For those who do their own site

[tonymcclellan]

I am coming up on the end of my host contract and am wondering which direction I should pursue. I have Macromedia Dreamweaver, but it is not as easy as they make it sound.

I have checked out Website Builder for Easy Website Design Software and Allen Hills site. Does anyone have any good hosts with good web builders? BTW my previous host was Lunar Pages and it worked well.

[rsmith31]

website builder is what i use and its great and very simple to use.

[tonymcclellan]

The link I posted? ibuilt.net

[rachael24]

I will have to check it out...I am in the process of making my site for my new fitness club. Thanks!

[rsmith31]

another great website for building and hosting a site is Free website builder trial - build your site with WebsiteWizard

[tonymcclellan]

I heard Craig Ballantyne say today that he uses that one.

[Jean-Paul]

I really like the people who built my site. They specialize in fitness sites. I am thinking about doing an online meeting with them so people can get some ideas of how to use their sites to build their businesses.

[rachael24]

Im also a huge advocate of website builder...Good luck!

[tonymcclellan]

Well someone mentioned how dreamweaver is easy to use once you get used to it. So I decided to give it another shot.

Now my new site is almost done. Its all about tables!!!!!

[Jean-Paul]

Dreamweaver? Is is one of those free downloadable software deals? I might just have to try them for a couple of things I want to do.

[RedWifey]

No, JP! Don't do it! You have too much already on your plate. Please let's talk before you do this.

[Keith S.]

Personally what I've found easiest to use when building a website is a CMS (Content Management System), such as Symphony (Overture – The Complete Resource Center for Symphony) or Joomla (Joomla!) (both of which are open source). Basically what it is, is you install their web software to your site, and then you install a template* (which will be the same for every page - you don't have to worry about coding 30 different pages).

There is a back end to these sites where you can manage the data that is shown to users. It's fairly simple to get a hang of.

You can find more CMS's at: Home - OpenSourceCMS

*Templates are easy to find premade and you can also just download some and edit them (in dreamweaver) and have a custom one made.


The cool thing about Symphony is that it's pretty much completely open ended (however it's a little more advanced), where as some of the others are easier to learn, but do have their limits.

Tony (or anyone else),
If you're still looking for web site design help, or need any help with the design you're working on feel free to PM me. I am in the middle of rebuilding my own site as well.

Good luck!

[tonymcclellan]

another guy mentioned this joomla to me. Honestly its going much easier now that I understand tables. My site is simple anyways for now, just four pages.

JP Dreamweaver is the Adobe program. Not free by any means, $500+ I think. However there are ways around this.

[Keith S.]

Originally Posted by tonymcclellan

JP Dreamweaver is the Adobe program. Not free by any means, $500+ I think. However there are ways around this.

I like the way you think.

Really though, if you need any help feel free to give me a shout.

[kuri]

Thanks for the info Keith, I'm going to look at those.

I've been using Dreamweaver the past 5 years and find it pretty user friendly- and yes JP you'll pay $500 unless Tony is feeling generous.

[mjgiorgianni]

I've never used website builder before, I'll have to try. Thanks for the tip. I use Dreamweaver and have never had any issues. Kind of like Frontpage but 10x better.

If you are looking for a good website designer check out Finly Design at Finlydesign.com - ask for Arifin, great guy and very affordable. He did my for sale by owner website at AZFSBOSearch.com

[Chris Correia]

Originally Posted by kuri

Thanks for the info Keith, I'm going to look at those.

I've been using Dreamweaver the past 5 years and find it pretty user friendly- and yes JP you'll pay $500 unless Tony is feeling generous.

eMule - Official eMule Site. Downloads, Help, Docu, News, ...

[Lisa~]

Disclaimer: I’m going to suggest you spend money on something. I won’t profit from it, but I do have a personal connection. My intention is to be helpful, so I hope my reputation here will allow me this indulgence.


We know there are a whole lot of bad web designs out there, especially in the fitness industry.

It is obvious to us as personal trainers that sometimes a potential client does not even realize what they don’t know and what a trainer could do for them. We can see why just winging it in the gym isn’t smart, but they can’t comprehend what’s missing until we show them. The same thing is true for other industries, including the web design industry. While it’s possible to create your own website from basic template designs, you’d be missing out. You don’t even know what it is that you don’t know!

Some of us really want to be professional in an industry that's full of con artists. The fitness industry has a reputation like bad car salesmen. Using a template site can make your web design look like a scam or something thrown together in five minutes. The web is essential in today's market, but template sites look cheap. They’re like the celebrity workout videos of the fitness world.

If any of you are even considering using a professional web designer, then take a look at iMarc. Their web designs are exceptional, letting design, content, and purpose drive the creation process. My daughter, Elyse, works for them as a designer. If you're not ready to pay for full service web development, she also does some freelance work on the side. I alerted her to this thread and asked her to stop by.

[tonymcclellan]

Thanks Lisa.

Kuri, JP doesnt need me to get his own copy of dw. I only had myself.