How Do You Build Webpages?

methods of site creation

[keyplyr]

- Code by Hand -

When I first started, I coded by hand. I still hand code. I believe you learn by doing. I usually just open an empty file & start typing, sometimes cut'n pasting page structure (templates) from similar page layouts, then at some point save as an HTML file. I occasionally use a simple text editor like Notepad or Editpad, but avoid the tag features. I would have never learned what I now know if I had done it any other way.


- Use a WYSIWYG editor -

A What You See Is What You Get editor is site creation software, some free, some at a price. They typically offer tools to create various size fonts & other markup tags. I've never used any of them, but I've been influenced by sites that have been built with these programs. I'm constantly studying the markups of other sites to learn how *they* did it, then I usually look up the authority page for that language to verify correctness & to learn more. A few popular programs are: Dreamweaver, iWeb, Kompozer, Expression Web & Flux. The downside may be a dependency on the software instead of learning how to code yourself.


- Use a CMS -

Content Management Systems like WordPress, Joomla & Drupal have become very popular for both those new to web publishing & veteran webmasters that prefer a relatively simple way of site creation that can be easily managed with a unified look & feel. The downside may be a limitation or no ability to create functionality not envisioned in the CMS (e.g., layouts, web apps, etc.)

What did you use to build your first pages & how do you do it now, if different?

(Please, no product links)

- - -

[keyplyr]

Earlier WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver or MS Frontpage created quite a lot of code bloat. As I said earlier, I have never used any software to create pages, but I have worked on many sites that were made with software. On many occasions, I cleaned up and compressed code to a fraction of what I saw when I first took over these projects.

I remember hearing that the code bloat was lessened and finally reduced significantly as later versions of these editors were released.

[graeme_p]

there are advantages to HTML "flat files" that offset the minor disadvantages if--like us--you're publishing a mom-and-pop information site with mostly evergreen content

A static site generator would give you flat files with some of the advantages of a CMS

Code bloat? None at at all, just the opposite when compared to the common CMS systems.

"common CMS systems" meaning things like Wordpress with bloated themes? They are not the only option.

[EditorialGuy]

A static site generator would give you flat files with some of the advantages of a CMS

True, but I subscribe to the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought. I learned my lesson in the '80s when I tried (and customized) too many word-processing programs in the quest to make myself more "efficient." (I may have found the most efficient word processor, but I wasted a lot of time and money in the process.)

These days I try to focus on content, not on tools. If I spend an extra couple of minutes uploading revised pages with ftp or doing search-and-replaces on lines in page headers, that's still a better use of my time than changing my site or my workflow to satisfy a theoretical goal that doesn't yield more traffic or revenue.

[IanCP]

Initially I used the Netscape composer.

I didn't do a web site originally in the ordinary sense - to have a web site - I did it as the only means of explaining more fully, with graphics, about topic posts I had made on an email forum in my genre. Then simply for practicality I had to have an index page which made sense. Then folks made suggested improvements - even more folks asked that I expand upon my lectures.

Then somebody put it in Yahoo!

Then all hell broke loose - worse? My ISP presented me with a large monthly account for traffic. That was when I had to monetise. Hello Mr. Amazon in 1998.

Having learned the HTML basics I graduated to the free version of Notetab. As with all software I am happy with, I buy the professional version. I still use it.

I'm a plain vanilla webmaster. Black type on a white background, schematics and photographs only where relevant, Nothing else.

The internet of the late 1990's was a much tinier place than it is today.

I said before "Then somebody put it in Yahoo!". Well some might remember when the folks who later became Google, first road tested their wares on Yahoo! Do you remember?

Almost simultaneously I got myself a domain name, proper web site etc, and even more etc. and then along came Mr. Google with myself indexed mostly #1 in my genre. Much later his AdSense and telephone number income came along - from what was effectively a 24/7 taxi meter. Even while I slept.

The rest is history - today that history is nearing its final chapter.

Since way back when, those olden days? How many pages have I added?

Not one in the last sixteen years.

Before you start - I never established a web site to make money, ever. I had to monetise only to cover costs, all else was a surprise bonus. My goal was to teach, to pass along my knowledge, my methods, my tips.

Since 1998 I have literally taught tens of millions of people world wide, for that exceptional opportunity I am extremely grateful, no amount of money can ever buy that gratitude.

