website development

[DV81]

I have tried iPowerweb and Lunarpages and both have atrocious customer support. I was told Dreamweaver is the way to go, that way you can build a site and upload it to the net, no outside help required.

I am sick of dealing with these companies who only want the money and dont want to help with the development of the site.
What have been your experiences?

 

[SesameStreet]

I have had a Web Site with Lycos for about five years and I have had no complaints with them at all.

www.lycos.com

 

[StuffItIn]

I own a web dev/hosting company, so I've got some epxerience in that.

Dreamweaver is nice and easy to use to create websites, but you'll need a place to host it if you want your own domain name - or if you just want a free one that is available (ie - something.com/~DV81), then you'll be set.
If you do use dreamweaver, you'll probly want to have photoshop to edit your images with.

There's lots of companies out there that have packages built in to develop a site (probly what you're referring to with those two you mentioned) - some are more detailed than others.

I think Google is going to do something similar, and yahoo offers it too of course. Just some big names to throw out there.

 

[DV81]

I have had a Web Site with Lycos for about five years and I have had no complaints with them at all.

www.lycos.com

I have dealt with them before and I hate tripod. Free sites usually disappoint.

 

[SesameStreet]

Tripod now has options where you can pay. I pay a monthly fee that is reasonable.

 

[litdude]

I'd say the OP is expecting way too much from places who's function is to host for less than $10/month whatever webpages the OP can create. I've used a variety of cheap and medium hosting companies. Few are set up to handhold a newbie.

And before plunking down $800 for Dreamweaver (or it's suite), you might take a hard look at the whole process and see whether you have what it takes. Suggestion: get with a consultant who can guide you and you may get way further ahead.

Still it's odd. Ready to spend $800 and yet railing at cheap services.

 

[Calvin]

There are many free sites out there and also many sites (like Big Planet) that allow you to build a site online. Virtually all of these sites make use of templates that you must fit your data into. These same templates are used for all of the hosting companies clients. Some are good, some not so good. The reality of all of them tho is that if you decide to take your site, and build more from it as well as go host it somewhere else, you will not have a true website. They will simply dump your data and your are gone.

I have used many versions of Dreamweaver along with Adobe stuff. I currently use CS 2 and Dreamweaver 8. In addition, I use lots of additional programs for 3D creation and special effect stuff. I still even use CorelDraw 11 for text manipulation.

It is very vital that you decide how much time and money you really want to put into the project - litdude has a very good point. Even if you spend the money for the software, if you are not familier with web creation then it can be a big task to create a site - esp if you want to do e-commerce or have it tied into lots of databases.

Good luck.

 

[Sprootle]

Creating a website can go a LOT of different directions. I mean, honestly, the best, and cheapest way to do it is to delve into coding...

Although it can be scary, it isn't too bad.

Program wise, Frontpage or Dreamweaver both can do it, but both carry hefty price tags (200ish for FP, and 600-700 for DW). Trust me, I've bought both -- they can be expensive.

The other thing to ask, if you don't feel like delving into coding (www.htmlgoodies.com can point you in the right direction) is to find a template online. These things are people that have already done the work and you can download and edit their stuff. Most of the time they come with guides on what and how to edit to make your site.

Now, here is the question, what do you want your website to do for you? Is this something where you;d just like to hold some basic info or are you looking for something fancy?

As a web designer, I charge in the 75-100 an hour range for a complete package design (keep in mind, most web designs can be done in 2-3 hours, I'm not highway robery here. ;-) ). The reason being is that web designers make full function, complete web sites designed ( at least in my case) for marketting.

Now, that isn't what most people need. A lot of people just want something that is basic -- shows their info, or artwork, or etc, and that's it.

These can normally be accomplished with one of the $10 bargin web design programs you can pick up at your local office supply store. These are basically, in most cases, templates with programs attached to make it realllllyyy easy.

So, yea, it all depends on what you are looking for to see whether dreamweaver is worth it. Dreamweaver is truly designed for someone who knows the code, knows the program, and just wants to make it easier to implement and use.