Dave 'Fargo' Kosak: Websites can be created and maintained by very inexpensive software. If you can't afford Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro is a cheaper alternative that does everything an amateur web developer would need. HTML can be edited by a text editor or any number of free utilities. Many Internet Service Providers offer simple web-hosted plans. There's no excuse not to get started.
Frans P. de Vries: I believe there's quite a bit of freely available software and HTML editors out there that can help with this, but I have no experience with them. I'm not a web designer or database programmer, the guys I'm working with take care of that part, while my strong points are game information, downloads, gaming news, etc. So I can't really comment on this question.
Adam 'Barak' Perfect: If you have notepad you have the software needed to maintain a web site
For graphics, get a trial version of LiveMotion or something and try to make sure you get a cool design done within the 30 days. I can't think of any good free graphics apps off the top of my head but if you use Linux you have one in the GIMP.
Anthony 'Rayn' Maio: All I started out with was notepad. I think raw HTML is the best way to create pages, you have much more control and code more efficiently. Those WYSIWIG things are absolutely horrible .. Almost everything you need to create and maintain a website is out there for free already.
Brian Clair: If you're looking to simply start a hobby site you don't really need much software. I built my first site using the basic text editor on our UNIX mainframe at college.
John 'Rizzuh' Jensen: HomeSite, HomeSite, HomeSite by Allaire. Better than notepad, but lets you stick to your text editing roots. Great support for ASP/PHP, also. (tJY: Ahem to that!)
Louis Wu: While it's true that the high-end software used in web design can be pricey, there are almost always low-cost, very functional alternatives. For example, I use BBEdit on a mac exclusively to develop pages - and though I use the (not horribly expensive) commercial version, there's a perfectly useful, free version. Likewise, though I use Photoshop, the $40 GraphicConverter is a truly versatile tool. (Similar programs exist for Windows, as well, and gimp is amazing for freeware on linux.)
Bottom line - it's your skill as a designer that's worth more than the fancy WYSIWYG tools.
Rob 'Keltic' Shea: It depends on what kind of site you want to do. I would first worry about creating content, which you can do in any word processor. If your content is good, then you will be successful. Some of the most successful gaming sites out there today were started by people that didn’t know much more than basic HTML, but they had a desire to provide compelling content and they stuck with it.
Tyler 'TySoft' Lott: Obviously warez it (no, don’t do that
). Actually you should visit Macromedia.com and check out their Homesite and/or Dreamweaver proggies. However, those are trial versions. You could always buy an HTML book and use Notepad for your coding - but that’s too much typing. Save up for Dreamweaver or Homesite - that’d be the best idea in my opinion.
Joscha 'fraGGle' Dzielak: Okay...there is one solution but let's forget about it
. All of the tools you need to do a website are freeware. There are thousands of freeware html editors, graphic programs and php and mysql are also freeware. You don't even have to buy books because there are also thousands of tutorials and helpsites where you can learn php, perl, java, etc from.
Matt 'Acrappa' Martinez: Most stuff is free (Internet Explorer, Netscape, BBEdit/Notepad), but you can W4R3Z the rest (you didn't hear that from me).
Ben 'Hypn0tik' Tamler: I started using a great program called Trellix web. (www.trellix.com) There are alot of web-building programs out there. But this one was the best in my opinion. The software also offers free sites to publish your site to, and even has an "auto publish" feature so that you can just click a button, and the site uploads! *secret: thats how tribesplayerspage.com was made!*
Manveer 'Eidolon' Heir: All you really need is Notepad -- I don't know much HTML myself (Just enough to create a simple website and whatnot). If you don't have the software, save your money up, and buy it -- I think FrontPage Express comes with Windows ME and Windows 2000, so chances are you do have the software.
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