What do you guys use to make your homepage?

[Fisherking]

I'm looking at starting over one of sites because when I first got into making pages I used Microsoft front page 2003. Well here we are in 2006 and there has been no updates and I don't trust my site with so many other browsers on the market now.

What can I use to make my site with that you would personally recomend? Dreamweaver is one of my options......

Any thoughts would be great!

Nigelman

[tom.bcn]

Dreamweaver is probably the best program you could use on Windows. Have you considered using a Content Management System or a blogging tool? You might find that they suit your requirements and are easier to manage.

[magpie2419]

There is a new version of Frontpage but not called Frontpage anymore, it is available as free Beta download on Microsucks website.

[Fisherking]

I'm just doing some Total Training for Dreamweaver right now (lesson 3) and I'm getting quite fond it so far......seems fun and somewhat easy to follow along to.

I don't think I should try the microsoft stuff anymore.....

Thanks,

Nigelman

[Early Out]

You might also want to look at Nvu (http://www.nvu.com), which claims to offer all the features of FP or DW, but has the advantage of being free, and open-source. I don't know any more about it (I haven't used it), but I've heard good things. :)

[bobdog]

I use Dreamweaver when I'm designing a new site. Once I have the right look, I edit my code in HomeSite. And I'll jog back and forth between these two programs to fine tune it.

[Sazuke]

I use Macromedia Flash 8 Pro.
Its nice if you know something of flash :P

[redsox9]

Hi, Fisherking:

Just to answer your original question via the post title, I continue to code independently of software like Frontpage or Dreamweaver, through I have heard good things about the latter. My latest version of FenwayFanatics.com (http://www.fenwayfanatics.com/) was coded entirely in PHP and I found the learning curve relatively easy if you have some background in software code. Might you consider grabbing your favorite text pad sotware and creating your pages in that fashion?

I would definitely stay away from the Microsucks software as magpie2419 suggested.

[kaskudoo]

i started out with golive in 98 or so? use it since then .... but i find myself using the text editor (on my mac) more than golive now-a-days. i rarely fire it up and just use the text edit and ftp ...
[and i use FF extension 'web dev toolbar' .... very handy when it comes to css a.s.o]

[fedor]

You might also want to look at Nvu (http://www.nvu.com), which claims to offer all the features of FP or DW, but has the advantage of being free, and open-source. I don't know any more about it (I haven't used it), but I've heard good things. :)
Im going to try it :D

[aceofspades]

you can also get the portable which is included with the portable apps suite at portableapps.com

[Fisherking]

Great stuff guys and I'm glad there's so much help regarding this.......I tell you the best thing you can ever do is get some of these total training videos. They can teach you some stuff that you'd never think and they give you the confidance to use a program. I'm going with Dreamweaver and hopefully will have my site up in a few weeks.

I'm sick of Frontpage 2003 because it's too MICROSOFT intensive and when you get browsers like FF and others they can't read all the BS from FP.

Thanks,

Nigelman:D

[karhu]

I use Cool Page to make new pages, save them as HTML and then upload using Smart FTP.

CoolPage is a wysiwyg ... and the webmaster version is able to do most anything. I save the CoolPage version and theHTML version for future reference. If you want to see an example:
http://mattsonworks.com

[retokmeier]

I took a 3 day intro course for web development using Dreamweaver, and taught myself the rest using good books (www.lynda.com) and online forums and articles. You can teach yourself HTML, javascript and enough php to build some simple applications/scripts. Lynda.com also offers online training courses at $25/month or $250/year. For a 3-day "live" intro course, plan to spend about $1000-$1500. I have taken the same approach to Photoshop (self-taught). Today I don't use the WYSISWG view in Dreamweaver that much, I mostly handcode using the code view (also useful for checking syntax). One of the benefits of using Dreamweaver are the many extensions (many for free) that are developed for Dreamweaver and can be easily downloaded and integrated with Dreamweaver. For a list, go to Adobe and look up Dreamweaver extensions. Check out my site at http://www.terrakeramik.com for a site built with Dreamweaver. Good luck!

[VTLoc]

I have used NVU to edit my site: www.enfuegohoops.com. I like it, easy and free which is good to start. Tinker with it and see what you think, it'll cost you nada. I have yet to create a site using it but will soon, I'll let you know how it turns out. Much luck...

[aceofspades]

get the dreamweaver the free trial. It lasts for 30 days and you can use any volume serial key. ;)

[kaskudoo]

retokmeier .... on firefox (mac) the 'customer service' is not readable on the very first page of your site
try getting rid of tables and use semantic markup like css instead (you already have quite many iv's in there - and thats a good start!)

just a tip ;)

[retokmeier]

Hey really nice of you to check it out and give me some feedback. I agree that I need to clean up both my CSS and javascript. This was a first release to launch in time for the holiday shopping season. I am working feverishly to upgrade the site with more features and to make it CSS compliant and cross-browser compatible (not an excuse, but 90% of my traffic so far is IE 6.0/7.0 and the IE browser doesn't have the issue you pointed out). Check back in a few weeks and you should see your feedback and that of others incorporated in a new release. Thanks again!

http://www.terrakeramik.com

[kaskudoo]

i know what you mean ... i just got done with mine before the season and i had to realize that the ecommerce solution i got (cubecart) did use tables to some extend .... so i am not 100% css and html solid either, but i am getting there :)

[duesouth]

DreamWeaver is good. I use Ms Publisher. Set up correctly you can just publish right to your site.

And FisherKing, ****, now I need another avatar!!:D

[Vivarant]

Coffee Cup is also awesome. They have a new version now that has WYSIWYG. I love it I kind of alternate between that and DW. I always use dreamweaver for php though. I think i should get that DW Total Training it would probably be a big help

[Jannie]

Since I have never made a webpage before, and didnt have the slightest idea where to even begin, I used NVU. You dont have to know any codes. Its very easy for anyone, even someone who doesnt know anything about web pages at all (like me).
However, I suspect that it wont do the fancy stuff, if you want to see what an absolute novice can create on the very first try using NVU, check out my pitiful pages @ www.ChoicesRestored.com Janet in Nashville TN

[Early Out]

By the way, Microsoft is discontinuing Frontpage next month. There will be a completely new product for web authoring coming out in 2007.

[Fisherking]

DreamWeaver is good. I use Ms Publisher. Set up correctly you can just publish right to your site.

And FisherKing, ****, now I need another avatar!!:D

Ok done I'm now the confused little monkey.......

wow this thread is rocking and I'm saving all these sites and recomendations that has been going around.

Coffee cup is good, have used it in the past.

Nigelman

[aceofspades]

DW is difetely great and it is MUCH better than frontpage. It is both for nubs and advance users like me. I know a lot of people who use DW and can make very good webpages with no experience of HTML or javascript. I lilke how you can do table postioning (although it is outdated) through DW. It is almost impossible to do table positioning in raw HTML. I really gotta learn how to do CSS positioning. I am a terrible webdesiner and that is why smarty was love at first sight. I dont have to worry about design all i gotta do is buisness logic.

[seetherage]

mostly just notepad for the coding part. old school :D
when I find myself in a headache I use Namo Webeditor 4 (kinda old), or some other things. Like some user mentioned here also, Flash is indispensable.

[Eriksrocks]

@ seetherage
This thread is really OLD!