See more in my portfolio entry here:
general announcements
SSL – Eight Reasons to Implement SSL Encryption Now
Hannah West Design Now Secure!
Hannah West Design is now secured with a brand new SSL certificate! On January 14, we migrated www.hannahwestdesign.com to a new hosting service. This is NameCheap hosting, which we want to try out on behalf of our starving artist clients to find out if hosting service compares well to other hosts who don’t have the same affordable pricing.
In addition, Google is now promoting sites that are protected with SSL encryption and demoting those without it by placing an “Unsecured Site” flag (similar to the “This site might be hacked” flag we sometimes see) next to any website which does not have SSL. This is part of a widespread movement to encrypt the web (Learn more at Let’sEncrypt.org). With that in mind, we decided to make the switch to SSL encryption at the same time. As a result, our updated address is https://www.hannahwestdesign.com. We’re proud of that beautiful green padlock displaying in the address bar now!
What is SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. A correctly installed SSL certificate encrypts all information transmitted to and from your website. This protects your private information when visiting the site, from which pages you visit to sharing to submitting contact forms to purchasing online. Websites with contact forms, login pages, online shops, etc. can all benefit from the added security provided by this encryption. Visitors will feel more secure interacting with your site, which is a huge bonus. Importantly, each certificate comes with a guarantee, so if a malicious entity subjects you to liability for damage to a visitor, you will receive a settlement form the certificate issuer. This amount varies with the level of certificate used, but starts at $10,000.
There was a time when conventional wisdom said that applying SSL to an entire website would make its pages load more slowly. However, recent advice from numerous experts in the field now assures us that the opposite is now true. And we are seeing our website load with a bit more spring in its step today…the ultimate proof.
Implementing SSL
The process of implementing SSL can be simple and painless, but it can also be rather harrowing. For me it was somewhere in between those extremes. I have been through this before on client sites as well. While some need extra attention for various reasons, most of the time it’s complete—including all the content tweaks needed for that lovely green padlock to display—in 2–4 hours.
To increase your standing with the search engines, additional tasks are necessary. Once the SSL is in place, we need to make adjustments in Google Webmaster Tools so they can direct traffic to the secure version of your site. We also need to adjust your Google Analytics account so traffic stats will continue to be collected accurately.
Pricing and Other Requirements
Many things related to SSL certificates have changed in the last couple of years. For one thing, they used to be very expensive. While prices for certificates to protect sites that don’t involve e-commerce have become quite affordable, there are now free certificates available from Let’s Encrypt. The catch is that not all hosts have a quick and easy way to install them and the process of doing it manually can take a good deal of time. Furthermore, some hosts—like Ipower—refuse to allow third-party certificates to be installed on their servers. While we could have used Cloudflare on our site, we opted for a Comodo Positive SSL certificate, which NameCheap offers for only $1.99 the first year. Renewals are a very reasonable $9.00/year with discounts for advance purchase up to three years. That’s a big discount from the same certificate on Ipower ($31.99) and Bluehost’s for $4.17/month. What’s the catch? You have to have your website hosted with NameCheap too. Also very inexpensive, so definitely worth considering.
Previously you had to have a dedicated IP address (the numerical equivalent of your web address) for an SSL certificate. This meant you had to have private hosting (expensive) or pay a monthly fee of $4.99-6.99 PER MONTH to have a dedicated IP added to your otherwise reasonably-priced shared hosting. Because unique IP addresses have become more and more rare, this prerequisite has been lifted by many certificate issuers and hosts. Instead, they tie the certificate identity to the domain instead of the server IP. All this has made SSL encryption more affordable to the average website owner. The benefits are greater now too.
Benefits of SSL Encryption
Some hosts provide free SSL certificates, but most do not. These free certificates may have downsides you’d rather not deal with. We found that Bluehost’s free SSL, issued by Comodo, only covers the root domain (https://your-domain.com) and NOT the www version. Big problem for sites installed with www.your-domain.com addresses. We can avoid this with the use of Cloudflare. Though it’s a completely different setup, their free certificate will cover both the bare domain and the www version. Entry-level SSL certificates have become much more affordable than they once were, too.
I’m ready to begin helping others to make this important change as well. I’ve learned the ins and outs of what is possible and what is not on several hosts. I can inform you of your options and advise you on which is the best choice for the money.
If you’re not sure you even want to deal with this undertaking or not, please consider the benefits:
- Receive payments through your ecommerce website – Most payment gateways now require SSL, even PayPal
- Give your visitors greater confidence in the security of their transactions, interactions with your site, and personal information
- Limit liability for identity theft
- Boost page load times
- Greater protection from hackers
- Prevent unknown people snooping on activity to and from your website
- Boost your SEO
- Participate in the movement to encrypt the entire web
Are you ready to apply SSL to your own website and enjoy these benefits? Please contact me!
Client Websites
If you need a new website or another online service, please use the links below to visit some of the client websites I have designed. I’ve been doing this long enough now that some of the sites I’ve designed and redesigned are offline due to retirement and other reasons. Many of them are also represented on my Portfolio page, where you can read my comments about the project. While I’m always happy to start from scratch when building new sites, any one of the sites below could be reproduced and updated with your own content to save on costs.
Oh, it’s SO embarrassing! As they say, the cobbler’s kids go barefoot…and the web designer’s website chronically needs updating! I am currently managing maintenance and content updates for over 70 websites, and the list continues to grow. I’ve updated this list of client websites as of July 30, 2022.
