Creating Websites

We, ourselves do not perform web design, however, outside of hiring a web designer ($500-$5000 on low side ~ $30-$150 per hour), you can create a web presence in one of 3 ways:

1. Using industry standard stand-alone editors.

2. Using browser-driven Content Management Systems (CMS).

3. Using server-dependent, browser-driven site-builders.

1. Using industry standard stand-alone editors.

For traditional (not outdated by any means) stand-alone website development I recommend browsing these articles:

Industry Standard Editors:

For Windows Users: webdesign.about.com/od/windowshtmleditors/tp/windows-wysiwyg-editors.htm

For Mac Users: webdesign.about.com/od/macintoshhtmleditors/tp/macintosh-wysiwyg-editors.htm

Recommended Free Editors:

For Windows Users: webdesign.about.com/od/windowshtmleditors/tp/free-windows-editors.htm

For Mac Users: webdesign.about.com/od/macintoshhtmleditors/tp/free-macintosh-editors.htm

Most of the software have publishing built in (using FTP), but in some cases you will need an FTP client. I recommend a small, powerful, free program called FileZilla available at download.com

2. Using browser-driven Content Management Systems (CMS).

CMS's are suites of programs that run on the web server itself as dynamic web pages. They are slower and more limited, but development is more rapid than learning to use stand-alone editors and they are still highly customizable.

We now have 1-click CMS installs in the control panel under the "Website" tab | "Application Installer."

Here are the CMS's we offer one-click installs for and links to their respective showcases, guides, and support if you run into problems.

Showcases:

Wordpress - wordpress.org/showcase/

Joomla - community.joomla.org/showcase/sites.html

Drupal - drupal.org/cases

Guides:

Wordpress - codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page

Joomla - docs.joomla.org/

Drupal - drupal.org/documentation

Support:

Wordpress - codex.wordpress.org/Troubleshooting

Joomla - docs.joomla.org/

Drupal - drupal.org/documentation

3. Using server-dependent, browser-driven site-builders.

Lastly, Site-builders, are server-dependent and require the site to remain hosted with the hosting company. They are generally template-driven and walk you through setting up a site extremely fast, but while they usually have plenty of templates to choose from, they are not highly customizable

We do have a new Site-builder, but it is on a completely new platform under our Plesk Hosting offerings. Aside from having the same network and staff, it is like moving to a new hosting company. It is on different operating systems and machines, and it is on a completely separate billing system. You can host for as little as $3.95/mo ($2.95/mo plus $1/mo site-builder add-on).

You can demo that site-builder for free by clicking here.