website building for idiots - advice needed...

think.upThu 06/12/07 14:22

Hello

I need to get some kind of a website going. I've owned the domain names for 2 years and still not uploaded anything!

Trouble is, I don't really know where to start. I don't want to go to a professional designer until I've got some basic bones up there and got a feel of what I want.
I did build an intranet site for a company I worked in in 2001, so I'm not a bad learner, but I've forgotten it all and it's probably obsolete knowledge by now anyhow.

Can anyone recommend some good build-your-own-website software that is affordable and doesn't look tacky - and doesn't assume too much knowledge on my part?

finalfrontier1976Thu 06/12/07 14:26

I would say for a beginner try Frontpage, I found it to be a lot like MS Word in a way (the look of it I mean) but remember to use frames as I made this mistake and I didn't, t looked a bloody mess.

I'd be happy to give you a few tips, feel free to message me.

My best advice would be get the bare bones up and running, do the fancy bits later.

think.upThu 06/12/07 14:30

Thank you!
Er, what are frames?

*blushes*

finalfrontier1976Thu 06/12/07 14:35

Think of it a bit like when drawing a table in Word, sorry maybe the word for it is actually Table. You draw the table and put your pics etc in that table. That way they stay where they are, I didn't do that on my first attempt and the pictures and text were just jumbled up all the time.

I've written 3 websites for people, I just started off with the basics and went from there. You pick up a lot as you go and can always save it to your desktop and run it from there until you get the feel and look you want. Remember to keep the file name for pictures the same as if you rename a pic it must be renamed in the site otherwise you end up with nothing there.

Check all your links too as sometimes the website had the link as C:\ which obviously from the net there's no C:\ there for it to find.

What I also did, which is a very big but good cheat is search for free Java code, I'm assuming you're writing in HTML? You can copy the code and paste that into the coding of your page for it to duplicate the tricks you see on the net.

I'm trying to teach myself Flash next but that looks hard. You can also get free Flash code as well.

rigsThu 06/12/07 14:35

Try that piece of software, might make the job easier ;)
http://www.kompozer.net/

think.upThu 06/12/07 14:49

quoting > "What I also did, which is a very big but good cheat is search for free Java code, I'm assuming you're writing in HTML? You can copy the code and paste that into the coding of your page for it to duplicate the tricks you see on the net."

Whoa, there, buddy, whoaaa! <lol>

I was doing fine until then, and I can copy and paste in a table. I do have memories of objects wanting to slide around when I saved a Word document as a web page.

I'll have a play soon, thanks for the link Alex.

finalfrontier1976Thu 06/12/07 14:53

Sorry bit too fast perhaps, whichever system you use also has a tab on it (more than likely) to view the code. As you play around and incorporate things to your site the program automatically writes the code for you.

This code can be viewed and if you know how altered by yourself to make it do other bits to your site. When you get to the stage you can copy code from the internet and paste it into this code tab.

That's probably best to leave it at that lol ;)

Good luck, have fun with it.

cephidThu 06/12/07 14:59

Find a couple of sites whose layout appeals to you then lview the pagesource. You can copy this into a text editor then save with an html extension. You will then be able to get some ideaa of the coding and what it does in a browser (not always successful because not all code will be available locally. Also cou can use webreaper http://www.webreaper.net/ to download complete sites (not all will necessarily be allowed :-) ) and reverse engineer that.

think.upThu 06/12/07 15:07

Thank you Mr Mouse, but I did say "for idiots".

I'm on my own here! Some idea of the coding and what id does in a browser? *laughs hysterically* Maybe I need to read a book, when I have a little time.

think.upThu 06/12/07 15:18

Just to put this in context, may I point out that the Sinclair ZX81
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=263
was a new and exciting thing when I reached 6th form, and that my school had no computer. (My brother bought one of these and plugged it into our telly. You had to boot it and upload all the software from a cassette player every time you turned it on.)
My school did, however, have quite a groovy card-index file. And I learned the Dewey system from working in the library.

In the year I left Uni, my Dad got one of these.
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=190&st=1
I think there was a computer at my college, but I never got to see it as I was reading Music. Even the order of service for evensong each week was printed in an annexe of the University presses which clanked all night in a basement in Broad Street.

So until I was about 28 and bought my first computer, the message was always "you cannot do this".

I'm just about the last generation to have this kind of experience in the UK, I reckon. My little neices have no fear of computers whatsoever.

finalfrontier1976Thu 06/12/07 15:19

Now don't take offence but Websites for Dummies is actually a very good starter.