I want to make a site.

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I mean, who wouldn't? Trouble is I don't have the time to learn HTML or other such things to make a decent one. That's when I heard about a app called RapidWeaver. It's a simple drag and drop web page builder with nice selection of styles ect. I looked at some reviews though and apparently it's filled with frustrating bugs. So I got to wondering if maybe there was similar apps out there that could be even better. Would anybody by any chance happen to know of any? :) And anything below $50 would be nice. :rolleyes: Thanks.
 
Yes, I can also recommend NVu. I use it when I need down and dirty editing and don't want to fire up DreamWeaver.
 
I did a google search on the side and almost everything pointed to Macromedia. For anyone who uses their software, can you share just how difficult it is to learn and use? I be someone going in with no HTML knowledge but a large interest in making a personal site.

I can get a student discount you see with Macromedia's software so that's why I'm asking. I'm still looking of course for anything cheaper and simple. Thank you guys for your time already in getting back to me.
 
If you're really adventurous you can check out the "Source" code for sites that you like and learn a little HTML. It comes in handy when you use WYSIWYG editors (What you see is what you get) to know what you're really doing. :)
 
I use Macromedia's stuff daily, and I love it... I am an intermediate programmer, though, and that does come in handy sometimes for more advanced web things like JavaScript and PHP.

It helps to have some sort of background in design or layout or something. If you can't sit down and sketch out a design that looks decent with pencil and paper, you're not going to be able to make anything visually appealing, so you may want to decide if visually appealing is important, or whether you'd just want to focus on the content.

It also helps to know screen measurements and basic stuff about resolution and pixel size.

I wouldn't get the Macromedia software unless you're willing to put some time into learning the programs, so if you just want a one-off solution for this website only, I recommend skipping Macromedia's stuff.

There's a program called "FreeWay" that gets some decent reviews and is supposed to be targeted at both advanced and beginning web designers. It's $250 for the Pro version, but they also offer "FreeWay Express" for $89. They have time-limited demos at their site:
http://www.softpress.com/en/freeway
(just click on "Downloads")

Another option is to have a designer put something together for you, if you just want a website but have little interest in actually putting it together. I know of one in particular that would put something together for free, in exchange for the right to link to it from a portfolio website. (wink wink)

Either way, I think you should at least check out FreeWay. It sounds decent and got some good reviews, and $89 ain't that bad if it turns out to be great.
 
Dreamweaver is definately not for beginners, but if you are somewhat adept at learning stuff you will find it isn't that difficult. The firs thing is to learn not to be overwhelmed by all it does.

It has some definate strengths, and some weaknesses.

I love that it can essentially handle basics of PHP and MySQL, and I love that its powerful and very functional. But its also a little too much when all you need is a simple edit real quickly.
 
Yeah, NVu looks pretty good for you.

However, I strongly suggest learning some HTML; you'll end up making much more well structured and sensible pages without half the fluff.
 
Macromedia stuff is of course better than NVu, but their stuff doesn't come cheap you know. NVu is probably the most effective and most feature-rich web site authoring tool which comes absolutely free.
 
Most ISPs, in addition to providing some "free" web site hosting space to go along with your account also have an online site building tool accessed through your browser. The quality and functionality of these online tools varies quite a bit but many of them are actually pretty good, especially for the person who doesn't want to get involved with the intricacies of learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.

The online tools on .Mac seem to be particularly good and offer the added bonus of a substantial degree of integration with Apple's iTools. This is what I recommend to all my Mac using friends who want to create the typical "personal" web site and I have not had any complaints yet. My only quible about the .Mac online site building tools is they are sometimes too automated and do things for me that I don't particularly want done. But then I generally use Macromedia Studio MX 2004 for my own site building chores.

If you really want to build the site locally before uploading it to your host site, there is always the Netscape/Mozilla HTML editor. It is pretty limited in what it can do but the price (free) is right and it is certainly workable.
 
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