Create a web site for free

Discussion in 'CIW Certifications' started by MickyBobs, Aug 3, 2008.

  1. MickyBobs

    MickyBobs Nibble Poster

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    Hiya guys, im thinking as an aid, i want to create my own web page/site, does anybody know of a genuine place, where ill be able to.:eek:
     
    WIP: Hoping to gain
  2. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    What's wrong with on your PC? Or do you want the world to see it?

    If you want the world to see it, ask your ISP if they include web-space with your subscription - many do, although the facilities offered may be limited.

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  3. grim

    grim Gigabyte Poster

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    you wanting to code from scratch or use front page, deamweaver etc ?

    run it locally on your machine until its ready

    Grim
     
    Certifications: Bsc, 70-270, 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294, 70-298, 70-299, 70-620, 70-649, 70-680
    WIP: 70-646, 70-640
  4. MickyBobs

    MickyBobs Nibble Poster

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    Yes, i checked my available web space, thats in with my sub, and.....Well to tell the truth, its not worth a bean.

    So basically what it is, im analyzing(hope thats the word) two things:

    (1) Create from scratch, but im very scratchy meself, regarding the mark up codes, i mean im currently near the end of section 1:eek: part B in the CIW Web design manager course, so still got a real lot to learn.

    (2) Use some design tool, like dreamweaver, to get me on route.This is ok, but ive never used it before, and are you charged a lot for using it, or maybe you are for publishing it.

    Truth is, im open to suggestion!
     
    WIP: Hoping to gain
  5. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    But it is there, and will get you started. Also experiment using your own machine to start with until the site looks reasonable.
    This way you will learn what makes the web tick properly!
    Dreamweaver isn't cheap - and has quite a learning curve in itself. Dreamweaver is charged for the purchase - you don't need to pay after that just to use it!
    There are many here who use it, but I'm not one of them, so I'll leave comments on it to others.

    There are free and very cheap HTML editors which might be an intermediate step.

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  6. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    A good and free alternative to DW is NVU.

    HTH

    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA
  7. Davidus

    Davidus Nibble Poster

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    If I may ask a further question to MickeyBobs.

    I too am looking for a cheap option/alternative (who isn't - lol) to Dreamweaver.

    I am beginning down the web design, and am wishing to get a program where I can mainly enter code from scratch. To have wysiwyg would be fine, but not my first option. Notes_Bloke has kindly suggested NVU and unless others can recommed anything better, I will go with this.

    Just thought I would ask (and apologies if I've 'hijacked' this thread).

    Davidus
     
    Certifications: EDCL (don't laugh)
    WIP: 70-536, Comptia A+
  8. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Don't forget that any text editor can be used to create the HTML for a web page. It may be hard work, but it at least will force you to learn HTML!

    Harry.
     
    Certifications: ECDL A+ Network+ i-Net+
    WIP: Server+
  9. Davidus

    Davidus Nibble Poster

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    Good Point.

    I'd completely forgotten that. Mind you, twas a while back that I last dabbled with web design stuff.

    Thanks for the info.

    Davidus
     
    Certifications: EDCL (don't laugh)
    WIP: 70-536, Comptia A+
  10. thecatsmother

    thecatsmother Byte Poster

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    Hiya Mickybobs. If I remember correctly, you're doing the Website Design Manager course with Scheidegger/Skillstrain. Correct me if I'm wrong. If you ARE, you'll be getting a copy of the latest version of Dreamweaver bundled in with your course materials in the last part of Section 4 of the course, so don't go spending any money on software in the meantime. You've effectively paid for it already.

    You're a bit vague on why you actually want this website just now, and what you're intending to do with it?

    As others have said, you can start practising with writing html and using your own machine, or very basic webspace provided by your ISP, to view your efforts. You will learn the basics of how x/html is structured quite early on in the CIW course, and as I know you like to supplement your course learning with your own reading, you can use this foundation to follow some of the many html tutorials on the internet, or check a book or two out from your local library. All you need is a basic text editor like Notepad (which is already on your Windows PC) or Notepad++ which is free to download and use. This way, you will learn HTML and get a head start on understanding what tools like Dreamweaver are doing when you come to use them. These tools undoubtedly speed up the process, but it's good to understand what's going on under the bonnet (hood for you American types reading!) if you want to work in the industry.

    Most of the "free" website providers make their money out of placing annoying adverts on your site. Much better to learn your craft by making use of the space your ISP has provided, or just using your local machine for development. (You can even run a server on your local machine if you want to test scripts when you get to the Perl section of the course). By the time you know your craft well enough to really need a website for selling your services, you will have a much better idea of what technologies you're going to use/need for the site, and therefore which provider meets your needs. It won't be a free one, though.
     
