Can anyone recommend a good website builder?

[danman85]

I would like to make a website, just wondering if anyone could suggest a start for me, free or not free.

[SomebodySomewhere]

If you could provide more details about your level of proficiency in building websites it would help a lot in giving you advice.

[tstesen]

Originally Posted by danman85

I would like to make a website, just wondering if anyone could suggest a start for me, free or not free.

Because you are asking for a website builder I will assume you are not currently proficient in reading/writing code. In that case I would recommend getting to know a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor such as CoffeeCup's free HTML editor.

CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor - The Free HTML Editor is a Drag and Drop Editor with Built-In FTP !

If it's within your budget I would highly recommend purchasing a professional HTML editor such as Microsoft's Expression Web which works nicely with style sheets and produces much cleaner code.

Amazon.com: Microsoft Expression Web Professional Design Tool: Software

On another note I would NOT recommend using a website builder from a hosting company. In most instances if you decide to switch hosts you cannot take your site with you. Rather create your own site from scratch (or a template) using the methods mentioned above.

Hope this helps

Tanya
A web developer from CO

[danman85]

Thanks for the suggestion. As far as my level of site-building skill, design is no problem for me, I can handle that on my own. I do have some knowledge of code and script, I learned a lot about it years ago, but I forgot some nuts and bolts here and there. Nothing I can't re-learn.

[simonsta]

I think it depends on what the purpose of the website is and how often you need to change it, and from where. A lot of the tools are programs you load onto your desktop so you can't then change the content easily from other desktops or internet cafes. Some tools are provided by hosts, but require you to know HTML. These are really only good for static content.

I use Wordpress which is a Content Management System where I just write the content and it builds it for me with loads of bells and whistles. I do this daily, and it is hassle-free. There are similar platforms like TypePad. Whats more, they are free and almost every hosting company supports it.

Simon

[coulls]

Originally Posted by danman85

I would like to make a website, just wondering if anyone could suggest a start for me, free or not free.

If you want to dive right in, Microsoft Visual Studio "Express" editions are free.

[Robert Avila]

I would recommend WordPress as Simonsta had mentioned.

You will have a lot of functionality at your fingertips was well as the resources available to help you along the way!

Looking back I started out using Godaddy Templates and Blogger. These were some of the easiest ways to get started creating websites. Knowing what I now know, I would have jumped in with WordPress from day one.

Regardless of what platform you are going to use ... it will take time to learn it. So if you are going to invest your time learning a new skill you might as well use the WordPress platform that will allow you to really grow your site as your skill set grows along with your ideas. All the time I spent learning some of those earlier templates Godaddy and Blogger didn't carry over to WordPress. I had to start over from ground zero as a beginner!

You can visit Wordpress.org if you have questions or you can Google your question. You will be amazed at how quickly you will learn and how you can find an answer to anything you encounter.

Wish you the best!

Robert Avila

[bronco]

Greetings "danman85"

as this is my 1st post, I am grateful to be of assistance 2U.
I have 3 choices for you to choose from, and I hope that
they're WHAT you're looking for....................................

1........BlinkWeb - Free Internet Marketing Website or Blog

2........Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

3........Affordable Online Website Builder - Very Affordable Websites.

"He who seeks finds"

[Neutral]

For a personal website that you don't need all power over, I second Weebly.

They have professional hosting with extra features too, and they are open and will add additional features.

If your site outgrows the service, you can download your site (minus blog, unfortunately) and move it.

[bronco]

Greetings....... "Neutral"

I visited your Homepage, and found it....

- very "interesting
- very educational.

So Much So....I've signed up for the WEBDESIGN.COURSE !!!

[Orange]

what I use is very good for a begginer .. if you are that is. You dont need to mess around with codeing much if you just want it basic. also Its free for the first year then you ust pay for the domain name after that $8 a year .. so its well worth it! Free website, website hosting, and email - Microsoft Office Live Small Business
It isnt just a website builder It will help you with everything to do with an online business. A ontact manager, site reports so you can see how my visitors you got and where you got them from. A email adress for your domain and manny other cool extras.. Its all free witch is the best thing I highly recomend

[Easysharez]

Hello all,
I was surfing and found this site and in hoping it might be useful for me. I currently have a site and it has been having some issues and also would like to change a few things. I would like to find someone with some knowledge in this field and could possibly give me a hand and in exchange will be taken care of. I am currently using wordpress, but it has been hassles for what i am wanting. I run a site doing rapidshares. Here are some issues i am having. Don't matter to me if i stay with word press or not, just hate loosing all the info i have on it, but I guess if i have to i will replace it. Here are some issues i am having and wanting to change.