I experienced some important life changes in 2022. As a result, I now work from a new location in Talent, Oregon. New websites and redesign projects are underway, with more waiting in the wings, so I anticipate further updates to this page before long.
** E-Commerce examples
*** Custom websites I’m exceptionally proud to have created, redesigned, and/or customized.
Web Design Client Website Links:
Small Business Client Websites
- Transcend Healing – NEW! 2022 New Website. Kate Huckert of MetaPhysical Therapy & Pilates decided to go into life coaching in partnership with her Canadian friend, Lisa, an established spiritual healer and coach. Initially, we combined all their information into a new page on Kate’s existing website, but their accountants objected. Therefore we separated the content, creating a new website for Lisa in the process. She was meticulous with every detail and the end result is a beautiful site that could be adapted for just about any solopreneur. We launched in January 2022, and she keeps me on for regular maintenance and adding occasional blog posts.
- Thermeshade – Inspired by the work I had done for a close friend of hers, Diana Eastman hired me to help her bring her own website up to speed in time for a large convention for her industry. We combed through the site, element by element, cleaning up the layout of each page and updating the content as we went. It was a thoroughly effective project, completed in April 2022—in time for her to prepare for her convention and inspiring her to refer me to others in her industry.
- Beck Physical Therapy – NEW! 2022 redesign. I had been maintaining the website of this New York physical therapist for some time when the unthinkable happened. It crashed and crashed hard. The site was originally created nearly two decades prior by another designer and the theme’s code had become so outdated that it wasn’t playing nice with the plugins. There was simply nothing I could do to rescue it but to abandon the theme and recreate the site with a new one. They consented to my suggestion that we convert the site to Divi and took advantage of the opportunity to update the content and restore some lost content in the process. It’s now happy and easy to maintain, causing the owners no problems and serving their business effectively.
- Nancy F Clark – NEW! Late 2021 launch. A former rocket scientist with JPL, Director of Forbes WomensMedia for 8 years, artist, and author of the book, Positivity Daily, Nancy hid her fascination with channeling from friends and colleagues for many years. Then she decided that she wanted to share the information she had gained from sifting through many channelers and determining which were legit and which were not bothering with and why. Her courses educate the public about discerning between channelers, which channelers she respects and why, and more about channeling in general. this was an on-again-off-again project that took years to complete, but the streamlined result is working for her.
- ** ***The Glass Forge – 2020 new website. An established client referred The Glass Forge, a long-running and successful Grants Pass business, to me for a complete redesign of their website from the ground up. In addition, e-commerce was added to it using WooCommerce to power their online shop. It was slow to get off the ground, but once we built up some steam, it went smoothly. Their artistic glass products are so beautiful that it was a joy to create. They had apparently done a remarkable job promoting their business prior to this because they received orders through the website within a day of its launch—something I had never seen before! The owner told me he felt the website came out a lot better—both as far as esthetics and functionality— than he had expected. That is one of the side benefits of the work I do…the big smiles such compliments put on my face and the long, productive relationships that arise from doing solid work! The gorgeous glass items in the shop are a must-see when you check out their website.
- Jacksonville Tax Lady – 2020 website conversion to WordPress and Redesign. We based the new design on another website that the co-owner I worked with had been involve din and this worked out very well. It was so easy to work with her and she was so happy with her rejuvenated site once it was done!
- ** ***DriFlower™ The Original HangHarvesting™ System – 2020 new ecommerce website. The site went live on Saturday, August 1, after starting work on June 3. Many grateful thanks to DriFlower founder and CEO Jay Larkins for the opportunity! Kudos to Marketing Director Jon Griffin for a productive working partnership on the site design and content. (side note: Jon also hired me to maintain two websites he has for his own businesses, MrJonGriffin.com and Lunazen.com.) #DriFlower makes #hangharvesting equipment that reduces harvest time and cost while preserving precious flower from harvest to trim. Revolutionizing the cannabis and hemp industries with game-changing harvest equipment! Learn more about this client’s website project here.
- *** Giclée Yoshimatsu – 2019 new website. A dear friend of another client of mine, the proprietor of Giclée Yoshimatsu decided it was time for a website to complement his flourishing fine art printing business. I’m grateful that he chose me to do the work, as it’s a lovely, minimalist site with certain traits that set it apart from the rest. Yoshimatsu offers fine art printing both in Arkansas where he’s based and throughout the West. He also does his own fine art photography, which you can see on the site. He has connections to places where West Coast artists can show in the Southwest, making him a doubly valuable ally. Artist Genie Talbott, mentioned below in the Websites for Artists section, has used him for her fine art prints for years. Artist Brenda Mills Brannan, mentioned below in the Websites for Artists section, liked the layout of his new website so much that we used it for her new website, too. Thanks for the referral, Genie!
- *** Tachi Skin Care – 2019 HTML to WordPress conversion and hosting migration for an aesthetician who started her practice in southern Oregon but needed a fresh online presentation after moving to Portland. We preserved the design of her existing website while converting it to the WordPress platform, adding new content and features, and hooking her up with a blog and Mailchimp newsletters. Thanks for the referral, John!
- ***Spa Jacksonville – 2018 HTML to WordPress conversion and hosting migration for a long-established and beloved local business. We largely preserved the minimalist, clean and spare design while adding new content and features, including bios for each of the professionals on staff. Look for a new e-commerce feature (Square) with Spa’s custom skincare products AND for the therapists of Spa to begin blogging soon! Thanks for the referral, Mary!
