Website Management
 

hello all! i've been put in charge of my chapter's website and while i'm pretty darn good design-wise, i've never had to build a website from scratch. my question is: what programs do ya'll use to create your sites, are they free to download, and how user-friendly are they to someone who's a master at photoshop, illustrator, quark, and the like, but has never even looked at flash or html? thanks!

I do my work in old fashioned .html using MS notepad, but I'm a rare breed.

I do use Dreamweaver at work a bit, but it's too fancy for my likes.

Generally, for design, I just find a site out there that I like, in a different field of course, then view source and change it to my liking.

If you are good at graphics in Photoshop already you are way ahead (I suck at graphics, and that is usually where I need the most help.)

I used to do all html but I've used Dreamweaver and <3 it. I've never had to pay for it as work or school has had it so that hasn't been an issue.

You CAN get free 30 day trials of Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, etc. and I discovered (innocently!) that the trials are fooled if you set your computer clock back. Sooooooo take that for what you will.

CORRECT!!! i do the same thing...i mean dreamweaver/ms frontpage are iight tho...but i hard code more & "borrow" code from others more so than build my own from scratch...


and oh yeah, i dont buy software...PERIOD!!!

But it's nice to borrow code and stick it into DW. That said DW has it's own quirks to deal with.

A lot of host sites have templates and such provided. Google pages wouldn't be a bad place to check out.

Try Homestead.com--it gives you lots of templates and choices to make the site your own. It works very well, and is easy to navigate. There is a program with it called Homestead Sitebuilder. Good luck! :)

try out different things
 

I have tried a few different things, mostly I have used frontpage, but that is getting archaic. Dreamweaver is pretty userfriendly, especially if you are familiar with adobe creative products. Adobe has its own webdesign software though, GoLive. it would most likely be your best solution.

Like others have said, just find something you like elsewhere and "borrow." Most code is basic stuff anyways.

I use iWeb which is part of iLife that comes with all Macs (you can check out my chapter's site in my signature.) Then again, this would require you to have a Mac. I've always wanted to try out Dreamweaver but I'm not willing to shell out the money for it, although I might try getting it through my school which would be heavily discounted.

And before anyone says anything, as far as I know, you can't do the 30-day trial of Dreamweaver with the Mac version.

neither do i. ;)


I also use Dreamweaver and I've recently discovered CoffeeCup's HTML editor. Both are user friendly. I use Photoshop to create the design and slice it up. The CSS I code by hand in Notepad or Dreamweaver (event though DW has nice CSS tools).

I used Joomla! for my sorority's national webpage. Joomla! is completely free (although I've seen webdesign companies advertise a "Joomla! powered site" starting at around $1000). It's a CMS (Content Management System) so updating the content is as easy as using a word processor.

The downside of Joomla! is that it can be tough to customize; although there are a lot of templates out there that look nice -- most of them are not free. The one I used was free...but I spent some serious time customizing the CSS and adding Javascript and graphics. Also, you need to have a "plan" or "map" of the website before you start adding content. Depending on what category you put the content in, determines how it looks on the site...so it's a lot of trial and error if you're learning. And lastly, a lot of the "meat" of the site (like a photo gallery, guestbook, etc.) needs to be supplied by 3rd party extensions...also a lot of time....to test it out and then see how it works/looks. You also need to make sure your web hosting account gives you PHP4 or higher and MySQL databases.

I've worked with several CMS and Joomla looks the most professional and can go live very quickly. Plus it makes things like a member-only login and layout a no-brainer. It may be a little much for a chapter website though.... I think something more simple....like what the Iota Kappa chapter of my sorority did here might suite a single chapter better (that site is done in Flash).

a) has anyone ever watched a full flash intro?
b) buy your own domain. don't do one of those long ass angelfire.name.or.blah.com/you sites.
and 3) that's all for now.

Question?

Are the above sites mentioned free and how easy are they to access for dummys like me on PC?

I do not want to pay for a A,um Web Site space as I already pay for the Chapter space.

Thanks, any help will be greatful! I am:confused:

thanks to everyone for your replies! they were very helpful. i'm going to work in dreamweaver and hope for the best :p i've never heard of GoLive though; i was wondering if it's a newer program. i've got the creative suite and that's not included.

Tom, as I know you, and am familiar with your inability to even post a picture :) , I'd suggest you stay far away from website design!

I built a site with this and it was almost as easy as writing HTML myself.

As someone else said, you can always copy non-proprietary code from someone else's page!