Good Website Maker

What program would you recommend for making a website?
I need to make one for a school project, so I don't want such a steep learning curve. Most of the time will be spent doing research and design and planning(i don't have a choice, its my curriculum) so I'll probably just have a month to make the website itself. Is their anything sufficiently easy that doesn't just give you a template to fill in? I need moderate flexibility but ease of use is important too. Thanks

(no microsoft frontpage please. )

 

If you have to start from scratch, I'd try to see if you can get an academic copy of Sharepoint. You could instead use WordPress to make your own site that you can edit online.

 

You could try Artisteer, I use that to make my Blog Site, but, you can also make Regular Sites, plus more.
EDIT: Here's the link: http://www.artisteer.com/

 

I use Microsoft's Office Live Small Business. It's free and very easy to use. Yes, they do give you multiple templates, but each one is pretty flexible and customizable. And you can download any pics and images you like, as well as cut and paste in any text/font/color etc that they don't offer.

 

Just had a look at this, very nice! I'm thinking of trying it out!

 

Google sites can make wiki styled website.

 

Have you asked your instructor for a recommendation?

 

I been using Antenna Web Design Studio for years now. It's my favorite and always getting better.

 

office live small business looks ok. Is it possible to save the resulting website in a usb to be opened offline? Is it possible to start from a blank page?

(My instructor hasn't recommended anything.)

 

google sites can also track statistics with analytics

 

I don't think you can start from a blank page, but there are a number of different column templates and styles you can choose from. To save your website as a template, the procedure is described here:

http://office-live-skills.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!54B24964747224!242.entry

Also, under "Make Your Own Templates" here:

http://office-live-skills.com/pizazz.aspx

And here's the link to the page that provides full information. (You can also email them for specific questions/answers): http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/en-us/ContactUs

 

Learning curve on website coding, or learning curve on how to use a program?

I'm so terribly old school--still use mostly notepad...no learning curve there!

 

Too bad you can't start from a blank page. My teacher told me specifically no templates. But I think he might let me if i make a template. I'll be sure to ask. Can you also answer my question about the viewing the site offline?

About the learning curve: I want to stay as far away as possible from programming. I don't think I would even write a single line of code, for anything. I'm just lazy .

( notepad!!!! )
kidding. i still use it occasionally when I'm too lazy to open ms word. especially if i'm just copying a website address.

 

Building a website using Notepad is WAY different than using it to take notes or to just copy things.

I'm a purist when it comes to HTML. I like to do all my markup as well as my CSS in notepad.

 

I've also just had a look around and found Serif WebPlus, maybe you can head over to Serif and check it out.

 

Did anyone suggest Dreamweaver CS3/CS4? or Even Dreamweaver 8 (My favorite edition lol).
I use the split feature, it's great. Saves time to create tables, etc. And all the little adjustments just change it up using code (Split mode)

Dreamweaver 8 shouldn't cost you a lot tbh Look in Amazon for used copies. Or just buy a legal serial you can, and download the trial version and register the serial.

 

Dreamweaver is nice - if someone can introduce you to the basics then you should be able to just just plain HTML in less than 30 minutes...

There is Visual Web Developer Express Edition which is messier...

PSPad... etc... or just a text editor

It really depends on how much and what you want to do.

 

I've always liked Kompozer:

http://portableapps.com/apps/development/nvu_portable

 

There really isn't a "template" per se in Microsoft Office Live Small Business. They give you a choice between several column layout styles, but that's really it. You can do whatever else you want with the page(s). As far as starting from a blank page or viewing the site offline, I don't have those answers, but you can contact the Microsoft Office Live Small Business editors and get those answers yourself. Again, here's the link to the Contact Us page. http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/en-us/ContactUs

I have gotten quite a bit of personal help by contacting them, and in addition, on that same Contact Us page, there's a lot of help, in addition to a copy of other users' questions and their answers, which also may help.

 

Dreamweaver sounds nice.........I've used it extensively before and I have a textbook with step-by-step instructions for it. However, i'm just looking for some easier alternatives. But now I think about it, dreamweaver should do the job just fine.

anyway, i'll be more specific with the requirements: I will make a website for a business. It will be a small website, and it'll hold a short company profile, contact information, testimonials, pictures of the company's work, etc.(I'll edit this list later, I can't remember what else i need 2 put.)

In other words, its just a small website with a nav-bar. around 4 pages.

 

Notepad++ maybe. Html is not hard to write by hand.

 

Use Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

I had to make a website exactly like the one you described for a course I took about a year ago, and it only took me one weekend to make it from scratch.

When you said that you were expecting it to take a month, I thought you had to make a complete e-commerce website with a database and a working credit card billing system or something

 

that would be scary.
btw, one month was just an estimate. I feel better now it takes a weekend. More free time, then.

 

Joomla and wordpress are by far the most popular of the moment. Here are some of my websites: www.takeldiensttrans-isca.be and www.the3vilgenius.be

 

Could you rely on a blog for what you want. I had nevr ventured into that are at all before....knew nothing of htmls...

When I ventured to see what I could do, I found Blogger to be an excellent resource. It allows a very wide range of customization including about 12-15 different layouts that can be changed on the fly giving your blog a whole new look. It also allows for graphics, different fonts and just about any ideas you may have...

 

Exactly! Nothing like a good ole DIY hand-rolled website! I wonder if the DTDs have finally managed to go from strict, to transitional, to loose, to ... sloppy.

Nothing dynamic or interactive? That'd be a snap to code by hand, and without all the silliness that some of these WYSIWYG editors get up to.

 

The OP say's it needs to be able to be viewed offline, not online. So blog's would be out of the picture atm. Plus it is a project and needs to be designed, not published.. There are plenty of Web Design software out there, and we have given you just a small variety, but I must say, out off all the one's I have suggested, Dreamweaver would kick butt. - It is quite easy, and a "Dreamweaver CSx for Dummies" Would be great to have around! or the book you state you have could do the trick!

 

Thanks
Dreamweaver should do this just fine, so now I have my program!

STill need a bit more help. ANyone know marine contractor websites with bad design? I need to compare them with good websites because its part of the research I have to do. And it has to be marine contractor, so it will be comparable to what I'm doing.

Just post links

 

Tried google?

In the meantime, you could go to the members' directory of the International Marine Contractors Association and work your way through the hundred or so webpage links they have for individual marine contractors - I have no doubt that after about 20 links or so, you should have a nice little collection of badly designed pages, and maybe one or two well-designed pages.

 

Photoshop + Dreamweaver.

 

I find myself most productive in Dreamweaver. It's auto-completion features mesh with me very well. However, that's quite an expensive program if you go out and buy a new copy. Some great free alternatives include:

• conTEXT (a great notepad replacement with syntax highlighting and format/OS conversion. This is very nice for a variety of programming languages)
• aptana (a Dreamweaver clone that has kind of gone downhill since they went to a paid and free model)
• bluefish (similar to Aptana)
• Microsoft Expression Studio (Microsoft's competitor to Dreamweaver. You should be able to get this for free if you have an edu email address. I'm not sure if the full version is still free, but it might be. Watch out because files created in this application are designed only work with Windows Server products and may need conversion to work on LAMP servers)

Remember that products like Visual Studio also have the ability to create web pages

 

Thanks for the suggestions of alternatvies. However, I already had Dreamweaver installed for quite some time.

And thanks for the member directory! I know about the IMCA but I couldn't find the directory. Maybe i wasn't looking at it well.

 

No worries; glad I could be at least a little bit of help, and apologies if my post on the IMCA was a bit snarky - - it was one of those days.