- ** ***American Memorycraft – 2018 New website for American MemoryCraft in Grants Pass. Owner Eli Beard (also known locally as the owner of Rogue Art Glass) employs 12 master glass blowers to create the company’s gorgeous cremation urns. Photographs of their work made creating a beautiful website a delight, and Eli’s desire to include plenty of interesting historical information and more made it a well-rounded site as far as content, too. The WooCommerce catalog that becomes a full-featured online shop when a member (limited to his wholesale national distributors, which include Forest Lawn and more industry-wide stars) logs in was a complex undertaking, but it’s working beautifully and has prepared me to do more sites along these lines.
- Ryan’s Outpost – 2017 New website, SEO, maintenance, and content updates for the iconic Applegate Valley business.
- ** *** Carpe Diem Papers – 2017 Redesigned website and massive overhaul for an Ashland, Oregon greeting card designer with newly added eCommerce capabilities and Mailchimp integration; ongoing maintenance and content updates.
- *** Mountain Sun Botanicals – 2016 Southern Oregon medical marijuana grower site conversion from html to WordPress, preserving home page design and redesigning subpages, setting up custom Google Suite business emails, SSL. We partially updated the website in mid-2021 but were not able to complete this task by year’s end. They’re super busy and have a small child. Some projects just don’t have to set new land speed records! We hope to be back on track with a more professional design sometime in late 2022.
- *** Meta Physical Therapy & Pilates – 2016 New website, ongoing maintenance. I just love the new website created for H. Kate Huckert, DPT, in 2016. Her fondness for the Oriental aesthetic is expressed beautifully in this layout and design. I have the same soft spot for Asian design so this was particularly rewarding for me.
- *** Ruch Hardware – 2016 New website, SEO, maintenance, and content updates. This site has personality plus, like its owner, and is quite the community hub in the Ruch/Applegate Valley area. Tiffany updates her blog regularly, so it’s a great community resource. See more details about this project.
- Iris Colored Dreams – 2016 New website, SEO, and maintenance for Silhouette, a woman practicing in the blind psychic tradition. In 2020 we added an e-commerce feature so people could subscribe to read her “Tales That Told Themselves” as she releases them. Some of these Tales are in prose form while others are videos. All are fascinating and add a wonderful new dimension to her website.
- C St Bistro – 2015 Website redesign with WordPress conversion, SEO, and ongoing maintenance and content updates for a local casual gourmet restaurant. More details about this project here.
- *** Markwood Heavenly Strings & Cases 2014 Site redesign/conversion to WordPress and content updates for a Talent, OR woman who creates custom harp strings and more. A nicely streamlined site with great graphics-to-text balance. Click to see more about the conversion project. There is more here, too.
- ** *** Dodero Studio Ceramics – For the past few years I have mostly worked with John Dodero on search engine optimization for his Raku pottery e-commerce (WooCommerce) website. Eventually, this emphasis on SEO demanded that we merge his HTML site with his blog in 2014 and convert it from an outdated theme to a modern one that is mobile-friendly while preserving the site’s original design in 2015–early 2016. We continue to work together to add new content, and new products, and keep the search engine optimization…optimized.
- Shosha Yoga – 2011 New website.
Community, Non-Profit & Association Client Websites
- Art Presence Art Center – In 2022, I completed a massive redesign of the original site I designed for this local nonprofit art gallery in 2012. Updated branding and an overhaul of their online “look” and content, this redesign has been a modernization of their online presence. Our ongoing work includes maintenance, social media support, and monthly content updates. I continue to write a monthly article for Art Presence which has been published in the Jacksonville Review since 2010.
- Pastel Artists of Oregon – After hiring me to update content and maintain her website, artist Judy Richardson referred the Pastel Artists of Oregon organization to me for maintenance and periodic content updates. Their original volunteer designer was terrific, but with a young and growing family and a day job, he needed to step aside, leaving them with no support for their online presence. In late 2021 the president of the organization contacted me and in 2022 I started work. We wound up doing more to update and streamline the content than I originally expected, and they have complimented me on how easy I am to collaborate with and the efficiency of my work.
- Miss Cindy’s Neighborhood Nursery School – Referred to me in February 2021 by a former web designer who now runs a successful tech business, Miss Cindy’s website was very dated and had lost/was losing its functionality in many areas. It badly needed a current theme as the old one could not be updated, causing the WordPress core and other elements to be stuck in the same situation. This creates a security risk as well as lost or intermittent functions…not a good look for a very mature nursery school! Cindy was happy with the design, so we migrated the site to her own hosting service. Then I converted it to a modern, supported theme while preserving most of its design and updating other elements, as well as some of the content. She was delighted with the outcome and I’m delighted to have such a wonderful new client!
- Aircraft Design Guide – 2020 New website. My client, Don Chapin, who gave me the redesign/WordPress conversion jobs for buddha-consciousness.org, light-path-resources.org, and militarytruth.org, was a military man and an aerospace engineer earlier in his life. There was a particular project he had been closely involved with over the course of many years. This involved researching materials and creating design recommendations for more effective windshields for military aircraft that would withstand the impact of hitting a bird at jet speeds. When trying to find the extensive research he and his colleague had written up during that time in online military libraries he couldn’t find one thing. It turned out that the lone copy he had of the aircraft windshield design guide they had written was the only one in existence! So he handed me the 2000-page book and asked me to first scan the entire book into a searchable pdf file (a monumental task in itself!) and then create a simple website to share the book with interested parties who might be searching for such a resource. It’s not complex or extensive, but a pride and joy website nonetheless. How often does one get called in to help preserve information gained at great cost that would otherwise be lost forever? I’m honored to have been entrusted with this task. Thank you, Don!
