site build it . . . advice please

[headroom]

Hi, I am thinking of buying a package called "site build it" to build my own website following a disasterous loss of my original one due to outside malevolent influences, can anyone advise me good or bad about this soft ware, Thanks.

[DumberDrummer]

Never heard of it.

If you're looking for something professional, you're better of hiring an experienced web developer to do such things for you, however.

[jamiemac2005]

whats your origional site's name? or origional address? is none of it recovourable?
Personally i've never heard of site build it, but from my knowledge of site builders, it wont be good.
i agree with the previous post, get a professional website developer/designer...

cheers,
Jamey

[A-H]

If you dont wanna go as far as hiring a webdesigner...

I would say use a CMS

A Content Management System might make it a lot easier for you.

There are many good free CMS around. Im sure that you can find one that suites you.

The idea is that with a CMS you have a template that makes the basic design/look of the site. Using a backend control panel you can add text, pictures and basicly anything you like using WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet editors ("word-like").

When you get started you will find its pretty easy to handle and saves a lot of time.

Good Luck

[jamiemac2005]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea too, if you can't afford a proffessional site (though if you google you'll find that there are millions of designers in the market [and one will give you a good deal]) then i'd go with that.

Still i dont think this sounds like a fix to the origional problem, having your site destroyed by whoever, either way, i hope it all goes well for you.

Cheers,
Jamey

[headroom]

Thank you for your replies and advice, I in common with most would not hesitate in "hiring" a professional if money were no object, however there is some satisfaction to be had in sorting out ones own problems, I, with the help of people such as yourselves and a little dogged determination am determined to retrieve or rebuild my site . . . . I am in this situation because "professionals" let me down! A webmaster who took on too many other occupations and a hosting company that was run by a man who may have been an IT whizz but not a business man and ultimately decided to cut and run doing a "Shirley Valentine" to a foreign country, leaving me and no doubt many others wthout the necessary support,when "the plug was pulled" by the servers we could not retrieve the data required to rehost and worse still, the "webmaster" did not have copies of our site! . . . a steep learning curve, to say the least! However with the help of a friend (major geek) I have been able to get the pages back from Google cachet (minus pictures altho' they are easily replaced) and the site hopefully will be relaunched like the Phoenix from the ashes!
A-H thanks for your advice the CMS thing sound interesting. Once again thank you all.

[jamiemac2005]

Hope it all works out well for you, i was going to suggest google's cache but did not know the weight of the site.... can you not take legal action against the "webmaster" or do you have contracts with him ?

anyway, hope it all goes well...

Jamey

[A-H]

The google cashe was a good idea. Really glad you could retrieve some of the content.

Regarding CMS's and backups I can only say that its easy to make a backup of a mysql database and keep it in a safe place. And once in a while you can make a complete backup of all pictures and similar.

Anyway you choose to rebuild your site Im sure that now you will alays keep backups.

Glad to be to some help, and good luck!