

Pretty sure you have those sites forever - you are not subscribing to website builder / hosting platform like I think squarespace is. But ask them to be sure as TigerTheFrog suggests
Costwise I got DIVI perpetual on a sale - has been easily worth it - I think I got a year and then upgraded during a sale for a pretty reasonable upgrade price. So starting with a year doesn't penalise you


----------



## S.M Hassani (Aug 26, 2018)

If you're on a Mac, take a look at Blocs here:

https://blocsapp.com/

(Site made with blocs)

You can make professional websites in a few hours, even minutes if your assets are ready.

One time fee and updated regularly.


----------



## Tod (Aug 26, 2018)

gregh said:


> Pretty sure you have those sites forever - you are not subscribing to website builder / hosting platform like I think squarespace is. But ask them to be sure as TigerTheFrog suggests
> Costwise I got DIVI perpetual on a sale - has been easily worth it - I think I got a year and then upgraded during a sale for a pretty reasonable upgrade price. So starting with a year doesn't penalise you



Thanks gregh, I don't think the price is all that bad if it does what I'm thinking it does.


----------



## gregh (Aug 26, 2018)

Tod said:


> Thanks gregh, I don't think the price is all that bad if it does what I'm thinking it does.


there is a good facebook support group too


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 27, 2018)

Tod said:


> Thanks Tiger, for the good info. I'm a little confused about this:
> 
> Does this mean as many websites as I want for ever, or just a year. And once the websites are finished, Divi has no more to do with those websites, right?
> 
> Sorry for my confusion, this is all new to me.



As @gregh said, Divi (or the company that owns it, Elegant Themes) has no more to do with those sites once they're done. 

What happens in fact is that Divi usually adds very appealing new features with each update, and they make very slick videos about them, luring their customers to sign up for another year. So if a web designer wanted to update, she could go back to some of her clients and offer them the update too, as it wouldn't cost her anything to do that. Or the clients could update Divi themselves. 

And this is the way Elegant Themes twists people's arms to keep subscribing, or to go to the permanent plan.


----------



## Tod (Aug 27, 2018)

Thanks Tiger, do you by chance know how many computers one subscription can be on?

My daughter does some web building, she's actually built websites for a few local businesses and would be helping me with mine. I will need it on my own computer because that's where we will be doing the most work, but when it's done I'd want her to end up with it. Heh, or maybe it don't work that way.

Thanks again folks, my daughter didn't know about Divi either.


----------



## gsilbers (Aug 27, 2018)

S.M Hassani said:


> If you're on a Mac, take a look at Blocs here:
> 
> https://blocsapp.com/
> 
> ...



very interesting. im guessing it only exports the html code and you have to upload it to some hosting plan? 
it wasnt clear in the website how to do that part. but the design part was very cool.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt (Aug 27, 2018)

Tod said:


> Thanks Tiger, do you by chance know how many computers one subscription can be on?
> 
> My daughter does some web building, she's actually built websites for a few local businesses and would be helping me with mine. I will need it on my own computer because that's where we will be doing the most work, but when it's done I'd want her to end up with it. Heh, or maybe it don't work that way.
> 
> Thanks again folks, my daughter didn't know about Divi either.


I haven't messed with Divi in awhile so you should check with them. But I feel like in this case, you are essentially the client. If you bought a software library you could make music for many clients, but you couldn't install it on their computers. 

I think she should have Divi on her computer, but once she puts it up on your WordPress site, it doesn't matter where either of you works on it. It lives in your hosting company. As long as you have the Wordpress password, both you and your daughter can work on it anywhere. 

But I would imagine it would be a violation of their terms of service if you downloaded their software.

But again, check with Elegant Themes. Good luck!


----------



## Tod (Aug 27, 2018)

Hi Tiger, okay, I did a little checking and it looks like you don't actually download a program, instead you install it on your Wordpress account. This is part of the email I got back.



> You would install Divi on your WordPress account, not your computer.
> 
> Before using our themes and plugins you need to have a hosting account with a domain name and a WordPress installation. Most hosting companies offer those in one package (let me know if you need hosting suggestions). As soon as you have that you can use our products.
> 
> Once you become a member you can download the theme, upload it on your WordPress dashboard and start designing there



So I think we will be good to go.


