Al Saunders Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I everyone, I was wondering if I could get some recommendations on software (preferably free) that would help me create my website. I have web hosting, a domain name (www.saunderschristmaslights.com), and a working email from the site. Last November I got some help from the service provider who happens to be a friend of mine and just posted a webpage to have something there. Now I want to build a real website. I have seen several ones from others on this forum and they look really cool and really hard to do. First some ground work about me. I am NOT a computer guru in that I am not in the IT field at all. I am a marine insurance underwriter. So even though I am using a computer all day I am just more or less data entry type of use. I am computer literate though and can navigate around my laptop just fine. But when it comes to making a website and getting the files/pages from my computer to the server I'm really nervous about it. I was going to try and learn HTML, yeah dosed off on page 32 of a 350 page PDF of website building for dummies. I did find a 2 part document on making a website and it refers to and uses Kompozer download. Anyone use this? My friend who set me up in November is willing to help when he gets a chance but is very busy and hasn't done any website creating in several years. Any tips on getting cool graphics like the Santa and Christmas light bulbs I see on other sites? I welcome all input. Thanks,Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlowe Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 You should start with wordpress. Most hosting services have a control panel where you can install it on your domain. If not, you can download it free and install it yourself following their step by step directions. It is a modular system where you can easily manage content without having a lot of HTML experience. In addition, there are tons of ready to go themes available, which are easily installed and activated. Kompozer, I believe, is a Linux program, but it's more for page authoring. I would use wordpress and call it done. With regards to graphics, I would suggest using some of these sites that offer vector images rather than trying to create something from scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithzone Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I second wordpress Blogger is also pretty easy to use, but can be a little tricky if you already own the domain. It's also possible to use a redirect (someone goes to www.saunderschristmaslights.com and it will actually take them to your blogger page (no real content is housed on your domain in this scenario). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I know a lot about software but I never learned HTML coding. I did recently create two websites. One for our property owners association and another for the Corvette Club I'm a member of. In both of those case, I used www.homestead.com. For the Corvette Club, we already had hosting and domain registration done through register4less.com and just a plain text site. I used Homestead and their very easy site builder and had a new site up and running in a day. Their cost is $4.99/mo. for it. Using them for the property owners association site, we were registering the domain and site hosting with homestead along with the use of their editor. The cost is $10.99/mo. I've seen that prices for these things seem to change a lot so shop around but If you wish a site that is up and running quickly and looks good, homestead works very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cumberland Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Try Weebly.com deDan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 As mentioned in PM to you, Al, I'm a fan of Joomla. All of my sites are created with Joomla. Themes are from RocketTheme.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlowe Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Joomla is a good solution as well, but I do find wordpress is a bit more "user friendly." As others mentioned, there are options that would reduce the learning curve quite a bit by using a pre-developed system that you subscribe to. Or, redirect your domain to a free blogger site. But, if you want a bit more flexibility, wordpress or joomla are both great choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Saunders Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Thanks for the input everyone. Don I got your PM and will check out joomla. I forgot to mention my domain came with a website builder called Trendy and I'm pretty sure I used it to set up my email for the site but when I started on Trendy for site building I didn't like any of the templates it had. All seemed business related or just not what I wanted at all. Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend to check out joomla and wordpress. Have a great weekend everyone. Later,Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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