What should I download to make a website for free?

[MissA]

Hello,
I am trying to make a professional website, but I don't know where to start.
I would like to know what programs I can download for the best possible
results for free, and how to get started.

 

[DavidF]

Professional and free can be mutually exclusive, and if you truly want a
professional site you might need to invest some money and certainly time,
but here are a few free resources:

Reference: Office Live Small Business: "Get Started Free":
http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/en-us/

Reference: Nvu - open-source web authoring program:
http://net2.com/nvu/

Reference: SharePoint Designer:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner/FX100487631033.aspx

SharePoint Designer Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=baa3ad86-bfc1-4bd4-9812-d9e710d44f42

There is free blogging software available too. Try googling the subject of
free blogging, http://blogger.com or http://wordpress.org/

Your ISP or many web hosting services may also offer free online template
webs.

And of course look at the software you already have. Notepad, MSFT
Publisher, Word and many image editor have the capacity of exporting HTML,
and might suffice for what you are trying to do.

Before deciding on a tool to build your site, spend some time reading and
understanding what makes a good site, and planning the scope of what you
plan on doing...Google the subject. Once you decide more specifically what
you want to accomplish, then it will be easier to choose software. Here are
a couple references:

http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/how-to-make-a-web-site.php

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

DavidF

 

[Eric James]

You certainly can make a 'professional' web site using free tools - in fact,
many if not most professional web site designers will be crafting html and
css code using simple text editors, which could be Notepad or Wordpad on
windows, but better programs include Textpad and Notepad++ , which are
cheapish and free, respectively.
You will need an image editor of some sort in addition - professionals will
probably use Adobe Photoshop but Paint.Net is free.
It's essential to learn HTML & CSS - plenty of free resources are available
to help with this - one of the best at www.w3schools.com
Unfortunately if you need any animated or dynamic graphics then you may need
to purchase a commercial program for best results - Adobe Flash is probably
the commonest solution at the moment, but Microsoft Silverlight is upcoming.
Don't even dream of using Publisher though - it's simply incapable of
producing a 'professional' standard web site and in it's forthcoming 2010
guise can't produce any sort of web site at all as the facility is being
removed.
Professionals, on the windows platform, are likely to be using Adobe
Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web. Both of these are available in free
trial versions, but the former is not cheap.

 

[Thomboy]

Eric:

Good advice, and I didn't know that the 2010 verison of Office, specifically
Publisher, would no longer produce any sort of web site.

I guess that most of us who use Publisher to create a static website have
done so because it does not require mastery of HTML or CSS, nor do we have to
become web designers per se.

Having said that, there are some hard working Publisher gurus here who
continue to provide very helpful advice so we neophytes can make silk purses
out of sow's ears -- to coin an old adage.

Thanks again for the helpful advice on 'free website' design tools.

Thomboy