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Fisicx, Just wanted to thank you for all the advice so far. So I am going to start again, delete everything I have tried so far and follow your advice. So I will try experimenting with WP and blocks, as I will need ecommerce, how would that work ? As in will I need a theme or plugin to do that ? Forgive me as I am a little confused with regard to themes, Just been watching how to build a Website using WP without a them as I thought that was how you would build a website without a page builder, but you say choose a theme, I thought that then takes you back page builders to edit, as there are lots of pre installed elements in a theme, presumably not just blocks ? Perhaps I am misunderstanding something ? Are there any themes that you could suggest that would be good for someone with limited experience, bearing in mind that I need ecommerce ? Thanks again

"Learn how to use blocks" So are you saying learn how to code or use HTML ? I thought you needed to know more than just how to add blocks to build a nice looking website with all the different elements ? There are many people using wordpress, page builders and if memory serves me correctly, elementor runs around half a million websites. Perhaps you could substantiate why "It's a rubbish way to build anything"

I have been watching through some of the elementor tutorials over on YT and although they are all helpful in some ways, it seems when you try to get your own page up using a template, thins don't happen as they should. I have built websites in the past, nothing terribly complex, but all the basic elements, but this elementor is a f=different ball game, as soon as you alter one parameter it throws everything out in mobile view or tablet, I know this isn't unusual in itself, but am I better off just starting from scratch and not bothering with templates ? as I'm finding it difficult implementing certain things when using templates. Just getting a home page together is proving to be epic ! Any help would be much appreciated

Just wondered if anyone knows why my main menu is only showing up in wordpress and not in elementor ?

So what are the advantages of paying for hosting, I have been looking at some of the UK providers and they seem very reasonable "Unlimited web hosting seems really reasonable and get top marks on Trustpilot £3.99 per month seems reasonable and the tech support is meant to be excellent, for example if you are having a problem with your web site they can help you sort out any issues.

Which is the best app for digital downloads ? I see these when I search, but it is unclear as to what pricing is as they say free but when you look closer they all seem to charge ? Sky Pilot. FetchApp. Single Music. ShopShare. Digital Downloads. SendOwl.

What are your thoughts/experience on shopify ? Woo Commerce ? Is woo commerce something I should look at, given my requirements above ? How does it compare to other option Wordpress and hosting ?

Thank you Rich for taking the time to post. So like I said above I guess the next thing is what are some good UK hosts. This being a web developers forum, I'm guessing some folks can help me with that. I wouldn't mind going the wordpress route if you folks think that would be a better option than Shopify, but if there is only a few pounds difference would shopify be worth it for the ease of use/speed of getting a store up and running ? Shopify basic £19 Shopify ( Best for growing business ) £49 I am guessing that those prices cover most fees, may be a small additional fee for digital downloads

Fisicx thanks so much for all your advice, it really is appreciated. I was thinking of going that way but then I read quite a lot of folks really struggled with Wordpress, which put me off somewhat, I suppose because I don't want to be held up. But perhaps unlike the others folks I have had a little experience doing the drag and drop type website, so maybe I could get away with it. I am guessing if I were to go that way, you still need to park your site somewhere and set up credit card payments ? So with regard to UK hosting, where would you suggest I try if I were to go with the Wordpress option ? Also is there a specific plugin that is good for handling payments ? Any help would be much appreciated. As I will be selling digital products, i'm guessing it will be important to get the right hosting as I may need a fair bit of storage for selling video files which can be large. One thing that slightly confuses me is, do hosts have wordpress for you to use or is it completely separate. Perhaps you might know of a tutorial/explanation ?

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond really do appreciate it. I think shopify can probably serve my needs at least as a start up, I will not be getting even hundreds of hits per day, let alone thousands so, they will be nice problems to have if it ever comes to that. I've bought a domain which I can use there, there is a plugin/App for digital downloads and I think as a starting point it should be ok. I realise it may not be the best solution long term, but it will be far cheaper than having a designer do something and given the amount of sales I will get I can't justify overspending on it at this stage.

Hey thanks, for taking the time to get back to me. I'm guessing you don't have to be a rocket scientist to build site these days. I built one years ago that I listed above granted it's basic, but it did what I wanted it to do. My understanding is that where you host your site matters in terms of what you are looking to do. For example if you are looking to sell a ton of digital products, one may be better than another, if you are looking to have paid memberships, one may be better than another etc. I think depending on what you want will determine if you need a pro builder ? Or are you saying it is very difficult to build a drag and drop type website, with a few digital products ? At what stage do you feel a pro is needed then ?

Hey Guys, Just wondered if anyone could help. I have a YT channel and am finding that most of my content is discovered via google as opposed to YT is there any reason for that ? I would like it the other way around but not sure if there is a way to do that here is a link to my channel ?

Hey guys, I know this is a really broad question, but I am looking to build a website where I can sell digital products, ie guitar courses and lessons as well as a membership/subscription service. I have created a basic weebly here https://joesguitarlessons.weebly.com/ this is obviously very amateur and not e commenced. I have been looking around and it is only the big players who tend to come up on the searches and maybe that is the way to go, when you start talking about taking peoples credit card details etc, like I say I don't know the answers to these questions and figured this is the place to ask the questions. Any help would be much appreciated. I would also like to keep it simple as I can't do coding etc, so I guess that will limit my options somewhat. So something straightforward and quick to get something up and running, would be good. Thanks