Making a simplistic website?

[Tirac]

I've decided that I want to make a website to share my collection, art, music, writing, and other stuff.
I know that some people on the arena have amazing sites that still look like they are from the late 90s, early 2000s, as this is what I am trying to do.
The site would have it's own domain name and I don't want all of that complicated mess of layouts and headers, etc. Just a simple "click the link/image to go to the particular page" idea.
I believe sites are made like this through a special program that works with html, correct me if wrong.
I'm just wondering if there is a special site creating website or program that is used to create overly simplistic web pages. Thanks.

[kaoskat]

No advice but I can give this a bump.

[Tirac]

No advice but I can give this a bump.

thank you.
In the time since I posted this topic, I've found a program that designs the site, but I have no clue how to upload it to a domain name provider yet. I hope someone could give me a good domain-achieving site soon though. That'd be nice.

[himmie]

I have hosted my website on doteasy.com for many years. I have no complaints about it. I write all of my own codes in Notepad. himmie.net Rabbitry.

There are sites such as weebly.com that allow you to purchase your own domain name and use their site builder. I currently have My Collection site on there, though it will most likely be moved to my domain at some point.

[mul-ta]

Now this is only my opinion, but the best way to make a simplistic website is to learn some basic HTML (plus CSS, if you want it to be more modern on the inside, plus it really will be more comfortable in the long run) and hand-code it. That's how I did back in my early teens around 2000, when some coding skills were necessary if one wanted to publish online. There were some WYSIWYG programs around, but they produced messy and uneconomical code and I wanted to stay away from them. I don't know if present-day website making programs share these problems.

The techniques needed will not be rocket science if you're aiming for a simplistic style - mainly basic text formatting, tables and placing images. Unfortunately the proliferation of blogs and easier publishing seems to have made HTML guides and teach-yourself books more elusive. W3C:s (the consortium responsible for the HTML standard) basic tutorial looks like a good place to start. Later on, when you understand the basics, read other people's source codes and learn from how they made a particular thing. I'm not telling you to copy them onto your own site but it's an efficient way of learning what is possible.

Web hosting and a domain name (mul-ta.com) are two fundamentally different things. You can find the latter for free but the former usually not. You can buy a domain separately and set it as a shorthand for another (mul-ta.com actually leading to webhosting.com/users/mul-ta). Luckily many service providers sell the two together so you don't really have to think about it. I would recommend one if I could - I never was hosted at one myself. In many cases you will need a FTP program to upload the files to the server (I have FileZilla), specific details will depend on the hosting service.

[Tirac]

I have hosted my website on doteasy.com for many years. I have no complaints about it. I write all of my own codes in Notepad. himmie.net Rabbitry.

There are sites such as weebly.com that allow you to purchase your own domain name and use their site builder. I currently have My Collection site on there, though it will most likely be moved to my domain at some point.

That looks like an awesome place. And I love your site.

Post Merge: October 16, 2013, 08:31:01 PM

Now this is only my opinion, but the best way to make a simplistic website is to learn some basic HTML (plus CSS, if you want it to be more modern on the inside, plus it really will be more comfortable in the long run) and hand-code it. That's how I did back in my early teens around 2000, when some coding skills were necessary if one wanted to publish online. There were some WYSIWYG programs around, but they produced messy and uneconomical code and I wanted to stay away from them. I don't know if present-day website making programs share these problems.

The techniques needed will not be rocket science if you're aiming for a simplistic style - mainly basic text formatting, tables and placing images. Unfortunately the proliferation of blogs and easier publishing seems to have made HTML guides and teach-yourself books more elusive. W3C:s (the consortium responsible for the HTML standard) basic tutorial looks like a good place to start. Later on, when you understand the basics, read other people's source codes and learn from how they made a particular thing. I'm not telling you to copy them onto your own site but it's an efficient way of learning what is possible.

Web hosting and a domain name (mul-ta.com) are two fundamentally different things. You can find the latter for free but the former usually not. You can buy a domain separately and set it as a shorthand for another (mul-ta.com actually leading to webhosting.com/users/mul-ta). Luckily many service providers sell the two together so you don't really have to think about it. I would recommend one if I could - I never was hosted at one myself. In many cases you will need a FTP program to upload the files to the server (I have FileZilla), specific details will depend on the hosting service.

Yep. I plan to be learning basic HTML In the future. I do currently have a program that does it all for me, but I'd rather be able to build it by hand.
I've currently got a domain name picked out but haven't bought it yet, I am hoping to get them together in a package from one provider. I'm currently looking for one that allows you to upload html files directly.

[PinkiePosh]

go to webs.com . It's user friendly, no HTML needed.

[Kiwi]

I use Servage.net and really like it - they take care of the domain setup and renewal for you (and I believe your first domain is included for free).

[melodys_angel]

What was said above.  Its easier in the end to learn basic HTML, hun.  Don't rely on things to code things for you--because its usually a mess in the end.

[NoDivision]

I use Blogger and have a custom domain. I use basic blogger templates for the pages themselves and then use my own HTML for the content. I don't knoe HTML/CSS well enough to always make things as visually pleasing as I'd like, so I'm happy to use Blogger as a backdrop onto which I can customize my content.

[mul-ta]

I've currently got a domain name picked out but haven't bought it yet, I am hoping to get them together in a package from one provider. I'm currently looking for one that allows you to upload html files directly.

Direct upload has probably come a long way but back in the day FTP used to be the easiest way to manage your files, especially when you had a lot of them. I've always been using it so I have little to say about anything else.

[Tirac]

I use Servage.net and really like it - they take care of the domain setup and renewal for you (and I believe your first domain is included for free).

This is a really nice provider. I think I will go through them.

As for not using the program, I really like how my site looks on the program, but I am assuming things will get messy if I actually try to upload it?

[Tenar]

Look for a domain registra that offers hosting.  Usually you can get this for $5 a month hosting + domain fee. Some of them offer free wordpress set up.

I strongly suggest using wordpress to manage the articles you write. It's the perfect cms for your needs.  Set up a theme and post away.

You can try the demo of word press here: http://www.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=88

[banditpony]

As for not using the program, I really like how my site looks on the program, but I am assuming things will get messy if I actually try to upload it?

You can just save it as a html file, and open it with whatever browser you use. It doesn't have to be uploaded anywhere, it can just be on your computer for you to view it. It's also good to check multiple browsers to see if your site displays correctly-- since not everyone uses the same sort of browser.

And another general note, it's also good to keep in mind some people browse on little ipads, and some people browse on huge monitors.

I taught myself html with just notepad and some random webpage. It was very useful to just do the code myself, and learn it. When I ended up taking a class for it -- I saw so many people just rely on the program that they didn't even learn anything. Not that it is bad to use programs, but it's good to just have an understanding of the basics.

I also recommend word press.

[StoryDreamer]

EditPad is a good program to use for HTML. It's a free opensource "beefed" up version of Notepad.