341(^32)
18 13 - 26 November 2019 [email protected]
MDBootstrapBuilderis a web-buildingtoolthatletsyoudraganddropprofessionallydesignedelementson
a blankcanvastocreatea beautifulwebsite.Youcanhostthesiteontheserviceorpublishit yourself
Peek behindthescenes
of websites
If you’veevervisiteda website
andwonderedhowits
developersmakeit work,you’ll
lovetheWhatrunsChrome
extension(bit.ly/wruns488).
Installthishandyaddonand,
thenexttimeyoufinda
complexsiteyou’dliketoknow
moreabout,clicktheWhatruns
icon.Thepop-outwindowshows
allthewebtechnologiesthathave
beenusedtoproducea site,so
youknowwhatyoumightneedto
recreateit onyourownsite.Hover
overanythingyoudon’trecognise
togetmoreinformation.Youcan
evenfollowa sitetoreceivea
notificationif it changesthetools
it uses.
Trythenewversionof Ghost
There’sanupdatedversionof
WordPressrivalGhost(ghost.org)
available,witha rangeofnew
optionsandfeaturestotryout,
includingtheoptiontocreate
subscriptionservices, tohelpyou
earnmoneyfromregularreaders,
anda newsiteimporterdesigned
tohelppeoplelookingtodefect
fromWordPress.Formore
information,visitbit.ly/ghost488.
1
Onthemainscreen,clickthelarge
‘+’buttontocreatea newsitefrom
scratchorchooseoneoftheexample
templates.Giveyourprojecta name,^1
thenusethetags^2 toselectthekind
ofcontentyouwanttoplaceonthe
site.Clicktoselectfromtheoptions
thatappearbelow.^3 Thecontent
appearsonthepagetotheleft.^4
2
Clickinganotherelementaddsit
below.^1 Hoverovera sectionto
rearrangetheorderorremoveit
completely.^2 Eitherclickonsometext
oranimage,orclickthecogsicon,^3 to
opentheeditingpanel,whereyoucan
changeimages,layoutsettingsand
colours.
3
Youneedtosignupforanaccount
(^1) tosaveyoursiteandbeable
toworkonit ata laterdate,^2 publish
it ontheMDBootstrapsite^3 or
downloadallthefilestopublishthesite
onyourownwebhosting.^4 The last
option is useful if you want to use the
builder to create a template you can
adapt and add more pages to.
Specialist tips, top tools and practical help
Build a Better Site
Top Tips of the Fortnight
MINI WORKSHOP | Build a great-looking, dynamicwebsitein minutes
MDBoostrap Builder: mdbootstrap.com/builder | 10 mins |^ Any browser
Deal of the Fortnight
Easyspace (www.easyspace.co.uk) is
offering 40% off the first two years of
a ‘.co.uk’ domain, for £11.99 per year
instead of £19.99.
Web-building Helpdesk
Q
I write a blog about books and
have been invited to take part
in a ‘blog tour’? Is it a scam?
TomSharples,viaemail
A
This is a marketing event, most
often used by book publishers to
spread the word about their books.
They usually give information and review
copies to various different blogs on different
days, often over the course
of a week, and agree with
the blog owner what they
will publish about the book
and when. They then
promote the tour to their
fans, so you’ll get an extra
push of visitors to your site in exchange for
featuring information about their book.
It’s not a scam but it’s probably more
beneficial for the book publisher than it is for
you, so make sure you’re happy with the
arrangement before agreeing to it.
Andy Shaw, Technical &
Reviews Editor, Web User
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