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From: The Vision
As well as a new design, last Advent saw the wider transition of changing the software running the website - the 'back end'. This was no mean feat, but I am glad that I have done it as it has saved me so much time in updating the website now. I thought I'd put together a short guide to show how I produce the website, so that you get a flavour of what I do.
Setting up software
I only have to do this occassionally. If the back end software needs upgrading, or, as has recently happened, needs to be completely changed, I have to download the latest versions and make sure they work. There is usually some mild tinkering involved here, when the software gushes out reams of error messages, but it works (eventually!).
Answering e-mails
Yes, I have quite a fan club! Thank-you for all your e-mails, they are very reassuring and supportive. If you would like to get in touch, see the contact page.
Updating and adding content
The entire website is now essentially stored in one large database. People's names, the churches, articles, links, even the contact page all have entries in the database. The database makes it much easier than previously to update and add information, and should even point out typo's!
Telling it how to look
I also have to tell the software how the website should look. This is my favourite bit, because when you tell it once, it does it forever (If only brothers were like that!). For example, when I 'describe' to the software how to lay out one article, it does all the others in the same way. A great help, I can assure you!
Pulling it all together
When everything is ready, I then hold on tight and run the back end software. It usually sits there for a nail-biting twenty minutes, trawling through the database and creating the website. More often than not, I've made a mistake, but it tells me (with a tone of glee) and lets me get on and fix it, before starting up again. Once it has finished and tells me to "have a nice day", I then authorise this update to be viewed on the internet, and it's finished!
Then the whole cycle repeats ready for the next update...
If you have any questions regarding how I create this website, I encourage you to get in touch.