pro bono web design

LDAS

Hello everyone,
I work at a very busy county-wide Domestic Violence Service in Laois. Essentially, we have a truly awful website but have no resources to improve it. I'm wondering if anyone on here can guide me in relation to finding someone (company or freelancer) to help us re-design the site?
I've been searching online to see if there any companies offering this kind of support to charities as a matter of course, but it hasn't resulted in anything. I appreciate any advice anyone can give.
Many thanks,
Marna

Graham

Hi Marna,

is the content going to remain the same (or very similar)?

The reason I ask is the current site (if I have it right) is built on Wordpress. If the content is going to remain broadly as is, a redesign could be as simple as replacing the current Wordpress theme with a new one.

LDAS

Hi Graham,
Thanks for replying. The content will remain fairly similar, yes. I have very limited skills and knowledge when it comes to this, is it easy to change themes?
I should have said, the website is: www.laoisdomesticabuseservice.com
M

Graham

I suspected that was the site.

Did you set this up yourself, or did someone do it for you?
Do you have the admin credentials (password etc) for the wordpress admin part of the site?
Do you have the details for your hosting provider (www.34sp.com I think)?
Do you know what version of Wordpress the site is running?

If you have all of those details, changing the theme should be a fairly simple job.

LDAS

I set it up Graham, and I have all the detail you asked about (it is 34sp). When I was setting the theme I really struggled to make the content 'look right' if that makes any sense. I can't get our logo to fit properly in the headline (I'm not sure if headline is the right term), spacing and categorizing the content. I had 5 themes to choose from - the one that is set now appeared to be the most appropriate (the others seemed to be more for travel sites or blogs).
I've found some lovely themes on various websites but have no idea how to put them on our site. I've googled 'how to's' but I'm afraid I'm not savvy enough to know how actually do it, I find the language a bit confusing.

Graham

I don't think you've done a bad job to be honest, the out of the box themes that come with Wordpress are a little on the Spartan side.

Like I said, it shouldn't be too big a job to replace the existing theme with a new one.

Theme-wise your choices are really either a free-theme, or a paid one.

To see more free ones, login to your admin area on Wordpress. Click on the Appearance icon/menu on the left. Click on the 'Install Themes' tab at the top. Select any criteria to search on (or leave blank) then click on 'Find Themes'. If you find one you like, click on 'Preview' to see how your site would look with that theme.

If you want to take a look at paid themes (around €30-€40 each) take a look at a site like this: http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/nonprofit

LDAS

Thanks again Graham, I'll do as you suggested over lunch.

KonFusion

http://www.volunteer.ie/

Stick it up on there. I know quite a few students who browse it regularly for web work and would be happy to help out. I'd be happy to recommend any of them.

LDAS

Good suggestion - thank you

LDAS

Thanks everyone - I've taken all your suggestions on board, ad up on Volunteer Ireland and I've looked at the sites you've recommended. Thanks again.

Graham

Did you find a template in the end Marna?

LDAS

I like this one Graham http://themeforest.net/item/outreach-charity-wordpress-theme/2509468?WT.ac=category_thumb&WT.seg_1=category_thumb&WT.z_author=designcrumbs

Graham

Good choice, that's one of three I was going to point out to you when you originally posted.