Make My Own Website...

vansboy

Hi All!

I did a short course at the local college for basic web design - I've not quite pulled all my hair out YET!!

The Dreamweaver software they used seemd more professional than I'd need - & expensive, although I've had reasonable sucsess with the 30day trial from their site.

I today downloaded http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ loads tuff there, but it's TOTALLY confusing, the templates they offer, fairly cheap looking, I'm unable to see how they are supposed to be edited for your own use, let alone start to create my own!!

Am I expecting too much, or just a bit too web design iliterate!!??

HELP!!

Thanks in advance.

VB

nickmack

I guess the product your talking about is the WebPlus 6. I have no experience of this app, but if you've used Dreamweaver then it's like test driving a Rolls Royce and then a Ford Fiesta!

It will most likely look different but the concept is basically the same, probably a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) main interface with a coding part to manually alter pages.

Is it finding the code screen to alter in the templates that you're having a problem with?

bordercars

i made the mistake of getting serif software once they plagued me for months on the phone to buy stuff, steer clear

Moneysava_wannaB

For easy to use try frontpage

wolfman

Grab a version of TextPad (not free) or Notepad2 (free) and code it by hand. May sound difficult, but it's not. There are plenty of decent tutorials on the web you can follow.

And as you develop you can keep the page open in a browser, and refresh to see the changes as they happen.

I'd start of with html and css. There are some great css sites out there, makes design so much easier.
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/192/192.css&page=0

Oh and W3Schools, great for any web stuff:
http://www.w3schools.com/css/

irnbru_2

vansboy wrote:

or just a bit too web design iliterate!!??

I :T your honesty

If your doing anything more than a one-off layout then take Wolfman's advice.

ezzkikrios

hi, making a website isn't that hard. the common reason why people find it hard is that they want to make one just for the sake of it. to make one, first have an outline of what you're gonna put into it, how it's gonna link up etc.

i use dreamweaver 8, but an easy and FREE one to use is NvU which is top class and you can download from NVU.org or NVU.com. It's open source. I buy computer mags and i've got two full copies of Netobjects Fusion 7, which, if I wasn't using Dreamweaver and I was in a hurry, I'd be using it. It's one of the best programs out there.

Frontpage is useless. You're better of with NVU or Netobjects Fusion.

nickmack

ezzkikrios wrote:

hi, making a website isn't that hard. the common reason why people find it hard is that they want to make one just for the sake of it. to make one, first have an outline of what you're gonna put into it, how it's gonna link up etc.

I would make a slight addition to this - making a website isn't that hard, but making a good website is alot harder!

i use dreamweaver 8, but an easy and FREE one to use is NvU which is top class and you can download from NVU.org or NVU.com. It's open source. I buy computer mags and i've got two full copies of Netobjects Fusion 7, which, if I wasn't using Dreamweaver and I was in a hurry, I'd be using it. It's one of the best programs out there.

Frontpage is useless. You're better of with NVU or Netobjects Fusion.

Agreed, I used to use NOF before Dreamweaver and always found it good. As a heads up to the OP, if you buy PC Pro this month, there's the Full Version of Net Objects Fusion 8 on the cover disc.

wolfman

nickmack wrote:

I would make a slight addition to this - making a website isn't that hard, but making a good website is alot harder!

Lol, yeah. And to add to that, making a simple html website isn't that hard. At least that's what I was talking about. You should be able to knock up a nice personal site without too many problems.

Once you get onto scripting languages, databases, shopping carts, payment systems, load balancing etc... though it becomes a lot more complex. Remember people make quite well paid careers out of such things.

vansboy

Much obliged, all!

I'll get the magazine & keep trying!!

VB