Dumitru and My New Website!

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Arks

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I'm so happy to have a new website! My old site from 2014 was like an old car. It still ran, but things kept breaking with every WordPress update, and some of the breaks became almost irreparable because the old theme I was using was no longer supported or updated by the author. I put off rebuilding with a more modern theme, not because of the cost, but because I didn't know how to build a new website without breaking the old site that people still needed to access daily.

Dumitru, a freelance web developer & photographer based in Europe, has been here on Innspiring for years, offering helpful suggestions, and he recently freely offered our Innspiring group use of any one of his many WordPress themes, which were all developed with hotels and B&Bs in mind.

As he told us, it's much better to use a purpose-built theme than a "one size fits all" beast that's full of things most of us would never need, in an effort to be all things to all people. By keeping his themes focused, they don't require the constant fixes and updates as WordPress changes things. And I was able to eliminate a lot of plugins I'd installed over the years to do things my old theme didn't offer. Dumitru's theme does what a hotel site needs, natively.

I tried to get him to accept payment for a theme and his help, but he didn't seem interested in that. He exported my old website to a temporary sub-domain on his own site, where I was able to learn the features of the theme. He set up a few basics, like a homepage and menu system, then I was able to take over and spend as much time as I needed to learn how to do things.

He has several wonderful, brief, You Tube educational videos that guide you through many of the theme features you might never discover on your own, and they give a nice sample of his great Romanian accent! I'd say it took me about 8 hours to rebuild the old website with the new theme.

I just created new pages and copied info from the old website to paste into the new one. The ground-up rebuild let me build a much leaner site, for, as this post shows, I can be a bit wordy, and I found lots I could cut out from the old site, while still giving site visitors all they needed.

Once I had it built, it took me about 4 hours to export the new site from Dumitru's sub-domain, install it on my own website, and tweak things. I'm still tweaking, but I'm very happy with the final product. I just wish I could use the beautiful European buildings and landscapes from Dumitru's sample sites!

In the end, I went with a theme that displays a huge, fill-the-screen slideshow on the homepage. <- select the link to see Dumitru's demo page of the theme I picked.

I know we worry that a fill-the-screen photo means people won't realize they need to scroll down to see more info, but I think that's a problem with very few people and it's outweighed by the awesome beauty of the huge photos. They really are worth a thousand words, and I think they will sell people on wanting to book one of those rooms!

Private message me if you want a link to my new site.
 
Thank you, Dumitru. It was so nice of you to help Arks. He is a good guy too.
Well as long as we're complimenting each other, let me say that Gillum is...
  • Tough as nails and sharp as a tack.
  • As fair as a person can be.
  • And will do way more than reasonably expected to help anybody in need.
 
Well as long as we're complimenting each other, let me say that Gillum is...
  • Tough as nails and sharp as a tack.
  • As fair as a person can be.
  • And will do way more than reasonably expected to help anybody in need.

Ahhhhhh shucks. Thanks, Arks. I try.
 
Fabulous! What a generous thing to do!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful news.

Hoping for a successful 2021
and
Happy Chinese New Year! Year of the Ox, said to be hardworking and honest.
 
I'm so happy to have a new website! My old site from 2014 was like an old car. It still ran, but things kept breaking with every WordPress update, and some of the breaks became almost irreparable because the old theme I was using was no longer supported or updated by the author. I put off rebuilding with a more modern theme, not because of the cost, but because I didn't know how to build a new website without breaking the old site that people still needed to access daily.

Dumitru, a freelance web developer & photographer based in Europe, has been here on Innspiring for years, offering helpful suggestions, and he recently freely offered our Innspiring group use of any one of his many WordPress themes, which were all developed with hotels and B&Bs in mind.

As he told us, it's much better to use a purpose-built theme than a "one size fits all" beast that's full of things most of us would never need, in an effort to be all things to all people. By keeping his themes focused, they don't require the constant fixes and updates as WordPress changes things. And I was able to eliminate a lot of plugins I'd installed over the years to do things my old theme didn't offer. Dumitru's theme does what a hotel site needs, natively.

I tried to get him to accept payment for a theme and his help, but he didn't seem interested in that. He exported my old website to a temporary sub-domain on his own site, where I was able to learn the features of the theme. He set up a few basics, like a homepage and menu system, then I was able to take over and spend as much time as I needed to learn how to do things.

He has several wonderful, brief, You Tube educational videos that guide you through many of the theme features you might never discover on your own, and they give a nice sample of his great Romanian accent! I'd say it took me about 8 hours to rebuild the old website with the new theme.

I just created new pages and copied info from the old website to paste into the new one. The ground-up rebuild let me build a much leaner site, for, as this post shows, I can be a bit wordy, and I found lots I could cut out from the old site, while still giving site visitors all they needed.

Once I had it built, it took me about 4 hours to export the new site from Dumitru's sub-domain, install it on my own website, and tweak things. I'm still tweaking, but I'm very happy with the final product. I just wish I could use the beautiful European buildings and landscapes from Dumitru's sample sites!

In the end, I went with a theme that displays a huge, fill-the-screen slideshow on the homepage. <- select the link to see Dumitru's demo page of the theme I picked.

I know we worry that a fill-the-screen photo means people won't realize they need to scroll down to see more info, but I think that's a problem with very few people and it's outweighed by the awesome beauty of the huge photos. They really are worth a thousand words, and I think they will sell people on wanting to book one of those rooms!

Private message me if you want a link to my new site.
I would love to see it please send link
 
All I can say is “Wow!”
Beautiful website and a beautiful accommodation.
 
Yes, lesson well learned! That gift from the Innspiring Road Trippers might have remained hanging from the ceiling fan for months if they hadn't texted me from the road, reminding me to look up...where they had left a huge bra on one of the fan blades.

Au Contraire, my friend. Bad memory I am certain, but it was not a bra (to expensive to toss. THIS is what was there with a bow added (got the bow when we stayed with Hillbilly - his was hanging on the bathroom do cuz no fan). We had one for each stop but cannot remember if it was you or Hillbilly who told about it. (and they were purchased especially for that trip in the largest size I could find)
Messagewasleft-gillumhouse.JPG
 
He's really a great guy.
Indeed he is! Knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, the whole Boy Scout Law! (Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, etc.)

His themes are hotel/BnB focused, so they don't have all the extra stuff most themes have to appeal to a broad audience, and since they don't have so much extra, they don't "break" as often when WordPress gets updates. It's definitely the way to go.
 
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