I would like to know what would be the best software (free) out there that I can use to build websites with multiple different skins or designs? Can anyone offer some suggestions?
There are so many choices for free web sites from basic, intermediate, and advanced (with html/layout editing)... You can start easily with the popular free NVU. Then maybe start by signing up with a free host, e.g. Netfirms Basic or the popular 110mb host. You can also create a web site easily with Weebly, Synthasite, Jimdo, and Webepags. Visit their web sites to review them, and sign in if you want. I use the free host, Netfirms, but their are restrictions, e.g. bandwidth, file upload size, file space size, no direct links to flash sites, etc, but has worked ok for me. Many free hosts require their company name to be added to your URL as a sub domain, (e.g. my site.their sub domain.com) and you may have to add one of their ads (link or banner) to your site. You could start with a blog as well, e.g. try the Google’s blogger or the advanced Wordpress (which you can add plugins for enhancement), or use the simple Google Page Creator (soon to be changed to Google Sites - You need a Gmail account) - easy to set up for a beginner. There are free (and easy) web site building tools, such as Weebly (Using drag and drop), Snap Pages (Good for sharing photos), and Edicy Pages (Various templates/themes similar to Blogger and Wordpress). Later on though, it might pay to learn html/JavaScript/PHP etc, which allows more flexibility to design and modify your web site. Then maybe upgrade to a paid host and domain, which will possibly yield more features (scripting features, higher bandwidth, increased storage space, email accounts, etc) and more ownership of your site...
Kompozer.net it's the latest version of NVU and Netscape Composer (and sea monkey I think). Trellian's editor is supposed to be good, but I haven't really tried it, if you want to try just Google "trellian wysiwyg" or something. As for the templates you can either try building it from scratch (time consuming if you're inexperienced) or just Google "free templates" Here's a popular open source site http://www.oswd.org
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the obvious Wordpress, there's hundreds of templates and plugins, many are free. Just like any new software there's a learning curve, but for larger sites and when you updates it'll make life so much easier.
Hi, I would highly suggest Wordpress. It is so easy to use and free. There are so many options, plug ins, themes and so much more. I have used wordpress for sites like www.stitches-heart.com and www.allelectronics.com I think you'll be pleased! Hope this helps.