All Website Workshop courses are in the delightful seaside town of Ventnor on the south coast of the Isle of Wight (UK). If you are not based on the Island contact us anyway and let us know what you are looking for.
The courses take place over three half-day sessions, each once a week. Courses are held either on three consecutive Thursday afternoons from 1.00pm until 5.00pm or similarly on three consecutive Saturday mornings from 9.00am until 1.00pm.
Please refer to the Course fees section for information on current pricing.
Our Website Workshop is a carefully constructed learning tool that builds each practical concept upon the last. It aims to help you create your own website from the outset. It tells you only what you need to know to get the job done without using any unnecessary technical jargon. It is presented to you by a top-flight trainer who has designed and hosted training sessions for people in daily working environments. This means that not only are real, practical issues made clear, but also you will understand how to build on what you have achieved in the Website Workshop.
The Website Workshops create an understanding of how web design works based on the world view of non-technical people. In contrast, most other web courses attempt to get you to understand the computer professional's world view. Training similar to the Website Workshop typically costs £300 or more per day in London or Manchester. Even so, we expect our courses to be best of breed.
There is a misconception that if you use web page editing software, it will do all the work for you so that you will not need to understand how to create web pages yourself. This idea is often encouraged by the vendors of web page editing software. In reality, if you don't understand the basics of web design, you won't understand web design software. Depending on what software you use, you may be able to create a basic site, but you will struggle to understand the options and tools the web page editor is offering. The better route is to get the skills you are going to need with the Website Workshop. It will be quicker, easier and more enjoyable than you imagined and once you have this understanding, you will be able to make far better use of any web page editing tools at your disposal.
If you are going into business or need to publicise any kind of enterprise the answer is yes. You do need this skill. No business can compete without the web. The web ensures that your new idea gets global access to the market. It will help you find your customers even when the economy is in trouble. Website design is a skill that will stand you in good stead for your entire business life and should therefore be on a par with learning to drive a car as an essential life skill. Even when you can afford to have somebody else do your website for you, you will be better equipped to understand the issues in order to achieve a website that reflects your needs properly.
We will set you up with a free web hosting services to get you started that will be ample for the duration of the workshop. This ensures that you have the chance to understand the practical issues of setting up your web hosting account. The Website Workshop includes a segment on how to select and use web hosting services. You will then be equipped to decide what web hosting service suites your needs. You will need to register a domain name. Registration services currently make an annual charge of less than £10.00 per domain name depending on your requirement.
It is a very good idea to register a domain name before you start a course. The cost of this is generally less than £10 (domain registrations must be renewed annually). It is often not easy to find a unique and available name that suits you so it may take a little while for you to settle on a domain name. You don't really want to be doing this while you are focusing on the course. As soon as you are booked on a Website Workshop with us we will email to you clear guidance on registering your domain name. It is not complicated and it will start you on a first practical step to your website.
We provide an up-to-date Windows/PC type computer for each student on the Website Workshop, however, if you wish to bring your own laptop, particularly users of computers running OS 10, Linux or any other operating system then you are more than welcome. A list of open source (free) software that you need will be provided. None the less, we encourage you to use one of our computers as everything you need is already pre-installed on it for you. This can be copied to a computer of your choice afterwards.
The three session Website Workshop course carefully builds on ideas and concepts from week to week and it is important that you have continuity with your group of students. Changing courses will be disruptive to both yourself and other students so moving sessions to different courses is not practical.
No problem. You don't have to publish your site to the world during the course, although you will quickly see that doing so is very much in your interest and central to the ethos and the excitement of what we do.
If you are technically inclined, there is no doubt that you will be able to attain a deeper understanding of how and why the web works. However, this is not our primary aim. We are going to build a straightforward concept of what to do to get the effect you want to achieve. It is hardly any more technical than say, plugging in and switching on a kettle to make a cup of tea. We skip the explanation about how the electricity gets generated, goes through the kettle's heating element, convects energy to the water, etc.
The reality is that websites are never really finished. Your site will almost certainly continue to evolve with your business. As your understanding of web design improves you will make further changes. You will refine your ideas. The website you build now will probably be very different to the one you have in six months or a year's time. There are, however, ways to ensure that no one views your website until you are ready.
We ensure that everybody who comes on the Website Workshop backs up their site to a CD or some other removable media and takes it away with them. You will be able to publish your site from anywhere that suits you.
the Website Workshops are packed with ideas and information that needs time to be absorbed. Each workshop is spread over three half-day modules in order that participants are not overwhelmed and have time to process what has been learned. Forthcoming long-weekend and residential workshops also include a further half-day in order to develop each participant's web design ideas.