Making soap led me to needing to sell it. What better way than a website?
It sounded so easy when I started, but there was a pretty steep learning curve in getting my skills to the point where I could manage a website. My first website, for Chandler’s Soaps was actually built by the main man in my life, Jere. He hand-coded it (no Dreamweaver or FrontPage for him!). Of course, I had to “snooper-vise” and in doing so I learned a lot.
As time went on and I had to update products and information, I learned how to do it myself. First the simple things, then more complex. Then my logic skills and desire to do things only once took over… and I started turning my experience with Microsoft Access into the ability to make dynamic webpages utilizing information kept in a database using php. And so a web-geek was hatched.
Since that time, I’ve studied and practiced and, with a great deal of thanks to L. Ron Hubbard’s Study Technology I have become a proficient php programmer!
Some of the websites I have created or worked on are:
- Chandler’s Soaps
That’s my soap business website. It’s currently based in the Dansie Cart (which I wouldn’t recommend) with the information pulled form a database for all of the product pricing and descriptions. It’s the third version of the Chandler’s Soaps site and is one that I learned a lot of my beginning php skills on. Unfortunately, it’s had it’s day and is due to be upgraded to a different shopping cart and look. - ForSoapmakers.com
That’s my site that sells products to soapmakers - primarily foam pump bottles, malibu tubes, powder shakers and some ingredients. It’s adapted from an earlier (now depreciated) version of the X-Cart shopping cart. That one, too, will need to be redone in the near future. - Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild
That’s all my baby, including the automatic display of the Soap Gallery, the online Calendar of Events, the ability for members to update their profiles, an Administrative back-end for updating member information and memberships, conference attendees and certified soapmakers. Of all the sites I’ve done, I think I’m the most proud of that one. - Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild Blog
The blog is based on the WordPress. Mostly it was formatting and making it work the way we needed it to. It’s pretty simple, but has been put to good use in the few months it has been live. - Coos Curry Small Woodlands Association
Website for the Coos Curry Small Woodlands association. Simple website, designed to provide information to landowners in Coos and Curry Counties in Oregon - Portland Country Living
Site put together for the Oregon Small Woodlands Association (State Office) in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Forestry, to provide information about country living for people living outside the Portland metro area. - Miami Condo Lifestyle
I didn’t design that site completely,but I helped with the underlying database structure and how it works. What I did do was modify the site so it displays in both English and Spanish. That was interesting! - Shay and Company
Another site based on the X-Cart shopping cart, but a more recent version. - MarieGale.com
This site is also one of my babies. It was in a different format with a blog, but I’ve just recently changed it over so it is completely in the “blog” format, using WordPress.
I do web work for others - in fact, I find that I can make as much income from that as I can from soapmaking! I love them both, so try to split my time.
Jere, my guy, has a business Words In A Row doing website design and marketing, specializing in Search Engine Optimization and making Search Engine Friendly sites. That’s what makes it possible for him to live out here on the Ranch and still make a living. I help him with some of his php worries, which is nice because we work well together.
If you need any web work done, feel free to email me or Jere (through his website is best).