- *** Lithia Artisans Market – 2018 New website for the Lithia Artisans Market (LAMA), in Ashland, Oregon. The volunteers who manage the group’s online presence had been using a free site at WordPress.com for years and decided it was finally time to go for their own self-hosted website. Having access to numerous resources, including their own designer and photographer, made building this site a joy, and the final result sent us all over the moon. We may be adding more features and content to it in the future…if the coronavirus lets this popular outdoor market come back in 2021, that is.
- *** The Buddha Consciousness – 2017 Website migration to new host and redesign for the first of three sites owned by an online free church, Light Path Resources. Ongoing maintenance and content updates, including an entire section on books written and published by the owner and his late wife. In 2021, we are adding content related to the site owner’s new book and an e-commerce feature so he can sell his books directly from his website. I’ll let you know when the new features are fully launched… and you’ll see a couple of extra asterisks in front of the site title here once the shop is online!
- *** Light Path Resources – 2017 Website migration to new host and redesign for the second of three sites owned by an online free church, Light Path Resources. Ongoing maintenance and very frequent content updates.
- *** Military Truth – 2017 Website migration to new host and redesign for a nonprofit seeking to educate people considering enlisting in the Armed Forces so they know what they’re getting into. Ongoing maintenance and very frequent content updates.
- *** Jennifer Faith – 2014 Design, SEO, and maintenance for a site that supports victims of domestic violence and abuse. Best for a blogger with great featured images, as the Home page depends on excerpts for the design. Click here to read more about the project.
- *** Southern Oregon Artists Resource – Launched 1/1/2010, currently being redesigned behind the scenes and will ultimately merge with the blog. This is an example of a successful, large, and very complex project which I created from scratch. I’m eager to get the new site completed and launched!
- Southern Oregon Artists Resource Companion Blog, Art Matters – Launched 3/2010, currently being redesigned behind the scenes and will be merged with the directory site above. Watch for the completion of this enormous project!
Artist Client Websites
- Janet E Higgins – NEW! Grants Pass sculptor, Janet Higgins, asked me to create a new, minimalist website showcasing her uniquely creative and powerful sculptures in time for the opening of an important show of her work at the Grants Pass Museum of Art in July 2022. We finished by the deadline and she was delighted with the results!
- *** Stefan Baumann, Plein Air Artist – In 2020, we completely redesigned Stefan’s website. His response to the new look was “when I go to my website it feels like landing on a big, soft pillow…exactly the feel I was hoping for!” More work to streamline the content is ongoing. This was originally a massive search engine optimization (SEO) project that required reorganizing the entire site’s content and pointing two no longer used, but very SEO-important, domains to his new website. Stefan recently dubbed me the SEO Queen for the success of my work, which enabled him to establish a global artist coaching service. Working with his assistant Kris Baxter, I have also designed and formatted a catalog for a large art show of Stefan’s work in southern California as well as the free e-book he gives to everyone who signs up for his email list.
- Oregon Backroads Author Website – In 2020, Jacksonville author Ed McBee contacted me to redesign his website and update the content upon the publishing of his second book about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, A Twisting Journey Continues. A fairly simple project that was completed quickly and for a very reasonable price.
- Judy Richardson Fine Art – In 2020, Jacksonville fine artist Judy Richardson contacted me because she had lost her previous web designer and needed to update the paintings on her website. Hers was a fairly simple project that was completed quickly for a very reasonable price, and now I maintain the site, standing ready for new content updates whenever she’s ready with new paintings.
- EA Leutkemeyer, Author – In 2019, Jacksonville author Gene Leutkemeyer contacted me to update the content of his website upon the publishing of his second book, Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story. We didn’t completely redesign it, but did update the look with a new logo, rearranged the content, and added a new page for his new book. We usually do a little something each year to add to the content. His books are fascinating – check him out!
- *** Marie’s Baskets – 2019 New website. Marie contacted me to convert her old website to WordPress and freshen the content. It wound up being a bigger job than we anticipated, and the new baskets we added to the site are stunners! The site is lovely, uncluttered, and clean, and the wares are well worth visiting to see!
- *** Glenn J Hill, Author – 2019 New website. I had worked on Glenn’s harp website and his wife’s harp string website for several years when he wrote a book, got it published, and asked me to build a website for it. This was a super fun website to create and it came out really lovely. You might like his book, too, the first in a series of three with more to come soon. Check it out!
- *** Sculptor Jay Warren – 2019 New website. Jay’s Warren Sculpture website had gotten quite dated and he no longer had time to update the content himself, so he approached me to redesign it, moving to the WordPress platform. Jay’s work is no joke – his magnificent life-size bronze statues and monuments have been commissioned by top players, as well as local and state governments across the country. His work is amazing, and his website is now a wonderful setting in which to showcase it. You really must visit to see his bronzes!
- *** Brenda Mills Brannan – 2019 New website. Brenda had just moved to the area and her website had been down for over a year as she and her husband built their new home. I was delighted that she contacted me when she was ready to get back online with a new website! Her art is so beautiful and she chose a design format for her site that’s a departure from the usual. Please check it out and see for yourself!
- *** Indigenous Spirit – 2019 New website. Blindish artist Silhouette created some amazing art as she was losing her eyesight to Graves disease. Check out the amazing videos she made and posted online just for people to enjoy. Thanks for the second website assignment, Silhouette!
