easy web design - Industry Trend or Event

Home Office Computing, April, 2001 by Carol S. Holzberg

NEED MORE?

If you want more advanced features than those offered by the three products we reviewed, check out GoLive 5.0 ($299; Adobe Systems Inc., 888-724-4508, www.adobe.com), Dreamweaver 4.0 ($299; Macromedia, 800-457-1775, www.macromedia.com), or Fusion 5.0 ($299; NetObjects Inc., 888-892-0702, www.netobjects.com). All offer robust editing options for hand-coding, detailed Web site statistics, and reports, and the ability to add other technologies such as JavaScript, QuickTime, Shockwave, or XML. The prices are higher, the learning curves are steep, and the handholding is usually minimal, but the results are breathtaking.

ONLINE WEB DESIGN TOOLS

If you're new to Web page design and unsure about investing in a professional Web design package, you can still build an effective Web presence using the free Web site design services at Yahoo! Geocities (geocities.yahoo.com), Homestead (homestead.com), Lycos Tripod (tripod.lycos.com), and AOL Hometown (hometown.aol.com). Each site features free site-builder tools and templates to simplify the design process and host your Web site.

Most of these services work the same way. Yahoo! Geocities, for example, offers members several design wizards including one tailored for businesses. Simply follow onscreen prompts: Choose a Web page design, type a title for the page, enter text describing your products or services, choose a picture (GIF or JPEG), add important links and contact information, then name the page. When you're done, the page Wizard uploads your finished site to the Yahoo! Geocities server, then gives you a URL.

You can make changes, add new content, or customize a Yahoo! Geocities Web page once it's complete by launching Yahoo! PageBuilder from your browser. The online software lets you add clip art, photographs, backgrounds, and special page effects like transitions and animated logos; then upload your changes to the Yahoo! Geocities server when you're done.