What is the best website builder software for OS X?

[Normand]

Hi! Dear Info-Mac-ers,

Few years ago I asked at Info-mac what was the best database software.
Someone answerred that I should have asked for something much easier like "What is the meaning of life?" ) Now that I know the meaning of life, I have another easy question.

What is the best website builder software for OS X?

In that field I am at a lower level than a beginner but I am "computer éducated" at least a little. I know how to code in symbolic computatioin software for example and of course I use Mac software and I use Mellel, Nisus, FrameMaker anb Canvas (before they died), Igor, equation editors, électronic simulation software and many others. (I was not bad in fortran coding also).
Nevertheless I do not want to learn html or something like that; in my way of thinking, it is the job of the computer to remember all that coding stuf.

I will have to begin at a low level to learn but I would not get stuck half way because I would have chosen a too simplistic software. On the other hand I would not have to spend years to do my first web page.

What I would like to do?! In growing importance order...

1) Static web page (and multi pages) with text, photos, pictures, equations and with links between different parts of my website and links toward other website. (Basic).

2) Static documents (like PDF) placed in my website and to be downloaded by other people everywhere in the world.

3) Possibility to ask for a password before specific documents can be downloaded, to make these documents available only to specific person. Possibility to have many different password for many different collaborators.

4) Possibility to include forms (with many fields and po-up menus) to be filled by visitors (with or without passsword), and, of course, a way to store these gathered informations.

5) Eventually, a way to gather credit card information to sell documents like books. Then the security will be mandatory.

6) Do I forget something important? Please tell me!

7) All that with a software making such a website easy to maintain, modify and develop. You know, that kind of software that makes you happy and confident when you turn it on, not something that makes you regret to wake up in the morning.
The price is not irrelevant but I am prepared to pay a little for "the best" software. "A little" could mean up to $300 but if someone tell me that I will get into paradise for $301 or even $310, I would go for it.

I searched in Info-mac and everywhere on the net but stil not being able to conclude.
I heard and read (article, tutorials, reviews) about: iWeb, Dupral, GoLive, Dreamweaver, Rapidweaver, Create, Freeway...

So, what is the best website builder software for OS X?

Thank you very much.

Normand

[Turboladdade]

iWeb is great if you're not concerned about coding or having much control over anything. Drupal is a CMS, not software for Mac OS. It resides on your server and you still need to manipulate it with a separate code editor like TextWrangler. GoLive was discontinued and replaced by Dreamweaver.

There isn't any single program you'd use to do all of the above. Most developers use a number of tools and manage the files on their servers themselves. Dreamweaver is pretty good if you really insist on having a program manage files for you, but Dreamweaver is buggy as are all Adobe products, and still isn't the *only* thing you'd need.

For example with point 5, there isn't any program that *does* that for you - you'd need to write scripts that run on your server and also manage your own mySQL database. Or altneratively, you'd use some premade script package like Drupal or Joomla and modify it to your needs. Info-Mac is based on heavily modified phpBB.

If you really haven't done any of this before at all, you should just start with the basics. Go get yourself TextWrangler and Google some intro to HTML and CSS tutorials, then move on to PHP and mySQL. After you feel sufficiently comfortable with all these things, decide which set of tools you think would suit you the best.

[chasm]

What is the best website builder software for OS X?

"Best" is a highly subjective term, and particularly when it comes to software.

Nevertheless I do not want to learn html or something like that; in my way of thinking, it is the job of the computer to remember all that coding stuf.

I'm largely with you on this. It's a good idea to have some familiarity with the BASIC commands of HTML (stuff like how to make a link, how to bold or italicise words, etc) so you can tweak things a little, but apart from that HTML has changed so much over the last few years (and is getting ready to take a big leap forward) that the effort to learn it will be largely moot before you're finished.

What I would like to do?! In growing importance order...

iWeb *can* do everything on your list with sufficient wrangling (thanks to iWeb 09's ability to insert HTML code snippets), but generally it's aimed at non-business, personal/fun type use and not really suitable for "serious" or "complex" web sites. It's a great tool for putting up a good-looking basic site quickly and with minimum fuss, though, and I still use it to this day.

From what you've said, you should probably look at three candidates:

1. Rapidweaver http://realmacsoftware.com ($79US). This is really a great program -- easy to use, gorgeous templates and powerful add-ons (both free and shareware) that allow you to do almost anything.

2. Freeway Express http://softpress.com ($80). Another fine template-based program, maybe more powerful than RW but aimed primarily at "print people" who are used to designing things the way we did for desktop publishing and print, not the web. Features absolute positioning of every element, very attractive to print guys.

3. Sandvox http://www.karelia.com/sandvox/ ($57). Karelia has a good rep with Mac users and though I've not had occasion to use this product, the gallery of sites produced with it look great.

All three feature free trials, so you should start by collecting the "assets" of your site -- write the text, make the artwork, plan out what you want to be on the page -- then try each one and see which one gets you a satisfactory result in the best way for you.

Good luck and have fun!

[Normand]

Thank you very much to Turboladdade and chasm for your helpful advices.
I am exploring the issue.

Normand