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Cheapest website design programmes

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  • 25-06-2009 12:33pm
    #1
    ciaobellaciao1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭


    I imagine this question has been asked many times before, so please just forward me to another thread if necessary. :-)

    Some friends of mine are interested in setting up a website without it costing the earth - preferably gratis! The website will look something like this:
    http://cineuropa.org/index.aspx?lang=en
    but a little less complex.
    There will be images and videos posted on the site, as well as text.

    Could someone here please post up a list of five of the cheapest programmes available that are suitable for novices?

    Thank you!
    Tagged:


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    #2
    yoyo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,015 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo


    Joomla or Drupal are both decent free CMS programs should help

    Nick

    My Beer Glass collection site 🍺

    My Irish Callcards site



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    #3
    ciaobellaciao1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭ciaobellaciao1


    yoyo wrote: »
    Joomla or Drupal are both decent free CMS programs should help

    Nick


    Cool, thanks. I forgot to mention that the site will also feature a forum. Do these programs offer that feature?


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    #4
    Liam Byrne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,163 ✭✭✭✭Liam Byrne


    ciaobellaciao1 wrote: »
    Cool, thanks. I forgot to mention that the site will also feature a forum. Do these programs offer that feature?

    PHPBB is free, and vBulletin is about €150.


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    #5
    yoyo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,015 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo


    ciaobellaciao1 wrote: »
    Cool, thanks. I forgot to mention that the site will also feature a forum. Do these programs offer that feature?

    You can download forum modules for either yep, also they have community modules so you can have a "Facebook" type community setup all integrated into the site, I think Joomla might be the better option for this

    Nick

    My Beer Glass collection site 🍺

    My Irish Callcards site



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    #6
    littlegreenman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24 ✭littlegreenman


    I'd second Joomla. I can't comment on Drupal as I haven't used it before. Typo3 I've found to be a bit more complicated to get setup.

    Whatever you pick you need one that is constantly being updated / patched and improved upon.


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    #7
    Hydrosylator
    Closed Accounts Posts: 275 ✭✭Hydrosylator


    phpBB is a decent forum system which plugs into Joomla, or it did the last time I looked.

    Drupal has it's own built-in (deactivated by default) forum but I don't know how good it is.

    For any of these you'll need to ftp files to a server. Use filezilla .
    You'll also need to set up a (MySQL, most likely) database for a content management system but this isn't as hard as it sounds. Ask your host nicely and they'll do it for you.

    You'll need a unique template if you're going to be taken seriously, and templates are complex enough. I'd say go for a free one that sets the right tone, then make original logos, etc.

    One thing that can't be stressed enough, do all your development off-line.
    Use xampp or something like it to host all the stuff on your computer until it's perfect. Then and only then should you release.

    When looking for a CMS, and a template, try and get one that is accessible or one that has valid XHTML and CSS. these are things that will help your search engine results.


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