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Web Building Software

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
Online
If someone were new to web site building and wanted something (other than Front Page) that was simple and easy to use for building simply web pages, what would you recommend? I use FP and a now defunct program that Symantec had produced called Visual Page but have not kept up with the latest that is out there. Looking for recommendations for someone looking to try their hand for the first time at building a web site.
 
Boss, most sites these days are built using some sort of content management system (ie WordPress, Drupal, etc). Very few folks are generating static HTML anymore -- which is why most of the HTML generating tools have disappeared.

I know that doesn't directly answer your question, but most hosting companies offer these tools for free.

Just a thought...
 
Depends what you want to do, Bas. FP still does a decent framework; I do my CSS stuff by hand for the most part but sometimes use FP to do chunks of html.

Dreamweaver is supposed to be good too but might be overkill.
 
Use <span style="text-decoration: underline">Google Sites</span>. Very easy.

If you already have G-mail, Google Sketchup or other Google tool, just login and Bob's Your Uncle. :laugh:

www.google.com/sites
 
aeronca65t said:
Use <span style="text-decoration: underline">Google Sites</span>. Very easy.

If you already have G-mail, Google Sketchup or other Google tool, just login and Bob's Your Uncle. :laugh:

www.google.com/sites

Nope, this if for a site to be hosted on my server. I'm familiar with the content management packages, and in fact I use one for another site I run (which I shall not advertise here).
 
Steve_S said:
I use Dreamweaver 4. Never warmed up to the newer versions.

Would you recommend it for someone as an entry level package ?
 
I have been using VCOM Webeasy and have found it farely easy to use. It has templates you can use or modify.

Don
 
Don't be such a putz, Greg. :devilgrin:
 
Dreamweaver has a steep learning curve and is a fairly advanced program. That said, it uses the standard Macromedia interface so once you know that, you can use all of their programs. Dreamweaver is perfectly capable of doing basic tasks without a lot of effort but it's kind of like using the space shuttle to fly across a state line. I learned web design on Dreamweaver after dumping Front Page Express almost immediately, so if I can do it then anyone can! I guess it depends on how computer-saavy the beginner in question is. If they are capable of learning the interface then I'd say yes it's appropriate. If it's someone just learning about computers then perhaps not. A web-based "site builder" might be better for that type of person.
 
Packages like OpenOffice and even MS Publisher will save their files in html format and do a passable job on simple pages. An option, maybe?

(You already have Soholaunch in your hosting facility - is that too complex for this use? It appears to be pretty scalable.)
 
coldplugs said:
Packages like OpenOffice and even MS Publisher will save their files in html format and do a passable job on simple pages. An option, maybe?

(You already have Soholaunch in your hosting facility - is that too complex for this use? It appears to be pretty scalable.)

I might take a look at Soho. Not one I've played with before.
 
Basil, IMO it is better to go with the best, most powerful package you can afford. The reason is once you start down the learning path, you will find yourself up against the technology wall of the simpler systems. When I left the IT management business five years ago, Dreamweaver was our choice. The package was used by Public Health Nurses, high school interns, and our top web guys with no problem. Having said that, it has been five years since I touched the software.
 
I just went through this problem myself. I had volunteered to do the web site for our professional society's 2010 technical symposium. In the past I had done straight HTML with various editors. After trying some things that turned out to be totally inadequate, I ended up with a copy of Dreamweaver. It took some time to get used to, and I wouldn't recommend it for a new web designer unless he were willing to take a good training course. There is some good training material on line, too, some of it from Adobe and some independently produced.

In the end, I got a template from https://www.freecsstemplates.org and modified it a bit. The site (which doesn't have much info yet) is at https://ims2010.org. With some good resources, even someone like me with no design sense at all can put up a modern-looking site.
 
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