Liam Hay needed to rebuild his animal adoption website I Need A Home from scratch despite next to no experience in coding. That’s when he discovered Toolset.
How experienced are you at developing websites?
Oh, I am an absolute beginner, I have some very basic knowledge of HTML but almost nothing else.
What were the problems with your old website?
It was incredibly out of date and I was getting feedback from people who told me it was awkward to use. For example, it was impossible for them to change their account details and I was having to do it myself one-by-one. I was also using lots of different plugins to maintain it which was a pain.
Worst of all was that I couldn’t update the website so I decided to try and build it myself from scratch.
Why did you choose Toolset to build it?
I was browsing on Google for something to help me. Given my limited design experience, I just wanted something that could do everything for me without resorting to using dozens of plugins. I found a lot of plugins that offered only search, front-end form or page builders but I wanted something that had it all. That’s when I decided to try Toolset.
“You don’t need to rely on so many different plugins from various places. Toolset has it all.”
How easy was it to learn to build a website with Toolset?
It’s not as hard as people think it might be. You have to get your head around some of the concepts but the documentation and videos are a great help.
The best thing is the reference sites. Reading and watching is one thing but being able to test out what I’d learned with the reference sites was another. I was surprised at what I could achieve – conditional displays, building custom searches. I never believed someone of my experience could do that.
The support was also great. I sent off three or four questions which I’m sure were obvious but they always responded quickly. It was nice to be able to fall back on Toolset’s support.
“I never believed someone of my experience could achieve these things.”
How does your website look now?
I think it looks great, it does the job for me. All the features are seamless and work so well together. It also looks great on mobile devices which is important given how many people use them now.
Thanks to Toolset, I’ve managed to get a working site with advanced features such as custom post types with maps and contact forms, a member’s area and a display listing where people can search for the dog they want.
Best of all it is so easy to maintain because I do not need to rely on many different plugins from various places. There are no compatibility issues.
How has Toolset helped your adoption agency?
It has improved hugely. The council which relies on us to publicize animals to the general public has told us there are so many more people getting in touch since we changed the website. Feedback from people who have used it has also been excellent.
What would you say to anyone who has never built a website and is thinking of using Toolset?
I’d say they should go for it. As a beginner, you’ll learn a few things but the software is nowhere near as daunting as it looks. It’s so easy to use and you don’t need to waste time learning different terminology from each plugin. I would say a complete beginner could build a website in a couple of weeks.
Start building your website today. Download Toolset and you could have a website more advanced than you imagined possible within weeks.