website building
 

I know almost nothing about website design but I've decided to try to build a simple "brochure" site for my business with nothing more complicated than a couple of password protected pages and making some documents available for downloading. I've been looking at a template creation product called Artisteer that will produce themes and complete web pages for Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal and HTML. I'm wondering which format I should go with for my site. I'm thinking my site should be static and I want it to be easy to maintain. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If this is for a business, consult with a designer/developer.

If a simple static site is what you're after, I think an HTML site will be best. Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal are all great but they're also more complicated and require more knowledge.

Website building
 

The easiest way to do this would be to use WordPress. You don't have to worry about 3rd party software to accomplish your goals and its pretty much straight forwards.

I think you can request to add me as a friend and maybe I can give you even more info if needed.

The best way for your site will be wordpress. It is very easy to use and it fits all your needs.

I've been thinking that if I used Artisteer I would probably go with HTML. But I've wondered what I would do if Artisteer was discontinued or not supported at some point in the future.

Artisteer is too advanced for the non-designer. Sounds like you might want to start with a site builder, get a decent working site up quickly, then work on something more snazzy later.

I've been considering Wordpress but I've read that there could be problems if I want to have a static site. Am I correct to think that Wordpress is "liquid" oriented? Also, I would want to install the software I use on to my computer so I can build the site then get a host and upload it when ready. I got the impression that Wordpress is usually installed on the host server and then the site is built. I came across some third-party software that would enable a local install but didn't get to the details. I've been looking for WYSIWYG website software and it isn't clear what the learning curve would be for me with Wordpress.

If you' ve been looking for WYSIWYG website software and it isn't clear for you , I recommend to start a simple "brochure" site for your business with wordpress . Wordpress is easy and simple. You can create static website , make a page that password pretected and upload doc to download.

Further more you can track how many it got download with a plug in.

You are correct. Plus, to make a decent looking web site using blog software takes some design talent that many don't have, especially beginners. That's why I think a site builder is good in your case. You can get your site up in one day and then play with more advanced solutions over the next few months.

If you are not going to add content on regular basis, you can go for simple static html site.

I've been looking at some of the site builders offered by various hosts and haven't been real impressed with them. I may end up doing that if other options look too daunting. If you can suggest a particular site builder I would take a closer look.

If I can manage to do a local install of Wordpress I'll find out if it's something I can handle. I've seen some instructions for doing this but I'll have to see if I can mange it. I wonder why a local install isn't a normal option with Wordpress.

I've looked at site builder software other than the ones offered by hosts including something called Sitespinner that may or may not be viable options. It's very difficult for the novice to evaluate site building software because the vendors all claim their product is the greatest thing since sliced bread and yet they all have their detractors.

WordPress will be better as it is user friendly and easy to maintain.