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Any first-time web developer wants to get an answer to a question of no small importance: is it possible to use website development software for creation of websites?
We can answer this question: yes, it is. If you are going to create your first website, you will need the following set of programs: an html editor (though some web programmers manage to use a common Notepad), a graphics editor and an Internet browser to check the results of your work. However, if you are going to create a dynamic site instead of a static one, you will need your own local server and a database management system (DBMS) along with the software tools that are listed above.
So, what is it all about?
Let us start with the notion of a website. Any website is a set of html pages that contain different information, both graphical and textual. It is a common static site.
In order to create such site you will need only two programs from all variety of website development software. One of these programs will help you to create design layout of the site, and the other will help to realize this layout in the form of html code. You can develop design layout of your site in any graphics editor, starting with standard Paint (that is available as a part of Microsoft Windows operating system) and ending with advanced Adobe Photoshop. Everything depends on your desire and skillfulness.
To write the code (in other words – to make the so-called html layout) you can use a common text editor – it is the best solution. The main thing is to save the created file with a special extension – .html. Today there are a lot of text editors similar to standard Notepad, and many of them have a special feature – syntax highlighting (highlighting of the html codes). This function will help you to tell the markup code from the main text of the page visually. There also are special visual html editors that are able to provide the preview of the web page. In other words, you will be able to see how your future site will look in a web browser. One of the most popular visual html editors is Adobe Dreamweaver.
That's all! Your static site is ready. But imagine such situation: you have to change something on your site. For that you will have to edit the html code of the pages. It is not convenient and reasonable, do you agree? If your site consists of 5 or 10 pages – it is all right. But what if your site contains much more pages? In this case you will have to create a dynamic site. You can edit, add or delete the content of such site without changing its program codes.
How can you do this? It is very easy – you should create your site on the base of one of CMS – content management systems. You will need a distribution kit of the content management system and a server. If you do not place your site on a hosting at once, you will have to install your own local server. There are a lot of various local servers, some of them are paid, some are free of charge. Which server to choose is up to you. The most widespread web server is Apache. However, the local server is half the work. It must be connected with a DBMS (database management system), for example, MySQL. Why MySQL? The answer is simple: this DBMS is supported by most of the CMS and hosting providers. The adjustment of these programs for their joint operation is a quite laborious process, that is why you can use ready-made collections (for example, Denwer) that already have all necessary adjustments.
Having installed the local server and DBMS you can get to installation of a CMS proper. Each content management system has a pile of supporting documentation, that is why installation of a CMS is not going to make any difficulties. When you have installed the CMS, you will get access to the site management panel – the administration panel. It contains visual tools for website creation. For example, using the content manager (article manager) you can add articles, format the text, add images and publish these articles on your site. The content manager is similar to a common text editor (like MS Word); it means that you will not have to edit the html code of the page – the system will add all necessary tags itself. Content management system allows to add necessary interactive modules (guestbooks, feedback forms, search forms) to your site very easily – all you will have to do is to switch them on or off.
Thus, website development software allows to create static or dynamic websites of any level of complexity. However, you should remember, that no program is able to replace a professional web developer and create unique web design or content!
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website development,
website development software,
website development programs,
html editor,
graphics editor,
static site,
dynamic site,
website creation,
order website development |
web programming 
