free web page design tools for beginners
The Tools To Build Your Website
By John D Ross
1. HTML Editor to build your web pages
2. Graphics program to design and edit your graphics
3. FTP program to upload your files to your hosting account.
Other tools include
a. A zip / unzip program of in order to zip your product files
b. An email client to receive/send emails to/from your subscribers and customers
c. Plain Text Editor used to alter code in scripts as well as for hand coding
d. An autoresponder to send messages / newsletter to your entire subscriber list.
HTML EDITORS
HTML editors are used to create and edit web pages in the web language known as HTML. There are many HTML editors available both free and paid including Dreamweaver and FrontPage.
However there is no real need to purchase one as you can download some excellent HTML editors for free:
- First Page http://www.evrsoft.com/
- HTML - Kit http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
and the free one we prefer is
- NVU http://www.nvu.com
TEXT EDITORS
Many people prefer to code their websites themselves by hand as it gives more control over how the website's appearance; you can use a plain text editor and save the files with the .html extension.
Notepad is already installed on your computer if you have Windows but it cannot handle large files.
NoteTab Light is a free text editor: http://www.notetab.com/index.php.
GRAPHIC EDITORS
A graphic editor is necessary so that you can design and/or edit the web graphics. The most popular paid graphics programs are Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, but they are expensive; there are free ones available.
An excellent free graphic program is
- GIMP : http://www.gimp.org
and there are many free plug-ins available for it. Their website has many tutorials for both beginners and advanced users and you can download the help file to add to the software.
There are many free graphics available on the internet; simply enter the words into your favorite search engine, for example 'free graphics' or be more specific 'free golf sets image'.
FTP PROGRAMS
An FTP program (File Transfer Protocol) is used to upload your website files to your server. If your Control Panel is cPanel, then there is already an FTP process installed and your website host can explain how to use it.
If you are a Mac user then the Mac already has a pre-installed FTP facility which you access via Command-K
There are many free FTP programs available and the one we recommend is
- CommanderFTP : http://www.downloadsource.net/d1174/FTP-Commander-GetFile/
- AceFTP 3 : http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftpfreeware/
The most popular FTP program for Mac users is Fetch.
ZIP PROGRAMS
A zip / unzip program is used to zip your downloadable products, ebooks, reports, etc and zipping them will reduce the file size and hence the upload / download times. Such a program will also allow you to unzip any file ending in a .zip extension.
- WinZip evaluation copy : http://www.winzip.com/download.htm
- 7-Zip : http://www.7-zip.org/
EMAIL CLIENTS
As a website owner you should not use the free email accounts on offer such as aol, msn, yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc. These have ever increasing filtering automatically installed and mail to or from your clients may well be delivered.
Your hosting account will come with one or more email accounts and these allow you to send and receive email with your domain name such as anyname@yourdomain.com and using such an email address not only looks professional but also is an opportunity to promote your website as the recipient can see you website name in the address.
AUTO-RESPONDERS
There are free autoresponders available but many of them are either limited in their functions or will display a banner or advertisement on the emails that you send.
FreeAutoBot : http://www.freeautobot.com
You can find more free autoresponders by typing in 'free autoresponders' into your favorite search engine's search box.
If your website is providing ecommerce in any way, then you should consider a paid autoresponder services such as Aweber
http://www.aweber.com
There are many other tools that can assist you in building your website, but the above list provides you with all you need to get started.
Later you will find many additional tools may be necessary, such as an encryption program to encrypt your email address to avoid email harvesters and spam. Before you buy any program always search in your favorite search engine as there is usually an equivalent free program available.
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