Often we hear - I have Front Page or I have Word and would like to edit my own web site. While they can be a good place to learn building a personal web site. I'll give you some good reasons why you don't want to use those products to build or even edit a business web page.
1) The code they create "behind the scenes" is bloated. There are a lot of unnecessary items that make the web page slow to load and can create viewing problems in some browsers. An example is one of the first web sites I did looked great in Internet Explorer - but I soon discovered in Netscape it was nothing but little boxes - no text to read at all! So I did a test - I used Word and Front Page to create a page with a 3 word sentence. Nothing fancy - just black text in the default size and style - and guess what I got? I got PAGES of code for those three words! The same 3 words in a good web tool is about 5 "words" of code. You can guess which was fast loading and which caused problems! All that extra code is also confusing to search engines which will penalize your site for using them.
2) Again, many of the Microsoft programs such as Word or Front Page or Publisher look good in Microsoft browsers...but you will lose the Mac, Netscape, Firefox and other users of the world due to the propriatory code they use. Sometimes they can't even be edited in other products - a good example is Microsoft Publisher. The code is a mess of tables within tables - and if a designer wanted redesign the site, it would be less expensive to start over!
3) You are limited by the scripts you can include on your page. Scripts are an important part of an interactive web page. Most propriatory programs we've talked abut need special hosting that can understand the code it writes - for example, Front Page requires the server to have "Front Page Extensions" to make many things work properly. So you are hampered in your ability to find the best and most affordable hosting. They are also notorious for changing the code you meticulously type in - adding and deleting things that usually hampers the way the code works. So you spend all day putting in a script and it won't work the second it's saved!
4) Online web builder programs (ex: homesite, geocities) are good beginner tools as well. Their forte is allowing the mass public put cool thingys into a template with little effort for personal sites. The limitations are you have to like their typically bla templates and most of the do-dads you can add are essentially useless or can even be harmful to a business site (ask what happens when you have a guestbook and an irate customer!). The other drawback is many generate no readable code that search engines can see. So you are creating "blank" pages on the internet for search engine purposes.
4) Some page design programs (ie: Front Page) add extra files and directories that hog space on your server. Front page makes a copy of every file you upload - and stores it in hidden folders. Not only does this use twice as much space, it can create problems seeing changes you make. On more than one occasion Front Page has gotten "confused" and keeps showing the stored page rather than the new one - and it's difficult to correct the problem without server access.
5) Front Page and others are easy to use for beginners - but soon you'll realize it's limitations. You'll go to add a snippet of code you found and Front Page will rewrite it - and the code won't work. You can take a well done website and destroy the background coding so it no longer works, just by importing it into Front Page. When Front Page "rewrites" the code to it's own specifications it may render the whole portions of the website useless.
If you think my whole purpose is to diss Front Page - no, you are wrong. My first web site was done in Front Page - and second and third. But by then I realized it's limitations and began looking for something better. It is a great beginner tool. You'll find novice web designers (and do it yourselfers) love it because it's fairly easy. However, soon you'll outgrow it and look for something that can do the one thing you really need! I can recommend a lot of design programs, but you'll find the best designers use Dreamweaver or hand code simply because they are the most versitile.
If your main wish is to edit something someone else has built for you - we highly recommend Easy Edit Pro an elegantly simple editor. If you can make basic changes in a word like editor. It won't let you mess up the design or coding either. Let us know and we can inexpensively install it for you!
If your desire is just to edit a site you've already had built - have the designer install a content management system. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches and it will help you to not mess up the important underlying code.
Web Resources for Do-it-Yourselfers
Web development classes run $1,500 - $2,500.00 per course. There are about 11 courses depending on what aspects of web design and development are needed. The courses aren't geared toward teaching all of the tips and tricks, but the basics using the typical web design/development software available. Most topics are general not gone through in great detail. You will have to also do research on the web or take additional college level classes, depending on what you expect to do. At minimum you'll also need common web development software such as Dreamweaver which is $399, image editing software such as Photoshop $999, Fireworks $299, and possibly Flash Professional $699, Illustrator $699, or Acrobat Professional $449.00, or a suite for $1,699.00 which can be obtained from Macromedia.com.
It should take you around 6 months to 1 year to complete all the courses you might want or need before you can start building, or seriously edit, your website. Of course the courses run 3-5 weeks each, usually during business hours. Classes are sometimes available in a classroom with standup trainers who do the same classes in 3-5 days per course, but you may have to travel as they are often in central locations such as Pittsburgh or Denver. Of course you'll also want to get some courses specific to the software like Dreamweaver, Photoshop or Illustrator which is additional.
If you would like local tutoring or phone support for something specific relating to Dreamweaver, etc., accomodation is at the above rates.
(recommend!)