Website Design Software - Recommendations?

[Lumpy]

Okay, I need help from the website designers on CP! Here is my situation...

I designed a website for the company that I work for and it has been a pain in the ass from the beginning. First, I designed the pages in MS Publisher 2003, (bad program to use, I know... but my boss is cheap, lol). I then set-up an account through a free web host, (zymic.com), so I can test the appearance and functionality of the pages.

I originally tried to upload the html file to zymic, (via the "Publish To Web" function in Publisher), but it didn't work. I then downloaded FileZilla, (FTP) and was able to publish the pages just fine. All of the hyperlinks worked correctly and the layout looked great.

The problem I'm having is with form submissions. I have a few pages that have forms where people can fill out information then submit the data to us. When they click, "submit", the data should be sent to us via email. However, that is not the case. After you click the "submit" button on the page it brings up "404 Page Not Found".

After doing some research, I found out that this error is caused due to the web host not having FPSE, (FrontPage server extensions), installed. According to a few 'help' sites, they recommend uploading the html file and the forms will work. But that is not an option as zymic.com apparently doesn't support html uploads or it's a Publisher issue. (?!)

What I would like to do now is say to hell w/ using Publisher and use a real program. I would like to find website design software that would be compatible with ftp uploading, (as this seems to work well w/ the web host-zymic). I would also like to go with software that is similar to Publisher where I can design the pages then upload them to FileZilla. The form submissions are an extremely important portion of our site, so the program would need to be able to transfer the form codes via FTP and work correctly when the site is published to zymic.

This is my first rodeo w/ designing a website, (I'm a graphic designer not a web designer), so if you can refrain from calling me a reerun, that would be nice. I'm also not completely opposed to using a different web host, but I chose zymic because it's free and they do not have ad banners. We own a domain name, but want to make sure everything works correctly before setting our domain name up via the web host.

TIA for any help!

[The Franchise]

Are you looking for free? Do you have a budget to work with?

[The Franchise]

And I'm assuming that you're looking for something more along the line of you doing the design and the program doing the coding? Or are you wanting to do your own coding as well?

[loochy]

Notepad + HTML book from library

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Are you looking for free? Do you have a budget to work with?

I'm not really looking for free, but I'm going to be the one paying for it, so cheap is good.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

And I'm assuming that you're looking for something more along the line of you doing the design and the program doing the coding? Or are you wanting to do your own coding as well?

You're correct. I hate html coding.

[BoneKrusher]

i like playing around with Headers if you need one.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Lumpy

You're correct. I hate html coding.

http://web-design-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

WebEasy Professional is ranked #1. It's $49.95. I haven't used it (I use Dreamweaver) but it looks like it should handle everything you need.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by BoneKrusher

i like playing around with Headers if you need one.

Actually, I had considered hitting you up for navigation buttons. The buttons I designed were ok, but were very difficult to read. I will NEVER design anything ever again after I've taken a sleeping pill.

[BoneKrusher]

Originally Posted by Lumpy

Actually, I had considered hitting you up for navigation buttons. The buttons I designed were ok, but were very difficult to read. I will NEVER design anything ever again after I've taken a sleeping pill.

i'd be glad to try and remember it's free.
when you're ready just let me know if you want rectangle or round

and the size.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

http://web-design-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

WebEasy Professional is ranked #1. It's $49.95. I haven't used it (I use Dreamweaver) but it looks like it should handle everything you need.

There we go! Thanks! I'll look into that one. It doesn't state anything about form creation, but I would assume that most programs have that feature? Have you created forms using Dreamweaver? That was another program that I've heard about, but I'm sure it's more complex.

[The Franchise]

It might be boring.....but you can browse through these YouTube videos to see everything that it does.

This is the first one.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by BoneKrusher

i'd be glad to try and remember it's free.
when you're ready just let me know if you want rectangle or round

and the size.

Free is good! I really like the look of the signature buttons, (the "mirror" effect), that you made for me! I was thinking something like that, but I would like them to have the rollover effect. I will definitely keep you in mind!

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

It might be boring.....but you can browse through these YouTube videos to see everything that it does.

This is the first one.

That looks pretty damn simple. Plus, they did mention form creation. You're the man, Pest! Thank you!

I'm just a bit concerned that I'm going to put a lot of time into rebuilding the pages then have the upload fail again or the forms not work. Of course, w/ them showing that it supports ftp uploading, I should be in the clear.

It would have been nice had zymic.com listed recommended programs that were compatible w/ their site. /sigh But THAT would be too easy.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by loochy

Notepad + HTML book from library

WTF is a library?!