- *** Wing Tips HA! 2018 New website. Artist Leslie Dwyer started this site but quickly found herself out of time, so I took it from the bare bones start she had accomplished to completion. Her goal for this website was to establish the value of her Wing Tips — humorous and uniquely rendered single-frame advice “comics” — prior to presenting the idea to publishers so she can print a gift book containing them. Once I had the site completed, Leslie scheduled a years’ worth of Wing Tips to publish one or two every week. She is quickly gaining a devoted following, myself included, which I truly hope ends up in a successful publishing deal for her. Once you’ve seen this one, check out her Design4Peace.com website, with loads of terrific social justice poster designs! Leslie is amazing.
- *** Ray Pague – 2017 New artist website. You must see Ray’s beautiful work and unique style of painting! He and his wife contacted me to create his new website as soon as they moved to southern Oregon from North Carolina, where he is well known for his art. Another artist website of which I’m especially proud.
- ** *** Carpe Diem Papers – 2017 Redesigned website and massive overhaul for an Ashland, Oregon greeting card designer with newly added eCommerce capabilities and newsletter integration; ongoing maintenance and content updates. I can’t begin to say how fun it is to work with Mindy Carpenter. She has (always very circumspectly to be respectful of my time and willingness to take on side projects) asked me to do numerous non-website-related things for her, from knocking out the backgrounds of some of her paintings so she can make them into stickers and other specialty products to reformatting the images of a selection of her greeting card designs so they can be included in the online shop of a very ritzy MoMA. It’s such a pleasure to be a small part of her well-deserved success!
- Carla J Griffin – 2016 New Website, maintenance, and content updates for an award-winning artist in Grants Pass, Oregon.
- *** Catherine Anderson, AWS -2015 Massive overhaul including redesign, SEO, and security measures. One of my pride and joy website designs! Be sure to visit and see her award-winning watercolors!
- ** *** Linda Abblett Watercolors – 2015 HTML to WordPress conversion with redesign and added e-commerce (WooCommerce), maintenance and content updates, SSL added 2017. Another beautiful custom site I’m proud to have been chosen to create. See more details about this project here.
- *** Michael Carpenter, OPA – 2015 New website, maintenance. A very handsome website for an exceptionally talented and experienced artist. More details about this project here…and here.
- *** Pat Moore Photography 2015 New website, maintenance, SEO services for a fabulous photographer.
- ** *** Kim Novak – 2014 New website with e-commerce (PayPal), maintenance and content updates, SSL added 2017. A conservative site that showcases this beloved actress’ incredibly creative pastel and oil paintings, accompanied by her original poetry. We have worked closely together over the years and the new paintings and poetry we have added just keep making it better and better as time goes on. I also managed her business selling prints of her original paintings for years. She has now decided that she would rather enjoy the time she has left on Earth by painting and riding her horses than deal with the obligations the print sales business laid upon her, so we modified the website to remove all that content and it’s now a showcase for all her paintings. I also manage her Facebook page, KimNovakActress. Read more about the creation of her new website here.
- *** Pegi Smith – 2014 Migration to new host, massive website redesign and SEO, ongoing maintenance and content updates, added SSL in 2016. A complex and extensive artist website of which I’m especially proud. Pegi’s dreamy paintings are amazing to work with and make the site especially stunning visually. See more details about this client’s website here.
- Lori Garfield, Animal Artist – 2014 New website, maintenance and content updates. Everything went smoothly throughout this project, and when it was completed in November 2014, Lori wrote,”YIPPEE SKIPPEE Great job Hannah…Ohhh happy girl. Thank you!” Click for more details about her website project…and there’s more here, as well.
- *** Mountain Glen Harps – 2014 New website, SEO, maintenance. Click to read more about this project here…and here.
- Eve Margo Withrow – 2014 New Website, maintenance and content updates. Read more about this project here.
- Elaine Frenett Watercolors – 2014 New Website, maintenance and content updates, completely redesigned in 2020. Click here to read more about the original 2014 project. Visit her website to see the beautiful redesign!
- ** Wendy Gell Jewelry & Art – 2014 Massive website redesign plus e-commerce (WooCommerce) and ongoing maintenance. More details about this project here…and here, too.
- Joan Pechanec – 2013 New Website, maintenance, and annual content updates. Joan needed a budget solution for her site and I worked with her to display the maximum number of paintings (40) possible while keeping costs to a minimum. The new site landed Joan her first solo show at the Orlando Art Center the same year it was launched! After painting for nearly a year to have enough work to fill the space, she sold nearly all of the works on display. A super rewarding outcome, for sure, and now she contacts me once every year to add new paintings to the site. Read more about the creation of her original site here. Visit her website to see the beautiful new 2021 redesign we launched in September 2021!
- Catie Faryl – 2012 New Website. Click to see more details about this project.
- Rio Querencia Fine Art Images – 2010 New custom HTML website for a wonderful fine art photographer. Check out my post about this project here and here.
SSL Installation, Search Engine Optimization, Troubleshooting and Repair, Maintenance, and Hosting Migration Client Websites
- McCully House Inn – The McCully House Inn changed hands in July 2021, and another client referred them to me to help with the migration of the website and connected services (such as email) into their full ownership and control. This doesn’t sound like a huge undertaking, but because the site is older and hadn’t been actively maintained in at least a full year, it turned out to be very complex, with lots of moving parts and many other professionals involved in various roles. Thankfully, I was able to successfully navigate this challenging task, and the site is now in the process of receiving its brand new reservation system. The new owners plan a redesign later in 2022 when they’ve adjusted to recent changes in their personal lives.
