10 replies to this topic

[pjm]

anyone know of a free website building program like dreamweaver? I used the dreamweaver trial and loved it but I cant afford to buy it . and I want to work on my website and make another. thanks

[Tomk]

Hi pjm,

This doesn't directly answer your inquiry but in my never-to-be-humble opinion the best free website program is notepad. Building a webpage isn't really that hard and is quite rewarding and fun to write the code yourself. W3schools has a pretty good free tutorial here that can teach you the basics of HTML, XHTML, and CSS. Once you understand the basics, you can get ideas from webpages that you like by clicking on View ---Page Source in your browser. Don't "steal" code off of other peoples work without their permission but by looking at the code you can learn "tricks" to incorporate into your own page.

Good Luck,

[Ax238]

Hi pjm,

Yes there are free web-building applications like Dreamweaver. One of them is NVU. That should be pretty good for what you are looking for.

Regards,

Ax

[LDDI]

Hi pjm. Personally, I'm going to have to agree with Tomk. While free programs (and even programs that rip your wallet to shreds) may make the whole thing easier, they don't make things better. It's similar to carving wood. While carving it with a knife is harder and takes longer, you have far more control and everything will work out the way you want it to. You could always buy an assembly thing to put the carving together, but it simply does not compare. If I were you, I would go ahead and learn how to code everything. Cheers, and best of luck with that.

[Ax238]

Sometimes people need to take smaller steps than this. Althought learning code will help out, it's not always convenient and can have mixed results, including ending in frustration and disappointment in oneself. Some people have a hard time grasping the concepts of laying things out with code. We are here to answer questions that users have. For an example, sure I could code in Assembly, rather than a higher level language (such as VB), so that I can do whatever I want with the operating system, but it is magnitudes of difficulty higher and much more inconvenient. If there is a tool out there that works well enough, there's nothing wrong with using it, especially if programming is not your forte.

Edited by Ax238, 23 February 2008 - 03:15 PM.

[Tomk]

I agree with Ax238.

My earlier response wasn't meant to belittle the question. Personally I have trouble making any of the website building programs do what I want them to. For me it was easier to write the code myself. I was only suggesting an alternative.

As a direct answer to the question posed:
NVU (as suggested earlier) is a good program. I think it's the easiest to use of the ones I know of.
Next would probably be Alleycode
Then probably Amaya

I found that Amaya allowed me the greatest flexibility but was the most confusing to use.

But what the hay. They're all free. What have you got to lose but a little disk space. Try 'em all.

Your milage may vary

[Rosalind]

NetObjects Fusion now do a free version of their Web Building program. It is based on version 7.5 and the paid version is up to 10 with v11 due for release this year. I can't say what it is like as I haven't used it, I started with version 8 from my host and then version 9 as a free download from a computer magazine. Both have been very easy to use, but do have a few glitches and support is not brilliant but the newsgroups are good. You can add HTML, but you can't do a full edit like you can with Dreamweaver. I was given a friends copy of Dreamweaver 8 and am finally getting to grips with it. You may be able to pick up a second hand copy off the internet. Rosalind

[webbie]

Looks like this one may be a moot point by now, but if you're just starting out that free version of NetObjects Fusion is probably a great place to start. I've been using paid versions since version 5.0 and, essentially, cut my design teeth on it. I still use it for the most simple sites I work with. I have, however, along the way learned quite a lot of code too. (PHP being the current focus.) (Glad to know 11 is coming out. I'm frustrated with 10 crashing, the worst since 6.0!) As has been suggested, you may run into brick walls now and again with free programs, but there's nothing wrong with using a "power tool" to get the job done. You can tailor it your own way as you go, as you learn, and if you wish, but a WYSIWYG program can take a lot of aches and pains out of it. In the end, your only real limits are your imagination. I wish you well! Post back and let us know what you tried and how you liked it!

[redtech]

Hi pjm.

Personally, I'm going to have to agree with Tomk. While free programs (and even programs that rip your wallet to shreds) may make the whole thing easier, they don't make things better. It's similar to carving wood. While carving it with a knife is harder and takes longer, you have far more control and everything will work out the way you want it to. You could always buy an assembly thing to put the carving together, but it simply does not compare. If I were you, I would go ahead and learn how to code everything.

Cheers, and best of luck with that.

Nice analogy. I never thought of it that way. You should have added you can use a chain saw and get it done, or a knife and get it done right=) He should also look at programminghelp.com if you need any coding help. They cover a lot of different codes and languages over there.

[david horton]

I have been using the beta of microsoft web expression (free down load) if not up as beta and gives you trail key. the beta still working after four months. a design/split view/code views option drag and drop or if you know code just type it in error marks if wrong (yellowed background on text) find the site and view the lessons video to get an idea on how it works

Note: A product key is required for Expression Web 2. You can obtain a product key by visiting the Expression Web 2 product key page.
i got a free upgrade to verion two (nice of microsoft)
looks like beta ended!

did this in two mins just a test site

and i have only been at web sites for four months. not into the javascript yet or any of the other coding systems but the software is able to genrate this code. so i am told on the lessons on there site.

i started with Publisher (o.k not the best software for web design (create a my holiday website add some links to other website travel people and the hotel i stayed at.)


hope this helps david

[Missouri Mobile]

i just posted this over on another topic but found this site to be very helpful in making a free flash website...

http://www.wix.com/

it's pretty cool what they are offering...