Ah, requirements capture! I do software development full time (currently doing Oracle database development but I've done loads of other stuff including the NPFS swine flu website) and I also look after the Bad Company shop and Gracie Barra Leeds websites as well as my own personal stuff. The first thing to consider is what the site is actually for. Not much point having a really flashy site if it doesn't provide the information needed. A gym website needs details of where the gym is and what happens there, a class timetable, costs, equipment needed, and contact details for the instructor at the very least. You would probably also want to add gym news and history, an introduction to the sport, photos of the place and the training team, and details of the fighting team or gradings. On top of that you can add things like links to other sites and any extra information you might want.
The easiest way to create a website is to use a content management system like Joomla or Wordpress. This means you can create and maintain articles through something that looks like a word processor without having to know HTML. It also makes the pages a lot more consistent and you only need to change a template if you want to update the colours instead of having to go through every page individually. The old GB Leeds website is Joomla and the new one will be in Wordpress. If you want an online shop like the Bad Company one there are specialist packages for that like osCommerce. While you
can setup an online forum it's probably better to set up a Facebook group because it saves on having to delete spam registrations (at one point the old Bad Co forum was getting around 40 - 50 a day) and more people will be able to find and use it.
Some of my pet hates on websites are:
- Embedded music that starts automatically
- cheesy pictures that everyone else uses (Thai boxing sites seem especially prone to two: a baby wearing a mongkol, and someone with a shaved head and mongkol kneeling and leaning forward in the middle of a Ram Muay)
- A "home" page that only says "click here to enter our website". The page you get to after that should be the "home" page
- Spelling mistakes and txtspk. I don't care if people think it makes them look "friendly": writing in standard English looks a lot more professional.
