Which website design software to use?

by 32 replies
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Hey everyone!

Although I've been creeping around the forum for a while, this is my first post

I finally feel ready to build a website and wondered what everyone recommends?

I've looked at a few options, and am leaning towards Xsitepro as it looks to be the easiest for a static website with a lot of content (i'm going to write a ton of articles).

I saw an offer on their facebook page for a half price discount too, but I wanted to get everyone's opinion first. Should I go for it, and try it out while it is cheap? I guess I could get a refund if it's crap.

What else would you recommend? Someone else said Site Sell or something, and I have looked at Wordpress and Joomla, but they look a bit hard.

Sorry for waffling! Any help would be grand.

Ell
#website design #build a website #design #software #website #website design software #xsitepro

  • Well, it depends a lot on what you want your site to do ...

    A lot of warriors seem to use WordPress.
    But if you're a newbie you may find it a bit tough to learn it.
    Also, knowing PHP helps if you want to tweak it ... or to debug yourself out of a WP hole.
    You might want to give coming fastSalesFunnels a try. I'm trying to push it "out the door" for next Tuesday, but got distracted by a related project for last couple days.

    Anyway, I believe in "having alternatives and choice" - that's why I'm mentioning this here,
    but ultimately you should just check out all your different alternatives at your disposal,
    and then choose the one you like best. I don't believe there is a "one solution fits all" yet.

    If you think about it,
    Ultimately, all such "site engines" pretty much end up doing the same thing:
    spitting out HTML (with CSS and JS for good measure)

    So I'd say what differentiates them is more the "ease of use", pricing, etc.
    WordPress is "free", but not entirely, because you still need to host it on some box,
    and you need that box to have a big pipe to the Internet, and all that.

    Hope this helps, and good luck in your search!
    bryan
  • WordPress is great! it is a little tricky sometimes...basically because there is so much to learn and so much you can do with it. Just try and find a great tutorial to help you learn. And it's great because it's FREE. So many things are not free and if they are, there is a good reason...they SUCK! free is not always good. It comes with expensive headaches. If you need further help learning WP just let me know.
  • Just for the record: WP and Joomla are NOT "design software".
    They both are CMS = Content Management System.

    Don't compare apples and oranges...
    • [2] replies
    • even "CMS" does not sound right.
      I believe a better descriptor (just in my opinion)
      would be "site engines",
      because, let's face it, they "run" sites,
      while "content management system: ... well, my local public library
      is also a CMS (content being the books).
      WP does not really "manage" content, it more simply assembles pages
      to send to clients (web browsers), so they don't really do that much "management"
      ... actually "managing" content (by content I mean pages or images)
      with WP is a "pain" once you start to get into the lower hundred (images, pages, etc).

      Hence if WP is a "CONTENT mgmt system" it is not a very good one,
      but as a "site engine" it certainly excels !!

      "design software" ... that would be something more like autoCAD, perhaps ?
      well, design could be a pretty broad term, I agree
    • The dude is looking out for a friendly user stuff to design site with many pages of content and if WP and joomla offers that its worthy of been listed. The OP might not be looking at that angle but post like this will draw back his attention.

      The other option is to do it manually, am yet to see a software that deliver 100% on autopilot.

      Hope this helps.
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  • Bryan,

    unfortunately (or fortunately?) it doesn't matter what your personal philosophical approach is... because in the "web literature" WP and all the similar scripts are categorized as CMS.
    And no, your (or my) local library doesn't count!
    :p
    • [1] reply
    • I agree.
      Perhaps my point there was that the name was not the best "they" (whoever decided on using this specific designation/acronym) could find.

      (And too bad my local library does not count as a CMS,
      obviously I was being a bit too literal there)
  • Hi,

    You may want to read my latest e-book, which is available for free today and tomorrow on Amazon... It'll offer you another way that's not exactly widely used here on the Warrior Forum (I'm no WP fan at all)... It's based on Joomla 2.5. It's called "professional website creation made easy" and contains a step by step method (129 pages w/ 132 screen-shots) and a ton of tips and tricks. Including security, photo / video gallery, design, forums, ...

    For more details see here How to build your own professional-looking website - Best Website Design - it's a Kindle book but you don't need to own a Kindle to read it, Amazon has a free PC / Mac / mobiles application, just see the comments on that article.

    You have until Thursday 12PM PST (give or take 1 hour) to get it for free.

