Newbie here...WYSIWYG question

[progressoid]

I need to make a simple website - just a few pages - mostly photographs in some kind of simple gallery.

I'm a visual person, so I'm ignoring anything that requires learning lots of code. I'm looking for WYSIWYG. I've been testing out a few cheap programs but have been unimpressed. So now I'm thinking about shelling out a few more bucks for the real deal. Any suggestions???

I just downloaded Golive to try because I'm proficient in PhotoShop and hoped I could fit easily into it. I'll give it a shot later tonight. Dreamweaver? Other?

Also, any decent books out there about the ins and outs of website design and maintenance that won't make my head hurt?

[GregD]

1. Just a thought

A simple site as you describe may not be that costly. What's the value of your time, and will you benefit financially from this web site? How much time will it cost, combined with the cost of books and programs, to build this site? Would it make sense to just hire someone to do it for you and get it done properly to begin with?

You may find it easier to maintain a properly created site than trying to build it from scratch, plus it would likely be done sooner.

[progressoid]

4. What a coincidence....I was thinking about this last week!

I'm getting rather busy and this is starting to look like a reasonable option. Even though money is kinda tight now, but in the long run it might be worth my while to have someone else do it. I have a couple names of people that have made simple sites for friends of mine.

[FormerDittoHead]

2. Net Objects Fusion is very WYSIWYG...

If you're not building a website that uses a database or other programmed featured, then I would recommend what I started with - NetObjects Fusion. I started with version 1 and I liked it, I think it's up to like version 10 by now.

Less than most recent versions, like version 8, are available on eBay for like $25 inc'd postage.

Not only does NOF offer a very easy to use interface, but it has an option which guarantees the format of the webpage to be identical to what you're looking at (it uses a series of tables and sized blank gifs).

If you only have one website to do and don't want to be a web programmer, something like NOF could be the way for you to go.

The wikipedia page is pretty good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetObjects_Fusion

[progressoid]

5. Yeah, this looks like a good possibility.

And frankly, I never thought of using Wiki as a research tool. Looks like I have a little reading before bed. Thanks.

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. Try Picasa from Google

It's a photo storage/management program offered by Google, and it's free. You can export your albums as web pages and upload them, complete with thumbnail directories and template of your choosing.

http://picasa.google.com/#utm_source=en-us-more&utm_campaign=en-pic&utm_medium=et

Or, for only $3.99/mo you can get the cheap hosting plan from GoDaddy and just add the coppermine photo albums that comes free with the hosting. It can be installed as the main page of your site, or as a directory within your domain, like this:
http://www.charliesbaitandtackle.com/coppermine/index.php

If you need more help. just PM me.

Ghost

[progressoid]

6. GoDaddy has some possibilities...

I think I could easily set up a site there and down the road get a slicker site when I have the time (and money).

Thanks!

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. let me know if you need any help once you decide to do it.

I'll help you out any way I can with getting it up and running. I'd recommend the Linux hosting plan for a beginner. That's what I learned on. GoDaddy's features make it a breeze to get going, with a limited amount of knowledge needed. If *I* can do it, anyone can.