Setting up a web-site

Pigpen

Hi Everyone

Can anyone reccomend a good place to start developing a web-site

I am reasonably computer literate and notice loads of companies who offer templates and web hosting but then I get bogged down by it all?

Can anyone reccomend any sites to use or offer any other good advice about setting up a website ?

I want it to look professional but it doesn't need to be too complex?

Help! :crying:

PAMDILL

Why not PM CJC he seems to be very knowledgable about these tihngs.

CJC

I'm happy to answer specific questions and guide you through things but I'm not too good on 'where do I start' type queries as I'm not really up what resources are there for the beginner.

I would, though, recommend learning at the least the basics of html/css and not just relying on 'site builder' type software to do all the work. It might seem a bit daunting at first but it's not rocket science and otherwise, it's like relying on Sage to do your accounts without knowing how double entry works. There are some excellent books on the technical aspects of web design out there and http://www.w3schools.com/ is a good tutorial site for the nuts and bolts.

Pigpen

Hi CJC

You see - I am confused already! Do I really have to read books about it?

:confused1:

Buff

No, you don't have to read books about it.

However, what Chris said is right, if sage crashed how would you go about doing the accounting manually? There are similar barriers when using site builder software in that sometimes you'll want to tweak a standard template - you can do this with relativly basic HTML coding all of which can be found on the net.

I bang on about dreamweaver an awful lot, this is because it allows you to do all things in one place - ie, drag and drop which will do the coding for you - it allows you to "hard-code" parts yourself and it's pretty user friendly too (expensive though).

I remember building a website for A-Level computing, it had to be based around a new business - I used Microsoft Frontpage which again allowed me to code parts in HTML myself whilst at the same time automatically filling in code for me when I dragged and dropped a picture into place.

There's also a multitude of sites out there offering free web templates, be careful with some of these though as they'll stick their logos in (this is where learning bog standard html comes into it so you can locate the logo and remove the hmtl tagging).

There's no need to pay anybody to do it - you can make rather pro looking sites without being too flashy.

farmergiles

When I was at A'level stage, computers occupied large buildings and didn't have the computing power of your mobile phone....lol. We still used the old fashioned method...pen, pencil, paper and fingers(no pocket calculators in those days)

Buff

farmergiles wrote: »

We still used the old fashioned method...pen, pencil, paper

So did we - to design what the layout was going to be :-)

CJC

Buff wrote: »

There's no need to pay anybody to do it - you can make rather pro looking sites without being too flashy.

OK, that's it. I'm going to start telling people they don't need accountants from now on :mad2:

Buff

oopsie, i upset the carne man...

when i say there's no need to pay anyone to do it... what i REALLY mean is if you don't know how to use a pc and dont want to sit for a few hours to learn the basics, and u have a couple hundred spare, then sure - you can pay someone to do it ...

Buff

chances are though, your mate's daughter or son will be able to draft you one up in a couple hours and you can bung him/her a tenner to make some changes as you want

CJC

Buff wrote: »

oopsie, i upset the carne man...

when i say there's no need to pay anyone to do it... what i REALLY mean is if you don't know how to use a pc and dont want to sit for a few hours to learn the basics, and u have a couple hundred spare, then sure - you can pay someone to do it ...

especially if you want it done properly. Harrumph.

It wounds my professional pride but it is possible to knock out a rhalf-decent basic web-site without too much technical knowledge. This is one of the reasons I've been getting more into the server-side and application development side of things - there'll always be need for someone to do the hard stuff.