----------



## jbstanley (Aug 27, 2018)

I've used Wix and have been pretty happy with it. Easy to figure out as well. Here's my site if you'd like a reference for both mobile and desktop: www.johnstanleymusic.com


----------



## JeffvR (Aug 27, 2018)

WIX!

http://jeffreyvanrossum.com


----------



## AllanH (Aug 27, 2018)

I would encourage caution regarding free web-builders, such as WIX: the moment a web host free, it will be used to host malware and pornography (two name the top two). For that reason alone, wix is blocked by many, if not all, content filters in education and fortune 1000+ companies.

There is a lot to be said for hosting at either Google (great free websites that ties tightly with YouTube) or AWS/Amazon, as those two hosts realistically cannot be blocked (or many commercial services will stop working).

I'm simply using WIX as an example, as I have personal experience with the issue. The same challenge applies to e.g. Pinterest and many other "post what you like" sites.


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Aug 27, 2018)

AllanH said:


> I would encourage caution regarding free web-builders, such as WIX



Perhaps with a free hosting setup such as "username.wixsite.com/musiccomposer", but I doubt it has a bad rap with it's regular paid plans. I know a lot of pros using it.


----------



## MarcusD (Aug 27, 2018)

Originally a Wordpress user. Awesome and easy to use, great if you don't want to do eCommerce stuff. Loads of apps too which are mostly un-paid for (bonus). Switched to Shopify (ages ago) because did some eCommerce things Wordpress couldn't handle when it came to digital downloads. Shopify still not a perfect platform, and there's hardly any decent apps. I'm sure Wordpress has come much further now.

If you just want a portfolio type of website, easy ones to use are...

Wordpress
GoDaddy
Wix
Bitrix24.


----------



## S.M Hassani (Aug 28, 2018)

gsilbers said:


> ...im guessing it only exports the html code and you have to upload it to some hosting plan?



Yes that's how it works.

It's simple to use, but does offer some fairly advanced features. 

Was around $35 when I originally bought it. ($80 now) Never felt like I needed another tool for that type of job.


----------



## dfhagai (Aug 28, 2018)

WIX for more then 9 years now.
www.hagaid.com


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Aug 28, 2018)

dfhagai said:


> WIX for more then 9 years now.
> www.hagaid.com



Very nice site, love the simple navigation. IMO, sites like WIX, Godaddy and Wordpress are no-brainers. I've been on Godaddy for ten years now, and although they aren't primarily a hosting site, they offer very reasonable plans with very simple building tools (as does WIX). Never had an issue, and most of my work has been a direct result of clients checking out my site.....very small price to pay for the rate of return.


----------



## Grégory Betton (Aug 28, 2018)

I would definitively advocate against CMS such as Wordpress, Drupals, etc.
Not only they're clearly out of date regarding what new technologies can do today but also they're quickly compromised by bugs and security flaws. If you don't update them regularly, you've got a good chance to be hacked.

WYSIWYG editors such as Wix are far better options if you don't want to pay a developer and do it yourself. But you may still be limited. If you need to sell your music, perhaps websites hosting solutions such as Shopify or Prestashop could help you.

But if you've got the budget and your website is not only a simple showcase, I do advise you to contact a freelance developer (ask him if he can manage both Front-end and Back-end parts of your website, and if you don't know how to host and manage it, if he can do it for you). It will certainly be more expensive that a ready-to-go solution, but if you need something both personalised and stable, that's the way to go!

Disclaimer: I'm a freelance web developer myself, using recent JS technologies everyday at work.


----------



## chrisphan (Sep 13, 2018)

Would using Wordpress free domain give a bad first impression? What do you guys think?


----------



## Grégory Betton (Sep 13, 2018)

Totally. Plus nowadays, a domain name is around 20 USD. You can even have some on promotion for less than 5 USD. Look at no conventional TLD such as .xyz!


----------



## GtrString (Sep 14, 2018)

Unless you need a website for branding, soundcloud and facebook is free and low maintenance. There is also reelcrafter, which is really nice. https://reelcrafter.com/


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Sep 14, 2018)

GtrString said:


> Unless you need a website for branding, soundcloud and facebook is free and low maintenance.



And unprofessional IMO. I have actually been told by several clients that they will not visit a composer's site unless it's "official". In other words, not FB, Soundcloud, Reverb Nation, etc. I think having a real website gives a composer more relevance, and a more professional appearance.


