So I'm running older Macs under OS 10.4.11, and I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to web creation from scratch (I do modifications with WYSIWYG editors to an existing site, and a little direct HTML (modification) once in awhile). Is KompoZer a decent choice for me to start in with website construction? I'm asking here (after searching around the web a tad) as I trust the opinions of the brain trust of AppleFritter. I'm going to read the guide for it anyway, but if there's a better free program for my aging machines, please speak up.
My near term plan is to make a functional site, buy the domain name, but have someone else do the hosting. I'm not quite ready to emulate Dr. Webster just yet ;), though the concept of hosting a site on an old spare Mac is intriguing, I think that it would be more hassle than it's worth at this point in time. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Mutant Pie
Hello Mutant_Pie,
Surgery went well and i just have to waist up the next days here in the hospital for care of the wound and some inspections. So i had the luck that my room companion took along his web-book and i could lend it for a short time going down to the groundfloor in the cafe in the garden-area and that cafe offering a public-wlan-netpoint which enables me to access the net for some sparetime before i may be permitted to go home at the end of the next week.
Up to your question i just want to share some of the points about the topic with you:
In 99% of the cases the companies that offer hosting to the net - run their systems on either LINUX with an apache web-server or an Windows-PC with Internet-Information-Server. Before starting up a web-site my first advise would be to think about this topic first, due to the fact that between these both system-platforms there are important differences.
The LINUX-system with apache will operate scripts preferrable with PHP-script-language while the PC-Windows system with Internet Information Server will be running Active-Server-Pages-Language ( in short called "ASP" ). Between these both plattforms there are large differences and you should collect information and then first make a decassion for one of the lanes to walk along.
There are slight but important diffeneces between both kinds of hosting systems - for example the LINUX based ones are usually cheaper in charge when taken from a hosting company instead of the Windows-systems with Internet-Information-Server... they cost usualy larger amount. The second is that both have differences for example in handling a small database ( used for example for a guest-book ), handling of frames and tables within the pages, handling page-hit-counters and so on.......
Allthough you might use KompoZer at the Mac - it might be better to run also at home a system similer to the one that will be used at the hosting company to be able to realy test pages in "real-action" prior of uploading it....
both can be simulated very simple with a pentium PC - either installing LINUX on the PC and thereafter installing "LAMP" picked up from the open-source-platform or at the other option installing Windows XP SP2 on the PC and thereafter installing the Internet-Information-Server to that PC from the XP-System by demanding it to be installed from the Installation-CD by accessing the system menu - option software - option systemcomponents - option WWW-components.
Independent which of the choices have beeen made - you then will have at your home a PC where you can run a web as "localhost" under "real-life-condition" and you then are not restricted to the KompoZer running at the Mac ....
If running the system on IIS (Internet Information Server ) it might be usefull if a old Office-Version is availiable to work a little bit for experience with the Frontpage-editor for simple creation of pages....
If you instead have chosen the PC to be setup with LINUX and Apache you sould also choose within installation process to install several of the offered Web-editors too to the system ( depending to your choice ar startup to install either GTK-system or another windowshandling system ) and tryout some time with creation of some pages with the different availiable tools.
The real point where differences of the systems show up - will be at the very point when you want to integrate some "cool" stuff in your pages ( i.e. sound , forum, video or any other kind of multimedia stuff ) - because that will be the very point where you will find out, that you are limited very much to the scripting of the used system ( i.e. ASP or PHP ) and you will discover that there are also slight differences between the different versions of Java on the different platforms... some pages running perfect at one system might crash at the other system with no big comments...
Thats also the reason that i recommend to you to think about the points above prior to the decession of the use of a specific editor.... the editor won´t protect you from crashes of pages.... only putting them to a similar System and testing them within a "localhost" system will really give the chance to develop and test pages under realistic conditions and will give you the chance to test new features within your pages prior of the uploading...
anyhow i guess that other members here might explain in further text aspects related only to the KompoZer itself, but i have been working throughout the last years with a lot of tools - also including KompoZer, Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, different Versions of Frontpage and free Editors for Windows PC´s and LINUX as well as with Mac and it turned out to my customers, - that they always had after a while agreed to me - that it really turned out to be more important to them to think about the above mentioned points prior to the choice of an editor....
sincerely
speedyG
Thanks speedyG. Good luck with your recovery!
Speedy,
Good to see you're well enough to be back up here.
Steven