lm

Notepad++ and Firefox with developer bar(plus Firebug a bit later) is generally what you'd need for coding. Filezilla o Cyberduck as FTP. Even this kind of "basic" websites would need CMS nowadays so Directory Opus seems the best program to manage all kind of files(If you are on Windows).

seems like it is a path problem. If you write: param name="movie" value="homepage-slideshow.swf" /> , it means that html file and slideshow should be in a same folder. Just to test it, copy slideshow to the same folder as your home page ( or include file in which .swf file is used) and see if flash is loaded.

Just in general, could be useful to say: there are 2 (or 3 or more) stages in website building: Design and Launch. After you've done it, got your payments for it,All other work on the website, such as: improving, editing,updating - is actually website maintenance. So in fact again - will be helpful to have a plan beforehand with all these stages being explained to the client thus he will be aware at all times on what stage the project is.

Tricky situation considering you havent got a contract but I think it could be an idea to track the working hours you spent on the project (on each of the stages if project gone big , not forgetting the time you spend on website versions and replying on emails regarding it) and send this timescale to your client with the real costs/per hour included. It might serve as a reality check. SEO thing is the hardest part to explain to the client. If he/she is not The Justin B., or any of locally famous people, it take enormous effort to get decent traffic to the website; so we do need to have some SEO talk with the clients BEFORE the project even started. You can add your recomendation on SEO now in written form all over again just to show the client your good will and the way for improving. Hopfully she will get to her senses, good luck with it from me too!

if you dont want to pay anybody to fix your website, get your hands dirty and learn how template is built (by the way your XML files are written with comments so did you read all of them through? These comments could provide you at least with the information on how to add extra button to the shopping cart - or - how to replace one of the buttons to the shop button).

The best way is to ask for support on a website where you bought your template(s). I doubt that there are step-for-step tutorials on full templates integration. Seems like if you add the link to shopping cart from first template and then edit XML file for shopping cart, it will solve your problem (it is some monster of XML file "with over 150 different settings covering almost all aspects of the template"!).

you can always copy-paste HTML tags instead of typing them all the time. Besides, for example, Notepad++ has many shotcuts and so the other HTML editors.

that reminds me about mailchimp email templates: http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/html_email_templates/ then again why not to use mailchimp for the ecards? Also, could be an idea to use Flash based website(if you'll find it attractive for the commercial use):the scrapblog.Using Flash has it own advantages ( like choice of fonts for the ecard and so on). In general, look for shopping cart solution with an ecard as an option.

Wordpress-Zencart: I've recently used them both to set up the website and online store. I find this combination possible but if they installed independently: WP as CMS for main website and Zencart for online store in its own directory. I must say zencart is easy to install but you should prepair to get your hands dirty on coding( which is in itself a good learning curve) and tweaking (if you require extra features, the knowledge of PHP is required) to customize it. If you just started and want it quickly and painless, try already mentioned WP plugins ( if Paypal is an option, there is and Paypal WP plugin I suppose (at least they good documented) or otherwise simple shopping cart - Big Cartel if it suits your needs (which is for 5 products free). Also, if you are a "social type", you can try Storenvy (free)

in general, you can pick some tips on how to code looking into the source code of the websites you like. Especially if there are cross-browsers problems involved. For example, this website code is written to help us "curious" through. Also, if code "doesnt work", check your page in different browsers (you havent mention what browser you use to test your page) and use conditional comments for IE versions, if necessary.

Susie, using CSS sprites seems the most suitable way here indeed. So you work with just 2 big menu images - one for normal state and one for hover. The rest is up to CSS.

have you tried conditional comments for IE8?

Wordpress seems to be a best choice to start with, if it will be your first CMS and the text is the main content of your website. Once you go through Wordpress, the other CMS will be easier and quicker to learn.