The original effort was done while slugging down a mug of beer while sitting at the bar. It looked something like this:
Pretty nice eh?
After doing nothing with this for a good month, and after spending at least an hour being disappointed with what Michigan Foosball websites did exist, we decided to build our own.
This article isn't really about MiFoos.com, but rather what technology we used to create it. We're doing this because maybe you want to do something similar -- maybe not for foosball, but for something else you care about. So here's what it took to build what you see here now.
1. A domain name
We purchased the domain name at GoDaddy. Why there? We wanted to be with a large registrar that had attractive race car girls on the home page. Also, they often run specials to bring you into their fold. Nothing wrong with that. So for $9 per year, we had our names. (we purchased MIFOOS.COM and MYFOOS.COM)
2. A place to host the domain name(s)
Our hosting is at HostGator and we recommend them highly. Why there instead of hosting at GoDaddy?
Because we don't think you should host where you have your name. Same way you should not have your hosting company buy the name for you. Same way you don't have the guy who fixes your car catering your parties. Ok, there are always exceptions, but as a rule, try to avoid mixing dissimilar skill sets and try to eliminate the middleman. It saves money and generally protects your intellectual property. Examples could be provided, but they would bore you, so we'll not do that.
3. Some software to hold the content
In the old days, people would hire these high-priced other people called webmasters. These computer gurus would write "computer code" for the express purpose of allowing websites to be created and maintained. These webmaster people still exist, however most of them now don't write so much code, but rather are skilled in all these steps to help others see the big picture.
Like a carpenter, webmasters have a toolbox where they keep their tools. Over time, the tools we use to accomplish our tasks are based on the number of tools in that box. If you have only a hammer, then most of the projects will look like something that can be assembled with nails.
Webmasters today tend to use software called content management systems, or CMS for short. By using a CMS, the development cycle is shorter and more time can be spent on what really matters -- the stuff that visitors see.
The content management system we selected was Joomla, v1.5. Why this one? It's the one we knew best. That means we knew how to install it, how to maintain it, and if it breaks, how to fix it. WordPress or Drupal would have been just as good, but for the sake of efficiency, we went with what we knew. It takes about 15 mintues to load a fresh Joomla site. To this, you need to add configuration time. In the case of MiFoos, maybe another 4 hours. (graphics for the header, deciding where things are going to go...)
Our hosting is at HostGator and we recommend them highly.
4. Content
When a webmaster says "content" the reference is usually to things you create with a keyboard. However images would also be a form of content. This is the most expensive part of building a website. The time is takes to create quality content is never tiny.
The benefit of using a CMS is that you spend that precious commodity called time on the most important part: The intellectual property. The stuff that motivates you to backup your files so that should something go wrong, the expensive part is safe. Ever have a laptop stolen or destroyed that wasn't properly backed up? It takes very little time for the stuff in a laptop to exceed what you paid for it. Same is true with a website. Loading a fresh copy of Joomla to start over again? Still about 15 minutes.
But to recreate all of the content that's here? It wouldn't be possible. How do you "reload" an image of some people drinking beer, playing foosball a month ago? Without a time machine, it can't be done... unless you have a backup.
Today, MiFoos is 5 months, 1 day old. How much have we invested in this? Not really sure, but let's wing it with one hour per day. So if you went to a webmaster and wanted to duplicate something like what's here now, they might quote you 150 hours for content -- but that's just the typing part. That still doesn't cover the time it takes to think of what to write, going out to gather the experiences, take the pictures, typing the copy, uploading the images... and doing the backups every step of the way. It all adds up.
In Summary
Bottom line, it's simple to build a decent website that can be easily expanded. It's dirt cheap to buy a domain name. Hosting costs less per month than you spend on a pint of beer. The expensive part is the content, but if you build something one day at a time, all you need to do is be patient.
Our hosting is at HostGator and we recommend them highly.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask below and we'll respond. FYI: This entire article took 1.3 hours to create, edit and post. Total revisions: 14
Why did we keep repeating the part about HostGator hosting? Because if you click that link AND if you should decide to purchase hosting from them, they will send us a few dollars. This is how we support this site, our foosball tables and pay for all that fancy food and beer.
