Is Front Page the best for me?

[dsi]

Although I am a programmer, I have not done much in the way of web site design. I have been told that I should look into Front Page, so that is what I am doing.

I am looking to create a basic company web site. It will have links to stuff like About Us, Our Services, etc. The pages will be mostly text with some graphics, nothing fancy. It will have to look professional though. I may also want a page that allows the user to enter some data into textboxes and then have it e-mailed to me.

What will I need to consider with a web site host if I do go with Front Page? Do I just need to make sure that they allow Front Page extensions?

Simple stuff, I know. I just want to know if you think Front Page is the way to go. I don't have a tremendous amount of time to spend on this, so I need a software package is somewhat easy to use.

Please give me your thoughts on this.

Thank you for your time!

 

[unit512]

Sounds like you are on top of it.

I use Frontpage, Dreamweaver and assorted HTML code programs.

FP is the best all around for simple to mid level sophisticated sites.

 

[Garridon]

For the site you're doing, it sounds like FrontPage would be the best choice. It's fairly easy for someone without a lot of web experience to work with.

Some notes, however. Some of the stuff, like hover buttons and colored lines for tables, do not work with all the browsers. For instance, the hover buttons look fantastic in IE, but if you look at them in Netscape, they're turn black. You'll want to try to design for both browsers, so make sure you view your web page in Netscape and IE. That way, you can tell right away there's a problem and make adjustments.

The problem you are most likely to run into is that you're, as you said, a programmer and not a web designer. Programmers can have a harder time understanding how to work with graphics and what makes a site look good. You may want to visit some web sites or pick up some books on what to do and what not to do. Plus, of course, visit your competition's site and see what they have.



Linda Adams
Garridon@aol.com

http://www.geocities.com/hallona_2000

I'm a professional writer, published internationally.

 

[dsi]

Thanks for your input. By the sounds of it, Front Page would provide the complete solution. Thanks for the heads up on different browsers.

 

[Guest_imported]

I've been working with front page to build our intranet. In regards to our reporting section I need to be able to add many new reports to the department pages every week. Is there a way to automate the hyperlinks to appear once the new report is saved to the proper directory??

If so I would really appreciate the advice or just being pointed in the right direction.

 

[Bunni]

I've done what you're trying to do by using a script to "fake" the links. Actually all the script did was report a list of all pages in the directory and turn them into links with the page title as the link text. By using the script results in a (seamless) frame on the page I accomplished basically what you are trying to do by just uploading my report pages to that directory.

The script I used is tree.pl and you can find it at:

http://www.ev-stift-gymn.guetersloh.de/server/tree_e.html

The site seems to be down. If that's not a temporary thing you can email me for the script.

bunni@bunni.com