Website-building software - again

[Loiseau]

I just did a search for the above, and read several threads, but all rather old.

I created a fairly elementary website some years ago, using the website builder in MS Word 97 (on my copy of MS Office).  OK, I know you techies are going to tell me it's not fancy, but I can handle it - which is what matters to me.
As my W98 computers have gradually packed up, I am now on Windows XP and Windows Vista and although I have been able to load the trusty old MS Office software onto these, and to run Word 97, the facility to create webpages will not work on either of my new computers. So I have to find another solution quite quickly.

I have investigated buying a newer version of MS Office, but apparently the new versions of Word no longer have the website-building aspect.
I have considered FrontPage, but I think there is an issue with uploading to my service provider with that, according to their users' forum.
I have downloaded some free website software called NVU, but it's incredibly primitive (even for me), so I don't think I shall continue with that.

So what else is there?  Dreamweaver seems to get talked about a lot - but seems expensive for creating a website site that is almost entirely altruistic. Still, that may be the way I have to go.

(I don't have a problem with hosting or domain names; I have that all sorted.)

Thanks in advance

Angela

[JimJams]

Hello Angela. Many hosts provide simple but effective online website building software. You choose from a set of templates, customize the colours etc., enter your text , click "upload" et voilà, your site's online. I can recommend 1&1.co.uk, though there are many more. Good luck!

 

 

[hoverfrog]

I don't find NVU primitive - although I use it in conjunction with CSSEdit and ocassionaly Smultron!

Dreamweaver is probably overkill although it does write all your javascript functions for you - there was a free version some years ago that I used to use before NVU.

[clarksinfrance]

Loiseau what version of word do you have? just looked on Woord 2007, and it still has web capabilities, in fact even better than any that has gone before it (imho). with Word 2007 on menu bar, select VIEW, and then select WEB LAYOUT, couldn't be easier.

[Kalyn Computers]

There are two main reasons for not using Word, firstly it isn't a web design program - it's a word processor, the second reason is that the html code it prduces is 'bloated' and isn't certain to display correctly in all browsers - even IE7!

If you want a zero cost program that is easy to use and fairly intuitive, do give NVU a try. I have used it for several sites and found it very useful - it was only the gift of Dreamweaver from a grateful client that made me make themove away from it.

You can get it here http://nvudev.com/index.php

HTH

Tim

 

[Loiseau]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I *know* about people considering Word to be "bloated" for making websites, Tim.  But I have been using it for 13 years, and it's what I understand.

Clarksinfrance, I am interested to hear that Word 2007 has the website-builder, as my local John Lewis store told me definitely it didn't (and I wasn't going to invest several hundred pounds in it to be disappointed).  But that sounds a slightly different technique that you describe.  I have always gone to File - New (via the menu at the top, *not* by clicking on the "new" icon) and then selected a tab marked "Web pages" or some such.  If you are going via the "View" menu, I think it is just a way of displaying a file on your screen, not anything to do with actually making up a webpage.  Though I could be wrong.  Have you managed to create a webpage using that method, and uploaded it successfully?

Tim and Hoverfrog, you have inspired me to have another go with my NVU program.  I think my pix are not showing because I had forgotten to eliminate upper-case in the image names.  [:(]   But I have also had trouble with Tables; the lines all look fine when I am creating the page, but then some of them vanish once it is uploaded, giving a strange patchy effect.
[EDIT: I have just tried uploading again, and seem to have cracked it with the pictures on this page [:)] though the text has magically (and annoyingly) moved itself upwards in the tables.  On the other page you can see my problem with the tables; some bits having rules and some bits not. Sorry it's all rather rough; I am really just playing around with a family-history site at the moment, before I decide whether to tackle the dozens of pages that make up my two main websites.]
[EDIT 2: Sorry, links didnlt work; have now fixed them, hopefully.]

And Tel who sent me a PM, thanks for the other recommendation, which I might well take up if NVU doesn't do it for me...

Angela