Help please...

[LoganADC]

Hello, I'm trying to start a website for a sail boat I crew on. Finding a hosting service is not a problem, but if some one could recomend a one I would appreciate it, we are not trying to spend too much money (maybe $200 for three years of service.)

The problem I really need help with is what program to use to create the content. I am relatively computer savy, but don't have the time to learn flash, or html scripts. Alot of hosting providers include a template based program for building websites, but they are not customizable nough for my taste. Some years ago I made a geocities site using java. That is what I am looking for. Something where i can just drag and drop diffrent elements/images/text where ever I need it. Simple, but not cookie-cutter simple.

Thank you for your help.

[Mayday]

Well, first off, if you want to improve your chances of making your site look the way you want, some basic HTML knowledge will be very much to your advantage, and won't take a lot of time to learn. And on Geocities, I highly doubt you used Java; you more likely 'dragged and dropped' elements created with JavaScript - 2 entirely diffferent entities (though I haven't looked at Geocities in years, so if I'm incorrect, oh well).

Anyway, you would do yourself a great service to at least gander at some basic HTML tutorials/explanations, as even if you discover a nice drag and drop tool, you can enhance their cookie-cutter stuff to look more dynamic. Who knows, if you discover you pick it up quicker than you thought, you might even find it easier and better to make your web page through hand coding rather than through pre-fab elements. ;)

Some places to start:
http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/
http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/myfirstsite/
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/getting_started/

[Charles]

Do not follow that link to HTML Goodies. That site has a long history of incorrect and incomplete information. Building a web page is as much about engineering as it is art. And engineering is all about watching out for the un-intended consequences. See http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?p=985485#post985485 .

[toicontien]

There are a myriad open source content management systems out there. If you can find a web host that supports PHP, then Joomla (http://www.joomla.org/) or Drupal (http://drupal.org/) may be what you want.