Creating website

Unfortunately, if you are serious about this, then you will have to pay for something along the line because it is not possible to create a website without paying for something.

If you want a new website creation programme such as EverWeb, then you will have to pay - there is nothing free there unless you count iWeb which came with your Mac.

There is free hosting yes, but if you want to use WordPress.org to build your site, then you cannot use free hosting for this, you need to pay for hosting.

Your only other alternative to build your site for free is to use WordPress.com. WordPress.com is free and you can create your site, but the only disadvantage here is that the site will be published on the WordPress servers, so you will have your username.wordpress.com. This is done online and you just create it by accessing the internet - no need for any files on your Mac and you don't need to upload any files - just connect to the internet and log into your site and away you go.

There are other online site builders that are free too -Wix.com is another and alsoWeebly.com and there are others, but again, your site will be published to their servers, so you have your username.ix.com etc., but if you don't mind that rather than having your own domain name, then that is okay.

Other than that, you will either have to pay for a new application for website creation or pay for hosting, so not free unless you use the online site builders.

My recommendation is that you don't use iWeb though - there is no point in starting a project with an application that is unsupported.

No. WordPress.org and WordPress.com work in totally different ways. With WordPress.com the site is published on the WordPress servers, so you have your username.wordpress.com. You just choose your template and there are limited options for customisation and that is it really. You can pay to add a domain name if you wish, but if you want to do that, then you may as well use WordPress.org.

WordPress.org is what is known as a Content Management System or CMS, this is like Drupal and Joomla. They are open source platforms and are completely free to download and install. If you want to try out WordPress.org you can do this locally on your computer totally free and you don't need to register a domain name or hosting to be able to do this.

CMS's work by using either Wordpress, Joomla or Drupal and a database, where all your website content is stored. To use is locally on your computer, for a PC you need to download WAMP or id you use a Mac, then MAMP - stick with the free MAMP and not MAMP Pro. All you then do is set this up on your computer and then download the latest version of WordPress.org and then place this folder in the htdocs folder under MAMP. You then need to create your database and then connect the two when it comes to installation.

The good thing about WordPress.org is that because you install it on paid hosting, there is more functionality and you can extend and add things, by adding what are known as Plugins - these just extend the functionality of WordPress. The same things are known as Extensions in Joomla and Modules in Drupal.

It is not Wordpress's responsibility to promote your site for you - that is up to you, so no, if you use paid hosting once you have registered your domain name and then the one click install for WordPress that a lot of hosts offer, the rest is up to you.

The way to get your site up there in the rankings is to use interesting content - not just content, but photos and videos too and then SEO, so you optimise your site so that it gets found. Wordpress.org has SEO plugins that you can download and install. Also, register your site with search engines such as Google.

Do a search for free web hosts - they do exist and are limited as to what you can do with them, but you should be able to upload your site. Just be aware that you may get adverts on your site - that is how they make it pay.

I don't know about anything else - do you even have a domain name? If not, to make use of hosting you really need a domain name, which is why I am saying that you really will need to pay for something along the line.

If you want something really free then you can only use wordpress.com, six.com and weekly.com and there is squarespace.com too. As they allow you to use their servers then these are completely free.

Unfortunately, you are NOT going to be able to use iWeb for free, because if you want to host it, then you'll need to purchase a domain name and you can't get that for free, unless you decide to host your site yourself on your own computer.

If you want a free site, then don't use iWeb and that way you won't need a domain name - just a username that then ends with .wordpress.com or .wix.com or whatever you want to use.

I have a similar question - I created a website using iWeb and was very pleased even though I knew it would not be supported. I launched it with GoDaddy and have been pleased with them. I now need to update the material on the site. I know I cannot update through iWeb so my current question is "are there any comparable programs (i.e. with the incredible choices of format, etc. and as easy to use)?" I am willing to pay. And my related question is whether I would be able to use the original material in a kind of cut & paste so I don't need to start from scratch.

I have a similar question - I created a website using iWeb and was very pleased even though I knew it would not be supported. I launched it with GoDaddy and have been pleased with them. I now need to update the material on the site. I know I cannot update through iWeb so my current question is "are there any comparable programs (i.e. with the incredible choices of format, etc. and as easy to use)?" I am willing to pay. And my related question is whether I would be able to use the original material in a kind of cut & paste so I don't need to start from scratch.

There are several alternatives that you can use and probably the best one and the most like iWeb would be EverWeb. Take a look here at EverWeb. Other alternatives are Freeway Pro or Flux 5. Flux 5 is a little more complex though and has a learning curve, whereas Freeway Pro and EverWeb are a lot easier to use and EverWeb is really the iWeb replacement, that has everything built in that everyone wished iWeb had.

As for altering your website, you will need to cut and past and re-built it in whichever app you choose to purchase. Freeway and EverWeb do not have import facilities and neither did iWeb. The only one of these that does have import facilities is Flux, but this is harder to use and you would not really want to with an iWeb site.

Better to purchase EverWeb and then you can re-build your site from scratch, but you can cut and paste.

You can cut and paste from the site itself or from iWeb.