Need software to create my first website.

[johnneumann]

I want to put up a simple website and I prefer to make it myself. I use a Macintosh Powerbook. I have no experience designing websites - this will be my first shot at it. I used a program called Claris Home Page, but the site comes out looking different depending on which browser a person uses - which seems unprofessional.

I know nothing about website design software and don't even know where to begin looking. Dreamweaver seems daunting to this novice. Can anyone recommend some software that's made for beginners who don't have a clue about HTML?

[DrDoc]

I'd recommend downloading the Dreamweaver trial. Yes, it may seem daunting, but DW is a powerful piece of software that will fall somewhere inbetween -- you can easily create nice looking web sites without getting too bad of an HTML code

[pleeker]

I'd second the DW recommendation, but there are less daunting (and less powerful) editors available at VersionTracker.

Look for PageSpinner, Taco, etc. ....

[appleman58]

When I was in your shoes, 3 years ago, I made the decision to use Dreamweaver. I never looked at another editor again. Now today I have Dreamweaver MX , Fireworks, and Flash. They are all Mac friendly and easy to use. You just gotta get your feet wet. Everything will fall into place after that. If you would like more info and help you are welcome to email me.

appleman58

[Hissingsid]

Hi,

If you have DTP experience on an application like Quark Xpress I would go and have a look at Freeway by Softpress Systems.

The one drawback with Freeway is a very limited ability to import existing HTML pages but it is by far the easiest application for print designers to transfer their skills to the Web.

Best wishes

Sid

[andy_boyd]

Even if you do use DreamWeaver you will benefit in the long run by getting an HTML editor like TextWrangler or Taco. Learning HTML seems daunting at first but once you get used to it you'll be grand, and it's something you can use to quickly change your site down the line.

[Peter]

Hi,

I second Hissingsid's suggestion to have a look at FreeWay. I've been using it for a year and a half with happy results. I think it only exists for the Mac platform, and it feels like a Mac program.

Peter.

[automotivetouchup]

Does front page work on apple computers? I'm a PC kinda guy, but school only uses G4's. A may cross the border someday, but I have a few expensive addins or my FP site I can't afford to lose.

[Fearless]

Yes, there is a Mac version of frontpage.

And it rots just like the Windoze version.

Frontpage consistently turns out the worst looking sites on the web. And it writes terrible HTML. You can always spot FP sites on the web- they just scream "BAD DESIGN."

The original question was from a newbie. I have a dear friend who is a good graphics designer but NOT a web head. She does a very good job on her four sites using (get this) a copy of Adobe Pagemill 3.0 which she bought of ebay for $5 (!) (if I remember correctly, she runs it in "classic" under OS X but I might be mistaken.)

It seems to work better than any of the shareware tools mentioned.

Over the last 15 years, I feel like I've tried about every tool known to Western Civilization. And although I use Dreamweaver extensively, I don't know that I would wish it on a newbie. It's expensive and takes a real commitment to learn.

Lately, I've been doing whole pages in PhotoHog (err- I mean "PhotoShop") and Illustrator.

I started using GoLive Cyberstudio when it was a free version 0.80 download from the original developers in Germany. It got pretty sucky after Adobe bought it, and I switched to Dreamweaver but with the advent of the CS suite, I might be going back because I like PhotoHog/llustrator slightly better than Freehand/Fireworks (by a nose.)

Plus it irritates me than Macromedia hinders importing complex sliced images and code from the Adobe products into DW. (I assume they do that to force use of Freehand/ Fireworks.)

At the other end of the spectrum- I have another pal who's a big time national developer in his field (political sites) who has gone to using Moveable Type for any sites that need client updates and Flash for anything else. (great stuff- but I worry that it loses too many surfers with old computers and dial up net connections- they do look COOL though!) (Thank gawd for broadband)

Moveable Type is intriguing.

[Dr_Madvibe]

I reckon you have to ask yourself this question first. Am I a coder or a grahic designer?

HTML is pretty simple to learn to code. But then there's CSS, JavaScript ... whatever

If you're a designer and don't want ot get your hands "dirty" then sure Dreamweaver. But it's quite a heavyweight to learn, but I guess you'd have to learn one of them.

