So you’re looking to make a website but your developer knowledge is a bit shaky. The tutorials on Dreamweaver Made Simple are great for learning how to code but there are other ways to put together a site. Two other ways you could think about are using Joomla and Wordpress. Once installed onto your web server you can use their in built admin sections to add content to your site. If you’re discovering your first coding language then building a website can be very difficult. The basics of coding such as syntax are the backbone of every language so approaching one for the first time isn’t straight forward. If you find yourself in this situation then look into Joomla and Wordpress first.

So as discussed Joomla and Wordpress are content management systems (CMS). Wordpress has it’s benefits and it is mainly used for blogging purposes. There is a load of free customizable themes you can assign to your site very swiftly. Also with a click of a button you can add widgets to your webpage to display your twitter feed or a list of tags you’ve used in your posts. Wordpress isn’t the only CMS choice, Joomla is also a worthy option, particularly if you’re looking to do more than just blog. It’s been created to handle more than just blog posts and you can make more advanced additions than just widgets such as adding ecommerce systems and communication tools.

So these content management systems have a lot of advantages, why use Dreamweaver? Do these online tools have drawbacks? Room for creativity and originality is somewhat sparse when using a template. The ability to mould your site in anyway you want to can only be taken advantage of when coding from scratch. In addition if you want to create something very basic then you might not even require all the extra functionality that Joomla and Wordpress supply. If you are a large organization then building a site via a template might give the wrong impression. A template can sometimes appear unprofessional. Personal use however, this is not so much of an issue.

So lets consider your knowledge of code and what the top option is for you. You should think about exactly what your trying to make. Wordpress is the perfect choice for a personal blog. Joomla is great for company websites but you need to think about the site’s complexity. If you’re just trying to get basic information across (text, images etc.) then Dreamweaver is a worthwhile option. With a small knowledge of coding you can put together something original quite speedily. However if you know in advance that your website might need something as complex as an ecommerce system then you should be aware that this takes some seriously good knowledge of different types of coding. Anything where people’s money is involved is advanced stuff and if done incorrectly could put your site at risk from hacking or even violate laws. If Joomla provides pre-built tried and tested code then it will probably be the better option.

So to conclude, if you know what you can and can’t do you can make a good decision on how to go about a project. Look at the things you’ve made previous to this project to get a good idea of what you can do. Coding from scratch is a good route to go down because of the freedom it allows but it is a time consuming and sometimes tricky process. Research into all your options will help no end in building the perfect site for you.