Hello, For the last 3 months I have been learning how to use dreamweaver4 and had begun making a web site. The web site I am trying to build is for my family's church/ministry and I was hoping to have it completed for November this year. I have discovered that dreamweaver makes a lot of unnecessary code and keeps giving me functional trouble, taking me some time to fix, so I was beginning to get a bit worried what would happen by time I got to upload the site. Its was looking good and I had put a lot of time into it, but the last straw was when I wanted someone to write A program for me that would allow our ministry calendar which differs from the Gregorian calendar to be Displayed on the home page, but apparently dreamweaver does not support php functions very well and the programme is a php format. I was told that I would need to be able to modify the generated code dreamweaver produces, but as I have only a beginners understanding of html and no php, then it might be too difficult for me to integrate the PHP functions with the generated HTML, To have this programme on the front page of the site is so very important to the whole thing. I only have a basic understanding of html and none of php or any of the other stuff actually, so I decided let me use the WYSIWYG editor, but as I was warned it’s all gone wrong. So my plea here is for help advice and the right direction to go, I have approached and begun negotiations twice to have some one design and build the web site for me, but I found that they did not have the patience and was trying to lead the way it should go which was no good, also they really just wanted money and I would be left unable to modify the site or update it without them, I went for the solo option, I think I could do a basic site you know one or so pages with every thing stuck on it which goes on and on a bit like this email but that’s no good for me. The type of site I like is clean and uncluttered there is a lot of info that I have to display, I would also like a add text banner on the Home page, I had created one using dreamweaver4, these are two ministry sites that I warm to www.kcm.org and http://wordoffaithchurch.com/page.aspx?id=86528 the only thing about the word of life home page is that there is really a lot of unnecessary stuff on it in my opinion, however I think the information on the sites are displayed clearly and they are simple and easy to read and navigate. My thinking then is to buy a website template that will allow me to edit it, add a php programme on it, sound and media , move around the layout, change colour font, be able to have a guest book and be selective in which ones I display on another page. Currently I am registered with www.1and1.co.uk web hosting, their web builder programme is no good and there guest books and news letters pages are dated, so I need to have my own designed and somehow linked to them the server, something to do with cgi scripts which I don't really understand yet, as you can tell I really am a beginner, though determined. I have looked at templates but all that I have seen so far are just too much, the religious ones look too religious, and the rest seem to be to cluttered and bright to overwhelming and they look like templates, not good which one to choose. If I don't use dreamweaver4 I need a ftp programme as well don't I and apart from note pad if I use a template option do I need another editor. Hope you have read this far, thank you, I really am fishing here and I appreciate your help the almighty bless You and your family.
If you are building your first website then you can't start off too complicated. First of all you need to create a site with a couple of basic pages and then you can start to tweak the layout & template to make it look nice. Once you have a few pages then you can consider adding some scripts but php is pretty advanced if you are making your first site. I suggest using something like a content management system like http://www.joomla.org/ you could probably hire somebody for $50 to install this on your domain and get it working.
I feel for you i really do, but if you are an absolute beginner then you are likely to struggle to get to grips with templates if you are looking to change them as most of them use CSS. There is a saying that runs along the lines of 'beggars can't be choosers'. Now I do not mean that in a disrespuctful way, what I am saying is that you have to be realistic in what you are able to achieve. The WOFC site (the second one) is WAY out of the league of a beginner. Most templates are built in photoshop, then sliced and exported to dreamweaver, it is not just a case of 'move things around' as you say, it is a case of getting hold of the original PSD file, redesigning it in photoshop then reslicing it via export and starting again, and to be blunt this is going to be WAY out of the ability zone for a beginner. I am not being hurtful or disrespectful to you, as a christian myself i fear you are allowing pride to get in the way of your message. Take a breath and ask yourself athis question. 'is it more important to get the site looking perfect than it is to get our message out? ' Put together a simple site that has the correct file structure you need, (this is so that later when you upload the redesigned site, you will not have to alter the filenames, it is better for SEO), populate it with your information. Set up a blog in wordpress to allow the misiters to get their message out, link the site to the blog, and THEN you are doing the right thing. Get the message out first and foremost, you need to re-focus on what is important. Ask yourself WHY will you not put out a simple plain old site? People who might be needing to visit the site can not because it is not there. This is a charity website, it is a religious website, it is NOT a commercial site, people understand there is no big budget here. Just make surre you follow the basics and plan the site, making it usable for the most inexperienced of web users. plain clear navigation structure, minimum number of clicks between all pages etc. Proverbs 11:2 <added> cross posted with replies
Yes, that's right. Joomla nad Mambo rock for sure. Some hosting companies install it for free like routhost (its on fantastico). I prefer Mambo over Joomla, though basically the same, Mambo gives a few more candies.
Thank you, concerning php the programmer has told me that he could help advice me how to add the programme on my site via the phone but dreamweaver is out. This joomla program looks very interesting, i tried to download it but i don't know what im doing really there seams to be to ways of doing this 1) directly to the web host, or 2)on my computer which is xp. Ive looked at the instructions and the thing is i don't really know how to do either, i only have note pad on my computer and no ftp device, it talks about apache but i don't know what it is also mysql what is that?. This guy you have mentioned, who would be willing to upload the program to my site for 50 bucks who's he and where can i find him. I think ill also ask my web host see if they can advice me on how to install it on their server, where does one find out about mambo. I know i sound terrible don't i totally lost, but im trying to understand
Hmm.. First of all I would prefer to download it on my computer, unzip it if it zipped, tweak it and customize it to my willings, then upload it. Now uploading it won't be much of a problem if you know the basics. As you're using Windows XP no third party ftp client will be needed. Just open your IE and type in your ftp link. When it opens, right click and choose "Login As.." then type in your username and password and uncheck the sign-in anonymously or something like that. Then when you're finished with that just make a directory for Joomla and just copy the folder on your local terminator onto your server. When you're finished, and as you don't know what a mysql database is, you could contact your support and ask them to add a database for you. When they provide you with the username and password of the database just open joomla, the one you uploaded onto your server. I'm sure Joomla has an automated installation so just provide the data it needs and everything should work fine. Hope I just saved you 50 bucks
I'll set you up with Joomla for free. It's not worth paying $50 for a 30 minute job. If you'd like it done PM me your ftp details and I'll do it tonight. Sorry, for got to add you'll also need a MySQL database, if you're not sure how to set this up yourself I'll need your hosting cPanel login.