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choir
02-04-2005, 02:56 AM
I am trying to start building a website and I am outdated with the technology. Last time, I used HTML only and it was too troublesome for updates etc. Nowadays there are so many new stuff to me - XML, PHP, Perl, CGI, etc.

Any suggestion what are some good software out there (and why) for building webpages? Some important criteria are easy to use/ learn, updates and maintain. Thanks.
starmena3
02-04-2005, 03:21 AM
well you can try to use Dreamweaver but you still need some skills for that, just pick up some tutorials trust me theres a lot of sites out there. you can also just check out some of the tutorials up in this site theres a lot of them to help you get started.
choir
02-04-2005, 09:44 AM
Believeit or not, the other time I was using Dreamweaver but still doing much of the editing and modification using HTML. That was tedious.
Smoky
02-04-2005, 09:54 AM
I think the best way to be onist is to learn and not get a WYSISYG editor. All i use is AceHTML which is basically like notepad with colours for different coding syntax.

Learn HTML & then CSS and itl be easier to change your web sites.
Dan
02-04-2005, 12:13 PM
For a real basic HTML understanding go to http://lissaexplains.com It's like for kids but it's still great for new beginners. Just check it out and see what you find out.

You should learn HTML, like smoky said, becuase if you use an WYSIWYG editor you will never really learn how to make good websites.
shwaza
02-05-2005, 10:52 AM
It's for kids? :o Lol, i'm always going there because they're answers are always high up on google :P
JackZhou
02-06-2005, 06:21 PM
You should start by using Microsoft FrontPage. It's very similar to Word - which i'm pretty sure you know how to use it very well. Plus you can use the FrontPage Extension to upload/update your files. It's fairly simple compared to FTP.

One warning: do not rely on FrontPage too much, if you use it all the time you will not learn anything. My suggestion is that use FrontPage first, to get a feeling, then learn the HTML code, which you would find very easy. Then you can use something more advanced like Dreamweaver.

Good luck!
Aceinc
02-06-2005, 07:42 PM
Well, if you dont know how to make a page in html you can just use notepad, for a page that has black background and blue words use this

<html>
<bgcolor="000000">
<text="0000ff">
<body>
This is where i put some stuff
</body>
</html>
Tim
02-06-2005, 08:18 PM
Originally posted by JackZhou@Feb 6 2005, 01:21 PM
You should start by using Microsoft FrontPage. It's very similar to Word - which i'm pretty sure you know how to use it very well. Plus you can use the FrontPage Extension to upload/update your files. It's fairly simple compared to FTP.

One warning: do not rely on FrontPage too much, if you use it all the time you will not learn anything. My suggestion is that use FrontPage first, to get a feeling, then learn the HTML code, which you would find very easy. Then you can use something more advanced like Dreamweaver.

Good luck!
26108


I use frontpage when I'm feeling lazy. But you really shouldn't get attached to it because it generates code that is really messy, and it usually ends up causing problems for people that don't use IE.
choir
02-07-2005, 08:34 AM
Certain pages on the websites will be updated quite often. Don't you people find HTML quite difficult to maintain in the long term? HTML, I have some understanding, maybe it's time for me to pickup CSS?
chilipie
02-07-2005, 04:14 PM
Here are some of the tools/technologies/websites you'll find particularly effective for building your site: Notepad, or a similar text-editor. No fancy-pants built-in FTP like DW/FP, but it gets you up close and personal with the code - which is definately a good thing long-term.
The GIMP, PSP or PS. A decent graphics program makes so much difference to the final appearance of your site.
HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) - The building block of the web. Makes up the structure of your page (although that is what it should be used for, many people are to lazy to learn CSS as well and use HTML for making the site look nice. HTML is structure, CSS is presentation. End of story.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) - Used for making the web look pretty ;) .
JavaScript - I know very little JS, but it can be useful. JS does dynamic things on pages - inserting smilies, changing font colours etc. JS is the function of a page (but you must remeber pages should be accessible to people who haven't neccessarily got JS enables in their browser).
PHP/ASP/CGI - It is very useful to know at least one server-side language well. They help make interactive sites, were people can participate through forums, guestbooks, tagboards and contact forms. They can also make maintaining a website a lot easier.
W3Schools (http://www.w3schools.com/). The resource for web languages.
CSS Zen Garden (http://www.csszengarden.com/). Brilliant for inspiration.
Stylegala (http://www.stylegala.com/). Again, very good for inspiration, and like the Zen Garden, it reveals to you the true power of CSS.
JackZhou
02-07-2005, 11:59 PM
Originally posted by choir@Feb 7 2005, 12:34 AM
Certain pages on the websites will be updated quite often. Don't you people find HTML quite difficult to maintain in the long term? HTML, I have some understanding, maybe it's time for me to pickup CSS?
26172


Indeed. CSS is quite useful in the long term, but I find CSS quite annoying. If you use a plain text editor it would be very hard to write all the code at once. You would have to write 1 part, then test it, then write the next. But once you finished the stylesheet, the actual web page would be very easy to make and maintain.
alexkid333
03-15-2005, 10:49 PM
id suggest using a WYSIWYG editor like some others mentioned. If you want to get good and just learn a language (which i suggest) then i would go to www.w3schools.com
they are great help!
Elriowiel
03-16-2005, 01:55 AM
I'd also suggest using a WYSIWYG editor, I actually started making webpages using Word. But maybe you should only use WYSIWYG editors until you've learned HTML.. and when you do, I guess just grab a decent HTML editor it you're uncomfortable with using Notepad. CSS is great and everything, but I don't really suggest using it until you've got the hang of HTML.
Zalt4n
03-16-2005, 02:27 AM
Alexkid333, please do not reply to threads more than a month old.