- Jefferson Farm Kitchen – I just love it when I can get behind someone’s business, and this is one of them! Unfortunately, her website was suffering from numerous errors that made things tricky, erratic, and therefore difficult to diagnose when customers showed up to place their weekly food orders. Another client whom I had helped through a similar situation referred her to me in early 2021, and her skepticism was soon turned to joy when one by one the problems started to disappear. Soon, we plan a major content update directed by her marketing director.
- Springerhaven – This couple has been breeding beautiful, sound, and well-behaved Springer Spaniels that have found homes with families across the nation for over 25 years. They have an amazing following, many of whom have purchased more than one dog from them over the years They were referred to me for help with reviews, which we moved from their Facebook page to their website. We also migrated their site to a new host, sorted out email issues, and updated most of the content. The site had been neglected, but once updated it performed well, so now I do ongoing maintenance and content updates when there are new reviews from their many happy customers to add. We did wind up running into problems down the road, however, so in 2022, I converted the site to Divi and freshened up the look and the content in the process. It’s beautiful, the code is modernized and the content up to date and trouble-free now.
- Elan Guest Suites – The owner of this Jacksonville, Oregon boutique guest suites and gallery business contacted me for help in mid-2019 because she’d had years of trouble working with more than one web developer trying to get her redesigned Squarespace website functioning properly so she could launch it. There were many complex issues that took time to work out. However, I was successful at eliminating the problems and customizing the reservations integration, and the website has been successful ever since its launch just a few months after we began working together! I love to hear from the owner-turned-friend, but since it’s rare that anything goes wrong on her website, I don’t hear from her often.
- Joy Hosey, Relationship Coach – This is one of those relationships in which I am simply there for Joy…since 2013! I’ve migrated her website, implemented new features, fixed problems and maintain the site in between special requests and content updates. Another small business owner whom I’m happy to get behind!
- Angela Meer, Author and Writing Coach – I migrated Angela’s very complex website to a new host and extended her existing SSL certificate to cover the entire website in 2016.
- Romancing the West I’ve been maintaining this website for singer/songwriter and producer of Romancing the West® since 2012 with both content updates and site maintenance. During that time, I’ve restored it from a hack attack, migrated it to new hosting, installed its SSL certificate, and posted dozens and dozens of tour dates, as well as a few client-directed experiments. I also formatted/edited a children’s book for them in 2017 and design/update the new concert posters for their biannual tours.
- Talbott Studios – A wonderful artist who specializes in animals (particularly horses and equine art). Genie also designs gorgeous wine labels and more. I began with search engine optimization and content updates for her existing website, and have been working together for several years…even after she moved back East!
More exciting projects are in the works and others are lined up. It will be so fun to complete them and share the links here. If you are currently in need of a website, contact me today to get your project underway!
SOSA Presentation 2-23-15
I’m very grateful to have been invited by the Southern Oregon Association of Artists (SOSA) to give a presentation at their February 2015 members meeting on Monday, February 23 at 7pm! I’m posting this presentation document, “Help Your Website Help You,” so those who attend can download it to their computers for reference.
Countdown to Net Neutrality
The FCC will take its most important vote on internet on February 26. If you don’t want to be relegated to an internet slow lane while mega corporations get a fast lane reserved just for them and those who will pay extra for it, take action now!
New Year’s Reminder: Update your Website’s Copyright!
It’s important to keep your copyright notice updated from year to year to protect your intellectual property and your reputation, and it’s that time of year. If you don’t know how to change the copyright notice on your website or just don’t have time to figure it out, please contact me at webmistress@hannahwestdesign.com or call 541.899.2012 to request this change. It’s quick and easy, so it’s inexpensive too. Happy New Year!!
Starting New Websites!
I’m so excited to be starting new websites today!
The first is a revamp of a website that sells harp strings, converting it to the WordPress platform and making a beautiful, modern presentation that will make them shine at the convention they’re going to later this month! Short deadline…
The second is an artist website. We’ll be updating content as well as converting it to WordPress and redesigning the site to show off the artist’s work more effectively. First we’ll update her current home page, and when she returns from a 10 day trip we’ll get going on the conversion to the new platform and adding fresh content.
There are others winding down that I will be able to announce soon, and others in the queue. If you were thinking of contacting me about a new or revamped website, don’t worry. I can handle several projects at once, as there is usually quite a bit of “work then wait” that happens when developing a website.
Thanks to everyone for entrusting me with the hub of their online presence!
Help Me Help Mother of Hope Cameroon to Empower Girls & Single Mothers
Well, there has been a lot happening at Hannah West Design this year, despite the fact that I haven’t been posting about it…I simply haven’t had time to keep my blog updated! But this volunteer project deserves to be first in line in my game of catch-up ball.
I met “Mother of Hope” Adah Mbah of Cameroon through WorldPulse.com, an incredibly warm and supportive global community of women founded by Jensine Larsen of Portland, Oregon. What a brainchild Jensine gave birth to! Many of these women are beautiful writers, activists working on behalf of women’s rights, ending gender-based violence, environmental causes and more. The site itself concentrates on digital empowerment for women and girls around the world, helping them to find their voice and broadcast it over the internet by providing digital empowerment resources, a venue for support and overwhelming encouragement, and opportunities of many types to women. Though I had been a member since 2010, I recently became active there to help my daughter Jennifer Faith to promote the book she wrote about her journey out of an abusive marriage and encourage women to visit her blog, jenniferfaith.org, for hope, encouragement, and the strength to begin their own journeys to freedom from violence and abuse.
