Creating a website can anyone help!!?

[zippyswife]

Hello,

When I posted before you were all so helpful so I was hoping you might be able to help a bit more!

I am very VERY untechnical but have got to the stage where I am creating my own website. Have domain name and host and theme and in the middle of creating but have hit a (few!) brick walls...

1. I want the website to feature advertising on each page on the sidebar. I want the ads to be different on each page.
   

1. This site is not a blog however in the main bulk of every page I've created there are 'comments'. I do not want any comments at all on the pages just boxes where I can put images, content and listings. How do I go about this?
   

1. On my home page I want there to be a facility to put your postcode in and then be taken to your relevant area pages. I want these pages not be shown as tabs across the top as the information is only relevant to each area. If this makes sense....??
   

I know this is probably asking the moon, but if anyone can enlighten me on any bit of this I would be massively grateful!!

Thanks

[Kleptronic]

I make bespoke websites by hand, so I've no experience of kit sites, but depending on what kit you're using, won't they have navigation/google advert widgets for you to use? And not having the comments boxes - I expect they're built into the theme template you've chosen?

So you either have to alter the template or pick another one more suited to your requirements.

[meeemooo]

What are you building your site with (Wordpress, Joomla....)? I can help with either of those.

You will need to be part of an advertising network for example Google Adsense in order to show ads. Google have to approve your site first if you don't have an account already, and this can take some time. They also don't approve brand new sites. There are other ad networks but you will need to do a bit of research. If you join Adsense, Google serve the ads and they will change depending on the context of the page and also on user's browser cookies in some cases.

[FirstWebsiteSuccess]

Hi again
Good to hear you're making progress.

Google Adsense is probably the most popular advertising program and my experience is that it is very easy and quick to sign up. Go to www.google.com/adsense.

Another alternative is CommissionJunction. If there are certain companies you'd like to have advertising on your site then check out CommissionJunction to see if they have an affiliate program.

I assume you are using WordPress and are creating Pages rather than Posts? To turn off comments you need to click on Screen Options in the top right hand corner. This will show a drop down menu. Make sure Discussion is selected. Then scroll down the page and uncheck Allow Comments.

For the last question do a search on Google. I just searched for 'wordpress postcode search' and came across this plugin - WP Find Your Nearest - wordpress.org/plugins/wp-find-your-nearest/

It may be what you're looking for.

[zippyswife]

Thanks for all your help (I've been getting my head down sorting this website, so haven't been back onto MN in ages!!)

Hello again First ;)

I think all the above issues are either resolved now and/or shelved while we work on the more pressing things!

Which brings me to a couple of other issues...

First I remember when you gave me advice previously you said that you manually back up. HOw do you do this? I was looking at a plugin v getting the host to do it for £12 Aa year. Is it a good idea to back up onto my laptop? Is there another way of doing this?

Secondly.... and this has caused me complete brainache!!!!- I want people to search within categories using their postcode so that the list of x local to them comes up. If this makes sense? I installed a plugin Store Locator Plus- this wasn't working in it's free format (although I think would do what we need with add-ons- I just want to check that I'm getting teh right one first before I part with my money!!). If you were searching for something local to you would you prefer it if a map and list of everything came up or if a list of things came up listed in distance from your postcode order? When you linked that plugin first I was thinking that might be better than a map?

That CommissionJunction looks intersting- I'll definitely look into it. The lite is hyperlocal and so I think it would be best to (eventually) get local advertisers on it? When we have enough traffic through it!

Thanks again? (not sure if I am making any sense here??!)

[FirstWebsiteSuccess]

Hi again
I intend to write a blog post about backing up your WordPress website this weekend. As soon as it's up I will let you know.

I've never dealt with searching for categories using postcodes. Take another look at the original plugin link I sent you. On the developers website he has got an example of it working. Just enter the postcode into the search box on the right hand side as suggested and see the results on a map and in a list. Having both visble on the same page is good in my opinion. Here's the link - bit.ly/1jow6zV

Looks pretty good to me. However, I would still do more searching on other plugins out there.

All the best

[FirstWebsiteSuccess]

I think think this blog post will help you with backing up your website. www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-create-a-complete-wordpress-backup-for-free-with-backwpup/

Please note - I did not write this!

Do you think that the plugin I mentioned is going to serve your needs?