Website building software?

Darkphenom

Hi, im starting out building my first website. I've looked at some very basic HTML before and I have done some c programming.

I understand that I need a domain name and a web host etc. What I want to figure out is if it is best to design a website from scratch or if you should find some website building software (free software any suggestions?). This website will be for a business so it will have to look professional.

John_Mc

Darkphenom wrote: »

Hi, im starting out building my first website. I've looked at some very basic HTML before and I have done some c programming.

I understand that I need a domain name and a web host etc. What I want to figure out is if it is best to design a website from scratch or if you should find some website building software (free software any suggestions?). This website will be for a business so it will have to look professional.

Usually the HTML coding comes after a design has been finalised and rendered into a high quality image. You splice it into smaller reusable parts and position it in HTML using CSS.

If you want it to look professional, you're going to have to buy a template or hire a designer to create one for you.

The HTML itself isn't the hard part and you should pick it up pretty fast if you've already programmed with C.

nellyshark

What is it exactly that you are trying to achieve?

What you will need:
Hosting
Domain
Website

If there is content on this website then you should look into a CMS

p

Darkphenom wrote: »

I understand that I need a domain name and a web host etc. What I want to figure out is if it is best to design a website from scratch or if you should find some website building software (free software any suggestions?). This website will be for a business so it will have to look professional.

For learning i'd recommend starting from scratch. If you need to build a decent site, then I'd recommend buying a template.

Building the site with wordpress and a nice template can achieve pretty decent results.

lil_lisa

I am 100% against "website building software". Websites are quite simple to do (depending on how simple you want it) and as said above, buying a template is a good investment. Personally I think software for building sites usually makes everything a bit more complicated and the html code is usually generated in an awful way making it difficult to do anything with it if you ever get rid of the software.

Definitely read up on CSS and HTML and if you need a more advanced site then do some research on a server script language!

Good luck!

Darkphenom

lil_lisa wrote: »

I am 100% against "website building software". Websites are quite simple to do (depending on how simple you want it) and as said above, buying a template is a good investment. Personally I think software for building sites usually makes everything a bit more complicated and the html code is usually generated in an awful way making it difficult to do anything with it if you ever get rid of the software.

Definitely read up on CSS and HTML and if you need a more advanced site then do some research on a server script language!

Good luck!

Yes but builders do save time where you can have your text aligned the way you want and stuff like that.

Also for HTML and CSS and XHTML what books would be useful?

lil_lisa

Well for all basics go to www.w3schools.com.

For books, I would definitely recommend investing in a 'Head First' book from O'Reilly books. You can buy decent priced books at www.bookdepository.co.uk with free delivery. You should start there!

Overflow

Darkphenom wrote: »

Yes but builders do save time where you can have your text aligned the way you want and stuff like that.

Also for HTML and CSS and XHTML what books would be useful?

I'm pretty sure anything you make with 'website building software' will look terrible and very unprofessional. Not to mention that it will be hard to maintain.

If you have content on the site and you need to update it or add new content a CMS is the way to go.

Learn HTML & CSS, its not hard and there are ton of resources out there for free.
Heres a video tutorial on converting a Photoshop image of a webite to HTML:

http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/converting-a-design-from-psd-to-html/

Darkphenom

Thanks for replies!

I am now determined to make a website myself but be warned I will be back on these forums for help!

p

Darkphenom wrote: »

I am now determined to make a website myself but be warned I will be back on these forums for help!

Do not build a website yourself. Not for a professional company. Everyone's first few websites are terrible, and you shouldn't risk your business on that.

Definitely use a template or hire a web designer to work with you.

lil_lisa

Darkphenom wrote: »

Thanks for replies!

I am now determined to make a website myself but be warned I will be back on these forums for help!

We look forward to it

Darkphenom

p wrote: »

Do not build a website yourself. Not for a professional company. Everyone's first few websites are terrible, and you shouldn't risk your business on that.

Definitely use a template or hire a web designer to work with you.

I am confident that I will do a good job. I would not put up a website for somebody unless I was 100% happy with it anyway.

nellyshark

Darkphenom wrote: »

I am confident that I will do a good job. I would not put up a website for somebody unless I was 100% happy with it anyway.

You very well may be 100% happy with it but that doesn't stop it being a not so good effort.

There are many things to consider:
Accessibility
Cross Browser compatibility.

A poor website will result in a loss of sales

Darkphenom

nellyshark wrote: »

You very well may be 100% happy with it but that doesn't stop it being a not so good effort.

There are many things to consider:
Accessibility
Cross Browser compatibility.

A poor website will result in a loss of sales

I will of course make sure that it works on other browsers

This business has a 10 year old website and the way it was set up means that it does not come up in a google search.

The business in question is an auctioneers. It has hardly any business so any publicity should only bring in more business.

I would like to point out again that I will make this website to a high standard.

Evil Phil

Darkphenom wrote: »

I would like to point out again that I will make this website to a high standard.

What would you consider the cirteria for producing a high standard?