The subject request--for a website-creating program that's cheap,
good, and does not require coding--may seem unlikely. But I have one,
Website Complete, from Godaddy, a domain name registry/hosting
company; and the program is very good. Has a number of templates,
includes graphics, has some animation, etc.; all limited, but they all
work.
However, it has some drawbacks: It does not work effectively on Macs.
Just as importantly, it's a bit clunky and seems to be giving me
problems with buttons. (There's no feature allowing the update of
buttons for all pages at once--which seems like an essential. Without
it, you can waste much! time whenever you add a
page. I'm having a lot of trouble with this feature, indeed.)
Does anyone know a good alternative program? I know that Yahoo offers
one. But is it good? I don't have time to learn 5 or 6, looking for a
good one.
Thanks.
This is really an ASAP thing, since I'm hoping to use a site for business purposes. |
Request for Question Clarification by
missy-ga
on
19 Dec 2003 13:21 PST
Hi bbb,
For your purposes, what would you define as "cheap"? My favorite HTML
editor is $50, which I would define as "cheap" for such an
application. If you can specify an acceptable price range, it would
greatly narrow the search.
--Missy
|
Clarification of Question by
bbb-ga
on
19 Dec 2003 14:54 PST
Good point about the price. Anything under $100 is cheap, I think.
But I want to stress, when you mention HTML editor, that I'm looking
for something that will just let me type in text, position photos by
dragging, etc., with no coding.
I'm not really technologically challenged (I got a certificate in
programming--for C language and assembly language, have studied COBOL,
systems analysis, have written about and reviewed software, etc.)
But I'm very challenged in terms of time available. If at all
possible, I do not want to do ANY coding or learn java or HTML, etc.
The cheap program I've used has shown me that it's indeed possible to
create--with no coding--an entire site that functions well.
Obviously, then the tradeoff will have to be limited flexibility. But
that might be OK. I have limited things I need to do on a site. I
just want to do them easily. And to be able to add similar pages,
change the text, etc., all without fuss. Essentially I can do that
instantly with my current program--I'm just looking for somehting a
bit better.
Thanks for the interest.
Are there any programs out there that you know of?
BBB
|
Hi BBB!
"Freeway" (by Softpress Systems Ltd) is the one for you!
I use it myself and I recommend it highly!!
From the "Feature Tour" page:
"Drag-and-drop virtually any type of content straight on to your page.
Use native Illustrator 10, Photoshop 7, GIF, JPEG, Quicktime, MPEG and
SWF file formats. You can even drag-and-drop MP3s from iTunes right
into your Freeway page! And if you need to re-create an existing Web
site, simply drag the elements directly from your browser into
Freeway."
Take the feature tour and see for yourself:
http://www.softpress.com/en/freeway/feature_tour
They offer two programs "Freeway Express" and "Freeway Pro", though
Freeway Express (which starts at $89) should do the job for you. With
Freeway Pro you can use Advanced Site Tools (FAST) which "...let you
extend your Web sites and express your creative vision on-line in new
and exciting ways. Build complex DHTML menus without fuss, create and
modify graphics, or build billions of buttons, all without switching
to another application, or writing a line of code."
http://www.softpress.com/en/buy_now/3x_to_pro
Freeway Express costs to $89.00 download, but you can download free
time-limited demo versions of all the products.
"Download free, time-limited demo versions of all our products.
Experience first-hand the power and intuitive ease of Freeway Pro and
Freeway Express. You?ll never want to edit HTML by hand again, or
suffer through the frustration of seeing your design utterly fall
apart in a browser."
http://www.softpress.com/en/downloads
Free trial download page
http://www.softpress.com/en/downloads/free_trial
Product price list
http://www.softpress.com/en/buy_now/price_list
They also provide Tutorials, Templates (which you can add content, or
tweak), buttons, actions and more - They also have an excellent
support service!
Here are some reviews:
Freeway Express 5 out of 5
?Whether you are a novice working on a personal site or a professional
looking for a tool with more on-demand power, Freeway Express is well
worth a look.?
?[Freeway Express] is one of the only inexpensive Web authoring tools
for the Mac that is both powerful and easy to use, and it can yield
stunning results.? - MacHOME
Freeway Express 4 stars/8.7
?Freeway Express [is] designed for people that want more than what?s
on offer from .Mac, but don?t want to devote their time to high-end
and complex applications such as Dreamweaver and GoLive.?
?If you?re looking for something inexpensive to build Web sites, then
Freeway Express offers unbeatable value.? - Macworld
http://www.softpress.com/en/freeway/reviews
I've tried the rest but I've stuck with Freeway. This is my personal
recommendation, and I wouldn't look elsewhere.
...And "no", I don't work for Softpress! ;-)
I hope you'll agree with my verdict!
regards,
JACKBURTON-ga
Google Answers Researcher
----------------------
Search strategy: Personal experience with Freeway. |
Request for Answer Clarification by
bbb-ga
on
19 Dec 2003 23:03 PST
Many thanks to jackburton--
this seems very helpful and certainly shows a lot of effort at
providing the overall picture. I'll check the program ASAP...will hold
off on the payment because I've found from experience that I can't add
a "tip" after the fact, so let me figure taht out and get back to you.
(The tip will not be enough to retire on, unfortunately.).
Thanks. I'll be back in touch soon.
bbb
|
Clarification of Answer by
jackburton-ga
on
20 Dec 2003 03:47 PST
I'm sure you'll be happy with it. It's very easy to pick up!
Thank you for offering to tip me :) You are correct, you can only tip
when you rate an answer.
I look forward to hearing about your experience!
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bbb-ga
on
20 Dec 2003 08:49 PST
To jackburton:
Uh-oh. I didn't remember to specify whether I'm working on a PC or a
Mac, and you didn't ask. But whether the website-creation program must
be run on a PC or a Mac matters a lot, of course.