This is what Adah & I wrote for her first appeal for device donations, published at WorldPulse.com:
Access to affordable and relevant health services and accurate, comprehensive health information are fundamental human rights. Yet gender-based discrimination, lack of access to education, poverty, and violence against women and girls can all prevent these rights from being realized. Single mums and girls face a lot of challenges when it comes to sexual reproductive health rights and safe motherhood.They lack accurate information about HIV transmission, the ability to choose whether and when to get pregnant, response to violence against women, and services for sexually transmitted infections and reproductive tract illnesses—all because they lack computer skills.
Mother of Hope Cameroon (MOHCAM), in her fight to educate single mums and girls, is organizing a three day digital empowerment workshop from the 28th-30th July 2014 to raise awareness on single mums and girl’s sexual reproductive health rights and basic computer skills. They will be given the chance to learn leadership skills, build self-confidence and better understand new marketable skills when using visual training tools.The programme is aimed at challenging prevalent gender stereotypes in communities, particularly those that reduce the aspirations of girls in rural communities, where traditions are firmest and patriarchal systems still remain very strong. For single mums and girls to fully participate in their communities and enjoy their rights, they need a life free from gender-based discrimination—a life with the opportunity to be educated, to work, to be healthy and to participate in all aspects of public life; however, millions women and girls are frequently beaten, raped, mutilated, killed, and subjected to gender-based violence which limits their opportunities.
Our ongoing campaign is working to connect rural and underprivileged single mums and girls to the world via the internet. Also some educated women are computer illiterate and can’t properly handle leadership positions. Computer literacy will open doors to share information and build networks with like-minded ventures. Most rural single mums and girls who are engaged in farming and petite trading will acquire computer skills which will enable them to market their products. They will be able meet with other women and mentors online, who will direct them in their activities and businesses. They will find online forums where they can showcase and gain global exposure for their work.
To enable these positive improvements in our communities, MOHCAMs training workshop will empower 30 single mums and girls from Mubang Ntsen Nkwen village and equip them with basic skills in information communication technology (computing), and also to educate them about women’s reproductive health to help them rise to meet the challenges they face daily. This workshop will take place in Foncha-street Nkwen-Bamenda from the 28th–30th of July 2014 at the Ets.ALMA Cybercafé opposite Providence Clinic.
We intend to extend this training to women and girls entering their freshman year in university. Due to the limited internet access, high school students entering universities in Cameroon are not familiar with the internet’s power to help them research and enhance their studies. Those who go online simply use it to send or read emails and chat. These women and girls lack the basic skills to access the vast learning materials available on-line that can help them break the cycle of poverty and abuse so they can find their voice, improve their own situations, and effect positive change in their communities.
When Cameroon’s women and girls succeed, Cameroon succeeds!
Women and girls in Cameroon make up more than half of the population. They are the breadwinners and the backbone of our economy, yet they face harsh treatment due to outdated customs and traditions which hinder them. They are still regarded as their husband’s property, with limited rights in most communities. This workshop will enable them to become local community reporters who can share information and advocate for women’s rights and positive change for everyone.
Equipped with basic computer skills, like-minded people can come together to improve their skills and share their experiences. This will increase productivity and encourage innovation in their businesses and workplace. Togetherness and love will be fostered in young minds, who will then be positioned for the mentoring and training which will enable them to create and contribute to a better economic system in Cameroon.
Computers are tools needed by all women and girls for a rapid change! You Can Help!
There are plenty of steps we can take to strengthen our future, but first we need to take action. We shall be grateful if you would donate your used Internet-capable phones, computers or electronic gadgets to help women learn and participate effectively in our computer literacy workshop. We also need assistance in getting these devices safely to us in time for the workshop and would appreciate any suggestions or offers of help to bring donated devices to Cameroon so that we can make them available to the workshop participants.
Please email us at motherofhopecameroon@gmail.com or call +23733051311Thank you for your support!
Computing is our Business!!!
Mother of Hope Cameroon website
For those to whom this kind of information is important, Adah Mbah is also a committed believer in Jesus and is counting on him to bring the help these young women need to change their lives for the better and bring hope to the future of Cameroon. “God will not fail me!” she says over and over, and your response to the tug in your heart that her words cause will make you God’s accomplice in doing something substantive to help 30 single mothers, young women and girls to overcome the very real challenges they face in Cameroon. Thank you so much for your donation in any amount before July 17, and for sharing with others who have the heart and a little cash to help! You can also show your support for the work Adah and her team are doing by liking the Mother of Hope page on Facebook.
Mother of Hope Cameroon’s Mission Statement:
MOHCAM is a non-profit organization of victims of gender based violence that provides security to the scared and unsure girls and women in communities in Cameroon. It’s aimed at fighting against the abuses faced daily by women and girls who become victims of gender based violence in communities. We ensure victims’ rights protection through advocacy and also aim at building future women’s rights leaders from victims. This in turns help to build a culture of empathy, justice, and peace from supported victim of violence. We also propagate a culture of peace building in homes and communities.
MOHCAM is based on implementing skills through local trainings on income generating activities for the empowerment and change towards acts of violence to secure girls and women victims of gender based violence. We work in partnership with schools and communities.
Vision
To establish a shelter home for victims of violence and to advocate for the implementation of family protection bill that can addresses domestic violence with prompt police response. And to establish a National Domestic Hotline for victims of gender based violence in communities.