[michael263]

+

While most people recommending a WYSIWYG web development tool favor Dreamweaver (and it is the industry standard), I'll cast my vote for Adobe GoLive, especially when used in conjunction with Photoshop, Illustrator, and ImageReady. If you're familiar with Adobe graphics apps the learning curve won't be as steep as Dreamweaver's, either, as GoLive has a lot of interface similarities with Photoshop, etc.

[johnneumann]

Thanks everybody for your input. I hate to give away how amateurish and ignorant I am about my own needs...but I've been using Claris Home Page (a real beginner's software) to attempt my first hand at creating a webpage. I'm pretty sure that this would give me all the capabilities I would need with regard to the layout of the visuals, graphics, and links that make up my basic site.

My fear is that I will shortly need to add video, downloadable or streaming audio and, gasp, online shopping to the site.

This second level is what has me asking if I need to go through something as traumatic as learning Dreamweaver. Is a program like this required to add audio, video, and online purchases?

(I'm a motivational speaker and I want people to be able to see sample videos of my talks, download audio recordings, and order tapes and DVDs online.)

Oh, that all of life was as simple as Home Page. But I suppose we have to grow up sometime.

Thanks all of you for your continued advice. I will be taking action on what you guys ultimately tell me to do. I've really got nowhere else to go for advice.

John

[Brad]

There is also Composer which is part of the free Mozilla browser. I often recommend that to beginners to try first as a wysiwyg editor. It actually works quite nice.

[freesample]

BBEdit, Freeway, PageSpinner, Webdesign, Taco, Emacs, Xemacs, SubEthaEdit... just choose! :)

[timster]

the site comes out looking different depending on which browser a person uses - which seems unprofessional.

Welcome to the Web. Different browwsers are, well, different. You'll have to decide for yourself (as we all have) how consistent you need your site to look. (But remember, most users won't check your site in different browsers.)

If you want a lot of control, you will probably want to learn HTML. If you decide to do so, buy yourself BBEdit. BBEdit will help you write (and learn) HTML, and will also check HTML for you.

When you have a document you need to look "just so" you may want to create a PDF.

[BjarneDM]

I'll recommend the following tools:
1) Mozilla with at least the following additions from mozdev.org:
- cascades 0.40 for css-editing
- livehttpheaders
- multizilla
- pnhtoolbar (http://placenamehere.com/pnhtoolbar/)
2) bbedit for all serious editing. bbedit will give you the control over your code that most of the other wysiwyg editors doesn't give you

and to learn (x)html I'll recommend [htmldog.com...]

[Brad]

Based upon the comments in this thread I just tried out Freeway. It looked bewildering at firs, but work through the intro tutorial and it all clicks. I'm sold on it. Thanks for mentioning it.

[hightraffic10]

BBEdit bar none

[gussie]

I have an ancient copy of Bbedit (4.0 from 1997!) that I can't live without. Learning to write your own code is the way to go. It keeps your pages simple and streamlined. You really have to design the pages, not just slam some images and text into a WYSIWYG window. It keeps the focus on design as a servent and compliment to the content, not the other way around.

Gus

[utica]

BBEdit will help you write (and learn) HTML

If I could take only one program with me on a trip to Mars it would be BBEdit. It's simply the most useful Mac web creation software.

Interestingly, though, I learned HTML hand coding from using DreamWeaver. Bit by bit, as I interted an object using the WYSIWYG window, I would take a look at the code in the code window. Eventually I figured out that it was easier to just write the code by hand.

I still use DreamWeaver to manage my sites.

[jacktheripper]

BBedit is good, but overpriced :(

[Hissingsid]

http://www.ifslearning.com/randr/quals/cergi/cergi.htm

BBedit is fantastic at what it does and is therefore brilliant value for money. Its one piece of software I've never regretted shelling out for.

However although great strides have been made in previewing etc BBedit is still totally code based and quite rightly so. The problem with this is that for a begginner early attempts to write a website for the 21st century will be dissapointing. A true WYSIWYG web design package is much more likely to allow a much less steep learning curve and more acceptable early page designs. I've used Freeway for about six years now and it is always the first tool I reach for to do a web design even if I plan to play with the code outside of Freeway later.

I guess that if I were starting out now with CSS layout at the stage it is I might consider going over to alistapart and grabbing a starting point layout and playing with the code and styles in BBedit.

Best wishes

Sid

[ucklak]

I'd have to second the Mozilla html editor. I don't know why people seem to miss this one. A lot cheaper than DW.