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DNA man · Jun 9, 2002, 08:10 AM

Okay, I have been using computers for while but now I feel the urge to do my own web site. The problem is that I'm a web site virgin!

How would I go about making my own web site? Is there a simple program that some one would recommend?

If I can get to grips with making a web site, where would I go for information, good books, web sites that might offer instruction and learning resources etc.

Many help in advance for this newbie question.

TomHMeredith · Jun 9, 2002, 09:53 AM

There are many programs you can use. I believe AppleWorks and Microsoft (urghh!) Word are two programs you could use to design a =very= basic home page.

To build a half decent site you would need a specialist program. I have just built a site using Dreamweaver MX (the demo). I found it very easy to use. I referred to the manuals only for a couple of things.

Information wise, I'm not to sure where you could go. As I stated, Dreamweaver has a bit of information. Also, ask your service provider, I assume you will put your site onto a server and not host it on your own computer, their support pages should give you some useful information.

Hope it helps.

Tom.

DNA man · Jun 9, 2002, 02:20 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by TomHMeredith:
There are many programs you can use. I believe AppleWorks and Microsoft (urghh!) Word are two programs you could use to design a =very= basic home page.

To build a half decent site you would need a specialist program. I have just built a site using Dreamweaver MX (the demo). I found it very easy to use. I referred to the manuals only for a couple of things.

Information wise, I'm not to sure where you could go. As I stated, Dreamweaver has a bit of information. Also, ask your service provider, I assume you will put your site onto a server and not host it on your own computer, their support pages should give you some useful information.

Hope it helps.

Tom.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks for the info. I see that MM MX is just out. Would it be worth getting the old version and save some �? The program sounds very good as I'd like my web site to be little more than basic.
I saw that the AppleStoreUK has a program called Freeway 3.5. Is that a "good" program can you tell me?

<a href="http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/935/wo/JgyFm1i82rPHA4gMqp/1.3.0.3.30.8.3.8.13.0" target="_blank">http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/935/wo/JgyFm1i82rPHA4gMqp/1.3.0.3.30.8.3.8.13.0</a>

Thanks in advance.

MojoRising022 · Jun 9, 2002, 04:22 PM

Freeway would probably be a much better program for beginners than MM Dreamweaver MX. Freeway uses a much more "desktop publshing" like approach to designing web pages and will probably be more intuitive for people who have never done and web design.

DNA man · Jun 9, 2002, 05:46 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MojoRising022:
Freeway would probably be a much better program for beginners than MM Dreamweaver MX. Freeway uses a much more "desktop publshing" like approach to designing web pages and will probably be more intuitive for people who have never done and web design.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks once again. I just read a review about in MacWorld-UK mag after your post. Might be much more up my street.

BTW, what is WebObjects used for? It's not another HTML editor thingy...is it?

Simon X · Jun 9, 2002, 06:10 PM

Freeway is an excellent choice. I'm using now it to revamp my site and find it very easy. I've used both Golive and Dreamweaver very lightly in the past to create my site and always found the whole process very frustrating. Its approach is very straight forward with some great add-ons called Freeway Actions to help give that bit extra to your site without needing to know any code. Loads of Freeway Actions included with the app and on the <a href="http://www.softpress.com" target="_blank">Softpress</a> site.
There's even more here, <a href="http://www.freewayactions.com" target="_blank">FreewayActions.com</a>
Also the user guide you get is really excellent.
Trust me and buy it, it's money well spent. And it is pretty cheap anyway. Then join the Freeway mailing list, Freewaytalk. With both Freewaytalk and the support you get from Softpress you'll have all the help you need.

I suppose by now you can tell I like Freeway. The reason is that since I've been using it for the past few weeks I've actually enjoyed web designing for the first time. Also for the first time I wouldn't mind doing this kind of thing for others.

Simon X · Jun 9, 2002, 06:12 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by DNA man:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MojoRising022:
Freeway would probably be a much better program for beginners than MM Dreamweaver MX. Freeway uses a much more "desktop publshing" like approach to designing web pages and will probably be more intuitive for people who have never done and web design.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks once again. I just read a review about in MacWorld-UK mag after your post. Might be much more up my street.

BTW, what is WebObjects used for? It's not another HTML editor thingy...is it?<hr /></blockquote>I think Web Objects is for people who want to create large dynamic sites like the Apple Store. But even then that's just for the backend stuff, I think.

ford prefect · Jun 9, 2002, 11:07 PM

If you're adventurous, you might consider learning html. It isn't as difficult as it may seem, and will eventually allow for much more flexibilty to do what you want. I always feel limited by programs that write code for you. Also a lot of things become more complicated with dreamweaver than they would be just to figure out how to write the code.

Learning code allows you to be creative in the way you solve certain problems.

A good book for html is SAM'S learn HTML in 24 hrs. (I think that's what it's called, it's one of those learn this in 24 hrs. series.)

Griggsy · Jun 10, 2002, 04:21 AM

The best way to find out everything you need to know is to now worry about the software you need but more the logistical problems you may have, as well as what you need to consider when contemplating a website.

The best place I have found is <a href="http://www.jessett.com" target="_blank">http://www.jessett.com</a>

MojoRising022 · Jun 10, 2002, 05:33 AM

Web Objects is a monstrosity...it is closer to programmig than web design. The previous poster is correct...it is intended for large scale, dynamic sites (like the Apple Store).