I gather from the Freeway site that it works on Mac. In fact, it may
run ONLY on Mac; I can't quite tell that, though I've explored the
site a lot. This would mean I can't use it, or can't use it
completely.
And in fact, another key question left out is: Does the program create
websites that are fully ACCESSIBLE on both PCs and Macs? And on all
common browsers? I've found that the website created by my current
program is NOT properly viewable on a Mac, and doesn't work with every
common browser. Obviously, that's a big drawback (especially for me,
since some of the things I plan to do will be for educational
settings, and many schoolrooms use Macs only, or mainly.)
Help?
bbb
|
Clarification of Answer by
jackburton-ga
on
20 Dec 2003 11:07 PST
Freeway runs on Macs only!
There is no reason (I can see) why you can't create stunning looking
sites for PC users - this is kinda what I do! I'm not a critic, so i
can't preach. I'm not a professional web designer either, but I have
created websites that appear to work quite well on PC and Macs,
(without getting "bogged down" with script-writing and HTML editing).
I use my Windows PC for very specific PC-related work, and to check
how my Freeway-created websites look on a PC screen. So from
experience, I can tell you, you can create good-looking websites for
PC viewers. There may be some very minor tweaking involved, and "yes"
there may be a few incompability issues but generally speaking, PC
viewers should have no problem viewing a website created with Freeway!
All the PC/Mac compatibility problems I have encountered (which are
just a few), i have managed to work round. But if this is an extremely
serious issue for you, then perhaps Freeway is not the way forward. I
guess it depends really, what you really intend to do - what kind of
files you want to work with, what kind of browser-users you wish to
target, ...etc.
Why not check out the gallery page (using a PC), and judge for yourself:
http://www.softpress.com/en/freeway/gallery
But this program is designed to work on a Macintosh computer only.
They don't have a PC version, as far as I know. Their support people
should be able to address your concerns specifically, if you send them
an email or fill in an online enquiry form. Try e-mailing them at
support@softpress.com , they should be able to explain things for you!
If I've misinterpreted your question, then I apologize, but I was
under the impression you wanted a good, cheap, flexible (no coding
involved) web program for Mac.
Let me know if I can assist further, as your concern is of much
interest to me, and what I do.
JB
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bbb-ga
on
20 Dec 2003 17:57 PST
to JB: Thanks for following up... however (and I think I never
clarified this point EITHER... Sorry!!!!!) I don't work on Mac. I only
work on PCs. So even though Freeway creates sites that show up on both
systems, I can't use it...
to owain: Thanks for that thought and note. I'm not sure I'd want to
work with that setup, but I'll certainly look into it. Thanks!
|
Clarification of Answer by
jackburton-ga
on
21 Dec 2003 02:55 PST
... in that case, check these out (...they're for PCs) :
"Easy Web Editor" ($59.90 / Free trial)
"Main features:
- fully visual, no code/HTML
- can manage a whole site as a single file (you don?t need to
continuously load and save pages, as you act on a whole document, even
for searches and revisions)
- you can create infinite Websites
- simultaneous browsing and editing (you can browse links with a double click)
- visual linking, with active previews, even when you show separate
windows and/or insert complex frame-to-frame links
- internal Internet publishing (FTP), with automatic detection of
modified pages; compatible with any browser!
- hundreds of functions: frames with drag & drop, mouse over sensitive
images, header and footers, styles, advanced frame set management,
slides, keywords, internal album, forms and much more...
- main functions are very similar to ones used in standard Word
Processors, reducing learning time
- visual shopping cart
- advanced functions available for experts: you can insert HTML and so on...
- comprehensive help; fast support
- quick and effective, build your Website pages and modify them in minutes..
- plugin support (e.g. 3D buttons; Gliftic; Repligator)
- no server hosting restrictions: the product is fine for any host
(both Windows and Unix servers), any web space
- yet can run on a old Pentium 100 MHz with 32MB RAM; Win 95 / 98 / ME
/ NT / 2000 / XP. Does not use any DLL; Does not require Internet
Explorer"
http://easy-web-editor.net/
................................................................
"CuteSITE Builder" ($69.99 / Free trial)
"CuteSITE Builder®, lets you easily create a professional Web site in
minutes without having to know HTML, FTP or graphic design! Simply
choose your favorite design and type of Web site from pre-designed
templates, add custom content like photos, images and links, and
publish your Web site with just one-click. It's as easy as working
with Microsoft Word!"
http://www.cuteftp.com/cutesitebuilder/
................................................................
"SiteSpinner V2" ($49.00 / 15-day Trial) - Awarded Tucows Highest Rating!
"The only website tool you need!
You don't need to know any HTML - SiteSpinner V2 is 100% WYSIWYG -
move anything anywhere with your mouse.
No need for image editing software - Change the size or properties of
any picture right in the work-window.
No need for a paint program - Create shapes, backgrounds. Add shading
or transparency.
No need for FTP software - Publish directly from SiteSpinner V2 to
your web host. All your images can be automatically uploaded to.
Create mouse-over effects, Spell check your pages and more!
Get Stuck, Get Help - Get all the help you need in our
User Forums
Spin-a-Friend for the Holidays! Give SiteSpinner V2 this holiday
season and get a Free Copy for yourself!"
http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/spinner/index.html
................................................................
NetObjects Fusion 7
"NetObjects Fusion 7, a complete Web design solution, combines
intuitive wizards, drag-and-drop simplicity, professional-quality
design, and a variety of powerful tools. It features unprecedented
ease of use while providing even the most advanced Web designers with
the freedom to push their limits."
http://www.astracon.com/shopping/B0000690CP.htm
................................................................
I hope one of these is suitable!
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4 Comments
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