ClickNewz! Internet Marketing Blog
by Lynn Terry
I'm curious what you use to create a website.
I would really love to hear from people of ALL skill levels.
Do you use web design software, did you learn HTML, buy a "create a website" program, use the web page editor your host provides? Share specifics with us in the comment section below.
Thanks!
About Lynn TerryLynn Terry is a full-time Internet Marketer with over 17 years experience in online business. Subscribe to ClickNewz for the latest Internet Marketing trends & strategies, Lynn's unique case studies, creative marketing ideas, and candid reviews...more»
Lynn Terry is a Professional Blogger, Super Affiliate, and full-time Internet Marketer with over 18 years experience in online business. ClickNewz is where she shares creative marketing ideas and... more »
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Been through a few tools over the years.
Started with Visual Interdev for Classic ASP, which is great for debugging IF you can get it to work. Also used .NET versions of Visual Studio. Now I use Dreamweaver/Fireworks/Photoshop most of the time, dipping into NuSphere for heavy PHP websites and Team Debugger for sorting out problems with old ASP websites.
I like being able to create HTML and not rely on the WYSIWYG generated code. Dreamweaver offers so much for code hacks, including spell checking and validatity testing.
I also have time for Textpad, useful for reference of another website and also for the COBOL programms I'm working with at the moment (yes, really!)
My main tool is Notepad++
I have been designing for 7 years (started when I was 9, I'm 16 now). I started with Netscape Composer (bleh), and moved on to NVU (which eventually got old). I never liked Dreamweaver, so I used it for like 3 days, and then I found Notepad++.
I started learning HTML when I was 9, it took me about 3 months to get a good grasp on the language. Since then I have learned 13 more languages.
Now I love to just design using NP++ because after you memorize all of the tags (which WILL happen if ya just keep using them over and over), you will be able to design easily WITHOUT a WYSIWYG editor.
If you're new to web design in general, I suggest you visit http://www.w3schools.com/, grab a cup of coffee, and start learning basic code there free.
Wow, are you serious, Michael?! - you are 16 and started when you were 9!
Diana
Dreamweaver is a grate toot for website, true a little bit expensive but here is an alternative and it's completely free http://tinyurl.com/c5cktm .
You can create professional looking websites with absolutely no html knowledge. And to help you with, at the download page are lots of Video Tutorials on how to use it. And don't forget it's free.
I have been designing web pages for about 10 years, but that's been on and off. Just recently I have made it a personal goal to become a serious web designer, web marketer. I started off learning HTML over ten years ago then started using FrontPage. Though today I use Dreamweaver CS4, it is hellishly complicated, but extremely powerful, the added plus is that is does everything, and I mean EverythinG!
Dreamwaever CS4 is a complete web publishing tool and works seemless with Flash CS4. No need to mess around with FTP programs to upload web content either. Anyone who isn't familiar with CS4 or dreamweaver should really invest in a Lynda Tutorial for CS4, it is well worth the investment.
By the way Terry, excellent site! Your a breath of fresh air in the web marketing scene, I check my feed often for new content often.
Cheers John Salamon
WordPress and Joomla are the only way I go for full sites.
As for landing pages and such, sometimes dreamweaver, but mostly just notepad.
I tend to code by hand and I use HTML-Kit Tools. I got started a year ago or so by learning some HTML so I could update a friend's website for them as their original webmaster flaked out.
- Jeffery
Nick,
I just checked out Weebly. What's the catch? As in, how do they make money if they offer the sites for free? Upgrades? Rev Share on Adsense?
Just curious.
Thanks, Anthony
Hey Lynn!
It's funny, because about 10 years ago I used notepad exclusively for my web design projects, lol. I just found it faster for me in some very odd way. I've always been better at coding than design, so the plain-jane text editor suited me.
For the past few years, I've been using Dreamweaver, which I love...especially for the color coding and auto-population of code.
But, for the most part, and with the advent of blogging, I typically spend most of my time using the WordPress editor until I need to do some more technical coding work, then go back to Dreamweaver.
Finally, on occasion, I'll mess around with Flash to make some animations or interactive applications...wow, I sound like a nerd, but I swear I'm not 🙂
Whell time is everchangeing! There are some people today who still uses only notepat to create a functional website. I did it to but more out of curiosity and that feeling of creating a website by just writing! But in mather of time you have to use a website program, you just can't do it by the hard work when you can simply do it the eazy way!
Cristian!
Well... good question.
I built my first sites in the mid-90s. Back then I loved Netobjects Fusion. I guess it's still ok, but I have not used it in years. If...BIG IF...I need to build some landing pages, I will use Dreamweaver. Now I outsource my ecommerce sites, they still mostly use Dreamweaver and I can tweak pages if I need to.
However, these days I can build anything I need with WordPress. It is so simple to use and there are so many people who can help or you can outsource to.
I learned a while back. I'm in business to create revenue streams and make a profit, not to become a tech geek. I can hire someone to do that. Don't get me wrong... I love the tech stuff and still play with all the tech gadgets.
