Web Site Design

[W3WN]

Any suggestions on a simple (and hopefully cheap or free) web site design application?

I have, or had, a small site for storing my club's newsletters (which I edit), www.washrag.info. The person who was supposed to be keeping it updated, well, hadn't.

KE7FD, who used to own a small hosting company & got the domain set up (and moved it to the current host when the previous one went haywire, I never did get all the details on that) let me know the other night that someone hacked the site as it existed, and that it was generating questionable emails (it should only be a repository) going off to a web site out in Eastern EU. Not knowing what was hacked or where, he took the path of least resistance and wiped the entire site clean. So, now I'm back to square one, only I have to do it all myself.

I'm a database admin and a newsletter editor. My few attempts at a web site in the past have been somewhere between pitiful and real pitiful, but that's in part because I haven't the right tools. (I don't consider Word or Publisher the "right" tools for a proper web site)

Suggestions?

73

[ad4mg]

Any suggestions on a simple (and hopefully cheap or free) web site design application?

I have, or had, a small site for storing my club's newsletters (which I edit), http://www.washrag.info. The person who was supposed to be keeping it updated, well, hadn't.

KE7FD, who used to own a small hosting company & got the domain set up (and moved it to the current host when the previous one went haywire, I never did get all the details on that) let me know the other night that someone hacked the site as it existed, and that it was generating questionable emails (it should only be a repository) going off to a web site out in Eastern EU. Not knowing what was hacked or where, he took the path of least resistance and wiped the entire site clean. So, now I'm back to square one, only I have to do it all myself.

I'm a database admin and a newsletter editor. My few attempts at a web site in the past have been somewhere between pitiful and real pitiful, but that's in part because I haven't the right tools. (I don't consider Word or Publisher the "right" tools for a proper web site)
Suggestions?

73

Virtual Mechanics makes a free version of their Site Spinner, a "WYSIWYG" html creator, called "Web Dwarf. I did my page with it this time, taking the lazy way out. The Web Dwarf does a decent job, but will NOT edit existing html pages, and will only save the page under the name of "index.html". Easy enough to work around, but if you like the interface, the Site Spinner paid version is under $50.

Web Dwarf Download link

Do have a look at their paid version: Virtual Mechanics Products

I did 2 of the 4 planned pages on my site with this program, Ron ... here: http://ad4mg.org

For the Linux guys, this program does run well in the newest version of Wine. And, I do suck at web page design ... :roll:

[kf0rt]

I actually still "code by hand." Notepad works.

Not a website guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to know what goes on "under the covers."

My ham site is here: http://kf0rt.westton.com/. Hasn't been updated in quite awhile and I run a couple of other private sites that are geared more towards photography (large volumes of photos). All coded mostly manually. I've written a C++ program that writes some of the HTML though.

My "buds" tell me that a good entry level tool for website development is coffeecup software: http://www.coffeecup.com/ I think it's free.

On the bookshelf here: HTML for Dummies.

[W4GPL]

http://www.w3schools.com/ - great resource for learning HTML and CSS, etc.

[KC2UGV]

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty with code during the initial layout-design, I'd suggest Notepad++ combined with PmWiki for the site CMS.

Notepad++ for the customization of the templates and Style Sheets, and PmWiki as the engine.

The following sites took me a day each to build:

http://www.transportationresource.com
http://www.batavia-paranormal.com
http://www.eriecountyparanormal.com
http://www.theparanormaljournal.org

All of them run on the PmWiki engine. And now, I don't really need to touch HTML and CSS to make changes.

[n0iu]

My "buds" tell me that a good entry level tool for website development is coffeecup software: http://www.coffeecup.com/ I think it's free.

I use the Coffeecup HTML editor and swear by it more than at it! Some of the nice features are that you can upload your pages directly to the server from within the program rather than using a separate FTP program. Another very useful feature is that you can validate the code from within the program instead of going to w3.org. While your code may appear to work, validating it assures you that it meets the current specification.

I got the program when it was free, but now it is offered on a 28 day trial and then its $49 to buy. Still, not a bad deal. Before you get jealous, the old free version does not have all of the functionality of the $49 version so I may actually pay for the program... one day... if I have to... I guess!

(Yes, I do watch the Red Green Show)

[ki4itv]

My ham site is here: http://kf0rt.westton.com/.

Not sure whether you noticed this or not, but, some displaced NASCAR loving 4-lander has snuck in the house and Duct Taped your fireplace closed.
;)

I loved the Packaging Hell page. That's great!

[kf0rt]

My ham site is here: http://kf0rt.westton.com/.

Not sure whether you noticed this or not, but, some displaced NASCAR loving 4-lander has snuck in the house and Duct Taped your fireplace closed.
;)

I loved the Packaging Hell page. That's great!

:rofl: :rofl:

We don't use the fireplace and the tape was a cheap way to keep the draft out.

You should see some of the hits I get on the Packaging Hell stuff. Dow Corning? :rofl:

[W3WN]

I actually still "code by hand." Notepad works.

Not a website guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to know what goes on "under the covers."

My ham site is here: http://kf0rt.westton.com/. Hasn't been updated in quite awhile and I run a couple of other private sites that are geared more towards photography (large volumes of photos). All coded mostly manually. I've written a C++ program that writes some of the HTML though.

My "buds" tell me that a good entry level tool for website development is coffeecup software: http://www.coffeecup.com/ I think it's free.

On the bookshelf here: HTML for Dummies.

I don't mind getting my hands dirty at all (what the hell, I still program in dBase! and they pay me for it!) but I need to have some clue as to what I'm doing... I'll take a look at some of these, thanks all for the suggestions.

[n2ize]

The tools I use are cheap as sin and are available on any machine. Emacs or vi if you're on a Unix type system, or Notepad if you're on a Redmond based system + a reference web page or a book on html. For enhanced web programming a knowledge and/or reference of php, javascript, java, ruby, and Perl are also helpful.