A listing of tools and free software that you can use to spruce up your web site. The list includes web design resources and software, calendar scripts, photo galleries, message boards, and contact forms.
Online Web Design Resources and Software
Make Your Web Site Cool Without The Extra Work!
{mosimage} This is a listing of tools and free software that you can use to spruce up your band's web site. The list includes web design resources and software, calendar scripts, photo galleries, message boards, and contact forms.
Jump To Another Section:
- Web Editing Software and Free Web Templates
- Web Design Tools, Scripts and Resources
- Content Management Systems - Still Under Construction
Web Design Resources:
The following links lead to sites that can help you fine tune your web site or make important decisions about how it is going to look. All of these tools are free for personal use.
- Web Site Speed Test - Examines any web page, tells you the overall size, and checks it for any problems that might slow down your visitors. This is the tool to use to find out if your web page comes in under the magic 50K size limit or to show you just how HUGE your page truly is.
- Color Scheme Generator - If your colors clash or are too close together it will distract your viewer and may even drive them away from your site. This color scheme generator lets you pick a base color aand it shows you what colors will compliment it.
- Windows Power Toy- Image resizer - An add-on that allows you to right click an image on your desktop and resize it without having to open it in an image editor. VERY handy!
- The Gimp - A powerful and free graphics editor that compares to Photoshop for most tasks. It does have a higher learning curve than Photoshop, but for the price you can't beat it.
- IrfanView - A less powerful but very useful image editor and viewing program. It doesn't allow all the fancy editing effects of The Gimp or Photoshop, but it handles most routine tasks.
SCRIPTS AND APPLETS
Some of the scripts below may require access to a web based database server known as a mySQL server. Before making any decisions be sure to check and see if your local web host has an SQL server installed and if you will be allowed to create a database on it.
Many of the scripts also require that the server have PHP installed on it. Most web servers come with PHP scripting enabled automatically, but check with your administrator first.
Google Gadgets:
The absolute EASIEST way to add dynamic content to your web pages. Small applets, inserted into your web page code, allow you to display any of dozens of special gadgets ranging from RSS readers and calendar viewers to weather reports and analog clocks. Shown below is an example of a calendar gadget linked to a personal Google calendar (this one happens to be for a local cub scout pack).
Calendar Scripts:
Follow the directions contained in these packages to add different calendars to your web site's pages.
Photo Galleries:
A photo gallery script allows you to quickly and easily add
photographs to your web site without the hassle of uploading and
editing pages each time you want to add something new. Please note that some of these scripts require additional software to be installed in the operating system of your web server. If the software is not already there, you will need to ask your system administrator to install the needed files.
- Gallery - A nicely done and cleanly presented photo gallery application. Upload your photos through the web interface and publish them for everyone to see.
- Tiny Web Gallery - A small yet very functional web photo gallery that has the added benefit of not requiring a database to store information in. For servers that do not have access to an SQL database this is an excellent alternative.
- Coppermine - One of the best free photo galleries in existence. However, it does require access to a mySQL database system to save all of the image data.
- The AutoGallery - A nice alternative if all of your photos are already on your web site and sorted into directories. This script will read the directories and put them into image displays without having to re-upload and name every singly photo.
Message Boards:
- phpBB - An easy to use and maintain bulletin board system that can handle hundreds of users. It does require a mySQL database to run.
- Simple MachinesForum - The same system that is used on the MusicEdMagic forum. You can change the look of the system by switching themes to give it the look that you want.
Contact Forms:
- Contact Form Generator - Allows you to customize your contact form and choose form four different computer languages in case your web server does not support PHP. Just follow the directions, hit submit, and then copy/paste the code into your web page.
- Feedback Form - A simple, free feedback form that can be included on any web page.