1) when posting anything new it is taking forever and sometimes having
errors and/or freezing up

2) When posting would like a templet for links and image inserting instead
of doing one link at a time, can show you a example of a templet off another
site on how they do it if you do not understand.

3) Like to have the option of members posting things, to give a example
please go to this site and register and then left click on summit.
Internet Service Providings , this is the way we would like our postings to be
set up

4) Like to have it where no one can click on anything unless they are logged
in on the site. They can look at all, but want it where they must be
registered to click on anything.

5) Like to have it where it has a list of online members showing. On right
hand side.

6) Like to have at bottom different pages ( 1,2,3,and so on ) instead of
previous page.


The site we are talking about to have these things done is
EasyShareZ.com

We don't necessarily care if we loose wordpress and have to go with
something else but we DO NOT want to loose all the info off this. But if we have to start fresh, I guess we will.

Thank you
And hope to be hearing from someone soon
Easy

Not sure if i am allowed to give a email address here or not, so i will wait for a reply.
Thanks again.

[kf9211]

Well Steve Pavlina, and I, both recommend SBI, but it's a little bit more than a site builder, since it includes hosting, a little SEO, etc. Also the price is a bit expensive $300.

You could also try DreamWeaver, or a free one is evrsoft.

Hope this helps,
Kyle

[SteveWeber]

I use Dreamweaver for my sites. I could not do what I do without Dreamweaver's template feature.

It is not "templates" as many may think. It is a method to update all the pages on a site with just a few clicks. For example, when we add or delete a product on our retail site, we can update the navigation field on all 80 pages with just a few clicks. Otherwise, that could take hours.

If one has a site with more than a few pages or multiple sites, I don't see how the sites can be maintained without the template feature Dreamweaver or another quality editor offers.

Just changing the copyright date each year at the bottom of all pages would be a huge hassle for me if not for the template feature.

[Brutha]

If one has a site with more than a few pages or multiple sites, I don't see how the sites can be maintained without the template feature Dreamweaver or another quality editor offers.

These days you can use a CMS and don't have to bother that much with changing something at every page.

Today you cam simply use Joomla, Drupal or Wordpress (if you just want a blog) and take a basic skin and mess a bit around with it to get what you want.
There simply more than html today.
You have a technology with php and css that allows you to change one thing without having to think about changing it everywhere.

The code might not be clean after you stript out the features of the CMS that you don't need, but that doesn't matter that much.

[SteveWeber]

That is all true. However, the beginners I work with need to start with the basics. PHP and CSS are far over their heads.

[Dave Kaminski]

Originally Posted by SteveWeber

That is all true. However, the beginners I work with need to start with the basics. PHP and CSS are far over their heads.

We've got to break free of this mindset - they simply won't make it if they don't learn CSS nowadays.

PHP is another whole ball game though, and not necessary when it comes to "web design." Your students should be learning HTML as markup and CSS as design in order to stay with the current trend of best practice design.

[SteveWeber]

Man, you guys are sure giving me a hard time.

I am talking pure and complete beginners...the ones I normally work with. They start out not even knowing how a link is created. Most of them don't even know there is code which creates the page. It is easier to learn CSS later if you have the basic knowledge of how a page works with just HTML.

The learning curve is steep already in the beginning. They need to see at least a little success as soon as possible to maintain their motivational levels.

We focus on very niche areas with very small sites; this is the only chance a pure beginner has in seeing success in a few months with AdSense.

Choosing the right niche, knowing how to research the keywords and applying basic SEO principles, and optimizing plenty of original content are far more important factors in the beginning than whether they build those first sites with CSS or simple HTML.

In fact, a small site (in a very niche area) filled with great content which is optimized for the right keywords will rank just as well whether it used CSS or HTML.

I am not saying they won't or should not ever learn CSS, etc.