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Website Development Tools

Short listed tools for beginners and intermediate

  

 

Recommendations are given below for:

  1. Website Creation
  2. High End Tools
  3. File Upload
  4. Website and Domain Name Hosting

Website Creation

You will need software to create the initial site and content, which will be hosted on your ISP or a specialised domain hosting service (see below), unless you are using a web based site creation service.

Basic Page Editing Software

HTML aware editors that may have a preview mode but no WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing capability. So you need knowledge of HTML.

Or see the Review of free editors.


Related Pages

  1. Email Forms Gallery
  2. Mailto: Encoders
  3. Blogs & RSS Feeds
  4. Content Management

Website Design

  1. Design Services
  2. Design Decisions
  3. Website Portfolio
  4. Design Resources
  5. RSS Website Content
 

"Easy to Use" Site Creation Tools

The following claim to be easy to use for beginners, with wizards, templates and automatic navigation. This can be OK for first time users, but such features are rarely very satisfactory and only take you so far.

  • WebPlus by Serif, £79.99, or less or free for old versions. Claims to meet all business needs with no knowledge of HTML, but it could not even import this HTML page for edit! Heavily tables and graphics based, no CSS style sheets, bad news.
  • WebSite X1 and X5, by Incomedia, 60 or 35 Euros.

Intermediate Tools

These should be all you want. They have templates and wizards for new users but you can ignore them and have full access to site content and code once you have some experience:

  • Namo WebEditor, £68: a better product than FrontPage. New WebEditor 8 has some party tricks but still poor support for CSS based layouts, so no longer used and recommended.
  • Ist Page 2000, Version 2.0 Free Edition. More of an HTML editor: cut down functionality compared with:
  • Ist Page 2006, Version 3.0: easy through hardcore modes; another FrontPage replacement contender. Free unlimited trial then $59.95 to buy. Now being used.
  • NVU, now replaced by Kompozer: Open Source, almost as good but some rough edges still? Stalled? No new user wizards or automatic navigation. F'ree. Comparable to Ist Page 2006.
  • Hot Dog Pro, text based HTML editor, not much mention of CSS - $99
  • Don't use Microsoft FrontPage in any version, it is non-standard, producing lots of unwieldy proprietary code.

Office Tools

The following claim to generate web pages from office documents, including spreadsheets, but would not be suitable for a complete site except in a corporate intranet environment.

  • Microsoft Word (NOT recommended, too much proprietary junk code)
  • Open Office

Web Based Site Creation Services

Some services are web based: you do everything on-line via a browser and all the files are held remotely on the server. Or else you have to connect to the web to download (and pay for) extra modules and the like.

This is not recommended unless you have a fast and reliable broadband connection, and even then you have no backup if things go wrong.

Some of the easy to use web based systems work on a subscription basis, bundled with ISP services and that is another reason to be wary of them. See Website Builders Review for a top ten listing of (US) services.

High End

  • Microsoft Expression Web 2. Good standards based CSS support. Replaces Microsoft FrontPage but now priced out of the market for home and small businesses, targeted at corporate Intranets?
     

    Expression Web 2 now seems to be a serious contender with Dreamweaver, though it is associated with Microsoft's Silverlight initiative which has yet to establish itself.

  • DreamWeaver - used by the professionals, but there is a learning curve. I have made several attempts to get to grips with it without much success, but the CS3 version (new in 2007) and now CS4 looks promising with good CSS and php support.

Alternatives

Namo WebEditor or one of the free FrontPage clones will probably do all you need.

There are alternative ways to get your site on-line:

Supperblogging / Pure SEO-CMS

A collection of programs and sites claiming to offer a new approach to CMS, easier to use for content creation, and incorporating blogging technology:

  • Straight2Web, site design and content management, demo Free, one site 37.50.
  • CSS Wizard, Make an ever growing CSS design library for quick and easy site design. Free.

Content Management Systems

Content Management Systems (CMS) are designed as frameworks that separate site content and look and feel.

Once the template, content menus and other administrative functions are set up inexperienced users can add and edit their own content, subject to permissions.Though there can be a steep learning curve in setting it up.

I have experience of Joomla (was Mambo) and Drupal, see also my review of CMS systems:

Weblogs

There is almost a convergence between Weblogs,as they get more sophisticated, and CMS systems which include "articles" with weblog features

See Weblogs and RSS feeds

File Upload Software

You need to be able to transfer files from the website you have created locally to the ISP's web hosting server.

This is normally done using FTP file transfer protocol, handled by specialised software running on your PC. The two main contenders are:

And they both have trial versions, though with CuteFTP you have to go to the Download page and avoid the Buy Now button. Or use:

I chose CuteFTP for improved directory handling, but WS_FTP may have caught up now and both will meet nearly all users' needs. And I found CuteFTP 8.1 Professional much faster and slicker than the previous version I was using.

Update Cycle

It is best to keep the master version of your site on your own computer (with a backup), and then:

  • Edit any changes locally
  • Test in a local browser
  • Upload the changed files (only) to the server
  • Retest with a browser via the web (http://www...).

Website and Domain Name Hosting

For an amateur "Home" site you will need an ISP (see above) that includes "free" web hosting as part of the package.

But if you are in business, even as a sole practitioner, you are recommended to invest in a specialised domain name and website hosting service. This would probably be from a different service provider to your Internet access ISP, since it is a different market.

There are lots to choose from, eg:

Web hosting specialists

Business ISPs

Offering ISP services as part of a wider package aimed at small and medium businesses:

I offer website and domain name hosting on EliteUKServe (as a reseller) and e-noise.

Avoid:

  • AOL
  • BT/Yahoo
  • Tiscali
  • "Free" services
  • FreeParking, 123reg and similar

Features to look for are:

  • Your own domain name
  • User control panel
  • No adverts
  • Multiple email forwarding
  • I prefer UNIX to Windows based servers
  • Forms support (much more effective and professional than mailto:)
  • Site statistics reports

Desirable, may be extra charge

  • Multiple POP accounts
  • Email forwarding
  • php support
  • MySQL support

 

  

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