I've made my contribution to the world and to humanity - another gift which money cannot buy.

I'm not the only one, others in my peer group have done the same - we're just all dying off - few taking our place.

[IanCP]

Something I should add. There were/are a massive number of web sites which have made an enormous contribution on "how to"... on the internet over the years.

Today, the Search Engines now drown them out with often irrelevant sites, but mostly with very large corporate owned sites - all trying to sell your something.

The worst site of all? All too often useless?

Microsoft?

Try and find on a Microsoft page a definitive answer to problems their software often cause you directly/or indirectly. Yes other very large forums will sometimes provide an answer, sometimes not - but rarely Microsoft. But Mr. Google will put them on page one - only to demonstrate some others have also asked my question, a still unanswered question, a poorly answered question.

If ever there is an answer? It is from a fellow contributor like myself - never the Microsoft people.

[keyplyr]

What did you use to build your first pages & how do you do it now, if different?

[EditorialGuy]

What did you use to build your first pages & how do you do it now, if different?

I used HotDog Pro (an HTML editor) back in late 1995, then experimented with several WYSIWIG programs including FrontPage (before it was acquired by Microsoft) and NetObjects Fusion. I was writing a magazine column about online services and the Web at the time, and software reviews came with the territory.

Later, I tried Dreamweaver, which I didn't like and still don't: FrontPage had a cleaner, more "editorial" interface, which appealed to me since my background is in writing, editing, and publishing.

I stuck with FrontPage through its various incarnations and continued with Expression Web when EW replaced FP. (I never did use the special features that required the "FrontPage extensions"--I just used the program for creating and managing pages, and that's what I still do with Expression Web. I even ftp with FileZilla instead of using EW's built-in ftp.)

I've also used TypePad for several ancillary blogs. It works okay, but I've never really liked fill-in-the-blanks authoring platforms.

[Edge]

First - FrontPage, second Dreamweaver, third CMS.

for quick qweeks, wordpad.

[EditorialGuy]

If you're a Windows user, Notepad++ is great for things like large .htaccess files and other text files. (And it's free.)

[Mark_A]

Textpad is great for html and even massive log files.

[lucy24]

If you're a Windows user, Notepad++ is great for things like large .htaccess files and other text files.

On the Mac side, I use SubEthaEdit (shareware) for most things, and TextWrangler (the free sibling of BBEdit) for multi-file edits.

Global replaces spanning multiple files are scary. But then, so are unsupervised global replaces within a single file, the first few times.

[explorador]

What did you use to build your first pages & how do you do it now, if different?

Past. I played with Microsoft Frontpage and other free options, then Dreamweaver. DW was my tool for a while, solidly for like a year, then just occasionally. I quickly moved to using a CMS (that I wrote myself) so I nad to do a lot of html coding and breaking any template I created into pieces. From there the path was clear.

Since then (quickly) I continued using hand coding, didn't go for the autocomplete tools (free or not) I just stayed with freeware simple notepads with solid text replacement and regex (and multifile text replacement). That was for HTML, for coding I used PERL and still use it heavily. PHP and other stuff? yes but my personal preference is Perl. Dreamweaver was used RARELY for things that I didn't remember, then just read the W3 for reference, DW is still in my dev laptop but almost NEVER used. Also worked using Wordpress and Drupal being Drupal my first option over WP. Also used hand coding there, no Wysiwyg tools of any kind.

Then the nightmare of multibrowser: having the major diff browsers installed to check how the webpages work, Windows? damn: Windows + Linux + Macintosh and also Android tablets and iPhone. That was my huge jump on webpage development (and yes it is boring) I don't use online services, sometimes yes like browsershots but what I need is checking the responsiveness so all at hand.

Present: hand coding, no product links? ok I use free tools like Gedit, Brackets and EditPadLite. And Photoshop, besides that? just multiple browsers and my own CMS (4th generation) then created my own framework (2nd generation) and I'm quite happy.

My first webpage: 1998, hand coded html, no CMS
Today... 19 years later thank God no hacked problems on any project

[Jonesy]

First an OS/2 editor .. back in the days of <table> "design".
Then Nvu (linux) when I moved past <table> "design".
Then KompoZer (linux) as I learned what CSS could do for me.
Since a year or more now it's all been solely the BlueFish editor (linux).
(No database or CMS here.)