Frequently Asked Questions
Questions About the DSW Driving School Website System
DSW is being developed to make having a professional driving school website straightforward, without requiring driving instructors to become website designers. Start with the essentials and let your website grow as your driving school grows.
The new system is still in development, so these answers describe how DSW is intended to work when released. We will update them as development progresses.
What is DSW?
DSW — the Driving School Website System — is a WordPress website system designed specifically for independent driving instructors and small driving schools.
Instead of starting with an empty website and having to design pages yourself, you provide information about your driving school and DSW uses it to create the important parts of the website.
Fill in the driving-school information and the website builds itself.
Do I need to know how to build a website?
No. That is one of the main reasons DSW is being developed.
If you can enter information about your driving school — such as your lesson prices, areas covered, contact details and information about yourself — you should be able to set up the main parts of the website.
You will not be expected to design page layouts or understand HTML, CSS or other web technologies.
Is DSW a website template?
Not in the conventional sense.
A traditional WordPress template or theme gives a website its appearance, but you are usually still responsible for constructing the pages and deciding where everything goes.
DSW combines a purpose-built WordPress theme with structured driving-school information. The system can then use that information throughout the website rather than asking you to repeatedly build and maintain the same information on individual pages.
What pages will DSW create?
The core DSW website is being designed around the pages most driving instructors need, including:
- Home
- Prices
- About
- Areas Covered
- Contact
Information entered into DSW will be used to make these pages useful automatically. You will still be able to add other WordPress pages and posts where required.
DSW is also being designed to make common driving-school content — such as pupil reviews and test passes — straightforward to add without having to design the website content yourself.
Can I change my prices and other information later?
Yes. DSW is intended to make routine changes one of the simplest parts of maintaining the website.
For example, rather than finding every page where a lesson price has been mentioned, the aim is that you update the appropriate information in DSW and the website uses the revised information wherever required.
Will I be able to add my own pages?
Yes. DSW will still be a WordPress website.
The system will provide the main driving-school structure, but it is not intended to prevent you from adding useful additional pages or publishing posts such as driving advice, local information or news.
Can I add pupil reviews and testimonials?
Yes. DSW is being designed to make adding and managing pupil reviews straightforward.
Rather than having to design testimonial sections yourself, you will be able to add the pupil’s details and review through DSW and let the website present that information appropriately.
This gives you an easy way to build up genuine feedback from pupils as your driving school grows.
Can I show pupil test passes?
Yes. DSW is also being designed to make it easy to add pupil test passes to your website.
You will be able to record a successful test pass, add the appropriate details and photograph where required, and allow DSW to present it as part of the website.
This means recent successes can be added without having to create or redesign a web page each time somebody passes their test.
Can I add other information about my driving school?
Yes. The purpose of DSW is not to restrict every driving instructor to an identical website.
The system is being designed around information commonly needed by driving schools, while still allowing you to add information relevant to your own business.
This may include details such as the areas you cover, lesson types, vehicles, instructor information, social media links and other useful information about your driving school.
Do I need to have everything ready before I start?
No. One of the aims of DSW is to make it easy to start with the information you have and build up your website over time.
A new driving instructor might begin with a straightforward website containing their contact details, lesson information, prices and the areas they cover. That is enough to establish a useful professional web presence.
As your driving school develops, you can add more. You might add pupil reviews, test passes and photographs, expand the areas or lesson types you offer, publish driving advice, or add further information about your business.
Your website can therefore grow with your driving school — and with your own confidence in maintaining it — rather than requiring you to create everything before you can get started.
Does DSW include hosting?
No. The new DSW system is being developed as a WordPress product rather than a new managed hosting service.
You will be able to use DSW with suitable WordPress hosting rather than being required to host your website with Driving School Websites.
Already a DSW Customer?
Existing Driving School Websites customers are different. Their current hosting and website services continue as normal for the time being.
Will I own my website?
DSW is being built on WordPress and is intended to avoid locking your website into a proprietary hosted website builder.
Your website content remains within a normal WordPress installation, giving you the ability to move the website to another suitable hosting provider if required.
Do I need to install WordPress myself?
DSW will require a WordPress website, but the objective is to make getting started as straightforward as practical.
The exact installation process for the released product is still being developed, so we will provide clearer installation requirements and instructions before DSW becomes generally available.
What if I already have a driving school website?
You do not necessarily need to throw away your existing website and start from nothing.
DSW is being designed with existing WordPress websites in mind. The intention is to allow the new system to be prepared and previewed while the existing website remains in place.
Useful existing pages, posts, photographs and URLs can then be considered as part of the move.
Can any existing website be converted automatically?
No. WordPress websites can be built in many different ways, including page builders, custom themes and older systems that store content differently.
DSW therefore cannot promise automatic conversion of every existing website.
The aim is to provide a sensible migration route that preserves useful existing content where practical rather than automatically deleting or replacing it.
Will DSW work on phones and tablets?
Yes. Mobile use is a fundamental part of the system rather than an optional extra.
A driving instructor’s prospective pupils are particularly likely to visit a website using a phone, so DSW is being designed to work well across phones, tablets and desktop computers.
Will pupils be able to contact me easily?
Yes. Contact is one of the core functions of a driving school website.
DSW is being designed to support clear contact options appropriate to a driving instructor, including telephone and enquiry details, with additional options such as WhatsApp where the instructor chooses to use them.
Can I use my own domain name?
Yes. DSW is intended for use on your own driving-school domain name.
If you already have a domain, it can normally continue to be used when moving to suitable WordPress hosting. If you are starting a new website, you can obtain a domain through a domain registrar or hosting provider.
Is DSW available now?
Not yet. The new Driving School Website System is currently in development.
We are building and testing the underlying system before making it generally available.
If you are interested, you can register for Early Access so that we can let you know when the system is ready for testing.
Does registering for Early Access commit me to buying DSW?
No.
Registering simply allows us to contact you about DSW development and Early Access. It does not place an order, reserve a website or commit you to purchasing anything.
How much will DSW cost?
Pricing has not yet been finalised.
We would rather complete the core system and establish exactly what the released product includes before publishing a price.
Pricing and licensing information will be provided before anyone is asked to purchase DSW.
Still Have a Question?
We will continue adding to these FAQs as development progresses.
If you have a question about the forthcoming DSW system that is not answered here, you will also be able to contact us through the website.
Existing customers who need support should continue to use their existing customer account and support facilities.