Now that I’ve covered how to setup a web site, the next major step is to start designing your site. There are several different ways you can start; hard code the pages, use a WYSIWYG program, pay someone else, use a prebuilt script, or a combination of them all.
When I first started doing web work it was completely coded by hand. I would use notepad and work in pure HTML. Most true web programmers work in this state today, they might use something other than notepad, but not all that different. The problem with this is the fact that you have to know what you are doing to make a decent page. This is the best way to learn how web pages are designed, but it is not ideal if you just want something that works.
Another option out there is the WYSIWYG program. This stands for exactly what it is, what you see is what you get. Here you use a program such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or NVU. These programs have a graphical interface that will allow you to design a page. You can drag and drop each item on the page to customize it for your liking. This works great for just starting out, but most people will soon outgrow these programs. I can almost always tell when a site is designed this way, it is almost like a cookie cutter site.
When looking at these options one may think, can’t I just pay someone to do this? Simply put, yes. There are countless web designers out there that are more than willing to take your money to build you a web site. Then they will also take your money for upkeep and most of the time they force you to use their hosting, for another fee. This is great for a company that has the money to spend, but for the average person you really do not want to go this route.
One of the most popular options today is to use a prebuilt script(program). These are programs of a sort that are built for a specific need. For example, if one wanted to setup a blog there are many scripts out there that will fill this void for you. The one I use for this site is called Serendipity and is completely free. All you have to do is upload the files onto your web server and fill out a little form. There are scripts out there to do just about anything you can think of. If you can think of an idea someone out there has filled the void and all you need to do is a bit of searching to find them.
The most ideal solution in my eyes is to use a combination of all of the above items. Take for example this site, I’ve taken the Serendipity script and tweaked it to fit my needs. The most noticeable difference is the template which allows it to look different even though its managed by the same system. You could even pay someone to do this rather than do it yourself. It is up to you how you go about getting the site running.
With web design it is completely up to you on how to design a page. It could take you months to get something up or it could only take ten minutes. This difference comes into how custom you want to make the site. In the end it is your site and make it whatever you want.
