Recommendations for Web Page Software?

ME! ^ | 04/29/21 | 50sDad

[50sDad]

I do voiceover work on the side, and I'm getting to the point I am booking some work. I want to redo my existing website, which was all hand-coded in HTML ages ago. Can anyone recommend user-friendly software for web design? I've got a host and DNS referrals in place... just want something more professional than what I have at the link. Thoughts?

[50sDad]

Sorry, that’s www.everybodyandme.com.

[Nateman]

Notepad. You write your own code as you like it.

[Jane Long]

Squarespace is pretty user friendly with good templates.

What about Wordpress?

[Dr. Sivana]

Can anyone recommend user-friendly software for web design?

I hate their licensing, but Adobe Dreamweaver is pretty good. If you don't want to get too fancy, you can get an old used version that doesn't require a subscription.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I will never put anything Adobe on my computer again. Getting rid of their stuff is near impossible and their notion of User Interface design is an abomination. I used to use a number of their products, but finally gave up with their licensing price structure.

[Dr. Sivana]

You can try CoffeeCup for free.

[libh8er]

The days of writing pure html or using an html editor for a personal site are long gone. Today you download (free) html and css templates and use those. If your site is in wordpress there are lots of free wordpress templates available. Better ones cost a little bit but the free ones should be good enough.

[Gene Eric]

Install vscode — it’s free. You’ll still be coding HTML by hand.

There’s no wysiwyg tool out there that doesn’t suck.

[Dr. Sivana]

I will never put anything Adobe on my computer again. Getting rid of their stuff is near impossible and their notion of User Interface design is an abomination. I used to use a number of their products, but finally gave up with their licensing price structure.

I agree about Adobe, and I dumped my Adobe suite after the price structure change. (I still have a permanent Acrobat Pro 2017 license)

Dreamweaver was with Macromedia, who also had the simpler (but VERY useable) HomeSite. When Adobe bought Macromedia they dumped HomeSite, and they didn't know how to deal with Flash over the years.

[dayglored]

I've been writing in hand-coded HTML for 25 years. Tried DreamWeaver back around 2003, it was too heavy-handed, probably still is. If you're used to writing raw code, the fancy tools just restrict you from doing what you want. Fine for people who never wrote their own code, mind you.

My advice is, keep writing HTML, but get a book on CSS and learn the basics -- it'll save you a TON of time and make things look and work better.

One caveat: If you do database back-end stuff, be REAL careful with hand-coded access. It's easy to let the bad guys in. That might be the one place to rely on high-quality packages.

[monkeyshine]

I’d look at wordpress. Just look. Not saying it’s best but it is fairly easy and there are 1000s of templates and add-ons you can use if for example you want to be able to post clips of your past work for people to play. Form submissions are fairly straightforward etc. Probably even has a booking (time scheduling) add on.

It may take some getting used to because it is decidedly built for the non-coder. But it’s mostly drag and drop and click to install. If you are hosted at any of the major hosting companies they probably have a wordpress installer and sandbox button in the CPanel.

[Army Air Corps]

but get a book on CSS and learn the basics

I cannot agree more. When I learned CSS, it was like a whole new world opened for me. It made things so much easier.

[Wish2Post]

I previously used NetObjects Fusion for 20 years, although it was last updated in 2015.

Then about a year ago I finally switched over to software that is actively maintained and has extensive resources (templates, etc.) available and reasonably priced:

WYSIWYG https://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/

I took several months test driving a wide range of tools bedore settling on this one.

[lee martell]

Speaking only for myself, you should probably ask a question like that of somebody under the age of 45.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Build yourself a Django app, which would make it easier for you to use plugins and start incorporating storefront features such as user profiles, payments processing, and other potential things.

[The Duke]

I suggest Wordpress. I suggest the ‘upright’ theme (it’s simply and adjusts for smart phones). Here is a list of Wordpress plug-ins that has taken me years to converge to:

MUST HAVES:

---

block-bad-queries - Greatly improves your site’s security
updraftplus - (for backing up your site to your personal computer)
contact-form-7 - The #1 plug-in for adding contact forms
contact-form-7-mailchimp-extension (if you plan to send emails via MailChimp)
really-simple-captcha (good to add captcha to contact form - nice and simple)

SITE PERFORMANCE GRAPHS (aka ‘analytics’)

---

google-analytics-for-wordpress
jetpack - Easier to use than Google Analytics, but requires you to have an ID with wordpress.com

SENDING EMAILS TO SITE VISITORS:

---

mailpoet - Like Mail Chimp, but keep your visitors stored in your local database rather than
out on Mail Chimp. Personally, I really like this one.
mailpoet-premium - (optional)
(for example, enables you to produce mailing lists to only ecommerce customers who made a purchase)

ECOMMERCE:

---

fraudlabs-pro-for-woocommerce - Optional, but helps reduce fraudulant transactions.
woocommerce
woo-gutenberg-products-block
woocommerce-google-analytics-integration
woocommerce-gateway-paypal-express-checkout
woocommerce-services
Facebook Pixel Manager - For tracking website ecommerce events for better targeted advertising

MAYBE?:

---

wordpress-seo
Yoast - Critiques your web site for (supposed) best searchability (aka SEO)
arconix-faq - Nice way to add FAQ pages
classic-editor - If you want to edit WP pages the “old fashioned way”
maxbuttons - Let’s you put very nice buttons on your pages

ALSO NEEDED:

---

Find a plug-in for new visitors click a button to acknowledge they know you use cookies.

[ezo4]

I have used everything out there, been a senior software engineer for DoD US Army JBLM, worked at Microsoft for 20+ years. Cause Im a old guy I just click on youtube things now. :o)

textpad was my go to editor

[minnesota_bound]

HTML & CSS are easy. Grid & Flex I am still learning.
You will find that there is no standard as it seems you can accomplish the samething multiple ways.

Try NoteTab. Much more then just a text editor or in helping in creating webpages. Open and along the bottom click on the HTML-CSS tab then click on from the left side: New HTML5 page so you can see a simplae layout.
Get the Lite version or Pro
https://www.notetab.com/download-now

Go here and use their Tryit editor from examples.
https://www.w3schools.com

Example of a layout. Modify then click on the Run button. Resize the browser window or move the center divider to see changes.
https://www.w3schools.com/css/tryit.asp?filename=tryresponsive_breakpoints

CSS Grid Layout Module
https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_grid.asp

Terminology to start with:
HTML - CSS - Grid - Flex
Stay away from bootstrap. A big headache.

Learn HTML/CSS
http://html.net

HTML Codes, Editors, and Generators
https://www.html.am

Website Creation Process
https://www.quackit.com/create-a-website

A Complete Guide to Grid
https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/complete-guide-grid

A Complete Guide to Flexbox
https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox

Help sites:

Quackit
https://www.quackit.com

Online HTML Editor
https://www.quackit.com/html/online-html-editor

CSSPortal
https://www.cssportal.com

Post questions:
https://htmlforums.net

CSS Navigation Bar
https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_navbar.asp

CSS Dropdown menu
https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_dropdowns.asp

Creating Fluid Layouts & Images with CSS
https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/12/07/creating-fluid-layouts-images-with-css.html#gs.zzpxqt

All About Floats
https://css-tricks.com/all-about-floats

Media Queries for Standard Devices
https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/media-queries-for-standard-devices

Centering in CSS: A Complete Guide
https://css-tricks.com/centering-css-complete-guide

Styling Tables with CSS
https://www.elated.com/styling-tables-with-css

[\/\/ayne]

A friend of mind waxed enthusiastic about Joomla when he built his church website.