Achieving Website and Internet Success

This particular blog is unique to Penney Layne in a sense because we do offer both websets and website templates. The purpose of this blog is to assist new customers in deciding which of our hosting plans will work best for their end need.

Many times our site visitors are confused between a Webset and a Website Template. That is very understandable. In this article, I want to explain the difference as it pertains to our website and utilizing our website templates and websets. The templates and sets you find here at Penney Layne are proven to work well with our website hosting plans. However, you do not HAVE to use our Websets or Website Templates. There are many different websets and website templates available, and most all are easily customized and incorporated into our hosting plans!

The major key is this: either you want a component system, or an HTML system. That is what to decide. And you can ALWAYS change if one does not work well for you. Here are the details:

Most site builders utilize a component system to allow ease of use in adding graphics to a website. It is extremely easy to change your graphics often. You can pop in a Halloween Theme in early October. You can then pop in a Thanksgiving theme after Halloween. After Halloween, you can easily switch your website theme to Christmas, and then easily return to your normal website appearance after the holidays are over. This is accomplished very easily in our DIY ULTIMATE SITE BUILDER using a WEBSET. These alterations require no heavy duty coding, and no rewriting of your website script.

WEBSETS consists of specific “components” that fit like graphic “puzzle pieces” into the site builder. Once you have used the builder a time or two, you will realize just how easy it is to switch out your website graphics often, and you’ll be amazed at how little time is required to do so. The webset components are uniquely named so they will “drop in” to the proper location for the specific builder you are using, in this case our DIY ULTIMATE SITE BUILDER.

Most websets consist of: three backgrounds, one webtopper, category buttons, and a logo. Penney Layne also includes the normal “perks” such as: advertising banners, a blank business card graphic so you can print your own business cards, a plugboard button for plugging plugboards, an avatar for use in forums, and a buy button (or add to cart.)

Our Website Templates are a bit different. Website templates in this regard are standard coded HTML pages. These website templates are designed to work with our DIY CART BUILDER. They can be customized in many ways. Just because a website template is themed “astrology” does not mean you cannot alter it for a craft store business. If you find a website template with just the colors and layout you’ve been looking for to build your craft store site, and it is themed for an advertising business, it does not matter! Graphics can be replaced, text can be altered, the template can be customized to your liking.

Switching out the graphics for your website template is a bit more time consuming, but it can be done, except instead of popping in the “holiday” graphics as in the ULTIMATE SITE BUILDER, you simply replace the html coded pages on your website with your replacement pages. Think of it as temporarily writing over the index.html file on your site, and changing it again later by replacing the index.html file once again. Instead of “popping them in,” you will have to upload them to your server each time, making sure to SAVE COPIES of the files you are replacing if you want to use them again later! It is a little more complicated, it does take a little more time, but it CAN be done.

The component based websets work really well for people who: a) are new to the internet and don’t have very much HTML coding experience; b) who don’t have a lot of time to devote daily to the maintenance of their site but still want to HAVE a well run site; and c) want the simplicity of letting the BUILDER work for THEM. We’ve had clients well versed in HTML programming, who choose the ULTIMATE BUILDER strictly for its simplicity of use. Some folks don’t LIKE to program! I do, but not EVERYBODY does.

The website templates, on the other hand, don’t really require EXTENSIVE highly skilled HTML editors. Let’s face it. If you want to have a presence on the internet, you OWE it to yourself to learn some basic HTML skills. I am a FIRM believer in the concept that learning is doing, and doing is learning. If you want someone else to do all of this for you, just go to my Special Services section and purchase a custom built site. And then you will lose out on all of the FUN of building your own site, with your own head, your own heart, and your own hands! I’ll be glad to DO it FOR you, but I want to be sure that is what YOU really want.

All of us have at least ONE thing we do well now that we once did not do well at all. We had to LEARN it. That one thing at some point in time seemed like an extreme learning level obstacle. We had to strap on our boots, pull down our goggles, do the “sign of the cross” and wade into the realm of uncertainty and brave the unknown. Building your first website is no different. If you don’t start SOMEWHERE, you’ll never build it.

That is why Penney Layne offers you tools that will fit your needs. We will support you EVERY step of the way. We WANT you to succeed. We also want you to know what it feels like to be proud of what YOU did. Not what WE did, what YOU did!

Neither path is wrong. And if you go with one route and later want to change, that’s ok, we’ll work with you on that too.

We have launched the development of our on-site help section, which will provide you with tools and instructions to accomplish your tasks regardless of which builder you choose, ANY hour of the night. We’re even going to have actual video tutorials so you can WATCH us do it, then do it yourself.

Website Template or Webset? There is no wrong answer……by Laura Brown, Penney Layne Graphics