Creating content online and getting your message out into the world is easier than ever before. You can find many tools that let you create beautiful websites, both personal and business-oriented, without writing a single line of code. And if you’re already using simple Web design tools, you may be able to take your projects to the next level with some of the more advanced developer tools I cover below.
To find all the downloads in one handy list, see our “Create or Improve Your Own Websites With These Great Tools” collection.
Build Personal Websites
Open an Online Store or a Business Site
If the website you wish to open is not exactly a personal home page but isn’t an online store either, consider a more general-purpose service. Weebly is a service that lets you create pretty much any kind of website you can think of, using visual drag-and-drop tools.
Start Your Own Blog
Blogs are another important category of websites. And by far, the most popular blogging platform in the world is WordPress. On WordPress.com you can open your own blog and customize it free of charge. The service currently hosts about 30 million different blogs, so it must be doing something right.
If you’d rather design your WordPress theme in a Windows application, try Artisteer. A commercial tool priced at $130, Artisteer lets you create themes not just for WordPress but also for several other content management systems.
Take Things to the Next Level
While WordPress is a fantastic system, it is definitely not the only game in town. After you’ve built a WordPress site or two, you may want to expand your horizons and learn more about Web development in general. One good resource is Lynda.com. At this site you can view detailed online video courses on a wide variety of computer-related subjects. For instance, I’ve used Lynda.com to learn more about PHP programming, as well as about Ruby; the videos weren’t always riveting, but they were certainly useful.
If you like the idea of writing your own code, you’re going to need a good programmer’s text editor. I personally recommend Vim. It’s an ancient editor that is still under active development, and it can be tricky to master. Once you get the hang of it, though, you may well wonder how you ever wrote code without it.
Whether you’re just starting out with Web development or you already know CSS 3 by heart, pick the tool or tools appropriate for your skill set. The programs available are powerful enough to do all of the hard work, whether you’re building a new site (be it your first or your tenth) or buffing an existing one to an irresistible shine.
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