I hit my first obstacle with my website.
I decided a few weeks ago that a website would be a great addition to getting the word out about my film. I decided that I wanted to give it a try and I came across a web designing program called Adobe Edge Animate. I had never actually made anything using software before, but I wanted to give it a try. I downloaded the software and after just a day and a half I had got the hang of the basics. I did several different mock-ups, because I was getting new ideas, but didn’t want to change the ones I had already created. I work 40 hours a week at my day job, but on my breaks I would find a place to be alone and I would work on the site. And I would work on it at home, whenever I needed a break from breaking down my script and doing my storyboards. So it took me about two weeks to get everything together and be completely satisfied with the site. I had also started using Adobe Photoshop. I must say, that Adobe software is awesome to use. I am also using Illustrator for creating storyboards for the film. And no, I don’t have any affiliation to Adobe. I am paying the $50 a month, just like everyone else.
But anyways, back to my issue. I completed the website. I was so happy and excited to get it onto the internet for the world to see. So the next morning, I woke up and started the process of making that happen. I went to goDaddy and purchased a domain name. I also got a hosting package, but when I tried to upload my site, that I had created, it wouldn’t work. And I tried for a while. I got so frustrated that I stopped to take a nap. I am one of those people that if I get overly frustrated, I can’t think as clearly and I have to give my mind a break. So when I came back to work on it…same issue. I finally called goDaddy and the representative told me that that package only included using their templates to create a site. To use my own web design I would have to pay for the $47 package. The price to use their website builder was the $12 for 1 year package, which is a great price, but I didn’t want to use their templates, even if it was free. I had worked so hard on my site, I wanted to use it. So I told her to cancel it.
Early in the day, I had initially went to ipage.com and started the process of purchasing a domain name. But I stopped before I actually purchased it because I wanted to see if i could find another site that offered a lower cost, which I did find at goDaddy, for the domain name anyway. Well…while I was on goDaddy, struggling to get my website up, ipage sent me an email that would give me 3 months for $3 and then i would pay the normal cost of $45. So while I was talking with the representative at goDaddy, I decided to go with ipage because they were gonna be $2 cheaper for the same type of hosting package plus I wouldn’t have to pay that $45 for 3 months.
Then my next issue occurred because, come to find out, I need to use FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol, to transfer my website from Adobe Dreamweaver, which is a program that turns your website into HTML and CSS codes, so you can transfer it. I’m not gonna to even attempt to explain it because I obviously don’t know how it truly works, because that is where I hit a wall. I just couldn’t get it to work. So because I have so many other things to do in regards to getting this film made and I had already wasted time on it, I just chocked it up as a lesson learned. I doesn’t actually hurt me or the pre-production process in any way, so I’m ok with it.
I will note that when I called goDaddy to cancel, I got a representative on the line in less than 2 minutes. When I called ipage, I hung up after being on hold for 20 minutes. It was a Saturday night, so maybe a lot of their representatives called off to go celebrate Valentine’s Day, who knows? And maybe I can get the site up, once we are closer to production or while we are in production.
So that’s the problem I had. Don’t forget to stop by my youtube channel, Once We Leave the Garden. There you will find links to all my social media sites.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Rita~
Once We Leave the Garden 