What's a good wysiwig tool for chidren?

... to build website for themselves

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

By coincidence I was about to start a similar thread when I saw this one [webmasterworld.com...] but this is little different so rather than highjacking Callivert's thread I started another.

My oldest grandson will be nine in November. When he is at our house he spends a lot of time on my laptop while I am working at the PC. (This is not a good idea BTW, with "papa how do you do this that and the other?" every five minutes.) :)

He does seem to manage quite well and he likes building and laying out Word documents with images and text and generally makes quite a good job of it. The other day he asked me if I could show him how to build a website.

Are there any wysiwig tools available that are suitable for children in this age group? The ones I know (e.g. DW) are probably too complex for him. Do any of you know of any such tools - perhaps even something that is used by primary schools?

[topr8]

just a leftfield thought.

1. ... perhaps an old copy of dreamweaver if you can find one, maybe version 2, it was a much more straightforward and much less option/bloated application at that time.

2. word has got a convert to webpage function hasn't it?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Yes, Word can do that but it does not seem to do it very well and I would rather that he was using something that would perhaps lead him into looking at valid code in the not too distant future.

Actually since I am a one man operation and his dad is not really interested in what I do I have no one to pass the business on to. I could perhaps get my grandson trained up so that I could retire. ;)

[topr8]

how about the coffecup html editor, it's relatively simple.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Yes but I am not sure it is simple enough for an eight year old? I see Coffee Cup has a visual editor too. Maybe that would do but I would like him to have the option of getting into the HTML side as soon as possible.

Maybe I am being unrealistic.

[Mark_A]

I would be tempted just to let him use anything that you don't mind possibly getting byorked. He will probably surprise you with his quick progress.

[weeks]

I would recommend Website Tonight, via GoDaddy. You can get a 5-page website with plenty of templates for just a few dollars a month, no commitment. You don't have to use their templates. You can provide some if you like.

He has play around with the web easily, but later it allows you to open pages up and how him how the CSS and html is working in the background. It's a good teaching tool regarding being responsible on the web, tech-wise and otherwise. You can do most anything with it.

The problem with nine-year-olds is their interest shifts rapidly. It will go from tech, to music to photos to social, to movie to sports to whatever. This way the child can develop the areas they are interested in. And, there is pretty good "help" so he doesn't have to ask for help if he is not in the mood. (You might be a great teacher, you might not be. Help provides an alternative.)

Another nice thing about this is that it is hosted, so you can check what is going on, and go in and help if the grandson needs it without having to visit.

If my 50+-year-old PIA retailer clients can use it, your nine-year-old can. Easy.

[Demaestro]

I honestly feel if you are going to get him going on website stuff it would be easier to teach him some basic html and give him simple, fun assignments to try.

Once he has a really basic grasp on what markup is then he can move to an editor.

I find the less one knows about what is happening in the back end of an editor the harder it is for them to use.

I did this with my son around the same age, he was 10.

My $0.02

[Hoople]

The Internet Explorer 4 CD had a copy of MS Frontpage, freshly rebranded from the company they had just bought it from (recent past).

Very little of the MS code bloat in it's pages (that would come with FP98 and beyond). Interface is very word like tool. I used it before switching to a code editor (Homesite).