Finding the Right Tools for Building your own Website

Web Design Articles | February 19, 2010

A discussion on what ‘tools’ a person needs to get together when building a website. cover the following points: Designing and building your own website: Free tools vs. paid tools Using CMS basics of what tools you’ll need.

Key decisions need to be made when going about building a website.

You need to know what the basic tools are for generating webpages.

You have two options of how to make a website. You can either start

from scratch by acquiring web building and image manipulation

programs or you can use a free online content management system to

set up the basics for you. This article will demonstrate the pros

and disadvantages of both.Key decisions need to be made when going about building a website.

You need to know what the basic tools are for generating webpages.

You have two options of how to make a website. You can either start

from scratch by acquiring web building and image manipulation

programs or you can use a free online content management system to

set up the basics for you. This article will demonstrate the pros

and disadvantages of both.

When endeavoring to start a website from scratch the first tool

you’ll need is a web development program, something to use to code

your webpages. Kompozer and Dreamweaver are both examples of this

software. Dreamweaver will cost you $300 - $400 while Kompozer is

free to download online. These applications allow you to generate

webpages without a huge amount of knowledge of the more technical

parts of coding. These applications come with a lot of tools and

wizards which will generate the code for you. Dreamweaver has a lot

of online material to back it up. If you’re ever stuck you won’t

have to look far for a Dreamweaver tutorial. However it is a high

price and Kompozer will also provide you will the relevant tools to

make a website.

A second requirement when you need to make a website from scratch

is image manipulation software. Photoshop and GIMP are two such

examples. Once again, one is free while the latest version of

Photoshop will cost you up to $700. Photoshop has a lot of

extensive features for in depth image manipulation. However if you

are just looking to enhance some text or create some basic shapes

then GIMP is definitely the cheaper option. It should provide you

with all the tools you need for creating images for your site.

So you’ve now got the tools to code and create images for your

site. Nevertheless if this all looks a bit much then it might be

worth looking into setting up your site using a prebuilt content

management system. Wordpress and Joomla are two examples. They both

start you off with basic templates that you can then manipulate to

suit your needs.

Before choosing between Joomla and Wordpress you need to consider

your site’s purpose. If you’re looking to start a blog then

Wordpress will definitely be the option for you. You can make posts

quickly and easily using the admin section. It also has a wide

selection of plugins you can easily install allowing your visitors

to quickly bookmark posts or track the amount of visitors to your

site. The ability to quickly add widgets to your website is also

useful. You can link up to your twitter account or add a calender

to your page with just one click.

So Wordpress is certainly a good tool but it is primarily targeted

at blogging. If your looking to set up a website for an

organization it might be worth looking into Joomla. It has been

designed to manage all forms of data rather than just posts. Its

advanced framework allows you to install communication tools or

even ecommerce systems for your site.

Both Joomla and Wordpress provide services for quick web

development However they obviously have their restrictions. Without

advanced coding knowledge you will struggle to deviate too far from

their preset themes. Starting your site from scratch means you can

build it in anyway you see fit but will always be more time

consuming. Choosing the right method is crucial when setting out to