Recommended Personal Websites

[Ed012]

I have browsed through a search for information on personal websites and as informative as they are there was no mention of brands of websites.

I am retired and would like to set up as quickly as possible as time is precious. Is there a brand that a majority of video makers prefer. I would use it to present my travel videos. I noted in some of the discussions that the videos are usually uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo then embedded in the personal website. Can anyone recommend a website brand that I could design and run and would not take too long to master. Also, is it possible to edit videos on the website and to prevent downloading.

[Steve Grisetti]

Are you planning to program and code your own site or do you want a pre-designed site you just drop your information into?

You can do this kind of thing as automatically or as hands-on as you'd like.

[Bill Sprague]

Ed012  wrote

Also, is it possible to edit videos on the website and to prevent downloading.

I can't help with building a website other than to say I've read that Squarespace and GoDaddy are popular options. 

Rather than a website, I share my videos with a Vimeo account that I buy for $50 a year.  They give me a "channel" that includes my name "Bill Sprague on Vimeo" or "vimeo.com/billsprague".   It is very easy to enjoy editing in Premiere Elements and then upload a final version.  It is also very easy to control what can be done with the video, including allowing it to be viewed but not downloaded.  

There are different account options from free up.  The more expensive ones allow a "professional" option so that your "channel" shows viewers no reference to Vimeo as the host.

Here is a screen shot of the control choices:

[Ed012 · Accepted solution]

I don't have a background in coding; my subject was Fine Art; Painting and Printmaking but to survive I learned Desktop Publishing and Technical Illustration; Adobe Illustrator, Quark XPress and AutoCAD. I was hoping that a product would be available that would allow me to design in a similar way to working in Quark. I don't want to spend too much time learning how to use it as now I am retired I have lots of interests to keep me busy including painting.

The screenshot of the Vimeo page is very encouraging and I will definitely consider that product. GoDaddy has been advertised on UK TV recently but I haven't visited the website yet. One of my nephews mentioned Wordpress.

My travel presentations usually have a duration of 90minutes; are there limitations on the websites mentioned? I read when browsing the results of my search on recommended websites that one person usually creates travel videos that last for three hours. One of the replies recommended timespans of around 8 minutes, otherwise the viewers would fall asleep. That would be like going to the cinema and instead of watching the full-length film (movie) an 8 minute trailer was screened instead. I think that everyone would ask for a return of their money.

In recent years one of the Scandinavian countries, I think it was Norway, streamed live footage of a river/fjord journey without background music or commentary. The BBC later screened, on TV, a lengthy programme of the 'dawn chorus' in urban and suburban landscapes, again with no background music or commentary; only fade-in fade-out text of the details of each bird that was producing the call.

There was a similar BBC TV programme of a bus journey from Richmond to Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales. The engine was barely audible and apart from the feint voices of the passengers as they boarded and alighted there was pure silence. Fade-in fade out text occasionally highlighted landmarks or the types of crops that were growing in the fields. I think that there is a demand for this type of programme as there were positive letters in newspapers from viewers.

I remember years ago when the film 'Gettysburg' was released here in the UK. I think it lasted for 4 hours and in the interval most of the audience gathered in the foyer and there was an SAS-like bonding. I didn't notice anyone falling asleep during the movie.

Thanks to both of you for your help.