Spicy Dragon Designs is the digital kitchen where the perfect blend of art and technology come together to produce savory web sites, business cards and many more exquisite dishes!

BACK

Register your Domain Name

The first step in any web project is to register a domain name. Because there are millions of websites out there, many domain names are already taken. We will work with you to find the most suitable domain name for your website.

Establish your Hosting

In order for your website to appear on the web when someone enters your domain name, your website needs a place to "reside." This place is called a hosting server. To reserve space on a hosting server, you must purchase an account from a Hosting company. Just like renting an apartment - your Domain Name is the address, your Hosting server is the apartment itself.

Manage your Content

Many of our clients wish to maintain their own website once it is posted. This allows you the freedom to make real-time updates any time you want without having to rely on anyone else.

Knowledge Center

Visit our Spicy Dragon Knowledge Center for detailed instructions on common tasks related to your site.

Register your Domain Name

$15 per year per domain

This step is to purchase your domain name. Once you do this, you will own your domain name as long as you continue to renew it each year. After purchasing your domain name, you will use a different company to host your website. (See Establish Your Hosting Account.)

  • Go to: www.directnic.com
  • Click on the Sign Up tab at top
  • Enter all your information and click Next
  • Confirm your information and click Submit
  • An activation code will be emailed to the address you submitted
  • When you receive this email, click on the link that says, Click Here to Activate Account
  • This will take you to the Sign-In page where you will enter your User Name and Password
  • In the Search field, enter the domain name you desire (without the "www.")and click Search
  • This will show you a list of available domain names. Because we have researched this ahead of time, your desired domain name should be in the Nearest Match box at top.
  • Click on the plus sign to Add to Cart
  • Follow the prompts to purchase your domain name and complete your transaction
  • It is important that you file and keep the confirmation emails you receive regarding your new Directnic account.
  • Please also forward your confirmation emails along with your directNic User Name and Password to admin@spicydragon.com. We cannot begin working on your website without this information.
  • As always, if you have questions we are happy to help! Just give us a call at 404-377-3484 and we'll walk you through the process.

Establish Your Hosting Account

This step is to purchase space on a hosting server. This server, or web host, will hold your website files and post them to the internet to be available for viewing by your users.

We recommend CrystalTech Hosting, with reliable hosting for a low price and excellent support. If there is another company you prefer to use, just let us know and we'll be happy to look into it.

Value Shared Hosting

$35.40 for 15 months paid in advance ($2.36/mo) Recommended
OR $2.95 per month + $2.95 set-up fee

Intermediate Shared Hosting

$107.40 for 15 months paid in advance ($7.16/mo) Recommended
OR $8.95 per month + $8.95 set-up fee

We will help you decide which type of hosting plan your website will require before you establish your account.

  • Go to: www.crystaltech.com
  • Click on the RED "Order Now" button on the TOP RIGHT (ignore the large green button in the middle of the screen.)
  • Click on: Personal/Business Shared Hosting
  • Hit the "New Customer" radio button, then click Next
  • Enter your information
  • Under Contact Info, enter your own email address as the primary, and enter "admin@spicydragon.com" as the secondary
  • Under "How did you hear about u s?" scroll to the bottom of the list and select "Web Designer", then enter "spicydragon.com" (without the www.) as the referring domain. Hit Next Step.
  • This screen will take you to the Payment window where you will enter your Credit Card Number
  • From here follow the prompts to complete the transaction
  • Be sure to select the correct plan (Value or Intermediate) and choose the full year's payment to receive the discounted price
  • It is critical that you file and keep the confirmation emails you receive regarding your new CrystalTech account.
  • Please also forward your confirmation emails along with your CrystalTech User Name and Password to admin@spicydragon.com. We cannot begin working on your website without this information.
  • As always, if you have questions we are happy to help! Just give us a call at 404-377-3484 and we'll walk you through the process.

Contribute

Contribute is the ideal software application for business owners who want to update their own website without having to contact a developer each month or pay monthly maintenance fees.

Please contact us before you plan to download Contribute and we will send you our Contribute User Guide. We ask that you read this fully before beginning to edit your website.

$149 per copy

One copy must be purchased for each computer it will be installed on.

  • Go to www.adobe.com/contribute
  • Click on the Buy link for $149
  • Follow the prompts to purchase and download Contribute
  • Ignore the "Related Product" suggestions, you don't need them
  • Contact us after you have it installed on your computer
  • We will then send you a connection key, which will give you access to your website pages

All About Images

Photographs must be contained to a certain size in order to work efficiently on the web. When speaking of size, there are 2 things to consider. There is much more information on images in our Contribute User Guide. Please read fully before beginning to edit your pages or add/modify images.

  • The physical size of the image is the height and width in terms of pixels. An example is an image that is 100px x 150px.
  • The DPI translates to "dots per inch." An example is an image that is 72dpi or one that is 300dpi.
  • Before placing any image on your website, make sure that the dpi is not higher than 72, and that the physical size of the image is within the 100px - 200px range for a standard image on a page.
  • If you will be uploading images to your site, you must use an image editing tool. We recommend a free online tool called WebResizer. Visit our Knowledge Center for documentation on how to use WebResizer to crop and resize images.

Preparing your site for Search Engines

Search engines will index your site as people conduct searches. It is important that you have the proper metadata embedded into your site pages so that the search engines index your site properly. Please provide a one line description of your business and services.
For example: " The Lee Davies Team, selling homes since 1986. " You will also need to develop a set of keywords and phrases.
For example: "portland homes for sale, oregon real estate, shop for home, portland real estate, portland realtor, shopforhomes, lee davies, sell my home, buy my home, portland homes, oregon homes, buying home, selling home, realestate, the lee davies team, neighborhood reports" Click here to read more about preparing your site for search engines.

BACK