...so what's the best and easiest website authoring software?...

[fonts]

...and what does this stuff cost?...

[hottrocker]

If what your looking for is just a static type of page with decent widgets...If its FLASH your looking for there are a couple of options. One is called SWISH and another is called A4Desk. Both of these FLASH web design tools are VEERRRRYYY easy to use. Swish is if I remember right about 40 bucks. A4Desk is free except to purchase the actual site template. By using the templates you can design a fully flashed site in minutes. Complete with music loop. If you want more specifices email me.

[ignition]

A lot of people use Dreamweaver. I think the price is pretty steep though -- ~$400 if i remember correctly.

I've been using Frontpage recently just because it was included with Office, and it works fine for the basic stuff I need it to do.

travis

[DigitalDon]

How about Netobjects Fusion MX? It's at http://www.netobjects.com/netobjects2.html for $99. Anyone tried it? I bought it on eBay a while back but haven't had time to load it up and try it.

DD

[Synesthesia]

The best way is to learn HTML yourself...that costs no money (well, maybe the cost of a couple good books). It takes a bit of time, but if you're at all computer savvy then it's not THAT hard. Plus, doing your own code gives you much greater control over your final product. When you're making really complex layouts in FrontPage or Dreamweaver, it's very easy to accidentally screw something up and not even know it, so that the page may look awesome on your browser but akin to s**t on someone else's. What's more, these programs cost hundreds of dollars that are better spent on music gear.

There's a lot you can accomplish using basic HTML and a good layout design. Design something on paper first, then research how you'd do it using as little as possible. Most layouts can be accomplished with innovative use of tables. You might even be able to get by on online tutorials, just do a google search. However, if you REALLY want the complex stuff, such as javascript, cascading style sheets, or Flash multimedia, you might want to consider an investment. I find Macromedia's Dreamweaver to be slightly less incompetent than FrontPage.

My other bit of valuable advice is to learn to do some graphics. It doesn't have to be fancy, but investing $50 in Paint Shop Pro and learning to do some simple but sleek layered 2D graphics will make your simple website look much more professional.

-Derrick

[zekthedeadcow]

yeah I'd recommend learning HTML yourself along with server side includes (make life a lot easier with updates)

a good tutorial in HTML can be found at http://www.glassdog.com

If I forsome reason get stuck I use StarOffice or Netscape

[Mountainmirrors]

I love Namo Web Editor.
It has great templates and is easy to update.
Very similar to Front Page, but not so sterile.