Website building for beginners

[Bobby135]

Hi All,

I am looking to build a website. I have never done it before and I would like to learn how. I am computer literate, as in Iknow how to work them and get around but as for programming I am lacking. I would like some help as to where I can get it hosted along with what tools can I use to do this.

Thanks for your help,
Bobby

 

[Andrew Green]

how deep do you want to get into it?

You really don't need a lot for tools to get started, and if you want to go at this in any depth then you need to start learning html.

A good place to start is http://w3schools.com

Get a decen understanding of HTML, then start looking at CSS, then if you want to go farther Javascript (client side scripting), and php, asp or some other server side language. And then, SQL, as most sites nowadays use a database of some sort. The movement right now is towards websites as applications, not just static pages. But you got to start at the bottom (HTML/CSS) to get there

A text editor is all you need, preferably one with syntax highlighting such as this: http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

 

[ArmorOfGod]

An easier way to do this is just use something like tripod.com or googlepages.com to get our feet wet.

My website is done from googlepages and I think looks pretty good. With Tripod and Googlepages, you just pick a template and plug in your info.
Now, if you want to get all fancy, read that last post.

How advanced of a site do you want to have, by the way?

AoG

 

[Monadnock]

What AoG said.

A lot of online hosting companies have tools to help you edit your pages and upload images. Yahoo! and GoDaddy are a couple.

If you know how to use a word processing program, there are WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver that are pretty powerful. All you need is your hosting company's FTP info to upload it.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

If you're looking for cheap or 'get my feet wet' type stuff, go with a free host that has site builder tools. You simply plug in your text, upload some images and have a website.

Netscape used to include a basic site editor as well, but I don't know if they still offer that. I cut my teeth on it, way back when.

Another option would be to go with a host that offers a content management system. There is a bit of a learning curve, but you'll be able to add all sorts of advanced content (mailing lists, forums, image galleries, etc) with a few clicks and not need to learn site design. Most are customizable through a control panel where you pop in the info you want, and it does the rest.

Another option is to get a copy of a reliable editor. I recommend Dreamweaver as it's the most powerful, but also has the highest learning curve. Microsoft Frontpage is another option. Lacking some of the pro-tools, it is more user friendly, an has many automated extras that make life simpler for novice designers. It does require that your host support those features.

I offer a hosting special for the martial arts industry, which includes those content managers, and Frontpage support (if needed). http://www.martialtalk.com/webservices.shtml

 

[crushing]

Yahoo's Sitebuilder tool is pretty simple and straightforward. I put this website together using it with little effort (I hope the 'little effort' part doesn't show too much! ) http://www.vfw3256.org

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

I've always used wordpad; but, as mentioned, Dreamweaver is a good buy. 1st Page, by Evrsoft, is every bit as powerful and less than 1/4th the price.

There are literally thousands of sites that will teach you html, from tags on up.

Good luck

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I like Dreamweaver quite a bit but for the non super duper computer guy's like me the learning curve is pretty steep. Fortuantely my best friend has talked me through my mistakes and I have a handle on it now.

 

[tahuti]

It really depends what do you want to make. If it is like few pages linked that you can use any type of html editor like NVU (which is open source vs Dreamweaver $$$, of course doesn't have all features). Now, if you need forums, galleries, blogs, I would suggest to look into some of CMS (content managment systems) such as Joomla and Drupal. To set them up you need to buy domain name and get hosting with PHP and MySQL database. http://www.opensourcecms.com/ have demos for various cms so you can play around if you like them or not.

 

[Bobby135]

Thanks everyone for the help so far. Let me see if i can explain this a little better. There will be a few things i will have to do, and I have no idea how hard any of this will be. I need to be able to accept donations, one of them is going to be a nonprofit organization. I would like to be able to post video messages along with the ability to blog and probably have some sort of message board, as well as a photo gallery somewhere along the line. I dont really know how advanced I have to get in order to do this, but I am hoping that I can figure it all out. I would also like to have my own email address ([email protected]), so that is why I want to stay away from googlepages because I am looking just to have my website name. I hope this makes sense to all of you

Thanks again,
Bobby :erg:

 

[Andrew Green]

ok, so in terms of what you need to host

You need a name, register it to yourself. Some hosting companies will offer to do it for free if you sign up with them, I'd reccommend not doing that and registering it too you, rather then your hosting company. Makes things easier if you need to change hosts. Domains are cheap, $10 / year (depending on your top level - .com, .net, etc)

Then you need to find a host, there are many covering a full range of prices and service. Bob (Martialtalks big cheese) provides web hosting.

For donations, I would imagine a 3rd party processor would be your best bet. They are more secure and have all there insurance and what not in place, as well as generally being more trusted, fees are generally quite small as well. If it became something big enough to warrant doing your processing yourself (and that is pretty big) look at that then, until then something like paypal will take money for you and support all major credit cards.

For blogs, message boards and galleries you once again have a good selection to choose from. Some are free, and wuite good, others are have a price tag attached. The tricky part can be that if you have more then one piece of software, you might want them integrated. Which will mean probably learning a bit of php, as well as html and css.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Donations: Check into Paypal.

Blog / Video - If you can get your videos into a web friendly format (I recommend either QuickTime or MPEG), I believe most blog software will let you do this.

Message board / photogallery / own email address :

Hosting offered through MartialTalk offers these as push-button installs:
Blogs
b2evolution
Nucleus
pMachine Free
WordPress

Content Management
Drupal
Geeklog
Joomla
Mambo Open Source
PHP-Nuke
phpWCMS
phpWebSite
Post-Nuke
Siteframe
TYPO3
Xoops

Discussion Boards
phpBB2
SMF

E-Commerce
CubeCart
OS Commerce
Zen Cart

Guestbooks
ViPER Guestbook

Image Galleries
4Images Gallery
Coppermine Photo Gallery
Gallery

Also we are quite vBulletin and MyBB forum friendly.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Here are a few article links to help you out too. Might help explain some of the maze that's out there.

Internet 101 - Domains
Published March 2004 MartialTalk Magazine
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Getting Online
Published August 2003 MartialTalk Magazine

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You built it, but will they come?
Published
November 2002 – Buffalo Computer and Internet Magazine /
July 2003 – MartialTalk Magazine

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Why do I need a Web Site?
Published February 2004 MartialTalk Magazine

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