MOHCAM is committed to ensure that all victims are able to regain and maintain a life of dignity and self-worthiness which will:
• Inspire
• Transform lives
• Motivate people to take action
• Promote social justice & human rights for girls and women
Values
We value and believe:
• In an environment which enhances self-esteem and respect for all.
• That each individual is unique and of value.
• That we all have a responsibility to build a healthy community.
• In a holistic approach in working with individuals and community.
• In constant attention, sensitivity and flexibility throughout the ongoing process of relationship building.
• In ethical practices.
• In volunteerism.
• In innovation and creativity.
Lastly, if anyone reading this knows someone who will be traveling to Cameroon or a neighboring country between now and July 15 and would be willing to be a courier of digital devices, please contact me at webmistress@hannahwestdesign.com or Adah at motherofhopecameroon@gmail.com and we will work out a plan to obtain and transfer devices for them to deliver.
Web Design Client Updates for January 2014
I wanted to let people know about my Web Design Client Updates and additional news for January 2014. I’ve been busy and it looks like I’ll be getting busier as word continues to spread about my web design skills and work ethic.
New Web Design Client, Artist Joan Pechanec
First, it’s lovely to announce the completion of a new artist website for Joan Pechanec of Mt Shasta, California. The website is built on the WordPress platform, using the Emphaino theme with lots of custom modifications so the resulting site design would suit her aesthetics. She had a budget and a target completion date in mind, and we finished under budget and on time. She has art works in two categories on her site – assemblage/collage pieces and more recent oil paintings. As she and her husband, author Charlie Price, were on their way out of town for a 3 month writer’s residency at Fairhope on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, it was perfect that they were both able to come up and meet me in person before they left. Working with Joan by remote (a good bit of it while they were on the road to their destination) went smoothly and I’m delighted that both she and her husband are pleased with the results!
Joan wanted visitors to her website to be able to see all the works on her home page, so we chose a theme that’s designed with the masonry technique (like Pinterest), yet with a dark background that really makes the saturated colors in her paintings pop. The masonry style image blocks on the home page are each linked to a post with more details about the painting. Since she will be away for a while, we decided to post the paintings with just the most essential details for now. It was a joy working with Joan’s art! We’ll add text and artist’s comments when she returns home, along with the new paintings she is creating while on the Gulf Coast. I hope you will visit joanpechanec.com and have a look!
Website Update for Artist Christina Madden
Artist Christina Madden has been painting away since I last wrote, and these two pieces are among my favorites of the new works we have recently updated her website with. The two seem to bookend the range of her style; both are landscapes, but one is a bright and colorful mixed media painting in a more abstract style, the other an oil painting in an impressionist style, with colors a bit more subdued than we usually see from her hand. Christina is working hard to create a style that’s all her own, and it appears to me that she’s succeeding. She’s very excited because she will be going to ArtExpo in New York City this year! It’s been wonderful to watch her style grow and change since we began working together, and I know she will be successful at this prestigious New York show.
Bill Stanton’s Art Exhibit at the GoodBean Cafe
I’m sure I must have mentioned that among the things I do to have some regular in-person facetime with artists and their work is curating and managing the art exhibits at the GoodBean Cafe in my hometown of Jacksonville, Oregon. December was a group show with the theme of “Angels,” which drew great enthusiasm from the shop’s clientele, so much so that the owner decided she wants to do the same theme every December from now on! This month we’re featuring artist Bill Stanton, whose landscapes painted in deep impasto oils are in high demand in the area. Bill isn’t entirely reclusive, but he doesn’t do a lot of shows or promotion…it’s mostly locals who are in the know who support his work…so we’re fortunate to have him. We would love it if you could come in and see them for yourself – we just renovated the back wall to make more room for the art, and his large (some huge) paintings look terrific in the space! If you’re not in the area, take a look at this post about the show to learn more.
Web Design Projects in Development and Coming Soon
That’s all I have completed and ready for you to view right now…though I’m working on a bunch of other projects that will be ready soon:
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Helping Stefan Baumann complete his artist website
- Stefan started on his own, but became too busy to finish the project himself. In addition to a grueling art instruction schedul which involves a lot of travel, he’s painting like crazy to prepare for a big southern California show in September. Want to watch as Baumann’s website develops? Visit www.stefanbaumann.com
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New concert posters, video editing and website updates for Christina Duane’s Romancing the West 2014 tour.
- Learn more about the amazing Romancing the West docu-concert here: romancingthewest.org
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Redesigning the website for Community Works
- Community Works is the parent organization for the highly respected Dunn House in Medford, Oregon, which helps women, youth and families impacted by domestic abuse and sexual violence. I am delighted to be working with Development Director Misha Levee Hernandez on this project. (Need help yourself? Visit their current website here. )
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Updating artist Pegi Smith‘s existing website with new paintings.
- As with Christina Madden, I did not design Pegi’s site, but her previous webmistress is stepping aside from website work and Pegi brought her maintenance work to me just yesterday! I can’t wait to work with her beautiful paintings! pegismith.com
In addition, I’m beside myself with glee that I’ve gotten two new web design projects to begin soon. One is an artist website. Just yesterday I went to visit this artist’s studio and nearly wept at the beautiful work I saw there! We should be getting underway soon. The other is a WordPress based wine club website. I will hear for sure on that one Friday, and we should be getting started around the 27th if it’s confirmed tomorrow that it’s a go.
I hope you’ll check back again to see my very erratic updates on how things are going with these web design and site maintenance projects, and more!
