Web Site Creation Software

W00DY · March 13, 2007

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on which software is best to use for creating a fairly simple website. When I say simple I mean there will be no online forms, purchasing functionality but I would like a nice way to display photos in different galleries and then some more static pages like info etc...

I am using a Macbook Pro and have had a play with iWeb, besides the fact all the pages will be static HTML (if this is correct, or at least no flash etc...) the fact that a .MAC account is $140 a year (in Australia) I figure there most be a cheaper way.

So can anyone recommend any software or solutions for me? I am not a web designer so I don't want to spend to much time designing backgrounds etc... templates would be perfect.

Cheers.
W00DY

Art Scott · March 13, 2007

Woody Woody Woody.....thar is always a standard SmugMug account...shurely you have heard of them:D..........if you need a discount coupon I am sure some one here would give ya one......I know I would:D {discount coupon: mQ3IQYcfdGPyJ } worth $5USD off your first year...........

claudermilk · March 13, 2007

Basic Smugmug.

If you really want just a basic, static HTML page, JAlbum is a fantastic page-generator & you cannot beat the price (free).

Mike Lane · March 13, 2007

text edit

nikos · March 13, 2007

a .mac account is not necessary
Last I remembered, you can export all your web pages designed in iWEB and then just FTP them to your web server of choice.

Nikos

W00DY · March 13, 2007

Art Scott wrote:

Woody Woody Woody.....thar is always a standard SmugMug account...shurely you have heard of them:D..........if you need a discount coupon I am sure some one here would give ya one......I know I would:D {discount coupon: mQ3IQYcfdGPyJ } worth $5USD off your first year...........

Yes, I have heard of them, I actually have a basic account at the moment

I guess i was looking for an alternative to iWeb so i can create a little of the site myself, I have also looked at the next level Smugmug were you can customise your page, this is always an option.

On another forum someone mentioned Rapidweaver which I am having a play with, seems ok.

Thanks for the relies though, if there are any other suggestions please let me know.

Cheers.

photodoug · March 13, 2007

someone say free?

http://pages.google.com/

quark · March 13, 2007

Sourceforge is always a good place to look for things like this.

Gallery is ok.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gallery

I have used several of the others and even ran my own apache server for a while, but I will warn that you will burn *tons* of time messing with these things and trying to keep your site built and backed-up. Smugmug is the way to go if you want to have some free time to actually take pictures and enjoy your website.

claudermilk · March 14, 2007

quark wrote:

Sourceforge is always a good place to look for things like this.

Gallery is ok.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gallery

I have used several of the others and even ran my own apache server for a while, but I will warn that you will burn *tons* of time messing with these things and trying to keep your site built and backed-up. Smugmug is the way to go if you want to have some free time to actually take pictures and enjoy your website.

Very true. Note that I went from a self-hosted JAlbum-generated (i.e., nearly free) page to a full Pro Smugmug account. The new site approximates the look of the old site, yet is far more feature-rich and I spend a lot less time tweaking anything.

carmel6942 · March 15, 2007

You might look at a program called sandvox http://www.karelia.com/ looks like an alternative to iweb and you can post to your own site.

System · March 19, 2007

If you have CS2 GoLive! is a pretty decent tool and not too complicated to learn.

cletus · March 26, 2007

So Woody have you decided on anything yet???

If you are mainly working with galleries and you already have a basic smugmug account I'd just upgrade my smug account and start customizing away.

It is possible to build your own web gallery from scratch. It is not difficult to use a text editor to write all the html for a very simple gallery. The problem is once the gallery starts to grow and you want to maintain the look and feel of the gallery across many pages or you want to add more content and features the hand coded html becomes unmanageable. If you decide you have to roll your own gallery I'd recommend you spend at least a little time researching tools like Ruby on Rails and drupal. Just keep in mind that if you use tools like these you'll have to go with a web hosting service that supports them.

W00DY · March 26, 2007

cletus wrote:

So Woody have you decided on anything yet???

If you are mainly working with galleries and you already have a basic smugmug account I'd just upgrade my smug account and start customizing away.

It is possible to build your own web gallery from scratch. It is not difficult to use a text editor to write all the html for a very simple gallery. The problem is once the gallery starts to grow and you want to maintain the look and feel of the gallery across many pages or you want to add more content and features the hand coded html becomes unmanageable. If you decide you have to roll your own gallery I'd recommend you spend at least a little time researching tools like Ruby on Rails and drupal. Just keep in mind that if you use tools like these you'll have to go with a web hosting service that supports them.

Sorry for not following up on the post, been busy with a new baby and work...

At this stage I am either going to go with iWeb or Smugmug. Smugmug is great but I need to look more into how to use pages for things other than galleries (like a packages page etc...) I think I MAY be able to use iWeb and set up links to Smugmug for the galleries? That way I can have a "who we are" page, "packages" page, and "Galleries" page.

Not sure how much time I will have over the next month anyway so I'll try and keep you posted as I get something going.

Cheers,
W00DY

cletus · March 26, 2007

W00DY wrote:

been busy with a new baby...

congrats

hope everyone is doing well.

W00DY wrote:

I think I MAY be able to use iWeb and set up links to Smugmug for the galleries?

Don't know a much about iWeb but I'd imagine it will not be difficult to link into your smugmug galleries.

W00DY · March 27, 2007

cletus wrote:

congrats

hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks Cletus, yep everyone is doing well...

It is our 3rd baby so a lot more work :wow but they are all worth it (or so i tell myself at 2 am in the morning!!!)

Web Site Creation Software

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