Site Building

They have: 41 posts

Joined: Feb 2004

Could someone tell me what is the easiest program to use to make webpages?

I have been using the Yahoo business site builder, and using basic html pages.

I would now like to move on, and start making PHP pages....

Any help?

Im a beginner at PHP, and the Yahoo business site builder is a drag and drop thing really.

So I need alot of help, and some really good easy to use for beginners, programs.

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Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

If you're looking for a single piece of software I'd definitely go with Macromedia's Dreamweaver. It might take awhile to figure out because the interface is a little different from other programs, but in the long run it will be worth it. I wouldn't say it's the easiest to use, but it is the most powerful and puts out the best end result.

However, as we say time and time again, it's best to know the code. Your understanding of a piece of software will increase substantially when you know exacty what it's trying to do. I'm sure many others will chime in on that one.

They have: 41 posts

Joined: Feb 2004

So, would you recommend that for beginners? Or is there other ways of creating webpages for beginners?

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I would think so, yes. I can't think of anything that would be better. The beautiful thing about Dreamweaver and most of Macromedia's other products is that the really complex functionality is sort of hidden. It doesn't dominate the interface and overwhelm the new user, but it's still there and easily accessable if you want to use it. Just make sure you're learning the code and not relying on the program 100%.

s0da's picture

He has: 157 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

your may have to look around for software that you are comfortable with; like dreamweaver, frontpage and/or regular ol' notepad. my friend uses dreamweaver to build his web pages and although his designs are er... not something to bet on but the HTML code was intact. i haven't used dreamweaver myself in a long time but i can say it was easy to build a page in.

Links:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/kids/
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/
http://download.com.com/2001-2046-0.html?tag=dir

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I should also mention the cost involved here. Dreamweaver is not cheap. I don't remember what the price is but it costs a few hundred dollars. You can find a lot of HTML editors for free or very low prices. Most if not all of these require that you know HTML. There are too many of them out there to name - try a bunch and see what works for you (as s0da said). Some are basically built-up text editors, others have more web-specific functionality.

Also read the "Five Tools & Services You Can't Live Without" thread futher up in this forum to get an idea of what other people use.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

If you can afford it I say to go with Dreamweaver as it is very powerful and you also get to be able to drag'n'drop plus be able to code directly, so should suit all jobs.

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

They have: 41 posts

Joined: Feb 2004

If you refer back to a post I made a few weeks back, I have got macromedia - Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash, and extension manager, along with adobe photoshop7, and Ulead animator gif 5, for free.

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s0da's picture

He has: 157 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

oh you can download the trial software at macromedia too.

Links:
http://www.macromedia.com

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