I’m looking for free, easy for a dummy, software to build a website. I was using Namu6, but it seems to have gone dormant. I recall an old thread about this, but my search-fu is proving weak.
So, Dopers, any advice on which of the multitude to try?
Thanks
[ul]
[li]Windows or Mac?[/li][li]You want to get your hands dirty with code or play around with blog software like Wordpress or Drupal?[/li][/ul]
Right, should have specified.
Vista on a PC.
Don’t want to get into code. Mostly pictures with some text. Multiple pages, same template, links connecting them.
It’s a shame they stopped supporting/developing Namu6 - I used it, but it doesn’t support embedding of objects such as videos and ads. I switched to using a simple Content Management System called FuzzyLime - so all the editing is done online now.
I like CMS Made Simple, although I suppose it’s possible that my definition of “dummy” may be a little more generous than yours. (My definition extends to me, but I managed it without *too *much trouble the first time.) It’s a bit of work to get set up, but then you have a nice, easily updated and customizable site.
i’ve just finished sweating bullets building a site for my artist wife. Not wanting to write code, I opted for GoDaddy. They really are inexpensive, I think $5 for a domain name and hosting another $30 some for one year. I’m not sure of the exact cost for one year, as I opted for five years and it cost $190. Including two free email accounts. You can use your own domain name for the address, and they will forward all mail to your regular email account, very quickly.
Their web-building site is very confusing until you get the hang of it, then easy to work with. You can upload photos or video, and there is a wide assortment of things you can do to tweak each page.
Their site is a classic example of how NOT to have a nice clean home page, but nevertheless, it works. I got stuck a few times at first, but their customer support is excellent, and they will talk you through it step by step, and no problem about calling back if it does not work. Their Help files are pretty good too, but sometimes it saves time just to call for help.
Once I got the hang of it, I can easily upload her paintings to separate pages, sort by name, pick colors, type sizes and a mess of other things. Just Google “GoDaddy” and maybe you’ll get lucky and the GoDaddy girl will answer the phone. 
I wondered about this. I’m setting up my own business and I just need something real simple now. I can always get more complex later.
But what if it’s the new GoDaddy girl? :eek:
The free HTML editors are by and large crap.
If you’re a student, you can get the rather decent Microsoft Expression Web for free.
Otherwise, hand-crafting websites from HTML is outmoded these days… kinda pointless unless you’re doing it specifically to learn HTML. Otherwise, go with a content-management system like Wordpress, mentioned above (you can sign up for a free hosted one at www.wordpress.com), or something more complex like Drupal or Joomla. Once you sign up or set up a CMS, you can combine it with Windows Live Writer to very easily and elegantly update your page.
There’s also Google Sites, Google’s free web page service that’s almost like GeoCities; you can pick from templates and modify things with an intermediate amount of control.