Website Builder

[isucyfan]

I have to build a website for a class I'm taking, and I really don't want to learn HTML or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions for a free "drag & drop" type site builder? I have used Homestead in the past, but I see now that they charge after a 30 day free trial. Yahoo's looks OK, but I don't have any experience with that one.

Suggestions?

 

[cmoneyr]

Does your ISP provide you with a free website? I know mediacom does.

A quick google search brought up this, have never heard of it though, but maybe skim it and see.

Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

Or this.

Freewebs.com - Free website, free hosting, free webpage - Make a web site with photo albums, blogs, videos, forums and more!

 

[isucyfan]

Does your ISP provide you with a free website? I know mediacom does.

A quick google search brought up this, have never heard of it though, but maybe skim it and see.

Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

Or this.

Freewebs.com - Free website, free hosting, free webpage - Make a web site with photo albums, blogs, videos, forums and more!

Yeah, I had just checked out Weebly a bit ago...it seems OK; not as good as the pay sites, but not bad for a basic website. I'm considering it.

 

[CyGuy33]

You can create something in microsoft word and save it as an HTML file. This usually will create the ****** you need.

 

[isucyfan]

Oh, and I think my ISP (Qwest) provides free website space, but then what should I use to create the site? i.e. what's easy?

 

[Nedrick]

Have you ever heard of KompoZer? I use it with my Mac (but it's cross-platform). It can be done with tables or CSS if you know it.

 

[tejasclone]

You can create something in microsoft word and save it as an HTML file. This usually will create the ****** you need.

Ugh. Creating web content in Word and saving as HTML is brutal if you ever want to manipulate the HTML code yourself. Word adds a whole bunch of proprietary junk to the code that increases the file size and adds a lot of unnecessary information.

How advanced does the website need to be? Really, the best way to do it is to build the site from scratch with code. But, if you don't know what you're doing, it could take awhile.

 

[jumbopackage]

I know the full mozilla suite has/had one.

I guess it sort of depends on what you need the website to do...

 

[TykeClone]

If you're not looking to learn HTML and just want something that takes care of much of the work while leaving the content to you, you can try a drupal hosting service

Any free host supports drupal? | drupal.org
Free Drupal Hosting | we can't make it more affordable...
Cheap Web Hosting - Affordable Web Hosting - Free Web Hosting
Drupal Hosting for FREE | DrupalCafe

I won't vouch for any of those sites, but they might be worth following up on.

 

[isucyfan]

How advanced does the website need to be? Really, the best way to do it is to build the site from scratch with code. But, if you don't know what you're doing, it could take awhile.

I know the full mozilla suite has/had one.

I guess it sort of depends on what you need the website to do...

It doesn't need to be real advanced. It's basically going to be a mock-up of something I might make after graduation and getting a job in the field. It won't be used by anyone but my professor and classmates.

I'm still hashing out what I will be putting on it, but I'm guessing it will mostly be using links to other sites, and maybe podcasts, videos, etc. It's for kids, so there might be games, activities, etc.

I'm not looking to get too involved, because I'm sure I don't have to in order to get a good grade. It's more to just introduce people to the technology of building a site. There's no way I can learn any sort of advanced coding to get it done in two weeks, and I'm sure that I'm not expected to.

 

[isubeatle]

You can create something in microsoft word and save it as an HTML file. This usually will create the ****** you need.

this just made my head explode. please don't do this, you will thank yourself later

 

[CYdTracked]

I use Adobe GoLive which is a nice app. I don't have to tinker with the HTML for a basic site but you will have to tinker with the formating and various features with HTML editors to make things look right.

 

[CYdTracked]

What class is this by the way. There was/is an English class that teaches building websites. I think it was English 313. Pretty good course but the strange thing was that when I took it the prof said I was one of the very few IT majors that he'd ever had. Most English or design majors are required to take the course, for me it was an elective.

 

[isufbcurt]

I just use microsoft frontpage for mine

New Page 1

 

[dmclone]

Try google page creator.

 

[isucyfan]

What class is this by the way. There was/is an English class that teaches building websites. I think it was English 313. Pretty good course but the strange thing was that when I took it the prof said I was one of the very few IT majors that he'd ever had. Most English or design majors are required to take the course, for me it was an elective.

It's a children's programming class for my online grad school, San Jose State, for library science.

The website is just a small part of the class overall, so I'm not worried that it has to be really good.

 

[cmoneyr]

Try google page creator.

It's Google Sites now I believe.

 

[Cloned4Life]

What class is this by the way. There was/is an English class that teaches building websites. I think it was English 313. Pretty good course but the strange thing was that when I took it the prof said I was one of the very few IT majors that he'd ever had. Most English or design majors are required to take the course, for me it was an elective.

I was signed up for a similiar class but had to drop it to fit in a required class.

It still really bugs me, and it's sort of my own fault - I graduated in MIS and didn't take/wasn't required to take any web development/design class of any kind. I know there were various kinds of web development/design courses at ISU but it never worked out (schedule wise) for me to take em - I wish MIS would have just required it.

O well. I did manage to learn a little html, css, flash, and ASP.NET on my own however. And now my job has nothing to do with web development :smile:

 

[jumbopackage]

It doesn't need to be real advanced. It's basically going to be a mock-up of something I might make after graduation and getting a job in the field. It won't be used by anyone but my professor and classmates.

I'm still hashing out what I will be putting on it, but I'm guessing it will mostly be using links to other sites, and maybe podcasts, videos, etc. It's for kids, so there might be games, activities, etc.

I'm not looking to get too involved, because I'm sure I don't have to in order to get a good grade. It's more to just introduce people to the technology of building a site. There's no way I can learn any sort of advanced coding to get it done in two weeks, and I'm sure that I'm not expected to.

Interactive, fancy websites are not overly simple to create, but it takes a lot of time, and some amount of programming experience, though it's more akin to microsoft access or visual basic than it is to, say, C or java.

You basically have two "routes". Something along the lines of google sites will suffice for basic functionality. To do "advanced" things without getting into the weeds, you probably need to get some sort of hosting deal and, I would suspect, something like phpNuke or another CMS that would allow you to do most of what you want to do without getting your hands too dirty.

This site would have to be hosted either on a local server or computer (you could probably get a simple Apache/Mysql/php setup on your computer), or hosted on a provider's server for 5 bucks a month or so. For the hosting option, you'll need to register a domain name as well, which runs about 10 bucks/year.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I use Adobe Dreamweaver. However, keep in mind this is not a cheap option at all. But it will do almost anything you can possibly want a website to do, especially if you team it up with the rest of one of Adobe's Creative Suites.