If you are a true beginner, spend some time to orient yourself with the tools, but don't spend so much time you become a software expert. Become an expert at building you business systems to maximize your profits.
That's my 2 cents....
Lynn...thanks again for all you do for your community.
Mike
Anthony,
Weebly.com primarily makes money from your site by revenue sharing 50/50 on your Adsense Ads.
Mike
I used iWeb to start my website - but soon realized it was just easier to use the blogger platform. Search engines found my material much faster -- AND i'm able to keep up with 11 blogs on one dashboard. Another great feature with blogger is that my changes happen instantly; I don't have to worry about uploading new content from iWeb.
I like KompoZer. I think it's as good as the old MS FrontPage and it's free. Free but not cheap. KompoZer is easy to use and very powerful.
I don't have to use an editor much these days since I've moved to mostly WordPress blogs. The blog format with various themes and plugins can make any of us look like a pro.
It depends of course on how and what you like to do. In my opinion a blog is powerful but it does not compare to a site.
Powered by powerful CMS like this WordPress.... Havent build my static site ever since.. No enough knowledge on html and other resources.
Hi I use MS Frontpage. I bought several tutorials on FP from "video Professor" and they were excellent. Believe it or not, I lost the CD's just can't find them anywhere, and don't want to spend the$$ again. MS tutorials aren't that great. anyone have recommendations for places to learn more about Front page?
Hi Lynn,
I've been web designer since 1999. I first started using Dreamweaver (a really old version). But with the time I started using Edit Plus - a simple plain text editor. And it is perfect for me - 10 years already. :))
Good luck,
William
PS: I use Dreamweaver CS3 occasionally and it is pretty good. I like it and maybe I am going to do the big return. 🙂
I used NVU to create a few basic pages but grew frustrated by it's quirks. Recently I purchased XSitePro and like it a lot. Takes a little learning to get up to speed, but their online assistance has been very helpful.
Lynn,
I am teaching myself Dreamweaver and Photoshop with the help of online tutorials.
Great question, Lynn.
For a Web site, I purchase a template and then use NotePad to make whatever changes I need. I also use NVU if I get into a jam and can't figure out the html code. Or, I Google to find how to do the code. (Uhhh, web design is not exactly my forte.)
I've recently learned some of the basics for WordPress so I use that, too. But not the design part...as in, see above...web design is not exactly my forte.
But I am trainable, so eventually I get it.
Thank you for asking.
Karen
I decided one day to make a website and did a google search. It came up with a really good step by step site. After realising that HTML wasn't to be frightened of, I started using notepad to write my website pages. I find it easier than using programs.
I use Dreamweaver mainly, though being an ex web designer I know html so I tend to 'go in' and optimise a lot.
I use Paint Shop Pro 7 for image editing which I highly recommend. It's powerful but much more approachable than Photoshop in my opinion. 🙂 ~ James
For years I hand coded html with a free program called editpad lite. Now I'm learning WordPress and have recently purchased a copy of reviews press which works with WordPress to make product reviews sites: You can read more about it at my blog: http://hiddenbuzz.com/wp-reviewspress-the-affordable-alternative-to-review-site-pro
At first I learned HTML and still use it to some extent for updating some sites. However, all new sites that I have built in say the past 6 months and probably most future sites will be built through WordPress. Love, love, love WP!
Hey - lots of cool sites and approaches mentioned here!
Like many I started out about 10 years ago, first using MSPublisher then Frontpage, then kicked it up a notch to use Dreamweaver when I wanted to do sites at least semi-professionally.
Dreamweaver is still my preference as far as wysiwyg programs go (I'm still using my original version 4 here!) but nowadays I used WordPress for almost all my sites of any kind and work with free or cheap tempates that can be easily customized with Photoshop or some simple CSS edits.
WordPress is such an excellent too and there are so many free resources available in regards to templates and tutorials etc.... it's now my first pick all around!
Steve
Used to use TextMate and write my own HTML. Now, as I prepare to launch a blog and begin an online business, I no longer wish to spend time rolling my own, so I'm using WordPress and buying a commercial theme.
The good thing is that if I *need* to modify the theme in some way, I've got the ability to do so.
TextMate is an awesome text editor, especially if you are a programmer.
I use Webeasy 7 from Advanquest. It is low cost and you can do just about anything with it!
I am all for the WordPress CMS. I use it for the blog and I also built a site with the static pages. But even so, my knowledge of HTML and CSS comes in handy when it comes to playing around with WordPress (wordpress.org)
My 1st class in web design had us create web sites in notepad. After that we had a great understanding of how code should look.
It's like creating a web page with a pencil and paper.
The next class we used Dreamweaver CS3 and it is really cool and easy to use.
I love http://www.w3schools.com/ and use it for research and learning with the try and see tutorials.
I use WSFTP free version for uploading from my PC and free FileZilla for uploading from my Mac. Learning Mac and like it for the free software like iMovie.
DWCS3 is also great for creating PHP My SQL databases for advanced users.
I am by no means an expert - i really struggle with making css stylesheets do what I want them to do.
