website building software What to use?

Hi
I would like to make my first website
but I have no experience at website building so can you recommend something
that it is easy to use.

I would appreciate any help you can offer

Thanks

colin wrote:

I would like to make my first website

Why? What content do you have?

but I have no experience at website building so can you recommend something
that it is easy to use.

Your best bet is to:

1) Avoid FrontPage and Word's "Save to 'HTML'" feaure like the plague
2) Learn HTML and CSS
3) Start coding by hand
4) If bored with 3), then choose a decent editor

If you're building a site that's anything more than "here are some
photos of my cats", you'll be at a *big* advantage if you understand
what's going on behind the scenes.

I host one of many good (and more bad) HTML tutorials:

http://tranchant.plus.com/web/html-tutorial/

and also have a half-finished CSS tutorial.

Linger on this group - look at the personal pages of some of the
regulars. Don't spend too much time designing the look of the site:
you're bound to re-do it within a month, so start simple.

--
Mark.

"Mark Tranchant" <mark (AT) tranchant (DOT) plus.com> wrote

colin wrote:

I would like to make my first website

Why? What content do you have?

but I have no experience at website building so can you recommend
something
that it is easy to use.

Your best bet is to:

1) Avoid FrontPage and Word's "Save to 'HTML'" feaure like the plague
2) Learn HTML and CSS
3) Start coding by hand
4) If bored with 3), then choose a decent editor

If you're building a site that's anything more than "here are some
photos of my cats", you'll be at a *big* advantage if you understand
what's going on behind the scenes.

I host one of many good (and more bad) HTML tutorials:

http://tranchant.plus.com/web/html-tutorial/

and also have a half-finished CSS tutorial.

Linger on this group - look at the personal pages of some of the
regulars. Don't spend too much time designing the look of the site:
you're bound to re-do it within a month, so start simple.

--
Mark.

Thanks for the help, I will keep it simple to start with
what programme would you recommend.
I don't have a clue on which programme to use so I would appreciate any help
you can offer.

colin

In article <c94n77$74u$1 (AT) news5 (DOT) svr.pol.co.uk>, cairns11uk (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk
enlightened us with...

Thanks for the help, I will keep it simple to start with
what programme would you recommend.
I don't have a clue on which programme to use so I would appreciate any help
you can offer.

Notepad.
Or, my preferred "notepad" with bells and whistles, EditPlus.
http://www.editplus.com/

If you REALLY feel the need for more, I recommend Homesite or
Dreamweaver.
Homesite is a *lot* cheaper. Dreamweaver is more for production
websites.
http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/

If you plan on doing more than putting up a couple pages with a few
pictures, I'd recommend using only a plain text editor like EditPlus and
actually learning HTML.

--
--
~kaeli~
He's your God, they're your rules - you burn in Hell.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

"kaeli" <tiny_one (AT) NOSPAM (DOT) comcast.net> wrote

In article <c94n77$74u$1 (AT) news5 (DOT) svr.pol.co.uk>, cairns11uk (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk
enlightened us with...

Thanks for the help, I will keep it simple to start with
what programme would you recommend.
I don't have a clue on which programme to use so I would appreciate any
help
you can offer.


Notepad.
Or, my preferred "notepad" with bells and whistles, EditPlus.
http://www.editplus.com/

If you REALLY feel the need for more, I recommend Homesite or
Dreamweaver.
Homesite is a *lot* cheaper. Dreamweaver is more for production
websites.
http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/

If you plan on doing more than putting up a couple pages with a few
pictures, I'd recommend using only a plain text editor like EditPlus and
actually learning HTML.

--
--
~kaeli~
He's your God, they're your rules - you burn in Hell.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

thanks for your help I will give it a try and see how I get on

It should keep me going for a while I think I should learn HTML

coiln

On Thu, 27 May 2004 14:17:00 +0100, colin <cairns11uk (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk> wrote:

thanks for your help I will give it a try and see how I get on
It should keep me going for a while I think I should learn HTML

I agree. It's not a terribly difficult thing to get good at. CSS is only
slightly harder.

Here's something to keep firmly in mind when organizing your page - HTML
has, as part of its design, 6 levels of headings, paragraphs, lists
(numbered, bulleted and definitions), interactive forms, and data tables.
Use these as needed in your structure. Give each page a heading-one which
describes that page. Use heading-two's to separate the page into sections,
etc.

Whenever you add text to a page, ask yourself, is this a list? A
paragraph? Or something else entirely? Use the HTML markup that matches
what it is, not what you want it to look like. CSS is for changing what it
looks like, not HTML. Keep that in mind, you're miles ahead of most - I
mean most - web authors.

In article <opr8nvsdka6v6656 (AT) news (DOT) individual.net>, neal413 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
enlightened us with...

Whenever you add text to a page, ask yourself, is this a list? A
paragraph? Or something else entirely? Use the HTML markup that matches
what it is, not what you want it to look like. CSS is for changing what it
looks like, not HTML. Keep that in mind, you're miles ahead of most - I
mean most - web authors.

I agree - and I wish someone had told me that when I started. It would
have saved me a lot of problems. The first time I turned off
stylesheets, I was appalled.

Make your page in totally plain, black and white text with NO formatting
- only markup tags (no font tags, though). Make sure it displays well
that way in case people have stylesheets turned off or have older
browsers or have special browsers (visually impaired).
*Then* style it.

Also, use of a validator is a great tool.
The W3C has a free one.
http://validator.w3.org/

--
--
~kaeli~
When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

"colin" <cairns11uk (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk> writes:

Hi
I would like to make my first website
but I have no experience at website building so can you recommend something
that it is easy to use.

I would appreciate any help you can offer

Thanks

As others have said it's worth learning HTML and coding your own pages.
Validating is a good idea too.

When I am using Windows I tend to use TextPad. I think it's a great editor
and there are syntax files which help display your work highlighted in
different colours so you can see the syntax of your document.

You also can have more than one document open in the same window. It used to
be quite cheap. I think I bought my license for less than £20.

Unlike Notepad, which is, imho, only useful for making notes and useless for
coding.

There are plenty of sites with good html tutorials out there. I haven't
checked the FAQ yet but that might list some.

HTML is not hard to learn. Don't use Frontpage. Please don't use frontpage.
It's a nightmare. I have refused to take on work where someone has a
Frontpage site and wants to add things or do something more with it,
especially on the server side. People who use FP really do not have a clue
what's involved in serving a site.

If you use a text editor and write your own HTML you'll have much more control
over what is there and much more of an appreciation when you go to use any
website design program. A little work now will make your life much much
easier in the long run.

HTH

Lesley

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