Member Avatar for [R.fm]Patchy

Hello DaniWeb community,

So first of all, I'd like to note that I am a new user here on DaniWeb and I have put off posting due to my personal belief that new members just don't get the help they need (possibly because the majority of them turn out to be leechers who take the information and then discontinue use of said forum).

On to the reason I'm here:

I am an 18 year old student studying an ICT BTEC Diploma (Which I feel self-inclined to mention that the courses content is well below me). I have a lot of time off and only attend a few days a week. I started messing around with shoutcast/winamp a couple of years ago and for a while ran a 'pirate' online radio stream called ''. It wasn't a huge success (generating maybe 4-5 listeners average every time I broadcasted (mainly consisting of my close friends).

This year I decided to reboot my amateur online radio endevours by 'buying' http://www.ragefm.co.uk/. If you visit my website the first thing you will notice is the abysmal web-design in all of it's 90's looking glory. When it comes to ICT I seem to be a jack of all trades and master of none. I have limited experience and knowledge with Dreamweaver and I have attempted to use a free template and edit it to my needs and use this. I have found this particularly hard and I need help. (Which is why I'm here).

I know how I want my site to look and I am aware that no one here is going to design my entire website for free, I'm looking for advice. May I take the time to mention I have NO money to spend on a professional web-design.

This is a massive project and I would be very appreciative if some one here could give me some advice on what to do and how to go about doing it.

Reguards,
Patchy
DJ Patchy
RageON @ RAGE.fm

  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 182 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Kraai

Dani AI

Generated

As pointed out, a CMS-style approach will remove a lot of manual HTML editing and let the site focus on content. The following is a compact, no-budget starter plan for that prioritizes listening access, clarity, and easy maintenance.

  1. Structure and priority — decide exact pages (Listen, Schedule, Shows/Archives, DJs, Contact). Put a single, high-contrast "Listen Live" CTA in the header so the primary action is obvious. Keep the homepage uncluttered: current show + next show + quick link to archives.

  2. Safe template workflow — never edit the original files in place. Duplicate the template, add one small custom CSS file that is loaded after the template CSS to override styles, and use the browser inspector to trial changes live. Keep changes modular so rolling back is simple.

  3. Player and fallbacks — use the HTML5 audio element as the primary embed and include a plain link fallback. If the site is served over HTTPS, serve the stream over HTTPS or modern browsers will block playback.

Code example:

<audio controls preload="none">
  <source src="https://your-stream.example/stream" type="audio/mpeg">
  Your browser does not support audio. <a href="https://your-stream.example/stream">Listen here</a>.
</audio>

  1. Polish and performance — compress images, use a readable font size, make the Listen button large enough for taps, and keep the layout mobile-first. Test on at least one small-screen device and a desktop browser.

  2. Practical cautions — keep regular backups, confirm rights to any broadcasted music, and iterate: launch a simple, stable site first, then add design flourishes. When specific template files or markup are posted, targeted CSS snippets can be supplied to make concrete changes quickly.

Member Avatar for Kraai

The way I see it, you need a cms type of site. Your forum is MyBB so you do have the ability to get a cms type of site with mysql database installed. You can customize them nicely to have the look/feel and functionality you need, and mostly they come with lots of templates to choose from, and content editors that does not require one line of html code to post something, and most of them are free open source scripts. Look at gl_fusion and/or wordpress.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.