But I've found wordpress makes it all possible 🙂 I simply install, find a great theme that suits my needs and make whatever changes I need and I've got a great looking professional site in less than a half hour. Plus updating is so much easier than it would be if I had to upload files via ftp.
I'm a mac user as well. I've used Composer (the original from Netscape), NVU and now I use WordPress and Sandvox (mac template-based software). There are companies coming out with new Sandvox templates all the time and although I'm sure the footprint is huge, I still love the ease of being able to get something up very, very quickly.
I use Notepad for HTML, TopStyle Lite for CSS, and Firefox with web developer extensions.
When I am scanning pages and see something that I like, I look at the code on that website so that I can learn how it was done in that instance.
Sorry, that application is not Notepad. It is called Note Tab . Although I have also used Note Pad which comes standard with your PC in the accessories menu. Just remember to name the file properly.
Hi
I'm using WordPress blog hosted domain and all i have to do was just Setting up my domain account and install it automatically that were provided by the domain host. Yes i learn HTML language and PHP but honestly i'm only using it for setting new widget and modified the template
I started out with Frontpage, but abandoned it. Now for simple stuff I hand code using Notepad or Word pad. For my sites, I prefer WordPress (self-hosted). It's just so much faster to get a decent looking site up quickly and then customize from there. It's been interesting to read through all the comments here and see what others are using. found a few things I want to take a look at.
I use a DIY cart for my physical products and wordpress for my blogs.
For a Web site, I find template I like and then use NotePad to make whatever changes I need.
Recently started using WordPress on my own domain, and editing themes is my current challenge. I learned html & css, but php gives me fits:)
Like many others I use WordPress. I don't even give anything else a second thought. The plugins, themes and large community of users make WordPress extremely easy to use. Most people don't realize that WordPress is evolving into a powerful tool for content management.
i use paper, design a layout on that then transfer it to photoshop or illustrator followed by hand coding.
It depends.
For my blog, I use WordPress - it's free, it's easy, it's got tons of themes and, most importantly, it gets the job done.
For my clients, I use Photoshop (for graphics) and Dreamweaver for website assembly. I am very much so self-taught, so while my first few months with Dreamweaver were a real pain, I seem to have gotten the hang of it for the most part.
Now if I only I could finally figure out what makes tables break in IE 7.0 and Firefox... 🙂
I usually lay out my interface ideas in Illustrator, then boil that down to background + foreground. I create the background image and separate foreground elements.
Next, I'll incorporate all of the elements together via handcoded HTML + CSS, this is where I tweak and adjust. Final step: add content and upload.
good!i got it,thanks
I used a very excellent software called SiteSpinner, by VirtualMechanics. Until I moved to MAC more than a year ago. I wish I knew 10 years ago how superior is MAC to windoz...
Nevertheless, SiteSpinner is a feature rich WYSIWYG. Real joy to use and highly recommend it.
On MAC I use iWeb which is part of iLife package included with every MAC or iMac you buy. There is RapidWeaver, another excellent choice, and a few more.
When I first started out I knew absolutely nothing about building a website, so I built all my sites with GoDaddy's Website Tonight software. But, now I'm converting them all using XSitePro, and building new sites with XSitePro.
I use WordPress for some of my blogs, as well as have a few Blogger blogs, and a few from GoDaddy's Blogcast that are attached to some of my GoDaddy Website Tonight sites.
I absolutely love XSitePro. It's so easy and fast, compared to online web builders.
I taught myself HTML with Notepad and for the past ten years have gradually developed my website using 21 addresses from Geocities and angelfire. I am a non-profit, retired person. My daughter wants me to add my own domain name to her website space and transfer all of my pages to one site. She is experienced in doing business websites using Dreamweaver CSS etc. which I can't grasp. I would like to make the change and get rid of the disadvantages related to using their free sevices but don't know where to start. I have never seen how I could use CSS with what I do, so I feel that I would need to go to every individual page to update it etc. Am I right? Also I would need to learn an FTP programme? My biggest problem is that as much as I love my daughter we don't work well together. We're both Aries. I'm aware because I use so many sites (keep expecting them to slap me on the wrist) that the is a lot of repetition of basic graphics that wouldn't be needed if done as one large website. I'm what I call a trial and error person. Can anybody send me a step by step tutorial on basically what I would need to do.
There is a great eBook called Create Your First Website by 3:45 this Afternoon, by a guy called Chris Farrell, which is free.
It helped me out lots.
You can get it here http://www.chrisfarrell-online.com or just Google it.
I use a lot of e-books, and various online resources, like w3schools..
A little knowledge of programming and coding is also essential..
Depends on what type of site, a blog is quick to setup. I hate using templates, but that works for some people. More of the brute force programmer, starting everything from scratch and build from there, hehe, that takes a long time though.
I use Photoshop to design the site, then I slice/code it it into parts that are all calibrated to work with all browsers, resolutions and relative operating systems (I use notepad++ as my html editor, I never do it visually).
I learned about half of the languages on w3schools.com (still learning ;), W3C is a great place for people of any coding skill level to start learning/learn more coding languages.
I'm interested to hear about what other g33ks use...?