09-17-2007, 12:19 PM

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I want to create a website that has quite a few functions on it. It needs to have a searchable database, a blog, a thread section, shopping cart, username and password entry, an advertisement section, a classifieds section, for now that’s all I can think of. I have no website building experience. I was taking a website building class but had to drop it. I’m wondering if there was a program that I could use to create my web page rather than use HTML or if what I wanted to do was too complicated for a template and therefore have to use HTML. Does anyone know of a program that can do all of that?

09-17-2007, 03:58 PM

You want to do all that without touching code? I dont' think that would be possible. Anyway, here's a little roundup of web design apps for macs

iWeb: Very basic, very easy.
Rapidweaver: Almost as easy as iWeb, but more powerful. Has almost full HTML editing capabilities along with its own setup.
Coda: No wizzywig editing capabilities, only hand coding. Very slick interface and is productive.
Dreamweaver: The most powerful web design software out there. But interface needs a lift...

09-17-2007, 06:41 PM

I think if I'm updating my own site I think I would we wise to learn to code. However are there any quick links to HTML code to add a Blog section, or password protect your site, have a section where people can post threads, etc, Is there any easy way to do that type of stuff? Can that be done with HTML?

09-17-2007, 07:24 PM

Well HTML isn't going to let you put passwords and such features. You need a sort of server side script for that. Of course, these scripts are found on the net and you can just cut and paste them. But you will need knowledge of HTML without which it is just not possible.

However, when you get your own domain name with some web space, the control panel will offer to install a shopping cart, forum and such web apps for free. That is, if the guys who have sold you the webspace put those in the control panel. To install a blog you just put in the wordpress package and its done. But sewing it all together, to form a seamless website, needs good knowledge of HTML and CSS and the likes of it.

At least that's my view. I hope someone else can prove me wrong.

09-19-2007, 04:40 PM

goobimama you are of course quite right.

Dbree, with respect, your project is a tad over ambitious for an amateur and its not something that you can get out of any program per se. There are such programs that allow you to build the site as you would like, but this also requires extensive coding, scripting knowledge etc.

There is no 'quick' solution except to hire professionals who are capable of doing the job in hand, especially for a project as complex and as big as you would like to have.

09-19-2007, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by MikiV6

Dbree, with respect, your project is a tad over ambitious for an amateur and its not something that you can get out of any program per se. There are such programs that allow you to build the site as you would like, but this also requires extensive coding, scripting knowledge etc.

There is no 'quick' solution except to hire professionals who are capable of doing the job in hand, especially for a project as complex and as big as you would like to have.

Agreed 100%.

Software sometimes has 'shortcuts' that can make the process easier at times, but no design software of any kind has a "cool project" button that does all of the work for you.
You will still need to have a solid knowledge of how to do things when you plan on accomplishing complex tasks.

09-20-2007, 03:13 PM

It's worth learning a bit of code if you're going to take this project seriously.

09-21-2007, 08:26 AM

Wow thats a lot of stuff you want to build with no experience!

Perhaps you might want to think about using a large hosts's services. Such as:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/hosti...=8975#features

Each WebSite Tonight® plan - Economy, Deluxe and Premium - offers these features so building your web site is fast, easy — and fun!

Building

• NEW! Click-&-Type Editing
• IMPROVED! Accordion-Style Interface
• Forums
• RSS News & More
• Flash Intros - with Music!
• .mobi-compatible
• Video
• HTML Editing
• Spell Check
• HTML Importing
• Copyright Statement
• Theme-based Categories
• Over 800 Professionally Designed Templates
• CSS Based Templates
• Shared Content
• Password-protected pages
• Professionally Designed Color Schemes
• Color Customizer
• Multiple Color Themes
• Specialty Content
• Site Preview
• Image Editing (editor/wysiwyg)
• Text Editing (wysiwyg)
• Custom Form Builder
• Add Images (Over 8,000 free images included)
• Publish a "Coming Soon" page in 3 easy steps
• Built-in hosting
• Expanded Workspace

Publishing

• Seamless integration with Google's® Site Mapping Tool
• Publishing Times
• Publish From Application
• Add Meta Tags
• Add Page Keywords and Descriptions
• Site Analysis
• Publish Log

Page Elements

• Guestbooks
• Customize and Add Label
• Supports JavaScripts
• Navigation Buttons
• Hit Counter
• Music Plug-in
• Scrolling Marquee
• Date / Time Stamp
• Add Photo Album Links
• Slideshows within Photo Album
• Easy Form Builder

Web Site Management & Tools

• Secure Hosting with Generous Disk Space/Bandwidth
• Spam & Virus-Protected Email Account
• 256-Bit Encryption provides privacy and protection for your personal information through Web-Based Email
• "Phishing" fraud protection with technologies like Sender ID
• Email Forwards
• Faster Backup and Restore
• Rebuild
• Fonts
• Google® AdWords® Credit
• Microsoft® adCenter Credit

09-21-2007, 03:02 PM

Well you don't need a program, but I would choose DreamWeaver.

I have some details about it, PM for some instructions.

09-21-2007, 03:56 PM

If you have no website experience your not going to be able to do alot on that list... for shopping cart, flash etc you need to know diffrent programming styles especially for database searches...
Websites that work and look really well are made by web designers with years of experience, you just cant ask is there a program that can do all of this for a begginner web designer....
actually there is somewhere you can do some of this stuff with no experience its called myspace...

I would advise you to get a dreamweaver book, and start doing the begginer lessons and go from there, if you need all of those functions for a project you want to get going quickly hire a web designer..

Good Luck

09-22-2007, 01:08 AM

Originally Posted by dbree

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I want to create a website that has quite a few functions on it. It needs to have a searchable database, a blog, a thread section, shopping cart, username and password entry, an advertisement section, a classifieds section, for now that’s all I can think of. I have no website building experience. I was taking a website building class but had to drop it. I’m wondering if there was a program that I could use to create my web page rather than use HTML or if what I wanted to do was too complicated for a template and therefore have to use HTML. Does anyone know of a program that can do all of that?

All that stuff is going to require PHP and mySQL as a database backbone. You will not be able to do all that stuff with just HTML or a program such as Dreamweaver or iWeb.