Help me get my priorities straight.

[Jennyh]

Hi all – you guys seem to be pretty helpful around here. Here is a quick rundown on how I got to this point... I'm a Marketing Director and I mostly specialize in graphic design for print projects... brochures, catalogs, etc. We HAD an IT-Guy that started working on our first ever On-Line Catalog. He chose osCommerce, entered half of our products and just left us for a new job after 11 years of working here. He gave us a 3 day notice. During the 3 day notice, he was able to give me the link to our osCommerce site and our admin password. YIKES!

 

After days of research, I’ve basically discovered that what still needs to be done is… I need to finish adding products to the catalog and change the layout (it's still the default layout). I've been browsing and reading for 3 days and my head is spinning. I’ve read all your “How To?” threads and “Beginner Basics” threads. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm a quick learner once things start clicking.

 

I'm an Adobe fan... I have InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator. I just downloaded the free trial of Dreamweaver and I'm wondering if it would be beneficial for me to upgrade my Adobe stuff and get the Suite that includes Dreamweaver so I can use that to manage my files.

 

Here are my current questions:

1) How do you manage your files? Any recommendations?

2) Should I finish entering in all our products first, then worry about the layout design later?

3) Do you have any advice to stop my spinning head and get me on a straight path?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I CAN DO THIS!

[♥zelf]

1) How do you manage your files? Any recommendations?

 

Dreamweaver in my opinion is the best source code editor.

 

2) Should I finish entering in all our products first, then worry about the layout design later?

 

Yes, or no. Doesn't really matter.

 

3) Do you have any advice to stop my spinning head and get me on a straight path?

 

Design your layout in illustrator or photoshop. Get it just the way you like it with modules where you want them to go, etc. Then start modifying. It is pretty simple to make modifications once you get into it.

 

Good luck and of course there are many users in the forums that can help you along the way.