Raise your hand if you're a web design guru

[Shrek]

Somehow I seem to have been drafted as the go-to guy to help set up a web page for my son's school (probably because I'm a "computer professional" even though I've never done any web design).

Consequently I'm looking for a design tool that will get me started with a minimum of hassle. I don't need anything terribly fancy, but neither do I want the site to look amateurish. Any recommendations? FYI, I've been a software developer for 20 years and I'm intimately familiar with C++, Java, and assembler, so I'm not too worried about being intimidated. I just want something that works.

[jimbo fett]

1. Macromedia's Dreamweaver is the best.

And their other suite of tools like FireWorks and Flash are great, too.

[renegade000]

3. amen

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Check out...

Xoops(http://www.xoops.org). It's simple to setup and just fantastic.

[hyphenate]

4. Try a Shareware Version Before You Buy

There are several good ones--I find Frontpage very easy and accessible. I've used GoLive and Dreamweaver as well, and they're excellent, but the learning curve is a little higher on them. If you know MS Office, Frontpage is no harder than learning Word.

On the other hand, there are some others out there that are freeware, and are available as demo/shareware downloads, and since it's free, you don't have to keep it if you don't like it. Try this link:

http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=web+page+design&tg=dl-2001

It should at least give you a start on looking at what's out there.

[CivilRightsNow]

5. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX

or UltraDev. I think that they have better database access tools incase you wanted to make little rosters for them, or league standings.. or whatever, then just standard Dreamweaver. I dont even know if they sell a standard version anymore.

Whatever you do, do not get fireworks. It is the front page of Macromedia products. It slices up your images (to optimize them :rolleyes: ) and is just generally annoying.

Macromedia has a trial, so if you get the site planned out and designed you could logically complete it within the trial period.