This page is here to help you show up as prepared as possible, but there's no pressure to have everything perfectly in place before June 4th. We'll work through a lot of it together on the day.
The more you can get done here ahead of time — especially creating your ShowIt account and having a rough idea of your brand colours — the more time you'll have to focus on actually building your site during the workshop. But if life gets busy, just show up. We've got you.
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Before You Arrive
Step 1 — Create Your ShowIt Account
Before anything else, you need a ShowIt account. Use the link below to get started — it gives you one free month, and it helps support Jade too.
Once you've created your ShowIt account, ticked off your checklist, and chosen your colours and fonts — you're prepared for the workshop.
✦ Get Ready→Workshop Reference Guide
Welcome to your Workshop Reference Guide 👋
Everything in this section is what we'll cover together, hands-on, during the workshop. You don't need to read through this ahead of time — come back here during or after the workshop to reinforce what you've learned. This is your guide to keep.
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The ShowIt Platform
Pages, Canvases & Canvas Sets
ShowIt is built around three core concepts. Once these click, everything else makes sense.
Site
Your entire website — all pages together as one complete project.
Page
A single page on your site (Home, About, Services…). Your site is built from multiple pages.
Canvas
A section within a page — like a row or content block. Each page is built by stacking canvases on top of each other.
Canvas Set
The game-changer. A Canvas Set is a special canvas linked across every page. Your nav and footer live here — change it once, it updates everywhere.
The ShowIt Interface — Quick Orientation
The left sidebar shows all your pages and canvases. Click any canvas to select it, reorder by dragging, and add new pages here. Think of it as your site's table of contents.
The large central area is where you drag, drop, resize, and style everything. Click any element to select it. Double-click text to start typing directly on the canvas.
When you select an element, the right sidebar shows all style options — font, colour, size, spacing, padding, shadows, and more. This panel changes depending on what you have selected.
ShowIt lets you design desktop and mobile completely separately. Changes to desktop do NOT carry over to mobile automatically — always check both.
Located in the top-right corner. Clicking it saves and publishes your live site. You can publish without a custom domain connected — ShowIt gives you a temporary preview URL.
Layout Basics
The most important thing on the page should be the biggest and boldest. Guide the reader: headline → supporting text → call to action. If everything is the same size, nothing stands out.
Don't fill every inch. Breathing room makes content easier to read and your site look more professional. When in doubt, add more padding — not less.
Use the same spacing, font sizes, colours, and button styles on every page. ShowIt lets you save styles — use this so you're never guessing.
ShowIt designs desktop and mobile separately. Desktop changes do NOT apply to mobile automatically. After each section, toggle to mobile and adjust — most visitors are on their phones.
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The Top-to-Bottom Design Flow
Always build in this order — it saves time and prevents headaches.
Every experienced web designer works in a consistent sequence. Today we're doing the same — and by the end, you'll understand exactly why.
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Menu & Footer First (Canvas Set)
Set up your navigation and footer and attach them to your Canvas Set. They automatically appear on every page you create. Get your logo, nav links, and footer details in place before designing any page content.
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Hero / Masthead Section
The first thing visitors see on any page. A strong headline, supporting subtext, and a call-to-action button. This sets the entire tone of your brand.
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Design Top to Bottom
Work your way down canvas by canvas. One block of content at a time. Finish one section cleanly before moving to the next.
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Finish One Page Before Moving On
Complete your Home page before building your About page. This keeps momentum and prevents half-building five pages and finishing none.
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The Hero Section
Anatomy of a Strong Hero
You have about 3 seconds to tell visitors who you are, what you do, and why they should stay.
Marketing Consultant · Nova Scotia
I help small businesses stop disappearing online.
Done-for-you marketing strategy so you can focus on running your business.