Website editing packages

[Vienne_Billygoats]

Hi, I am just about to start designing a website for our holiday cottages and was hoping those of you who have been brave or clever enough to design their own sites could recommend a good editing package.  I do not feel I could design a whole one from scratch using html, and believe packages like Dreamweaver are probably more advanced then I need, not to mention quite pricey.

Thanks Kay

[Clair]

I use Webstudio (www.webstudio.com) which I bought (about US$99) as it was highly recommended for beginners in the Sunday Times a couple of years ago .

You can download the software for a 30 days trial and buy the key if you'd like to keep it, or you can purchase the manual+CD online.

They also offer free upload (24h at a time) on their own server to enable you (and your friends) to view your work before putting it out on the web.

It's very easy to use (literally drag & drop onto your page) and comes with masses of templates you can easily adapt.

My gîte website was built with it and believe me, no-one could have known less than I knew at the time!

Since these early days, I have added a French version and I am in the process of rejigging the website with added info for 2006 bookings. Dead easy...

Clair

[Perlats]

Hi

I use Serif Web Plus 9 to design and upload my web pages. It is very easy to use and is suitable for beginers and experienced designers alike.

I use a lot of serif software and find them all extreemly good, very compatible to all the main software packages.

Use this link to go to their site. http://www.serif.com/

The price of the software is not too bad either. Web Plus 9 is only £59.99.

 

[Wizzer]

I tried both Front Page and Dreamweaver but found the latter too complicated and advanced for me. Therefore my first proper version has been written on Front Page but I may try Dreamweaver again after attending some evening classes.

Incidentally. I purchased my first domain name through oneandone, who were absolutely useless and sold my name without asking my permission! After threats of legal action, I finally got my money back but my domain name (which I had already used in printed brochures) was long gone and there was nothing I could do. Their customer service was also dreadful, so I would advise anyone to stay well away from them.

I now use 123reg and webfusion, who have been excellent.

 

[Paolo]

I used Dreamweaver but it is pricy. I believe Frontpage has its limitations because it uses templates, but that may be fine for your needs. You can tweak those templates if you learn a little html, which is not as scary as it sounds.

For hosting I tend to use www.ipowerweb.com. It is cheap - $8 per month including domain registration - give you loads of memory, and a good visitor stats package. Even cheaper is www.godaddy.com, which I think was between $3 and $4 per month. Domain registration there is about $8 per year.

Paolo

[Mpprh]

Hi

All my software is in French, so I have a pretty steep learning curve.

I started with Front Page 2000. The limitation was that "shared borders" was the same for every page. Then I had problems because if the PC crashes during the very long save process (which my old one often did !) you have to recreate every page. I then played with Frontpage 2003 and , although I didn't persevere for too long, it didn't do what I wanted.

Then I played with Dreamweaver MX2004. I could use different templates for different pages, which I needed. It is a bit slow to learn, but I'm happy with it now.

I also tried Net Objects Fusion because it was in English  (comes free with Netfirms hosting : http://www.netfirms.com  but didn't really get on with it.

There are things in DW that I wish Frontpage offered, and vice versa.

For both DW and FP, odd problems require sorting in the HTML code, so you can't rely on using the WYSIWYG facility 100%.

The benefit of using DW or FP is that there are loads of user forums in English that can sort out those really tricky problems.

Hope that helps

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

[Punch]

This free programme has been recommended to me. You can design and build a  site and play around with the software all for free, and you only need to pay to publish the site.

http://www.bluevoda.com/

Paul

 

[Russethouse]

I used webstudio too and it was easy,(I'm a real dummy IT wise and short on patience for this sort of thing, a frustrating combination !) I liked the drag and drop formula.

[Vienne_Billygoats]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I now have some definate ideas to research.  You have also hopefully answered my nest question of contacts for Web hosting.