Web Design

[meltdown75]

I assume a handful of you guys kick ass at web design. I need some help with a couple aspects. Here's the situation:

- My brother-in-law is president of the "Human Kinetics Society" at his university and he is interested in making a homepage for the members.
- I said I would do it.

- I don't know what software to use. I have Frontpage but can someone recommend me something else? Some sort of "instant website" suite would be nice since I was never really good at doing websites and am out of practice anyway.

- Web hosting - what is cheap (in Canada)?

- What should I charge?

Thanks in advance all.

 

[gshock888]

LOL @ FRONTPAGE :laugh:

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: gshock888
LOL @ FRONTPAGE :laugh:

come on, i have just admitted my newbness at web design!!

 

[dquan97]

1. Dreamweaver is what most people use
2. I'm sure a few ATOTers here can provide free webspace if you dont need much storage (~50MB). If no one can help, PM me.
3. Do you want to charge a flat fee or recurring fee?

 

[EngenZerO]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: gshock888
LOL @ FRONTPAGE :laugh:

come on, i have just admitted my newbness at web design!!

you could try ms word,

 

[Schadenfreude]

Dreamweaver is a pretty good program - it takes a bit (after the tutorial) to learn it, I gather, but not that much..

 

[elektrolokomotive]

I'm an Adobe GoLive user, myself.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: dquan97
1. Dreamweaver is what most people use
2. I'm sure a few ATOTers here can provide free webspace if you dont need much storage (~50MB). If no one can help, PM me.
3. Do you want to charge a flat fee or recurring fee?

A flat fee. He knows someone that will be updating the news section of the site. I think basically what he needs is a "barebones" site that content can be added to. So basically my job would be to create the framework, graphics, etc. I'm so-so/ok at designing buttons / banners and stuff. AHAH :laugh:

dammit... i hope i didn't bite off more than i can chew!

Thx dquan97!

 

[gshock888]

trust me, even for n00bs. use Dreamweaver and not Frontpage. Frontpage is a mess of a program (even the latest versions). the HTML code it generates is simply nasty

go learn HTML, its not that hard. then use DW or HomeSite where you have total control over the coding.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: gshock888
trust me, even for n00bs. use Dreamweaver and not Frontpage. Frontpage is a mess of a program (even the latest versions). the HTML code it generates is simply nasty

go learn HTML, its not that hard. then use DW or HomeSite where you have total control over the coding.

Ok. I will definitely look into acquiring Dreamweaver. Yeah - I used to know HTML pretty decent, but that was back in school. I just used Notepad back then, but my memory is shot due to rampant sacrificing of brain cells to the party gods. Bastards are never satisfied!

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: Jehovah
Dreamweaver is a pretty good program - it takes a bit (after the tutorial) to learn it, I gather, but not that much..

Originally posted by: elektrolokomotive
I'm an Adobe GoLive user, myself.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. :thumbsup: I appreciate all the help I can get.

 

[Appledrop]

http://www.w3schools.com is also a nice website for tuts and tips.

 

[KEV1N]

I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. Did you determine what information you want to present first?

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: Azzy64
http://www.w3schools.com is also a nice website for tuts and tips.

:thumbsup:!!! THANKS! That is exactly the type of resource I was seeking.

Any opinions on web hosting or the amount of $ I should be seeking? Whatever the going rate is, I plan on cutting it in half at least - due to my lack of skills. I think I should be able to pound out something presentable, but I wouldn't feel right charging too much for something like this.

 

[Drakkon]

$5 - all the site you'd ever need

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: EngenZerO

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: gshock888
LOL @ FRONTPAGE :laugh:

come on, i have just admitted my newbness at web design!!

you could try ms word,

Or code everything up in NotePad

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: KEV1N
I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. Did you determine what information you want to present first?

I have basically said, "Yes I will do it" - haven't got into the layout / design phase yet and not 100% sure what he wants for content. Maybe I should just STFU for now and get back when I have more details.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: elektrolokomotive
I'm an Adobe GoLive user, myself.

 

[777php]

Dreamweaver is the way to go.

And if you are going to be constantly updating the news section, I'd suggest paying somebody $25 to write you up a quick PHP/MySQL script to display your news and find a host that allows you to use phpmyadmin for updating that section.

You can probably be able to find the script online for free.

 

[revnja]

If you've got the cash and don't want to code it by hand, go with Dreamweaver. You didn't outline many of the details of the website, like what kind of content you're going to have on it. Just text/pictures with a pretty layout? Any other kind of media? How many pages are we talking, etc. As for news, I've found there are many scripts to do it out there. I use CuteNews on my personal site. It's pretty customizable and has a pretty frontend for updating news, etc. Without a lot of information, I really can't tell you what to charge.

Good luck!

 

[dquan97]

Also, most web hosts have pre-installed content management software (CMS) that an admin can login and update info pretty quickly. The interface is already setup and looks decent. It takes about 10-15mins to configure and you're done!