My website of the year for 2009 is Caught By The River, http://caughtbytheriver.net/.
In September I visited the excellent Toppings Bookshop in Ely and bought the book "Caught by the River", subtitled "A Collection Of Words On Water". Over the next few days I read its wonderful essays on British rivers from cover to cover and I discovered that the book was the offshoot of the Caught by the River website.
The website began about three years ago as a way of documenting lazy days out, especially fishing trips. But soon it grew into a place where people could eulogise about the various things that make the working week bearable, such as books, music, art, nature, angling, drinking and even cake baking.
Its content is varied and fascinating and I love the logo and clear, calm layout of the site, which fits its content perfectly.
Enjoy!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
St. Thomas' Church website
One of the first websites I built was for St. Thomas' Church, which is just around the corner from where I live in Norwich. I've just updated the site with events for 2010 and the vicar, Reverend Philip Young, has just sent me a link to a Radio Norfolk broadcast where the website is mentioned by Nanette Aldous - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p005p5f9/Louise_Priest_27_12_2009/ (1 hour 10 minutes into the programme).
The St. Thomas' church website is at http://www.stthomasheigham.org/ .
The St. Thomas' church website is at http://www.stthomasheigham.org/ .
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Grapes Hill Community Garden
One of Design Different's websites is for Grapes Hill Community Garden in Norwich.
The garden is currently just an area of tarmac set back from the bottom of Grapes Hill in Norwich, behind Valentine Street and Dereham Road.
However, we have had some plans drawn up and will be applying for lottery funding in the early New Year.
The more people who send in comments on the plans, the better the chances of funding.
Please help by going to http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/contact.htm and submitting your comments by 6th January 2010.
The garden is currently just an area of tarmac set back from the bottom of Grapes Hill in Norwich, behind Valentine Street and Dereham Road.
However, we have had some plans drawn up and will be applying for lottery funding in the early New Year.
The more people who send in comments on the plans, the better the chances of funding.
Please help by going to http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/contact.htm and submitting your comments by 6th January 2010.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
White Pre-Christmas
My planned visit to Wymondham Farmers' Market today didn't happen because of snow. I didn't fancy a 20 + mile cycle ride on snowy and icy back roads, at temperatures of freezing or just above.
But I took the opportunity to visit the allotment, take photos and feed the birds. It makes me glad I'm not a leek!
But I took the opportunity to visit the allotment, take photos and feed the birds. It makes me glad I'm not a leek!
Leeks on the allotment.
Choosing a business and web domain name
I'm often asked by customers how they should choose a web domain name.
Firstly, if you're setting up a new business, I'd suggest that you check that a business or limited company doesn't already exist with the name you'd like to use. If you set up a company with the same or a very similar name, customers may be confused or the existing company may take legal action to prevent you from trading under that name - not a good start!
The website start.biz is worth a check because it has a search for business names that are already being used - see http://www.start.biz/business_names/multi_search.php.
Once you've checked that no one else is using the same business name, check whether your domain name is available by doing a search on the 123-reg site - http://www.123-reg.co.uk/. Consider using hyphens in your name if your first choice isn't available, or to make the name clearer. For example, my wife's business Vanna Art uses http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/ because www.vannaart.co.uk runs the words together and is more cumbersome.
For a UK business or a personal website, the suffix .co.uk is normally the best option to use as it is widely known, good value for money and links you to the UK. (Cost at time of writing is £6.88 inc. VAT for two years). Non-profit organisations can use .org.uk or .org. The use of certain suffixes is restricted - e.g. ac.uk, which can only be used by higher and further education and research institutions.
There are also rules about the lengths of domain names:
The Business Link site also has useful information on choosing a web domain name for your business.
Firstly, if you're setting up a new business, I'd suggest that you check that a business or limited company doesn't already exist with the name you'd like to use. If you set up a company with the same or a very similar name, customers may be confused or the existing company may take legal action to prevent you from trading under that name - not a good start!
The website start.biz is worth a check because it has a search for business names that are already being used - see http://www.start.biz/business_names/multi_search.php.
Once you've checked that no one else is using the same business name, check whether your domain name is available by doing a search on the 123-reg site - http://www.123-reg.co.uk/. Consider using hyphens in your name if your first choice isn't available, or to make the name clearer. For example, my wife's business Vanna Art uses http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/ because www.vannaart.co.uk runs the words together and is more cumbersome.
For a UK business or a personal website, the suffix .co.uk is normally the best option to use as it is widely known, good value for money and links you to the UK. (Cost at time of writing is £6.88 inc. VAT for two years). Non-profit organisations can use .org.uk or .org. The use of certain suffixes is restricted - e.g. ac.uk, which can only be used by higher and further education and research institutions.
There are also rules about the lengths of domain names:
.co.uk and .org.uk must be between 3 and 23 characters long, not including the .co.uk or .org.uk part.
See http://www.nominet.org.uk/registrants/aboutdomainnames/rules/ for full details of .uk web domain rules.The Business Link site also has useful information on choosing a web domain name for your business.
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