I need some help for my website...

[Maestro]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen.

I was looking around for a good (and free) host for my web site. I think I have found a good one at Freewebservices.net. However, their site builder seems to be kind of limited...

1) I can't download the website builder and work on my website while I'm offline.
2) I can't really do exactly what I want, I always have to follow the Goddamned templates.

A long while back, when Homestead.com was still free, we had that kind of options with a nice "What You See Is What You Get" site builder. However, when it became a pay site, I canceled my membership and dumped the site builder (D'OH !).

Then I went with Yahoo.com but you have to update your site regularly or they will delete your stuff and lock down your site. Mine was locked down one month after I signed in. I kept their site builder but I can't use it for any other host than Yahoo.com.

My "HTMLing" (let's call it that way), isn't good enough for me to build an entire website with Word. That's why I need a good (but flexible) site builder that would also be free. (I looked on Download.com and I saw a site builder at $400.00 USD... Holy sh*t ! I'm not rich... yet !)

That's where I need your help peoples. Does any of you know a good site builder or at least a web host as good as Freewebservices.net that also offer a good site builder ?

[evangilder]

You can use the Yahoo site builder to build what you want and copy the text to a clipboard to post somewhere else. If you like a particular section of a site, if you view the source of the page, it's not difficult to figure out how to copy it. You can use any text editor, like notepad to edit the HTML, and view your changes in firefix or IE locally.

If you can find a copy of Netscape 7.1, it has composer built in that is free. You can use composer to build pages quickly and professionally. My initial website was built by hand with html, then when it got too big to do by hand, I started using composer so that I could use templates for shell pages that I add to and do minor edits. If you can't find it on the web, let me know and I can get it to you, I still have the downloaded file. It's about 30 MB.

[Maestro]

Thanks Evan.

One of my friend gave me a copy of Microsoft Office 2003 with Frontpage yesterday. I will try to see what I can do with it. If it's too complicated, I'll try your Netscape tip.

Thanks a lot for the help anyway.

[Maestro]

Okay, the biggest part of my web site (the characters' datasheet) is done. 22 pages of hard work with JPGs and GIFs using a mix of Microsoft Paint, ACDSee, and Frontpage 2003.

However, I still have a little problem that I still can't solve... I need a banner but I don't have Photoshop ! (And making a banner with Paint would really look crappy.) Anyone feeling generous ?

I would appreciate if someone could either redirect me to a website where I can download it or make the banner for me.

Oh, like my site is still offline, here are a few screenshots...

[evangilder]

What is the theme of your site? What are you looking for in a banner, and what size? I might be able to help.

[Maestro]

Well for the size, I would like something of approximately the same size of the banner we have on here.

The theme of my website is my novel (or serie, if ever I sell enough books to write an other one). So I would like something like WWII RAF fighters mixed with commandos. On it we could read : "Yan Tremblay's Official Website"... Or something like that, as long as it is obvious that I am a writer and that it is my personnal website.

[Nonskimmer]

How are the sales for your book going, anyway?

[Maestro]

Well, I can't tell... There is no way for me to know it exactly except from looking on the "summary" that my publisher sends to me with the check.

I receive a check once every six months. I received my first check in August... So, three months after having it published and it was a small check of $1.92 USD (so two books sold).

Now, it's always a good thing to know that, when you buy a book from a reseller, the store has three full months to pay the publisher (and so the author) for every book sold.

So I must wait untill my second check arrives at the end of February/begining of March to tell you exactly.

I hope my web site will work well as an advertisement and make more peoples buy my book. Because medias here don't give me any chance... Not a single Canadian media requested an interview with me even if I sent media kits to most of them.

Life is like this... In Québec I'm saw as an Imperialist because I wrote about the British and in English-Canada I'm saw as a f*cking separatist because I'm from Québec.

[Maestro]

Okay, after a long search on Google to find nice (non-copyrighted) pictures, I was able to make my first banner. (Okay, I know it looks crappy, but I did the best I could with what I have (ACDSee and Paint).)

However, I couldn't choose between two Spitfire pictures, so I made two versions of my banner. Tell me what you think of them.

[k9kiwi]

The lower one.

It is immediately a spitfire even to those with limited knowledge.

Remember that you are trying to impart interest to the lowest common demoninator with any website.

That translates to. "The gibbering drooling MORON."

The lower one works.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i'd say the bottom one for the sole reason all the pictures are roughly the same width, one suggestion i would make though is to put the two aircraft pictures in the middle with the airborn pictures at the sides, looks more symetrical..........