There are numerous powerful website builder software titles that allow business to create their own site without technical experience, but this type of software can be extremely expensive to buy. Fortunately, businesses can also use an open-source website builder to get these same powerful features completely free.
An open-source website builder is often continually developed by the community that uses, so all of them get to benefit from the improvements made by someone else. This type of software is freely distributed online with no obligations or commitments to make, which can be extremely beneficial for companies that are just getting started with the idea of building their own internet site.
One of the best benefits to this type of website builder is the flexibility that it can offer. Instead of being a web-based content management system (CMS) that is limited with what it can do easily, these site builders are actual software that is installed on a computer. Files on the website or the local computer can then be directly edited from the software.
The main difference between an open-source website builder and a content management system is the way that sites are built. Website building software, like Frontpage or Dreamweaver, allows complete, customized website designs to be made without the knowledge and experience typically required to code those designs.
A content management system is centered around the concept of using a previously constructed site design so users can focus on creating and organizing the actual content of their sites. Ultimately, a CMS can only do what the programming was designed to do, while website building software is nearly limitless.
Easy site design is accomplished with open-source software through the use of WYSIWYG editors. These website builders allow sites to be visually designed while the complicated coding is automatically generated based on the layout and design of the site. Advanced users can still manually edit HTML code when needed and have use of the WYSIWYG editor to save time with easier tasks.
Fortunately, there are at least a few high quality, open-source website builders that are extremely comparable to high-priced commercial titles like Dreamweaver or Frontpage. This means that consumers can get the same benefits from professional commercial software completely free. Read through our reviews to find some of the best of these open-source site builders.
Kompozer
One of the most popular and powerful open source titles, Kompozer, is based on the same layout engine as Mozilla Firefox. This makes it extremely powerful and useful software because of the reliability and continued support of Gecko, the layout engine. Consumers who have used Dreamweaver before will find that Kompozer works in a similar manner and offers many of the same features.
Kompozer is actually an updated version of another popular site builder, NVU. Kompozer website builder is supported to run on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux, so it is available to use by a wide variety of people. It offers both easy site creation features and FTP file management, which allows a website to be updated directly through the software with changes that are made to one of the pages.
Beginners will be able to take advantage of advanced support for typically confusing elements of website design such as color selection, CSS styling, table creation, and forms. The toolbar buttons in Kompozer that perform various tasks can be customized for even easier use. Just like modern web browsers, this open-source software also offers the use of window tabs that allow multiple pages to be open at once in a single window.
Advanced users will appreciate numerous features offered by Kompozer. It supports a wide variety of advanced usage like XML, CSS, Javascript, and even XFN. Many people may not have need for a number of these features, but they are excellent to have for users who do need the extra functionality that they can add to a website.
SEO Toaster
For people that are looking for an open-source website builder that is hosted on the site being made, SEO Toaster is a great pick. This software is not as focused on unique site design as others, even though it does offer a template creator, but it offers a lot of features commonly needed by online businesses that are not typically found in other software of this type.
For companies that do not necessarily need a unique site design, they can take advantage of templates or complete site themes that will eliminate the need for that step-by-step design process. This allows the rest of the site construction to proceed faster, while advanced users can still create their own unique design.
SEO Toaster offers one of the best ways to create and edit pages on a site, which is to use an in-line editor. This means that businesses can actually make changes directly on their website, which allows for easier content arrangement and faster site construction without any technical knowledge.
In addition to covering all the essential features needed for site design, SEO Toaster offers a wide variety of features that are typically limited to those with programming knowledge to implement them. However, these advanced programming projects have been reduced to simple tasks with SEO Toaster, so even the most inexperienced of site designers can utilize them.
These advanced but easy to use features cover things like SEO, CSS styling, videos, forms, pictures, comment systems, automated e-commerce, and site search engines. By using these advanced features offered by the SEO Toaster open-source website builder software, businesses can create automated and interactive websites that typically require an IT department to create.
WordPress
WordPress is highly customizable, popular and free, although some of the best WordPress themes and plugins are paid. WordPress affiliate website is a complete guide on the entire process of setting up a WordPress site, be it for affiliate marketing or other purposes. More articles can be found in the WordPress category.
