I'm going to be working on a non-profit website soon. My issue is that I haven't worked with any programs since Front Page. I loved the ease and use of it without having to learn all of the associated code. I downloaded Dreamweaver, but seems too complicated. Can anyone provide any suggestions?

thanks,
Joe

What are you needing to create exactly?

For websites, I'd probably suggest WordPress or Joomla. As for editors, Dreamweaver is still one of the best one out on the market. yes it can be intimidating. You can also edit directly in notepad. It depends on what you need to do exactly.

Joe,

I've only taken one class on web design, and as Daniel mentioned, we only used notepad (for all of our class assignments).

I learned quite a bit and apply some of what I learned (remember) to this day. I'll admit, I was pleasantly surprised with what can be created with the humble notepad.


AvgJoe (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hat_tip.gif)

I want to be able to do/have the following:

Member/User database (online directory)
Prayer Requests online, where members can update from home
Upload videos for members to play in the browser or download
Registration form for Upward programs or any other program down the road

these are just a few to start out with, I'm sure there will be more down the road.

I'm mainly looking for something like Front Page was, where I can create it mainly through GUI, and very little coding.

thanks,
Joe

Joe,

I think Microsoft has something called "Web Expression" and there's a nice little, inexpensive package called "CoffeeCup."

Have you looked into either of those?


AvgJoe (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hat_tip.gif)

Web Expression looks nice! I'm downloading the trial now. Do you prefer one over the other?

thanks,
Joe

Well, it looks nice, but still not the same as Front Page was. Is there anything similar to Front Page out there?

I'm finding all of this a little intimidatings. There seem to be several options available out there. Can someone suggest the easiest coding language to learn?

thanks,
Joe

That is a loaded question.

The simple fact of the matter is that to do what you are talking about requires extensive coding (and I mean extensive). You're talking about database driven website, uploading functionalities, login authentication(admin at the very least) and much more. You have a large learning curve ahead of you no matter which technology you choose to use.

PHP is probably the easiest to get into and there are lots of resources online to learn from (and forums to post questions to)
javascript, but I'd probably skip right over it and move straight in jQuery (since it offer much more functionalities drop into place and use instead of coming up with your own javascript procedures...)

That said, I would still look over WordPress. I am under the impression that you could most probably find add-in/extension to do most of what you need. This mean no coding require, simply install and go!

But if you truly want to spend months to do this on your own, then I would still say dreamweaver is an excellent tool for the job! Other tools include:

http://kompozer.net/
http://netbeans.org/index.html
http://www.htmlkit.com/
http://www.w3.org/Amaya/
http://www.aptana.com/products/studio3
http://www.pagebreeze.com/

but regardless, you will have to do a considerable amount of pure text coding to do what you are talking about. Now way around that.

If you want to create a website with a minimum of time spent learning to code, I'd suggest going to a hosting site which offers "pre-packaged" templates. These templates are designed for people like you, who don't have a lot of background and experience in website design and html coding, but who need to get a working website up in a reasonable time. I'm sure that most hosting sites probably have something like that available. Take a look at sites like 1 & 1 and Joomla.

On the other hand, if you decide you want to peel back the covers and code right down at the level of bare metal, that's also an option, but you'll need to invest somewhat more time in learning how to code web pages with developer tools. I don't think you can do better than Expression Web, but there's also Adobe products.

For freeware take a look at CoffeeCup ( as previously noted).

You could also take a look at the DotNetNuke option.

I use Expression Web myself. It is fine and offers many more tools than I really need or could use. Basically, I code simple html and do a little basic asp stuff to drive my online databases. Really SIMPLE stuff. My sites aren't elegant, but they do work fine.

As far as the "easiest coding language to learn" is concerned, well, it doesn't get any easier than basic html. You can do that in Notepad, as AvgJoe pointed out.

To sum up, it sounds to me like you might be happier going with a hosting site that has "templates" and tools to help you create a simple website, like GoDaddy or the 1 & 1 site mentioned above. That would probably require the smallest investment in tools and learning and development time while still resulting in a servicable website fairly quickly.

One final thought. I'm "design challenged" myself. I can't create an attractive web page to save my life. I settle for "functional", as in, it renders correctly on the screen and all the words are spelled right. If you are not sure of your ability to code up a great interface, you might find an investment in a few good books on that subject worthwhile as well.

The only problem is that to provide the functionalities that Joe is looking for, he has to get into server-side scripting (as well as client-side) and as such there will be an HTML component for sure, but a major portion will need to be a language such as PHP.

My other thought is that although an investment of time to learn is require, perhaps diving straight into a php framework (cdoeIgniter or Zend) could greatly standardize and simplify coding in the long run. Once again, these allow you to put in place modular blocks of code found online saving your from reinventing the wheel. Sadly though, they do have yet another learning curve.

Joe - You have to realize you are now going to be faced with: purchasing a domain (no big deal - Godaddy.com is a good place for that) & configuring it, Setting a hosting account (I would normally suggest iWeb.com or Funio.com but based on resent issue and support, I would stay as far away as possible from them), then you need to develop your layout designs & functionalities, make the databases, create the basic html layout and the convert it into a reusable php version that you can interface all your code in. Furthermore, you need to setup your computer to do all of this on its own first, as one typically does not develop live on a site. This implies installing Xamp or Apache, MySQL, PHP, your html editor of choice and configuring everything to work properly. Just that will take several hours to setup, once running it will simplify your life. You'll be able to do all your development locally and then merely upload changes/updates by using a simple FTP program such as FilleZilla (to name but one).

I just hope you know what you are getting into.

If codeIgniter is of interest, I found CodeIgniter 1.7 Professional Development by Adam Griffiths an easy an informative read.

For a very brief but informative post on web development, please read my post: http://www.devhut.net/2010/09/11/web-devlo...where-to-start/

Best of luck to you! Truly.

Thanks to you both for your suggestions. I definitely have a lot of work ahead of me! I'm going to start getting into this very soon, and I'm strongly thinking of taking some classes at the local community college.

I appreciate all of your help,
Joe