erm...how do you build a website?

[Boongie Pam]

I'm a notepadder as well - I learnt a few codes and nicked a few source codes - 

What I have noticed is Word and Powerpoint have an option to "save as HTML" I haven't done a lot of testing to see if it is any good but it is a starting point.

Pam
 

[Adi1962]

Pam

You can and you can also edit the html code.  Need to select edit with Word under File option, then under View select Html source.

Having used Frontpage and Dreamweaver I find its very clumsy and difficult to get the page how you want it.

Adrian

[Berlin-Bob]

I have also used Frontpage.  It has the disadvantage that it adds loads of code you don't want, and suffers generally from the "Microsoft knows everything better" Syndrome. I also couldn't control the output very well, but that could be the learning curve.

I then got a 30 day trial copy of Dreamweaver from a computer magazine (german version, so don't ask !) and tried that (every day, for 30 days - there is counter that tells you how many days you have left !). 

I was also reading a book about HTML, so by the time the trial ran out, I had switched back and forth between WYSIWYG and raw code  so often, that I then carried on, writing code in an ordinary editor. NOTEPAD will do, although I use the "work" editor, as we also have it programmed with macros which make life easier.

The main thing is, give it a try. You can build a "web site" without actually putting it on the web, so keep practicing, try out anything that takes your fancy, and when RootsChat Webpages goes live, we shall all be ready and waiting ....

[Reggie]

Amy,

you can download it to see how you go and as you use it you can actually view the html so that way you can see what each code does
heres the url for it
http://www.coffeecup.com/

Adrian

I am afraid Coffee Cup Designer is NOT free.  It is a 10 session trial then you have to pay either $49 or subscribe to a website with a monthly fee.

Reg

Just to add to Shanko's suggestion, I would go for the Coffee cup Visualsite Designer
http://www.coffeecup.com/designer - its also free and is a little easierwhen first starting out.

But if you are only going to use it for your family tree than I would be more inclined to look at something like Kazza suggested- Roots magic or similar


Adrian

[RJ_Paton]

there are numerous programs "out there" and just as with genealogy there is often a dispute over what is the perfect program to use as the tool for the job.

Microsoft Frontpage is an extremely powerful program capable of working for the novice or the full blown professional site builder (especially the most recent version) . However it can prove daunting to the absolute novice.

Dreamweaver is often the tool of choice for a large number of professionals but the learning curve is steep and both programs are expnsive.

If you are not interested in learning the raw html then a publishing program such as Netobjects Fusion is a good starting point ....  you create the pages as you want them to look and the program does the boring bit of the work (the coding) although the latest version is around £100 some computer magazines  were giving away earlier versions on their cover disks over the last few months.

Another source of a free program is Serif who have made available version 6 of their program webplus for a free download or  available for the delivery costs have a look at  http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/serif/wp/wp6/index.asp

[RJ_Paton]

Some online tutorials are also available at

http://www.tashian.com/htmlguide/index.html

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/

http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_tables.asp

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
(also the home of html kit a very good editing program)

http://www.at-frontpage.com/
a frontpage tutorial site

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/
for DHTML

http://www.iboost.com/build/software/dw/tutorial/786.htm
A dreamweaver tutorial

[Hackstaple]

I write this a non-expert on computer programme although I use many of them in my work.
If a simple web authoring programme is available then trying to set one up by learning to write html code is rather like knitting your own socks and far more exhausting than baking your own bread. Or, putting it another way it is like cutting your lawn with a table knife.
Some years ago I started out that way and then bought the much maligned Microsoft Front Page. Within 3 days I had my site working. I have had several problems since but they have mostly been of my own making although there was a period of malicious interference with site by someone at my old hosts. My site is
 http://www.southernprints.co.uk
There are quite a variety of small free programmes including those given away as cover promotions of computer magazines. All of those are WYSIWYG and more than adequate for publishing your own family web site although some are limited to 3 pages in the free mode.
Most Family History programmes incorporate the facility. Sooner or later you will buy one of these if your hobby takes hold of you. If  you are maintaining your family history on one of them it makes sense to use it for compiling a web site.
 

[HannahJ]

Another really good tutorial site that I used when I was first learning html & php:

http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/authoring

It has a fairly good section on the various types of software you can use if you don't want to write your own html. From personal experience, I found Dreamweaver very easy to use as a novice, but it's expensive.

If you do decide to write your own html, a really good way of learning is to find a web page you like the look off, and then go to the View menu of your web browser and select View source to see the html code that was used to write the page. It's much, much easier to understand what's going on when you can see it used in practice.

Hope this helps,

Hannah

[Ticker]

Amy

If you are not a technical person (and I'm not) you might wish to try a package that I use.  You can do a trial free for 14 days still I think.

For details see www.moonfruit.com

This allows you to build up a website through a set of tools provided by this company and you can make quite elaborate sites in a very short space of time with very little knowledge.

Please have a look at my site to see what you think - www.tymon.org

Hope this helps.  If you decide to use this and want any help please let me know.