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Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsI'm completely new to this!
Hello, I have knowledge of HTML & CSS, however; My goal is to build an ecommerce website to sell my products and be able to design, code & manage all by myself! What would be the recommended starting place? what should I learn first?
Thanks very much in advance
Nathan
6 Answers
Holt Hunter
4,629 PointsI would recommend the PHP Development track. It starts with just HTML and CSS but then goes into the back-end coding.
Wayne Priestley
19,579 PointsHi Nathaniel,
The obvious place will be the build a basic website track, you can view all the tracks if you click the second icon down in the lefthand side menu.
You'll learn basic html and css on this track, how you decide to learn is also something to think about, I'd recommend just watching the lessons at first as there is a lot to take in when you first start.
I would watch a lesson then repeat it and take notes or use the workspace to follow along, but be sure to find a system that suits you and allows you to take in as much as possible.
Once you're learning you will know what tracks or lessons to move onto next, but a natural choice would be the advanced html and css, maybe Sass which I find an excellent code to code my websites in.
As for having an e-commerce site, to be honest, with the quality of content management systems available now I think I'd choose to code my own site and let the content management system take care of the shopping part.
Hope this helps.
Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsReally helpful, thank you very much
Steve Smith
12,955 PointsWooCommerce is a great free plugin e-commerce system for Wordpress, which itself is free. Rather than rolling your own e-commerce site from scratch, I would suggest going through the Wordpress tracks, then spend some time in HTML/CSS in order to understand how best to customize your site, and perhaps in the PHP track to get a more advanced handle on customizing the Wordpress templates themselves, as they are coded in PHP.
Holt Hunter
4,629 PointsThe only problem with using Wordpress is that you have to pay a lot for hosting. Although Wordpress isn't a bad option (I use it too) it is definitely cheaper to go with making your own website from scratch.
Steve Smith
12,955 PointsThere are good and inexpensive hosting options available, and you have to put a value on your time and the peace of mind of having a tested and reliable solution in place for your business. If your goal is to build an e-commerce solution, then that's one thing, but if your goal is to put a storefront solution in place so you can sell your products online, then I would suggest a monthly hosting fee that allows you to use WordPress and WooCommerce is going to pay itself back in spades.
Wayne Priestley
19,579 PointsHosting your own wordpress site and hosting your own site are the exact same cost.
You just choose a hosting provider and install wordpress.
Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsI already have web hosting for my personal website, and purchased another domain for my ecommerce site and hosting it from my current hosting package. I have installed wordpress onto the domain from my control panel so far but thats about where my knowledge ends of what to do next. whether I learn wordpress and make it from that (which I guess is the PHP course) or create my own ecommerce website from scratch (would need much more learning). I do however really like the idea of a CMS so I can easily add / delete products easily.
Wayne Priestley
19,579 PointsI think your own site plus CMS would be more satisfying and more customisable.
Steve Smith
12,955 PointsGo through the WordPress tracks here on Treehouse, you don't have to be a PHP wizard to customize a WordPress install, so don't get hung up on PHP at the start. Look at WooCommerce - http://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/ - it's free, well supported and documented, and there are a number of themes available that integrate it nicely already, which will save you a lot of time getting up and running.
I would strongly suggest, if you've got products you're trying to sell, that you start simple with an established CMS/eCommerce rig like WordPress/WooCommerce and customize the site and shopping solution as you go and as you get more comfortable.
Setting out to build your own shopping solution is not an insignificant task, so you need to ask yourself are you a business owner who wants to sell products and have control over his website, or a web developer who wants an excuse to build a shopping cart solution? The answer to that question should help you determine what the best direction is to fit your specific needs.
Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsThanks for your feedback, really helped me a lot.
I'm a business owner who wants to sell products mainly online, with a retail unit to hold stock & other services. I am hoping my main income would be from my ecommerce store so making it easy to navigate for my customers is a must.
I will take the wordpress track and see how I get on from there, I have always wanted to learn to code anyway so many courses on this website are very benificial to me.
Steve Smith
12,955 PointsGlad I could help. Good luck, and if you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to ask!
Steve Smith
12,955 PointsI've just been browsing the sessions here, and there's one specifically on WordPress and WooCommerce - http://teamtreehouse.com/library/how-to-build-an-ecommerce-site-using-wordpress-woocommerce - It's coming in November, so you've got time to go through the full WordPress track first (which I you should do), but I think you've got everything you need here to get up and running.
Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsGreat, I will check all that out then thank you! I notice that because i'm just a regular member I only get a sneak preview of that video so I will wait until november for it. I have enough tracks to keep me busy until then anyway.
Nathaniel Whitfield
1,406 PointsGreat thank you very much, now what begs for the next question, which CMS would you use?
Wayne Priestley
19,579 PointsIf I were you I'd take a look at a few and get a feel for which ones you think will suit your needs, them once you have it narrowed down, ask on the forum and see who has anything to say about your choices.
I'd recommend Pagelime.
Holt Hunter
4,629 PointsI would recommend using Wordpress if already have it setup with hosting. It is easier and also almost just as customizable as your own site, because you could make your own theme if you wanted to. Treehouse just came out with a course for that. Plus there are thousands of great themes out there for eCommerce. I have played with WooCommerce before and it is easy to setup.
If you do decide to go with Wordpress I would highly recommend all of Treehouse's Wordpress courses.
Holt Hunter
4,629 PointsTreehouse's new course: Wordpress Theme Development