I have a background in graphic design and would like to start doing some graphic design work for websites. I would like to start designing smaller websites since I am not quite comfortable with serious coding. I do know some basic html and have just started a class in php/mysql. I’m familiar with kompozer and have played around with it.
I was thinking that since I do love graphic design that I could probably start off with websites similar to the following 2:
Is there a certain program used to make the above sites. Or are they simply designed in programs like dreamweaver. I notice the company that designed the cardiganlacrosse site has other sites that look very similar, so I thought maybe there could be a “program or software” used to make them.
Not exactly - think of the template as the “parent file” from this template you would create “child files” these child files follow the rules of the template i.e if in the template the only editable region was the banner then when you open the child file in Dreamweaver all the code would be locked besides say the banner image URL which you could change.
Well, in addition to the above question, does any one know of a cms program that might do the sites similar to those 2 above? I’ve downloaded dozens of open source cms’s and experimented with them over the past week but they are all either very dated or very bloated.
You could use Wordpress and download a free theme which would give you similar layouts to those of the sites you posted, however I think it may be worth you looking for some free html/css templates as there are plenty out there that would have a similar layout and you could then learn from the code.
(I feel like I’m having a conversation with myself…however…)
Another observation:
I notice in the kamalame site code certain regions are “editable”: The meta region, The header and The content.
Is this standard with templates? I’ve never used a template so not sure how that works. I know in cms programs you can change certain parts of text with an editor like FCKeditor or TinyMCe. But not sure how it works with templates.
They are both quite basic sites - kamalame.com/about.htm is using a Dreamweaver template that may or may not have been custom made by the creator. You can easily achieve the look of both sites using HTML and CSS. Hope this is the information you was looking for!
Thanks again Ant that worked!. I downloaded a css template last night and was able to get it to look exactly the way i wanted! Can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Couldn’t figure out how to import a css file into kompozer though. Uploaded it to my server and played with the files there.
So with templates you basically have to just duplicate the one page you’re given? And connect the links? Seems tedious compared to being able to use a software, but it will work for what I am wanting to start doing I suppose.
Well, in addition to the above question, does any one know of a cms program that might do the sites similar to those 2 above? I’ve downloaded dozens of open source cms’s and experimented with them over the past week but they are all either very dated or very bloated.
Thanks Baylisstic,
How can you tell it is Dreamweaver?
Okay, nevermind, I see the dwt. I’ve seen that before just never knew it was dreamweaver!
I’ve never used dreamweaver, so would it be as simple as uploading a template and adding info? How similar is it to kompozer in handling and altering files? Easier? More complicated?
