Web page software – A brief look at some of the choices available.
Choosing the right web page software, contrary to what most people think, is not that difficult. If you know exactly what kind of websites you want to create, you can easily choose a software program that meets your expectations.
The choices available
There are a number of choices available. The most popular software programs are FrontPage, Coffee Cup, XSite Pro, and Dreamweaver. You can also choose an open source program such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Mambo.
FrontPage
FrontPage from Microsoft used to be the most preferred web page software some time back. It has now been discontinued and Microsoft has come up with HTML editors like SharePoint Designer and Expression Web, both of which have a lot of advanced features. However, a lot of people still use FrontPage to build websites as it has plenty of ready made templates and web authoring solutions.
XSite Pro
XSite Pro is a pretty neat web page software program, which you can use even if you are technically challenged. It has an impressive set of SEO features, which makes it a favorite with internet marketers who want to build search engine friendly websites. One of the problems with XSite Pro is that importing an XSP site into another editor could be a tad difficult. XSP has a built-in feature that creates a master CSS style sheet every time you publish with it. So, unless you delete this master style sheet, you will not be able to use your own style sheets. This is something you need to remember while using XSite Pro to build websites.
Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver works with both Windows and Mac OS and supports a number of web technologies and server side scripting languages. Though it is usually considered a code-dense web page software program, it has a neat little feature that hides the HTML code and lets people create web pages without getting confused with code details. So, non-coders find it just as useful as people who have coding knowledge.
The steep price tag might concern some people, but loyal Dreamweaver users feel that the software is well worth the price tag. I would say that if you are looking to build complex, high quality websites, Dreamweaver is the best bet. If you are looking to build simple static websites, you can use a free HTML editor instead.
Coffee Cup
Coffee Cup is basically a two-in-one web page software program. If you have a good knowledge of HTML, you can use the code editor. If you do not know HTML, you can use the drag and drop WYSIWYG visual editor. The interface is pretty easy to use. You can add an image, table, list, or a DHTML menu very easily. Overall, it is a pretty neat tool.
CMS (content management system) software
If you are looking to build dynamic sites, you can try open source software like Joomla, Drupal, PHP-Nuke, or WordPress. WordPress, in particular, is preferred by many since it is free, easy to use, and is very search engine friendly.
Choosing the right web page software
Never choose something just because it is popular. Unless you use
the right software, you will not be able to build websites the way you
want. So, always choose a web page software program that meets your
expectations
and suits your budget.
