Whats the best way to create a website?

cambsno

cambsno

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Name
Simon
Edit My Images
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Currently use iWeb to build my site. Its ok, and pretty easy to use, but do find it restrictive in getting the right look (although that could be my lack of creativity!!)

Am I best to stick with iWeb or are there any packages/sites available which are better and great for people who know nothing about coding and html etc...

Looking to update my tog site so a few pages of info and gallery/pics page, no need for much else (contact form nice but not essential).
 
I'm just about to create my website using iWeb. Can you tell me what kind of problems you're having?

Could I have a look at your site?
 
Honestly, the best way to create a website is to not use any packages or online site generators which produce all the code for you, and give you little-to-no control over what goes on under the hood.

Generally I'll create the overall look and feel of a site in Photoshop, then chop it up into smaller segments and produce the code myself to make it appear in a web browser how I want it to appear in a way that allows it to grow with the size of the content it's containing (most end up being dynamic database driven sites).

If you really don't want to learn HTML, CSS (possibly PHP, MySQL, etc) then you might want to just have a look at Dreamweaver. It can also do the majority of things for you, but still allows you to get into the code to do some manual tweaking.
 
If you know nothing about the coding side of websites then I would say Wordpress is an excellent place to start. A vast selection of themes and image galleries that are installed with ease so you are bound to find something that you like. If you do decide to try and customise it on your own then the code is pretty straight forward and clean, so finding the bits you want to change is very simple. Adding fresh content is also very easy to do, with the ability to keep any blog posts/contact forms/about us pages seperate from your gallery.

Also, if you are using cPanel you can install WP with a few clicks :thumbs:
 
Kaouthia said:
Honestly, the best way to create a website is to not use any packages or online site generators which produce all the code for you, and give you little-to-no control over what goes on under the hood.

Generally I'll create the overall look and feel of a site in Photoshop, then chop it up into smaller segments and produce the code myself to make it appear in a web browser how I want it to appear in a way that allows it to grow with the size of the content it's containing (most end up being dynamic database driven sites).

If you really don't want to learn HTML, CSS (possibly PHP, MySQL, etc) then you might want to just have a look at Dreamweaver. It can also do the majority of things for you, but still allows you to get into the code to do some manual tweaking.
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Ah! John, my nocturnal buddy. :)

I think the OP did not want to mess around with the coding so he, like me, is looking for a more readymade solution.

I myself wouldn't know where to start with learning PHP and MySQL although I would love to. Unfortunately my day job keeps me too busy to have the time for this. :(
 
nuttyboy78 said:
Ah! John, my nocturnal buddy. :)
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Ahoy hoy :)

nuttyboy78 said:
I think the OP did not want to mess around with the coding so he, like me, is looking for a more readymade solution.
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Yeah, that's what I thought, but I gotta try. :D

As you've discovered, it really all boils down to time (and a desire to know what makes it all tick).

I felt like you do about not knowing where to start with PHP & MySQL, so I decided to just jump in with both feet and play around with PostNuke & phpBB way back when to start picking bits up here and there. I'd had previous experience with various programming languages (Basic, Pascal, Delphi, C/C++, etc) over the years though, so it wasn't too bad figuring out what different bits did. Very fun once you start getting into it, but also very frustrating at times.
 
So dreamweaver needs no programming knowledge? Sounds like that may be an option. Not looking to start learning HTML etc. At all.
 
Kaouthia said:
I felt like you do about not knowing where to start with PHP & MySQL, so I decided to just jump in with both feet and play around with PostNuke & phpBB way back when to start picking bits up here and there. I'd had previous experience with various programming languages (Basic, Pascal, Delphi, C/C++, etc) over the years though, so it wasn't too bad figuring out what different bits did. Very fun once you start getting into it, but also very frustrating at times.
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The desire is there but the time isn't. having said that, I spend so much of my free time in front of my computer that my wife says that I might as well have made a career of it - at least I would be getting paid for it. Too late now! ;)
 
SandVox and RapidWeaver are the other names that came up when I was researching this. Not sure how much of an advantage they offer or how much user input is necessary.
 
i use carbonmade if u look at mine its just really simple layout i think its nice and simple but it's not really personal IMO if you have the money get a web designer to actually design you a webpage but if not look at carbonmade and viewbook
 
cambsno said:
So dreamweaver needs no programming knowledge? Sounds like that may be an option. Not looking to start learning HTML etc. At all.
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To get the most out of Dreamweaver you need to understand at least a bit about CSS and HTML, it's also pretty expensive.
 
Could just get a free template off the internet
edit it with dreamweaver adding what you want.

and bobs your uncle ;)
 
I used to build sites using HTML but because a lot of it has java which is a lot harder to learn i've used WYSIWYG from Pablo software, for around 25 quid you get a good web builder plus you can download free templates etc from their site.
 
Graham00 said:
java which is a lot harder to learn
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Just to clarify, he probably means JavaScript. JavaScript and Java are two very different things. :)

JavaScript is just a simple scripting language for basically modifying HTML code on the client web browser (real-time clocks, calculators, form checkers, etc).

Java is a fully blown programming language for producing standalone platform-independent applications. Some of these applications can be embedded inside web pages, but they're not the same thing as JavaScript.
 
Go get a template from Template monster or something like it and edit it yourself, to make a site that is good enough for a photography website using css html and java will take you ages to learn and by the time you have what you want the goalposts will have moved.
 
holderbeam said:
i use carbonmade if u look at mine its just really simple layout i think its nice and simple but it's not really personal IMO if you have the money get a web designer to actually design you a webpage but if not look at carbonmade and viewbook
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so simple when I click on to what looks like the only link to about there is no button to get back
The front page is not that clear as anyone will have to find out you can click on a photo and then if you do How do you get back again Ah!
HOLD on got a magnifier out there a tiny little up arrow don’t know what size screen you got but I missed that one on my screen
Oh and incognisance photo pages different layouts not good
 
I started with pixelpost, it comes with two ready made templates that are basic enough to get your site up and running and the coding is easy enough to understand. Start playing with alternative backgrounds etc and you'll soon learn the fundamentals of layout etc. Adding images on the fly is easy with the admin section, as is using the various addons available from the website.

These will validate your site and help solve any errors ..

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
http://validator.w3.org/

HTH
 
I think it also comes down to whether a website is being used for personal or business uses as well.

If it's for business use, unless you actually are a web developer, it's best to hire somebody in to do it (somebody with actual examples of work who knows what they're doing). As CGeezer said, if you're trying to learn it as a non-developer from scratch, by the time you've figured out what you need to do, they've moved the posts and now your site doesn't look so impressive or functional.

And don't just go for the cheapest option to try and save if you want to actually make money for your business via your site. I did a competitive quote for an organisation about 6 months ago for several thousand pounds. They had about a dozen quotes, and all but one of them were within £500 of the price I quoted.

That one exception was about 1/3rd of the price of everybody else. Guess who they went with? Nothing has happened to their website since then except for moving it to a new hosting company. It's still as useless, hard to navigate and ugly as it ever was, but now nobody in that organisation has had any access to E-Mail for 3 months.

Trying to go cheap as a business will often do you more harm than good when it comes to the web (and the same thing can be applied to photography a lot of the time too, which is why quite a few companies still hold faith in rights managed stock vs. microstock).
 
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