I successfully used the cms program Joomla to convert one of my older websites, www.coderepair.com. CMS software, which stands for contact management system, allows website owners to easily add content from a master control panel. The material at Code Repair was originally advice for fixing poorly coded websites, but it has now expanded to cover website design and graphic art design for novice beginners. The purpose is helping newcomers to design business or personal websites or custom graphic art with learn as you go resources.

CMS may not be the best choice for your first website if you’re in a hurry to get online because of the technical aspects. For converting existing sites, salvaging your search engine ranking should be a priority. Each html file on my old site was renamed in the new design, so 301 redirects were implemented so any outstanding backlinks from other sites would forward automatically to the newly named pages. The suffix of the home page was (dot)html and changed to php, yet the page retained the Google pagerank, so the redirects worked.

The new look, color scheme, and layout are done. However the content still has a long way to go. Future additions may include lessons as well as an e-store with related information products for sale. If you, or someone you know, wants the opportunity to learn website design or advice for creating matching custom artwork please visit and bookmark the site.

Update: This site was taken over by my son, Roger Degerstrom. He converted it to a custom cms with a matching custom WordPress blog for his web design business.