New web site launched!

My new web site was launched yesterday, and hopefully my updated DNS entries have made it around the globe by now. My old web site was all hand coded by me, and let me tell you how difficult it was to maintain. It wasn't easy, because every page was hand coded, and when I started using Dreamweaver a few years ago it started inserting all sorts of bloated clode into my web pages. Wanting to get away from that type of maintenance headache, I decided to work with Jack Brauer of Widerange Galleries, and he has an amazing content management system designed specifically for photographers.

My new system is now php based, and has a great admin utility where I can manage all aspects of the site. Here is a quick rundown of the new features, both visible to the public and not:

• Slideshow on home page
• Optimized for search engines
• Easy creation, modification and deletion of galleries
• Easy management of print prices, sizes and finishes such as framing
• Direct photo uploading
  
• New way of presenting images in galleries: frames, drop shadows, and meta data
• Shopping cart for better and easier print sales
• Discounts for print sales
• Integrated mailing list, although I am not using this feature.
  
• Web page templates for quick publishing

These are only some of the benefits that I am seeing. I removed my Articles section that I had on my old web site, and in the following days I will migrate the old content into this blog.

I hope you enjoy the new web site. The overall design hasn't changed that much, but the entire plumbing behind the scenes is all brand new. A huge thank you to Widerange Galleries and Jack Brauer for doing all of the heavy lifting. You are the greatest. Seriously. My past experiences with oursource web development hasn't been so rosy, and you have changed my attitude from this experience.

If you are a photographer and need a new web site, you really should take a look at what Widerange is doing with other photographers' sites. Great stuff.