    Seb.
  • Hands down. Wordpress.. I build about 2 sites/week for clients and after im done showing them how easy wordpress can make their lives. and actually SHOW them now to use it (Even tho they have NO or little computer skills)

    Wordpress hands down. nothing else.. Plug-ins for everything you can imagine. if you can build your own even better. because MOST times plugins will have EXTRA stuff u dont want on your page.
  • Another vote for wordpress, and if you have the time, download GIMP and Inkspace to learns the graphic editing end of things too.
  • Joomla and Artisteer are best website designe software.
  • Ellen -

    Content management systems such as wordpress or joomla are decent, but if you intend to design the site yourself with html, I do not recommend going that route, unless you plan to do some light modifications, only. However, you can hire a designer to build a custom template, although that'll cost you.

    Want to get started now?

    I suggest opening an account on a Tumblr.com or a Wordpress hosted site. Write some goooood articles. Build an audience.....

    and get ahold of me later!

    Starting a self hosted blog with no momentum, no design can be a daunting task. Getting started with the free platforms are the best way to go!
    • [1] reply
    • Bad idea. Don't do this, I've heard that it's a nightmare to switch from a free hosted site to a self hosted site.

      You're going to have to set up your site sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.

      Setting up design is not as hard as you may think. Set up WordPress on your website, install a free theme and you're ready to go.

      If you need help with any of that, I have some articles to help you on my blog in the link below.
      • [1] reply
  • I strongly suggest you stay away from XSitePro, which provides awful code and templates that are stuck in a 10-year timewarp.

    Wordpress is free, easy to learn and there are literally tens of thousands of free themes for it so that you can choose any design you like.

    Another strong advantage is that Google loves Wordpress sites, so you get some great SEO benefits.
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  • If you're looking for an easy, cheap way to create a website, I recommend EXAI. Wordpress and Joomla are harder to use and are unnecessary especially if you're just looking to create a static website. With this website builder you can easily create a really nice website and its content management system allows for easy editing so you can quickly upload any new article you write.
  • If you are not experienced the best way would be buying some ready to use template for example from themeforest.

    If you prefer to create your website on your own you may try Adobe Dreamweaver.
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  • If you're building a website not a blog, XSitePro is a good choice for IMers. You may also try 90 Second Website Builder. I personally use that one. Very easy to use. You can just drag and drop all functions or components. For blogs, WordPress is the choice.
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  • CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer
    Serif WebPlus
    Web Easy Professional
    NetObjects Fusion
    Evrsoft First Page
    HTML-Kit Tools
    AceHTML 6 Pro
    UltraEdit
    TopStyle
    BestAddress HTML Editor

    The above are some of the best web design softwares
  • There are several web designing software available on the web which will help in creating an attractive website. Just to keep you informed , Wordpress and Joomla are not web design software but are well known Content Management System which will help to create a website without having coding knowledge. Joomla and Wordpress are both free and easily available on the web. You can easily learn both CMS as easily and as fast and for more help you can visit their official website.
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  • It depends on what type of site you want to develop, if you want to develop static site you should go for photoshop and html and if you want to make dynamic you have to do additional php or other languages
  • It is not just about quickly putting up a website. You have to also consider that your website should get a good search engine rank. Further, you must use a CMS that builds a secure site that is not hack prone.

    OpenSource CMS have their own minuses. Hiring a professional developer may help get your website to deliver results.
  • Wordpress hands down. For actually designing the website graphics I use adobe photoshop, and CSS styling.
  • NotePad++ is great. :p
  • Website design software - in particular, choosing the right tools - is an important part of the website creation process. Before you begin to build your website, it is first important to think about what elements you want, because that will influence what software you require.
  • XsitePro for a newbie is a good choice I think as you can have a website online within 24 hours, other programs such as Dreamweaver have bigger learning curves. You can also run a blog in another folder on your domain if you want.

    I hear people thinking that wordpress has seo benefits but is there any evidence for that ? Indeed if you install too many seo plugins with the recent updates it may harm your rankings.

    Think about all the top websites in the world , how many use wordpress ? I use wordpress also but I am not sure it has SEO benefits compared to a html editor.
    • [1] reply
    • All depends on what you are wanting to do i suppose and how competent you are.

      For a brochure site, If you had basic skills in html and css, go with Notepad++ and free graphic tools such as Gimp and/or Inkscape.

      If no experience you could set up a standard Wordpress site very quickly and pretty simple to get to grips with.

      Wordpress = Blogging Platform (and probably the best)
      Joomla = CMS (my favourite and a good shout at being the best in cms)

      But like mentioned earlier these are not Web Design programs. So would need a template or a design Initially.

      Mike
  • I like webplus x6. Only just started using it but seems quite cool. Newbie friendly too.
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