There are many different types of website software that you can use to build a website. Although for many years FrontPage and Dreamweaver have been the go-to applications, newer players have arrived, so read this article before you get website software.

Three Types of Software to Consider When you Get Website Software

There are three types of website software: the kind that comes in a box or a download, the kind available on your web hosts site. Here's some more information about both of them, and the kind that emerges from use of one or more programming languages by a website developer.

Out of the Box

• The Old Standbys

Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Dreamweaver have been longtime front runners for people creating their own websites, FrontPage used by people on a Windows operating system, and Dreamweaver used by those with Macs or Windows machines. Dreamweaver offers a choice of a coding environment, a WYSIWYG environment, or a split view showing both code and results, as well as integration with the rest of the Adobe Suite, which makes seamless interactions in creating website components and content, as well as the site itself, possible. FrontPage was part of Microsoft Office at one time, and was a WYSIWYG HTML editor. It has now been replaced by two programs—Microsoft Expression Web, a member of the Expression Studio suite, and Sharepoint Designer, a more limited product that requires Microsoft SharePoint Server of Microsoft SharePoint Foundation in order to operate.

.• The Newer Choices

• Coming highly recommended for WYSIWYG, but offering no scripting language capability is Intuit Website Creator, which is provided as SaaS (Software as a Service) with a low monthly subscription charge. It provides a large number of templates, and built in capability of linking to PayPal and creating a Point-of Sale-portal. Unlike Dreamweaver, it does not support Flash Player.
• Web Studio 4 is a web design program for novices, but has limited customization capabilities and doesn't have basics like an image cropping tool.
• Web Easy Professional 8 is easy for the non-programmer with a WYSIWYG interface and allow building of a website without any knowledge of HTML. While it has a number of special effects and drag-and-drop simplicity, the only media that can be played or recorded for sites is audio, and its template selection is limited.

On the Web

The other kind of website software you can get is the kind on your webhost's site. Generally, this is free software provided along with a webhosting plan. Examples include:

• Yahoo Site Solution

• GoDaddy Website Tonight

Because these products are integrated into a web hosting package, whatever you implement will link seamlessly with the other elements of your package, making a coherent site.

Coded

For the programmer—or the person who hires a programmer—a website grows out of .ASP or PHP or one or more other programming languages. This approach provides enormous flexibility and room for innovation, but it's not for everyone.