----------



## Vik (Sep 17, 2018)

I have used iWeb (discontinued) in the past, and Sandvox after that (which seems a bit limited today). So I'm considering Blocs and Everweb. But even if Blocs looks both advanced and simple when I tried the demo, it also seems a bit incomplete. For instance, I couldn't sort out how to make a simple sidebar with global navigation links. I also had some other surprises when I tried it, so I'm checking out Everweb now. Does anyone here have personal experience with Blocs or Everweb? Happy?

https://www.everwebapp.com/
https://blocsapp.com/


----------



## MA-Simon (Sep 17, 2018)

Still using wordpress. Never had a problem. Looks good on all devices and gets updated regularly by the host site.

I could never use a site called... Wix. "heute schon gewixt", "sei ein wixer". Imho gutter trash level advertising.


----------



## Vik (Sep 17, 2018)

MA-Simon said:


> I could never use a site called... Wix


Viks would have been a better name for sure.  
Wix looks good if one needs hosting as well, but I have in some cases helped clients with websites, and need two or possibly three sites for my own projects, which is why I prefer a downloadable app and getting server space separately.


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Sep 17, 2018)

MA-Simon said:


> Still using wordpress. Never had a problem. Looks good on all devices and gets updated regularly by the host site.
> 
> I could never use a site called... Wix. "heute schon gewixt", "sei ein wixer". Imho gutter trash level advertising.



You mean how they promote their services...or advertising on hosted sites?


----------



## MA-Simon (Sep 17, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> You mean how they promote their services...or advertising on hosted sites?


Advertising. I mean it can be a language thing. But they have to be _aware_. "Sei ein Wixer" = "be an Asshole", "heute schon gewixt" = As in: "Already jerked yourself off today / Did you cum already". Though it seems to work for some reason.


----------



## James Marshall (Sep 17, 2018)

Isn't using a "site builder" like Wix etc the equivalent of someone bypassing _us_ as composers and downloading some cheap and bland stock music that all looks sounds the same.

Think of those poor freelance developers trying to earn a living! 

A tad hypocritical?


_* Disclaimer - tongue in cheek *_


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Sep 17, 2018)

James Marshall said:


> Isn't using a "site builder" like Wix etc the equivalent of someone bypassing _us_ as composers and downloading some cheap and bland stock music that all looks sounds the same.
> 
> Think of those poor freelance developers trying to earn a living!
> 
> ...



Not at all, I know a lot of composers and bands that use Wix, they have really nice looking sites. What should I pay a developer a ton of $$ for something I can build and host for a fraction of that cost? Would it be no different than a production company using stock library tracks? For what it's worth, I agreed to let a "pro" design my site...his cost was $1200, and it really didn't look that much different from what I already have (needless to say, I declined his proposal).


----------



## James Marshall (Sep 17, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> Why should I pay a developer composer a ton of $$ for something I can build download and host throw into my film for a fraction of that cost?



Just a quick deliberate mis-quote there. I'm flipping it around purely for conversational purposes. Like I said it's a little tongue in cheek but I'm a firm believer in bespoke music, so should we treat designers/developers the same way?

If you haven't got the budget I'm not saying don't use Wix, but I've not really been blown away by any designs I've seen. They all look a bit ... "Wixxy"? (Yes that is a real word...). If anyone can point me to some really beautiful sites put together with Wix my mind is open


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Sep 17, 2018)

There's a couple of posts earlier in this thread that have links....I think they look great.


----------



## whiskers (Sep 17, 2018)

pbattersby said:


> I used Wordpress. I started with a free template that I liked, then customized it and added my own branding. I used to be a programmer so customizing Wordpress to add some new functionality that I wanted was not hard for me to figure out. I like having that level of control over my web site.



apologies for the aside, but are you full-time in music now? I'm in IT currently, so curious how the transition was - did you feel any skills carried over or was it a pretty different mindset?


----------



## Uncle Peter (Sep 17, 2018)

https://portfolio.adobe.com/
www.leonbutlermusic.com


----------



## composerguy78 (Sep 17, 2018)

I am trying out Bandzoogle which has some nice templates. I haven't finished it yet. 

I think this link may give you a free trial or more I don't know.

Bandzoogle


----------



## Grégory Betton (Sep 17, 2018)

As I said earlier, but I feel the need to highlight it again: don't ever use Wordpress or Drupal if you don't know how to update the codebase (it's not always as simple as pressing a button). These CMS are highly used, and also full of security flaws, which means you could get hacked easily if you don't apply the security patches and other updates.

If you can't pay a freelance developer, I would advise you websites such as Wix, but again, nothing beats a single HTML well designed page on a free hosting (they do exist: Netlify, Github Pages, etc.).

Ah, and also, buy a domain name. They're cheap.


