21 replies to this topic

[nice_shoes]

I currently have a web site that I made for myself several years ago...........nothing fancy......no animations, etc. It's been so long that I have forgotten how I created it and forgotten the web design software that I had used, so I'm back to n00bie status.
I'd like opinions about the best FREE web design software that is available.....hopefully easy to use........if it means anything, I'm running Windows 7 64-bit.

All opinions welcome

[potatochobit]

the easiest thing to do is use wordpress or blogger.com and just use their template and gadgets<br>if you need to make buttons and such you probably want to take some classes and use an adobe product<br>I dont know any current good free web page HTML builder but I'm sure there are some or trials<br>

[SpeedCrazy]

joomla is apparently quite good. I have never used any of those type programs, as i code everything form scratch.

[neddamttocs]

What are you looking to do with the site?

I personally use dreamweaver but thats a paid prog.

As for free are you coding the site or are you going to want to design the site w/o coding?

MS has visual basic express thats decent and free

http://www.microsoft...veloper-express

[nice_shoes]

What are you looking to do with the site? I personally use dreamweaver but thats a paid prog. As for free are you coding the site or are you going to want to design the site w/o coding? MS has visual basic express thats decent and free http://www.microsoft...veloper-express

I want to build a simple web site to promote my very small business..............if I can do that without having to code, that would be great

[suedenim]

Wordpress - its free try it. If you need something more complex look for some plugins/themes

[nice_shoes]

Wordpress - its free try it. If you need something more complex look for some plugins/themes

thank you, I did look at wordpress, but it appears to be a site for creating a blog............also, it requires you to use their address, like xxxxx.wordpress.com, and I already have a web site through my ISP, and I'd like to keep that same address......................so I want something to create some web pages (not a blog) and then send them up to my ISP site...............thanks for the tip about wordpress but I'm not sure it will work for me.

[d3bruts1d]

thank you, I did look at wordpress, but it appears to be a site for creating a blog............also, it requires you to use their address, like xxxxx.wordpress.com, and I already have a web site through my ISP, and I'd like to keep that same address......................so I want something to create some web pages (not a blog) and then send them up to my ISP site...............thanks for the tip about wordpress but I'm not sure it will work for me.

Wordpress.com is a hosted service, Wordpress.org allows you to download the software and install it on your own domain. Wordpress (like Blogger, e107, Jumla, etc.) are Content Management Systems that can be used for just about anything. The "personal blog" (stupid term as nearly all websites are a blog) is what the services are more commonly associated with.

Of course, the CMS you select will largely depend on the type of webserver (Linux/Apache vs Windows/IIS) as well as the database involved. You do need a database for nearly every CMS out there. If you don't have a database, you can use the hosted services at Wordpress.com or Blogger.com along with some DNS tricks to make it look like things are still happening at your domain. Consult the FAQ/Support pages for the services for info on how to pull that off.

If you are simply wanting to edit code, you can use Notepad (or Notepad++ my favorite). To get a bit fancier than that you can look at Microsoft's Visual Web Developer Express (more appropriate that VB Express) and the hundreds of other free editors. Though most people will go for the expensive Adobe Dreamweaver.

[Phil]

There are a lot of good freeware apps to do lots of things, but in my experience if you want a decent WYSIWYG web editor you've got to pay something. For beginners, MS Frontpage seems tempting but IMO it is at the top of the list for software to avoid.

[suedenim]

Have a proper look at wordpress, its incredibly easy to install on your own ISPs hosting and it provides a one click update when new patches are released.

If you want to get into coding yourself then Netbeans or Eclipse for anything not MS or the Express web developer editions of visual studio.

If you want to get into DB then go for MySQL and get to know phpadmin or SQLbuddy.

Possibly of use: http://www.apachefri...g/en/xampp.html

[SpeedCrazy]

I just found webbly. You do have to pay a little but you get website creation and maintenance tools, free hosting, and a .webbly.com domain name. And if you want to use an old domain name they update it for free. With the basic editor its free and for more functions it costs a little.

[nice_shoes]

Have a proper look at wordpress, its incredibly easy to install on your own ISPs hosting and it provides a one click update when new patches are released. If you want to get into coding yourself then Netbeans or Eclipse for anything not MS or the Express web developer editions of visual studio. If you want to get into DB then go for MySQL and get to know phpadmin or SQLbuddy. Possibly of use: http://www.apachefri...g/en/xampp.html

I did look at wordpress.org as per an earlier suggestion, but it appears to focus on blogs, not necessarily a multi-page web site. Is that correct, or did I get it wrong? For my web site project, I imagine that I should end up with about 4 - 8 pages when I finish...........will wordpress accommodate that?........is it easy to use for a n00b?