Free Web Site Design Software
For most new entrepreneurs the biggest concern is how to save money. A great way to save money is to take advantage of free quality products and services.
There are many powerful Open Source and free website design software suites that can help business owners with little technical knowledge and veteran website designers to create professional websites. I could easily write an entire book about all the free website design software packages available, but I will focus on a few of my favorites.
If none of the applications here suit your needs, don't give up and drop your money on an expensive solution. Go to Google and search for "free website design software". Look around, do some research. A great site for free software including web design is (www.webattack.com).
The first website I ever designed was done with Microsoft Publisher. This is not exactly a free application, but many people have Microsoft Office on their computers, and Publisher comes with many versions of Office, so it may already be available to many users. This is perfect for people who know how to use Microsoft Word or Excel, but don't know anything about website design. You don't have to know HTML, this program turns your text, graphics, and links into code for you. The menu and interface is very similar to other Office applications, so users should be able to get the hang of it after a little "nosing around". Users can simply pick a pre-designed template, and from there just plug in their information. This solution's advantage is its ease of use; if a user ever gets stuck, the help menu is just a click away. It has its trade-offs; the files it produces are very large and will load slowly on the internet. The websites produced by publisher may lack the cutting edge professional appearance that some of the more advanced tools offer. See an example site designed with Microsoft Publisher at (http://www.flightsbyhelicopter.com) .
Another Microsoft tool that comes with many versions of Office is Front Page. This program is similar to Publisher in that it is similar in feel to other Office products. If a user knows their way around Word, they can figure out Front Page with a little work. Front Page has a similar template system to Publisher where a user clicks on the design they want and simply plugs in their information. The average website produced by Front Page will be faster loading than one made with Publisher, but like Publisher may also lack that clean, professional feel until the user gets used to using it. An example of a Front Page site can be seen at (http://prothemes.chainreactionweb.com/america/).
One of my absolute favorites is PHPNuke found at (http://www.phpnuke.org) . This open source (completely free) software enables even novice users to create truly amazing professional sites. PHPNuke uses the php server-side scripting language and the free database mySQL to create a powerful, fully customizable web portal. Using this software will require a little more work and knowledge of web design, but if a user is willing to invest the time to learn, the outcome can be amazing. There is an extensive peer community that is very friendly and helpful to newcomers. I highly recommend this solution to anyone who has the willingness to learn a new approach to web design. I'll add that there is a program that split from PHPNuke early on in development called PostNuke available at (http://www.postnuke.com) . PostNuke focuses on site security as its primary goal. I have personally never used PostNuke, but from what I have seen, it seems to offer a very good option. Both (www.phpnuke.org) and (www.postnuke.com) use their respective products, but you can see another PHPNuke site at (http://www.starprograms.com). I also use this package on one of my sites, the Navy Postal Clerks Association site at (http://www.npcreunion.dreamhost.com) .
Another current favorite of mine is osCommerce available at (http://www.oscommerce.com) . This is another open source and completely free program that focuses on producing dynamic online retail sites. This solution also uses php and mySQL to drive the site. osCommerce is somewhat less polished, so it takes some more work, but here again, an investment of a few weeks to learn this program can yield a nice site as seen at (http://www.darkjade.com) and (http://www.moviepaks.com). Here again, osCommerce has a huge peer support community that produces great addons and scripts that enable users to get their online store to do virtually whatever they want.
A great open source program for displaying pictures online is Coppermine available at (http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/) . This program lets you upload, modify, and share your pictures with family, friends, or clients. Visitors can create accounts so they can upload their pictures for private or public viewing. Each time I have installed this program I have had a few initial problems getting it configured correctly for the server, but I know plenty of other people who got it working without a hitch. I think most people will have a little trial and error getting it to work, but diligence will reward you with a great site that visitors will love. A demo site can be found at the coppermine demo site at (http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/demo/) . Because this site is open source it can be integrated with any other open source product. There are several guidelines and scripts available for integration with PHPNuke and PostNuke.
This is a fairly short list of some of my favorite open source or free website design software packages. There are countless more excellent free solutions out there. Most of the time, you just have to "jump in there", get your hands dirty, and learn as you go. Good luck, and have fun!