----------



## gregh (Sep 17, 2018)

Grégory Betton said:


> As I said earlier, but I feel the need to highlight it again: don't ever use Wordpress or Drupal if you don't know how to update the codebase (it's not always as simple as pressing a button). These CMS are highly used, and also full of security flaws, which means you could get hacked easily if you don't apply the security patches and other updates.
> 
> If you can't pay a freelance developer, I would advise you websites such as Wix, but again, nothing beats a single HTML well designed page on a free hosting (they do exist: Netlify, Github Pages,
> ?
> ...



What is the danger you are thinking of? What sort of stuff can be stolen or compromised from a portfolio style website done with wordpress


----------



## Grégory Betton (Sep 17, 2018)

Well, the most obvious one is defacing: someone injects some code and can replace a part or your whole website (to try to damage your image, or just to make some profits with advertising). Phishing, also.

One example with Drupal last enormous failure (I say enormous because that one was so easy to use that even a teenager with zero knowledge could do harm just to have fun).


----------



## composerguy78 (Sep 18, 2018)

Grégory Betton said:


> As I said earlier, but I feel the need to highlight it again: don't ever use Wordpress or Drupal if you don't know how to update the codebase (it's not always as simple as pressing a button). These CMS are highly used, and also full of security flaws, which means you could get hacked easily if you don't apply the security patches and other updates.
> 
> If you can't pay a freelance developer, I would advise you websites such as Wix, but again, nothing beats a single HTML well designed page on a free hosting (they do exist: Netlify, Github Pages, etc.).
> 
> Ah, and also, buy a domain name. They're cheap.




This is A REALLY VALID POINT that should not be overlooked with Wordpress. I think it's a great platform however security is such a problem with it. 

I hired a designer to build a site for me and went through that expense only to have the site hacked and it was fine because I had made backups - however I then had to spend an extra $15 per month on security monitoring to protect the site and that was after a lot of shopping around and negotiating.

If you know wordpress you probably know what to look out for and what to do to avoid this but be warned, it is a learning curve. That is why I am looking at Bandzoogle and Wix.com. Yes - I realize anything can be hacked but at least there, they are responsible for it. 

Also, hosting and maintaining a site on a decent server host is not cheap! The other reason I am looking at those two options is because it's cheaper in the long run - for me anyway.


----------



## MA-Simon (Sep 18, 2018)

Grégory Betton said:


> don't ever use Wordpress or Drupal if you don't know how to update the codebase (it's not always as simple as pressing a button). These CMS are highly used, and also full of security flaws, which means you could get hacked easily if you don't apply the security patches and other updates.


Are there even hosts which don't auto update this stuff? I get e-mails about site updates every~ 2-4 weeks.
I pay arround ~6€ per month for my site, including the domain. Luckily not been defaced yet.


----------



## pbattersby (Sep 28, 2018)

whiskers said:


> apologies for the aside, but are you full-time in music now? I'm in IT currently, so curious how the transition was - did you feel any skills carried over or was it a pretty different mindset?



I'm fully retired from programming but I am not a professional musician although I've been playing one musical instrument or another since I was about 10 years old. So, there has been no change in mindset. I've been involved in music, in a limited way, for a very long time.


----------



## robh (Nov 14, 2018)

I used Joomla for mine.

Rob


----------



## ChrisSiuMusic (Nov 14, 2018)

I'm the worst coding person in the world, so I used Wix. www.christophersiu.com


----------



## pinki (Nov 15, 2018)

One not mentioned so far is Rapidweaver which I used to build my site. It’s a hybrid solution giving a lot of control, not like Wix etc.
Here is my site:
http://www.andypink.co.uk


----------



## Crowe (Nov 15, 2018)

As I'm a software dev by trade, I'll be building my own. I've found Umbraco to be a great cms base to work with and develop on.

Other than that, I feel Wordpress and Wix are quite useful even though I really don't like how wordpress functions.


----------



## Adam Takacs (Nov 15, 2018)

I'm currently developing my website and I use Brackets (editor) and W3schools (tutorials)

http://brackets.io/
https://www.w3schools.com/


----------



## Jeremy Spencer (Nov 16, 2018)

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> I'm the worst coding person in the world, so I used Wix. www.christophersiu.com



I like it! Simple, easy to scroll, and to the point (although I couldn't see/hear any music samples). This is really all one needs. Mine is quite similar...and I did the whole thing in less than an hour and it's dirt cheap.


----------

