Web page publishing is the process of designing web pages or entire web sites, providing original content, or placing existing print documents online. To become an effective web page publisher, it takes a certain amount of skill and creativity, but with the available help guides and web publishing software in the market today, most anyone can create and publish web pages if they dedicate the time to learn it.
First, it is highly recommend to read through some excellent web publishing guides that can be found in your local bookstore, library, or Internet stores. They are:
Philip & Alex's Guide to Web Publishing. A guide both broadly conceptual and deeply technical, and it assumes that the reader is willing to think seriously about the challenge of building a content site, a community site, or an e-commerce store before plunging in. The core of the book is quite technical, and contains three long sections on publishing, community, and e-commerce architectures.
Web Design and Desktop Publishing for Dummies. The fundamentals of design for both print and web documents, this guide supplies the tools and knowledge you need in order to make dynamite publications, either for print or for the Web. Jam-packed with information and illustrations, if offers advice on fonts and typography, web techniques, newsletters, making professional publications, and tips on which software programs and Web sites can help you the most.
Web Publishing Step by Step Learning Kit. An entry-level and reader-friendly tutorial to web publishing in general, and how to make best use of Microsoft Web Publishing software. This package includes a CD-ROM that contains sample files for the exercises in the book as well as a multimedia training program. The interactive course is well-suited to web publishing novices; includes the basics of web pages and web sites, web page design and layout, and sharing documents and information from Office applications. The book also focuses on PhotoDraw 2000-Office's application that lets you create and manipulate photos and images for use on your Web sites.
Here is a listing of the major web page publishing software programs on the market today:
Microsoft FrontPage. A powerful, easy to use web publishing editor that provides you with tools, like a photo gallery creator and ecommerce tool, that help create dynamic and interesting web pages for developers. It gives you the ability to edit the HTML if you want.
Adobe Creative Suite. A complete web page design environment that combines Adobe's leading professional tools - the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and GoLive software and new Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional software - with innovative Version Cue file-management features to let you create and publish content for print and the web faster, more easily, and more affordably than ever. Editing images, creating photo compositions, and drawing vector graphics has never been a more fluid and flexible process than in the integrated design environment of the Adobe Creative Suite.
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. The professional choice for building web sites and applications. It provides a powerful combination of visual layout tools, application development features, and code editing support, enabling web developers and designers at every skill level to create visually appealing, standards-based web sites. From leading support for CSS-based design to hand-coding features, Dreamweaver provides the tools web publishing professionals need in an integrated, streamlined environment.
NetObjects Fusion. Award-winning, less expensive web publisher software that provides the tools and services that make the process of building and upgrading professional-quality web sites easier and more efficient than ever. Benefit from WYSIWYG page layouts, pixel-accurate design, sophisticated navigational structures, and e-business tools that help their web sites work hard for their business.
