suggest a web building wysiwyg package

[Strix]

Rain Rescue's website has crashed, and the lovely people at 1&1 either can't or won't reload the backup we've been paying through the nose for, so we need a new game plan

the plan so far, is to take advantage of the free hosting we're being offered by a longstanding online friend, but to build a website that's migrateable (so we're not looking for a host with their own template as that's giving us a nightmare already)

so - what software can you recommend for webbuilding?

we need to do daily updates, so we wouldn't be able to accept offers of web building from anybody either (unless it's in something easy to use that we can take over afterwards)

it needs to support over 72 pages, and hold hundreds of images. A shop would also be rather useful


www.rainrescue.co.uk - to view the half re-built mess we're in

[StykFacE]

http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

or for a freebie, go here: http://www.nvu.com/

[James]

joomla, mambo are good but need mysql databases installed

http://www.joomla.org/

its all maintained via your web browser.

[f700es]

Also have a look at Microsoft Expression studio. Note: this is not Front Page! Expression from what I have seen is a very nice web package.

[Strix]

thanks guys - I've had the offer to play with somebody's dreamweaver, and they've suggested nvu may be a good freebie too :)

are mySQL databases going to be difficult for a technophobe to get their head around?

is expression studio a wysiwyg package then?

[CADTutor]

joomla, mambo are good but need mysql databases installed

http://www.joomla.org/

its all maintained via your web browser.

I second that. This is free, easy to use and is installed on the web server. You need no tools other than your web browser, is easily migratable and there are available templates should you wish to skin it. Once installed, you can update the site as often as you want without any knowledge of HTML etc. There is also a well supported user community, should you need help.

[James]

thanks guys - I've had the offer to play with somebody's dreamweaver, and they've suggested nvu may be a good freebie too :)

are mySQL databases going to be difficult for a technophobe to get their head around?

is expression studio a wysiwyg package then?

the mysql is easy, it is just a database you install.
but not all web providers offer them with hosting. (some charge for it! on top of the hosting cost) so i was making it aware you need it.

[Strix]

thanks guys :)

I'll pass all this info on to the people doing the hard work :wink:

[f700es]

is expression studio a wysiwyg package then?

Yes it is but I am going to suggest that joomla as well. It just might be an easier solution for you right now.

You can download and try MS Expression if you want to.

[rustysilo]

Or just use a plain editor such as Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) then review in your browser.

[f700es]

Or just use a plain editor such as Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) then review in your browser.

You sound like a friend of mine ;)
I am not leet enough to use a text editor as an html editor.

[rustysilo]

In my experience it is the best way to go as the wysiwyg's tend to be quirky. If you learn the code then 1. you will be more familiar with your site and 2. you will be better equipped to do web design. I'm not fully against using them, but I say it is certainly better to know the code. With places like w3schools.com to learn from it really isn't all that difficult. One instance where I find using the wysiwyg's useful is when you have content in a Word document or other file that you want in your website. It is quicker to copy/paste that into your webpage rather than have to copy/paste into your code and then apply all necessary tags, etc. Sometimes you may lose formatting and have to still format some of it depending on what brand of editor you're using.

[fuccaro]

If you learn the code and use Notepad to create your web page -for sure the code will be as short as possible!
But an editor is very usefull! Things become more and more complex.

[Strix]

well we seem to finally have a new website

no idea what Sue finally went with, but I did send her the link to this thread

what I do know is that it is now backed up locally, and is ready to hike over to a new provider as soon as one has been chosen

www.rainrescue.co.uk

(and if anybody want's to buy the disinfectant, tell Jaq I pointed you in the right direction - ta :) )

[HMS_Victory]

Adobe Dreamweaver is really the standard.

Mabye this advice is too late but

If you want to update often, use Wordpress. You'll need to install a database, and keep that backed up, but I can walk you through it if you need help. You can run an entire site with pages, subpages, calendar, blog, members, etc.

Wordpress does very well on Google, and you can update directly through your browser. It's the most convenient.

Joomla is also quite popular but in my opinion, a bit more brittle to work with.

[f700es]

well we seem to finally have a new website

no idea what Sue finally went with, but I did send her the link to this thread

what I do know is that it is now backed up locally, and is ready to hike over to a new provider as soon as one has been chosen

www.rainrescue.co.uk (http://www.rainrescue.co.uk)

(and if anybody want's to buy the disinfectant, tell Jaq I pointed you in the right direction - ta :) )

Well I went to the page and right-clicked on their home page to view the page source and it seems they used...

"Ewisoft Website Builder eCommerce Software from http://www.ewisoft.com/"

Never heard of that one myself but it seems to have made a good enough site. I might have to look into it a bit more.

[f700es]

Adobe Dreamweaver is really the standard.

Mabye this advice is too late but

If you want to update often, use Wordpress. You'll need to install a database, and keep that backed up, but I can walk you through it if you need help. You can run an entire site with pages, subpages, calendar, blog, members, etc.

Wordpress does very well on Google, and you can update directly through your browser. It's the most convenient.

Joomla is also quite popular but in my opinion, a bit more brittle to work with.

Wordpress is OpenSource correct?

[HMS_Victory]

Sure is...

http://wordpress.org/

[StykFacE]

Wordpress is OpenSource correct?
What ISN'T open source in the web development industry?? :lol: