Simple, cheap WYSIWYG web page design software

http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
Search on web design.

Have you checked out iWeb?

I couldn't get iWeb to open my .html pages.

iWeb can't edit html. Something like Kompozer might work for you.

http://www.pure-mac.com/webed.html

Tom's suggestion of Kompozer is a good one:

http://www.kompozer.net/

It's free, and enables you both to create in WYSIWYG manner and to import end edit the HTML. It's about the nearest thing you will find to Claris Home Page (which I agree is an excellent program, I was sorry to see it go) - Kompozer's one drawback is that it won't handle frames (I know everyone sneers at them but there are occasions when they are useful) so you would have to hand-write the frames page. It includes a CSS editor and can upload to an FTP server (though not to MobileMe).

Ahh, Claris Home Page... nice program, but it's been dead for a very long time. Even if you could still run it on an older system, I seriously doubt that the HTML it creates is still correct. Web standards have changed +a lot+ since CHP.

There are basically three classes of HTML editor these days:

• The free WYSIWYG editor

These are, IMHO, quite buggy, unpleasant to use or make crummy code, and usually some combination of the three. You've already got a recommendation for Kompozer... also look for Amaya and Nvu. None of them have satisfied me. I see, with a quick Google search, that there's another free contender I haven't tried - SeaMonkey. Of course, since it tries to be a web browser, e-mail client, Usenet client and IRC client as well as HTML editor, I wouldn't have high hopes... that's too much to reasonably fit in one package and expect it all to work properly.

• The not-free WYSIWYG editor

There are many of these... Dreamweaver, RapidWeaver, Freeway, etc. I haven't tried any of these, as I'm not willing to spend a bunch of money on something that I can do for free, and with better code.

• The text editor

This is how I code all my pages, using the free TextWrangler. I have full control of the code and can make sure it's correct. Of course, if you don't know HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc, this may not be an option.

iWeb has an odd place, as it comes with new Macs for free, but costs money to buy newer versions later. It also can't edit existing sites, so you have to create your site from scratch in iWeb. But, for a beginner on a budget who has a copy of iWeb and isn't averse to re-creating an old, not-so-great site, it's a pretty good option. It's by far the easiest way to publish photos and other media from your other iLife apps!

If you're serious about web design and you intend to do a lot of it, Dreamweaver is the best choice, IMHO. There are cheap web design applications and there are good ones, but the good ones are not cheap.

If you don't won't to spend any money, installing Wordpress or similar open source blog software on your site will give you a complete web site with online editing tools that eliminate the need for web design software. PHP web applications have security risks, however, so make sure to keep them updated if you use them.

How much customization do you need? You might be better off with a "content manager" like Wordpress. You don't need special tools and can do a lot of customization if you want, but there's a lot of functionality built-in and available off-the-shelf, all for free.