    WIP: CIW Website Design Manager
  11. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Seriously? :blink

    Or is this one of those things that is in the brochure but never materializes in real life? :twisted:
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  12. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I created two websites using text editors and no GUI web design application. As has been said, Dreamweaver isn't cheap and it isn't always the best tool, depending on what you want to do. Frankly, I taught myself HTML and CSS using a few books and some online tutorials such as 3schools. Books you can get at a library without paying a cent. All that adds up to is zero in terms of your out-of-pocket cost. Worry about a web host when you've got it up and running.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  13. dmarsh
    Honorary Member 500 Likes Award

    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    I have to agree with the rest, I've worked with many professional web devs and very few of them used Dreamweaver. A standard editor with syntax highlighting for javascript, CSS and HTML should suffice.

    This combined with firefox and firebug will cover 90% of a (front end) web developers work.

    Designers tend to also use more arty packages like photoshop.

    Theres absolutely no reason why you should have any difficulty creating a reasonable website for free using free tools. You can possibly even use free hosting if its a static site with low traffic.
     
  14. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Or GIMP! :biggrin

    Sorry...just had to slip that in there...

    :offtopic
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  15. MickyBobs

    MickyBobs Nibble Poster

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    Yes, thankyou to all, i appreciate any help, and indirectly can help others.

    I sometimes surpass meself and RUN when walking at a steady pace is , get over anxious!

    Yes your correct "thecatsmother", and ive been informed off a SkillsTrain/scheidegger that even though photoshop isnt explored in my course materials, something call Adobe Fireworks, is.

    Maybe i should just bow down and keep me head stuck in to my course material, and go with that, eh.

    In the back of my mind i knew about the editing, html etc, im just becoming an outsider with 1 foot in the door of this exciting industry, always had the passion, now need the skills.

    Thanks all, but dont know what JonnyMX was delving into, sorry mate!

    Ps: Dont know what gimp is, ill take a look at it, sometime.:eek:
     
    WIP: Hoping to gain
  16. thecatsmother

    thecatsmother Byte Poster

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    I'll tell you for sure in about a week's time! I submitted the last assignment before the software should be sent earlier today. But yes, this is part of the deal with Skillstrain. It's no freebie, mind. Their price reflects it.
     
    WIP: CIW Website Design Manager
  17. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Best of luck to you! :biggrin

    Oh, and for the record, I learned the hard way - html in notepad.
    Strangely rewarding though.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  18. thecatsmother

    thecatsmother Byte Poster

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    Me too... in notepad many years ago. Then I went back to that way of doing things after a brief dabble with Dreamweaver 3 as it was still quicker to get nice clean code by hand coding from scratch. I do really recommend getting a good grounding in hand coding before using something like Dreamweaver if you're going to do it professionally, though Dreamweaver has come a long way since version 3! I have access to Dreamweaver MX 2004 just now, and I'll be quite happy to get my hands on my very own copy of CS3 soon. It's a handy timesaver in lots of ways, but it's still good to be able to whip over to code view and identify what's gone wrong.

    I agree about the rewarding thing though... typing some code, opening in a browser and seeing your vision come to life... or not ;)
     
    WIP: CIW Website Design Manager
  19. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    If you use any sort of WYSIWYG, you will almost always have to go in and edit your source. Dreamweaver and the other web design applications always add a lot of extra krap you don't really need. It also, in many cases, makes it harder to read the source when you're trying to troubleshoot some problem. I agree with what's been said...there's no substitute for a good grounding in the basics.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  20. MLP

    MLP Kilobyte Poster

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    Hi all

    Just my opinion, but for creating websites, the most effective way is to use a text editor, preferably one with syntax highlighting and advanced find / replace. For Windows, Notepad ++ is good.

    I use a Mac, and like Smultron.

    That said, Dreamweavers killer feature for me is templates. I have used dreamweaver in code view, to create template pages, say with nav bars etc that stay the same on each page. This has enabled me to add in a new link or change a header image in one place only, and have that change replicated through my other pages. I just cant get on with WYSIWYG web site creation at all.

    For free hosting, I've set up an account with 000webhost, which is free, full featured and not ad-supported. I've been using it to play with PHP and MySQL, without having to set up an apache server at home. I couldn't recommend it for commercial sites though, as it does seem a little slow sometimes.

    Maria
     
    Certifications: HND Computing

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