Free Online Tools to Design (and Maintain) Your Website
These days, it seems that everyone has a website. Unfortunately, many of these websites are either bland, or sloppily designed by people who don't understand how to use HTML effectively or are intimidated by it. And, they don't have the money to spend on a good page editor, so they limp along using the page templates that their website might provide, or they attempt to use programs like MS Word, which offers conversion to HTML. Yet, there are many free tools available that people can use to give their sites some extra polish that will put them a cut above most sites on the WWW. Here is a listing of three of my favorite online tools that will help you create and manage your site:
ColorMaker (http://www.bagism.com/colormaker/)
This is an essential site to use when designing web pages. It allows you to select the text, link, and background colors from a table. Then, you can preview your choices, and make changes to them to compare different color schemes and change them instantly. It even allows you to upload multiple backgrounds and combine them with your color choices. Once you have found the combination you're going to use, click the link that says, "copy the Body Tag," then copy the text that is shown, and paste it into your document.
Media Builder (http://www.mediabuilder.com)
If you don't have a graphics program, you can still have pictures on your site, and not be limited to their original size or color. GifWorks, part of the MediaBuilder Networks, is a free, online GIF editing program that will transform these files with a number of effects, and even make buttons for your site from any GIF that you upload.
QuickCheck (http://www.elsop.com/linkscan/quickcheck.html)
Nothing is more annoying on a website than dead links. But, checking links manually is quite time consuming, especially if you have many links on your pages. However, there is a free service that checks the links on your webpages, and even validates the HTML. Your pages can have up to 200 links each, and you can check 10 pages per hour and 50 per day.
I hope these tools help you to make your website even better than it is currently. Please let me know what you think of them.
Business Opportunity Seeker Excommutercated
Are you tired of commuting to work, racing the clock to get there on time, dressing in work clothes everyday, and feel like your whole life is just stuck in traffic. If you do, use these proven 12 free tools, to start your business opportunity at home, and gain your freedom with no money and no-risk.
Jo Rowling, was a 32-year old mom on welfare, who wrote an hour a day when her daughter napped. Today, she is the well-known, JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. Her business opportunity is writing, 5 books in 5 years, 2 of the books were made into films, and her reported net worth is about $500 million.
She says "I didn't know I'd be successful one day, but I knew if I at least tried, I'd have a chance. I don't believe I'm more talented than anyone else, I'm just bloody persistent, and work at it, every bloody day."
12 Free Tools To Pursue Your Business Opportunity
1) Free "100 Hot Home Business Opportunities" If you're short on ideas, this survey of home business owners tell which businesses they would start if not presently running one. (http://www.homebusinessfree.com/home-business.htm)
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3) Free Search Engine Submission Sites allow you submit your business opportunity without a fee. (http://www.google.com) (http://www.lycos.com) (http://www.altavista.com)
4) Free Website Analysis Have a professional evaluate your business opportunity's. website by email.
(http://www.idesignbusiness.com)
5) Free Advertising Links Free service allows your business opportunity to build up links. (http://www.linkpartners.com)
6) Free Banner Exchange Easy sign up for your business opportunity. (http://www.linkbuddies.com).
7) Free Email Mailings Allows your business opportunity to email professionally. (http://www.zinester.com)
8) Free Article Submission Write an article about your business opportunity. (http://www.articlecity.com)
9) Free Recommend A Site Allow visitors to tell their friends about your site. (http://www.recommend-it.com)
10) Free Newsletter Covers all areas of web commerce. (http://www.netmechanic.com)
11) Free Yahoo Store 30-day trial to test your business opportunity. (http://store.yahoo.com)
12) Free Internet Marketing Forums Discussion groups to promote your business opportunity. (http://www.supertips.com/forums/list.htm)
Bradley Alexander, found his business opportunity as a ticket broker six months ago, says "I absolutely love working at home, I can't even remember my annoying supervisor's name any longer, I 've more profitable things to concentrate now on." Instead of supplying tickets to all events, Brad has found the niche market of supplying tickets to rock concerts in several nearby cities during the same tour plus offering transportation.
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