Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, services like Wordpress, Blogspot and Tumblr all provide blogging/web site services for free. Normally your url reflects their network ie. yoursite.wordpress.com. Some fo these site services offer domain mapping where the domain you have registered can be mapped to your web site on their server.
If you are creating just a blog with just one or two users, then I would stick with Wordpress. It is blogging software and there are lots of plugins that can add the functionality that you need. Drupal is a content management platform that is very powerful but requires work to get it where you want. It is best for multi-user sites that are dynamic and have lots of content, ie whitehouse.gov uses Drupal.
I love Drupal but I recommend it cautiously as it serves some sites better than others. For individuals the learning curve for it is steeper than Wordpress, but at the end of the day you can eventually do more. For just a basic site, whether it be blogging or widget peddling, I would stick with Wordpress because it is easier straight out of the box, and there are tons of great themes you can instantly adopt.
Here is a great blog post that I think explains why Drupal is not for everybody.
http://fenix-solutions.com/blog/2010/01/28/why-youll-hate-drupal/
Drupal is an open source content management tool. It is created and maintained by a worldwide community of web developers and is run on PHP code connecting to a MySQL database. For users it offers an interactive web site which they can contribute to and edit through their browser. drupal.org
No, you do not pay for modules. You can download modules from Drupal.org. If you are not the developer for your own site, then the only thing you may have to pay for is the time for a hired web developer to add or configure it for you.
Yes, normally Nexia Design layouts out the basic template on a local machine and will send you snapshots via email of the theme in development. After receiving your feedback and we have arrived at the right aesthetic for you, we would then move it to a test site. From here you will be able to login and become familiar with the administration process of your web site as well as begin to upload content and images.
Recommended mail services are:
Mail Chimp - http://www.mailchimp.com/
Campaign Monitor - http://www.campaignmonitor.com/
Both have an API key that can be tied into a Drupal site. Which means people can subscribe online to one or multiple lists and it is automatically sent to your email newsletter account.
For a mailing list of under 500 subscribers Mail Chimp is free.
Campaign Monitor offers a free trial.
