carjam

kdarrell, So are you purchasing a developed website, or just the domain? Purchasing a domain is tricky to do right, but purchasing a website is extremely hard to do right. That is because you are not just purchasing a site. You are purchasing a business with all of its problems and inside secrets. You must trust the word of your seller even if you do have a purchase agreement that is heavily protective of the buyer. What if your seller says the business only takes an hour a week to maintain, and after you buy the site you find out that the seller never answered customer service emails and just did the bare minimum. You find yourself spending hours a day on a site that you were made to believe only took an hour a week. Not to say you shouldn't ever buy a developed site, just to say that you should be careful doing so and don't expect honesty. Better to expect half truths, then you can plan a little more appropriately and maybe even be pleasantly surprised if it actually works out the way the seller said it would. Gosh, I hope that is what you meant because if it wasn't then I feel quite stupid right now.

I bought a website that utilizes PHP/MySQL but I'm afraid I know very little about it. Anyone know of a good book that helps beginners out? I'm kind of a special case because I've got this developed site, yet I don't know PHP/MySQL. So far I've gotten by with the use of freelance programmers but eventually I would like to know what I'm looking at.

I've found it helpful to know just a bit of the language in order to design properly. It's good to at least know what is possible and what isn't. I like the online video classes like Lynda.com I've found that to be the closest thing to a real teacher. Thanks for your opinions about PHP and MySQL. It is my opinion as well...though I know little about it, seems like FREE is a really big factor to consider.

Melos, You are right that it isn't the easiest download there is. If you've got windows then go here: GIMP windows download and read the directions carefully. Remember that you need to install the help files after you've installed the application so you'll have to come back to do that.

How long is a website in the Google sandbox when it is first created? Is it 6 months or a year or more? Does it depend on the competitive nature of the keyword that the website is optimizing for?

My husband is a programmer and wants to learn .NET. He wants any website we create to be in .NET. I don't like that idea because then we will have to go with windows hosting and pay for software licenses. Any thoughts?

Free. That's the best thing about G.I.M.P. but that is not all it has going for it. Don't think cheap when you think GIMP & FREE. GIMP is powerful. It rivals Photoshop any day, with features that you'll use all the time and others that will come in handy for special creative projects. There has NEVER been a time that I thought, "gee, if I only had Photoshop". Anyway...that's my 2 cents, what do you think?