How webcumbria.co.uk was put together

Ever seen a website you like and wondered how it was done?

That's what this page is all about ... it's a 'behind the scenes' for webcumbria.co.uk.

There are loads of web tips, freebies, great URLS and website advice on my blog laptopmanpaul.co.uk.

Mambo

This site has been put together using Mambo, an Open Source, free, content management system.

Mambo is a fully featured content management system (CMS) that can be used to build and maintain a web site.

One of the main draws to this product is that you do not need to have any knowledge of HTML to manage your site.

Mambo offers up a friendly Admin interface with point and click functionality that even the most inexperienced of users would be able to navigate.

Find out more about Mambo

Mambo hosting and user guides plus free Mambo installation and templates at siteground.com.

Simple Machines Forum

Simple Machines Forum (SMF in short) is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes using PHP.

Its powerful custom made template engine puts you in full control of the lay-out of your message board.

Find out more about SMF

SMF hosting and user guides plus free SMF installation and templates at siteground.com.

PHPList newsletters

phplist is an open-source newsletter manager. phplist is free to download, install and use, and is easy to integrate with any website.

Find out more about PHPList

Wordpress

This site has been put together using Wordpress, an Open Source, free, blog management system.

It's very easy to use, intuitive and when you get great add-ons and impressive support, as well as joining a huge blogging community.

Find out more about Wordpress

Check out my IT Chat blog which uses Wordpress

Wordpress hosting and user guides plus free Wordpress installation and templates at siteground.com.

Hosting

nativespace.co.uk is used because it's cheap, simple and reliable hosting.

It also has the simplest and most comprehensive control panel I've been able to find.

The clincher is that nativespace.com's basic paid hosting package offers Fantastico downloads.

If you've ever struggled to get to grips with PHP, Apache and MySQL, Fantastico allows you to download some great open source applications and it installs the entire thing for you on your nativespace.com account.

Alternatively, if you are only creating individual websites, you should consider using siteground.com which offers a custom hosting service for SMF, Mambo and Wordpress (among many other resources) as well as free templates, user guides and software installation.

Affiliates

See my blog for more information about affiliate sites

Tradedoubler

Webgains

Google Adsense

Find out more about Google Adsense

Shop

Amazon Associates

More information about Amazon Associates

VOIP

Skype

Online secure payments

Paypal merchant tools

HTML coding

Dreamweaver 4

Sitemaps

Sitemaps are created using sitemapspal.com

See my blog for more information about this service.

Social bookmarking links

Social bookmarking links are created using addthis.com

See my blog for more information about this service.

Images

Photoshop Elements software used to resize images.

Need photos for your website? I use Dreamstime and Stockxpert ...

Image is used by kind permission of Nick Collinge.

Check out Nick's photography website at http://www.nickcollinge.co.uk/ and look in the landscape gallery if you want to buy a copy of the banner image.

The view is of Black Combe taken from Kirkby Moor.