Worked on our web site for over 11 years and the software we were using - they went out of busines - Web Studio. I'm getting older and need an easy to use software to keep adding to our site http://www.in-the-desert.com I'm including a link to show how big and complex the site is. Would I be able to continue working on it, I know that the original "OWS" files will not work in your software so I'll have to rebuild the pages. Can I get them to look like the ones on the site now or close, with your software? Thanks in advance!
Todd....

With Coffeecup software you have basically two options: Use manual coding with HTML Editor, or try Site Designer, which does the 'heavy coding' for you.

I see that your current site is using HTML 4.01 whereas the 'rest of the world' is using HTML 5. You are hardly using any CSS, all the styling is done with HTML tags.

If you go with the HTML Editor, you would of course be able to keep the look and feel of your current site, but the question remains if you want to hang on to the old system. You can continue where you left off, more or less. I don't know who your visitors are, maybe they find it ok. In the end, it comes down to your coding skills. I have never used Web studio, so I cannot estimate anything.

The other program, Site Designer (SD for short) is modern, uses up-to-date HTML and CSS. It has a learning curve, and some people find it quite steep, but once you have mastered it, the rest is straightforward. It will be necessary to rebuild the pages, you cannot import them. And in this forum, there are lots of people who will help and support you if you get stuck. I think you will find, if you go for SD, that you may want to modernize the look and feel of your site too, the program lends itself to that.

Both programs I have mentioned can be downloaded and used for free during a trial period, so I recommend that you grab them and take them for a spin. And we're here to answer your questions.

thanks Inger, I guess I'll just have to give the site designer a try. I've used the Coffee Cup HTML (free) editor for years. I thought about trying Word Press, but I'll probably try this software. Thanks again.....

Inger: Just thought of this, if I go with the site designer and use the CSS will that effect the rest of my site that it is linked to from other pages - ones that have the new CSS? Do you know what I mean? Can I have some of the pages on the site remain as they are now. For example there are a lot of pages linked to from our daytrips page that I don't want to have to rebuild. I would like to be able to just add pages and I understand that the page that links to the new page will have to be rebuilt! Did I explain that okay?

I think I understand. You want to keep some of your pages as they are but recreate the 'bulk' kind of. That is well possible.
I think I would separate the old and the new part. You could create a subfolder in your domain for the part you want to keep and use the domain root for the new bits. I think that would be the easiest. I have a project like that going myself, (only that it is all-new, but consisting of files from different frameworks). You would then have to modify your linking between old and new since there will be a subfolder (one or more) to get into or out of.

I think that the Framework Foundation is the best-loved one among the users here, so if you go for that, you will be sure to have your questions replied to.

Good luck, and just holler if you need help.

Inger just so I get this straight- if I don't put the info/data pages on the web site that aren't getting rebuilt into "subfolders" then the new pages built with Coffee Cup and CSS will affect or change some of the things on the old pages? I'm not familiar with CSS and how it works. Does it affect all the pages on the site or only certain ones? Sorry but I need to know as this could entail a lot of work!
Thanks again,
Don...

Inger: another words do the CSS files control everything (all the pages) on the site or just pages you have the CSS link to on the page?

No, only the pages built with SD will be affected by the styles you use there. If you wanted the styles to be used for the 'old' part too, you would have to actively change a whole lot on those pages.

Okay, Inger that tells me it would work for me. I have too many pages to rebuild them all. I'm getting too old to do that. But I do have to rebuild a few of them. SOOOl thanks loads for your time, I do really appreciate it!!!
Don.....

this is very familiar to me