DNA man · Jun 10, 2002, 03:43 PM

Cheers for the advice guys. Very useful. I sent away for a 30day trial of Freeway 3.5 (too big for download over a modem). I'll try it out and I'll see how I get on.

Thanks again for the tips.

If you think of any more. Just let me know.

hyperizer · Jun 13, 2002, 12:12 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by DNA man:
Okay, I have been using computers for while but now I feel the urge to do my own web site. The problem is that I'm a web site virgin!

How would I go about making my own web site? Is there a simple program that some one would recommend?

If I can get to grips with making a web site, where would I go for information, good books, web sites that might offer instruction and learning resources etc.

Many help in advance for this newbie question.<hr /></blockquote>I'd recommend downloading BBEdit Lite and buying a copy of the HTML 4 Visual QuickStart Guide. That way you'll learn how Web pages actually work (they're just plaintext files, after all), and you'll have more power to do advanced development down the road. 6 years ago I started building sites with SimpleText as a hobby, and now I make a living as a Web developer.

Millennium · Jun 13, 2002, 04:37 PM

My first piece of advice is to learn how to hand-code HTML. Even if you decide to use a WYSIWYG editor later on, knowing HTML itself will serve you very well.

The best basic tutorial on this that I've ever seen is at <a href="http://www.w3.org/Markup/Guide/" target="_blank">http://www.w3.org/Markup/Guide/</a>. It's very basic, but it will take you through all the important stuff in a couple of hours. It's by the guy who wrote Tidy, a tool for cleaning up HTML that you should also pick up.

DNA man · Jun 15, 2002, 10:41 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Millennium:
My first piece of advice is to learn how to hand-code HTML. Even if you decide to use a WYSIWYG editor later on, knowing HTML itself will serve you very well.

The best basic tutorial on this that I've ever seen is at <a href="http://www.w3.org/Markup/Guide/" target="_blank">http://www.w3.org/Markup/Guide/</a>. It's very basic, but it will take you through all the important stuff in a couple of hours. It's by the guy who wrote Tidy, a tool for cleaning up HTML that you should also pick up.<hr /></blockquote>Thanks for the advice. My free demo of Freeway 3.5 came in the post today. It does seem to be a good progam to use at first use. However, I think that I will forge head and learn HTML. As scientist at heart, I like to know exactly what is going on and how things work.

BTW, I was wondering if there is an award or something given to the best designed web sites. I'd like to be able to view the 'best' sites to get an idea of what the best designed sites look like. Is there a URL I could visit out there in cyberspace?

Thanks again all for advice and input. I appreciated it.

hyperizer · Jun 17, 2002, 04:12 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by DNA man:
[QUOTE]BTW, I was wondering if there is an award or something given to the best designed web sites. I'd like to be able to view the 'best' sites to get an idea of what the best designed sites look like. Is there a URL I could visit out there in cyberspace?<hr /></blockquote>There really aren't any good awards programs for this at the moment. Good design is objective, of course, and you should base your decisions on the type of site you're going to build. (A bank's Web site should look a lot different from a mail-order catalog's site.)

I'd check out the most popular site with content similar to yours, since they must be doing something right. If you're building an e-commerce site, for example, look at Amazon.com for ideas. If you're doing a personal site, you could check out <a href="http://www.zeldman.com/" target="_blank">Jeffrey Zeldman Presents</a>. Etc.

bluedog · Jun 17, 2002, 10:00 PM

<a href="http://www.useit.com/" target="_blank">http://www.useit.com/</a>

A site by Jakob Nielsen who is considered a foremost authority on making websites easy to use. He has sound, simple and solid advice on the things that work and don't work on the web.

There are a LOT of articles on the web if you do a search for something specific. Other resources are:

<a href="http://www.webdeveloper.com/" target="_blank">http://www.webdeveloper.com/</a>
Good all around site for HTML with tutorials and how-to's

<a href="http://www.alistapart.com/" target="_blank">http://www.alistapart.com/</a>

<a href="http://builder.com.com/" target="_blank">http://builder.com.com/</a>

<a href="http://www.devshed.com/" target="_blank">http://www.devshed.com/</a> - for more web programming with scripting languages.

<a href="http://www.webmonkey.com/" target="_blank">http://www.webmonkey.com/</a> - a great resource for the web developer.

DNA man · Jun 23, 2002, 09:42 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by bluedog:
<a href="http://www.useit.com/" target="_blank">http://www.useit.com/</a>

A site by Jakob Nielsen who is considered a foremost authority on making websites easy to use. He has sound, simple and solid advice on the things that work and don't work on the web.

There are a LOT of articles on the web if you do a search for something specific. Other resources are:

<a href="http://www.webdeveloper.com/" target="_blank">http://www.webdeveloper.com/</a>
Good all around site for HTML with tutorials and how-to's

<a href="http://www.alistapart.com/" target="_blank">http://www.alistapart.com/</a>

<a href="http://builder.com.com/" target="_blank">http://builder.com.com/</a>

<a href="http://www.devshed.com/" target="_blank">http://www.devshed.com/</a> - for more web programming with scripting languages.

<a href="http://www.webmonkey.com/" target="_blank">http://www.webmonkey.com/</a> - a great resource for the web developer.<hr /></blockquote>Cheers, very useful. I hope to get a web site sorted out very soon.