Website setup software - what to use?

[polecat]

I'm just interested in setting up a blog for s/v Aweigh  and store pictures. I bought a website & domaine name (www.svaweigh.com) on IX web hosting. its on a linux server and must have a publisher. There are to many companys with to many products with to many opinions to make any kind of informed decision ---help please --- jim

[Captain Smollett]

Some free web site management suggestions:

For running a "blog site," WordPress is very popular.

Other options for Content Management System (CMS) based sites, which may be more "powerful" than you need (but are certainly very flexible and allow you to add a lot of features to your site), include:

phpWebSite
Drupal
phpNuke

One other option you might consider, depending on what features you want on your site, is to simply code html.  This may require actually learning html, but it's not hard.  The advantages of this approach include:

No backend database to set up
No backend scripting or database look-ups; faster page loads
Your site is completely your creation...some satisfaction to that; uniqueness?

Hope this helps get you started in whittling down your options...

[Auspicious]

I've used Wordpress and Movable Type with good results. Movable Type will allow you to configure to use flat files to store your posts (so no database required); I don't recall if Wordpress has that feature or not.

Wordpress allows you to set up an e-mail address to e-mail to your blog as it is out of the box. Movable Type has a plug-in to do the same thing. I've found that to be very useful when making posts on skinny pipes.

[Grime]

I would stick with WordPress for your blog. Learning html or the use of one of the Content Management Systems is not a simple matter. There is quite a learning curve. People that write html and php to them it's not hard. One typo and it wont work. 

Since you have your domain name and hosting just get WordPress and play around with it to get the feel of working with it. If you don't like it you can go with one of the others. There are many blog programs out there. I can pm you with a link to a list of them.

If you are just wanting to build a quality web site and the design program that your host is offering doesn't suit you drop me a pm and I'll reply with a design program that is just great. Excellent forum board. I have no financial affiliation with them.

Just my two cents worth.
David

[AdriftAtSea]

I would second sticking with a blogging engine like WordPress.  It is much simpler to maintain and use.  If you decide to go with a CMS system, you'll have a much longer learning curve.  You could also use something like RapidWeaver or DreamWeaver to build a site from scratch, but again, that will have a much steeper learning curve than WordPress. 

One option is to use your domain to point to a WordPress blog hosted at Wordpress.com, if you aren't keen on setting up mySQL and the database that WordPress requires. 

BTW, many of the hosting companies now have WordPress setup as a "one-click" install, where they do the database setup and everything else automatically.

[dnice]

i have been using the free hosting at www.xtreemhost.com

i've had it for about 1 year now. so far i have had no problems.

as for the software, they have a 'script installer' that allows you to use any of the
cms type of websites, right outa the box. Just click which one you want to use and presto!
they literally have dozens of them to choose from. and you can start new subdomains and
try different ones with the same content or just delete one and start a new one or whatever you want.

I currently use wordpress, I find it the simplest to use with plenty of functions.
It also has an endless supply of themes to choose from.

For a cms I have found Mambo to suit my needs and perform the best. But the more I use Wordpress,
the more I think I can turn it into just about whatever type of website I want (not just a blog).

Anyway, if you just want to 'sample' a few different cms/portal/nukes/blogs or whatever,
its a good place to practice (since its free!), as well as being a good permanent site.

[CapnK]

IMO: Whatever you decide, before running with it, please do check to make sure that what you use will produce a W3C Standards Compliant website. That is, the software produces pages which adhere to guidelines set up by the international governing body of the web, the World Wide Web Consortium. You can check this by running your pages through the W3C Validator page. It's free, and easy, to do so.

Many of the "quick/easy website" type programs don't do the above, and that makes your webpage look like poop to anyone (and maybe everyone) else, with text running over other text, pictures or other formatting showing up in odd places, etc. It also can make it difficult for people with disabilities to access your site content.

Also, remember that KISS works as well with a website as it does with a boat. There are some basic design principles to know, but they boil down to the fact that your site is there to present information in a clear and concise format, first and foremost. Make that your priority, and you can then worry about "dressing it up" later.

As far as simple page construction, if you want static HTML pages, there is a free and very easy to use program to do that which produces standards-compliant pages: NVU Editor.

[Grime]

The NVU Editor is not up at the present time.

[CapnK]

Ahh - well, you can get it here:

http://www.download.com/Nvu/3000-2048_4-10412423.html

also looks like Kompozer is available...

And that search also yielded a tutorial (that I have not looked at):

http://www.thesitewizard.com/gettingstarted/nvu1.shtml

[AdriftAtSea]

NVU is back up as of this morning at least. :)