To help speed up your web site design/updating process, you should think about getting a set of web master tools. You need at least three types of tools:

Web design software
Web graphics software
FTP software

Web design software

In order to make changes to your web site template, you'll need some sort of software that will be able to open your template and allow you to edit it. Unless you're very good at HTML coding, you'll need to look for a software with a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) capability.

A WYSIWYG interface will allow you to make changes to your web template visually instead of having to make sense of a bunch of code. You will also want a software that can go into code mode when you need it to. This means that in addition to a visual mode , you can also switch to a code mode that will allow you to see the HTML code.

There are many softwares out there today. The best, in our opinion, is Macromedia Dreamweaver. It's a bit pricey though. And it does have a bit of a learning curve before you can use it optimally.

There's FrontPage if you're more of a Microsoft type of person. A free software would be Netscape Composer. It lacks a lot of features but remains an option.

Web graphics software

You'll also need web graphics software. Not so much to create a graphic but more to customise the images in your web template. You can create web graphics if you want to. But you'll need to take a proper course before you can create professional graphics.

Most good template stores will provide you with two types of images:

- Images in PSD (Photoshop) format
- A set of blank images i.e. just the image without any text on it.

You will, therefore, need graphics software that can either read a PSD file or software that can just add text to the blank images.

An obvious choice would be to just get Photoshop. However, it's not a very intuitive program for beginners and very, very pricey . An alternative would be to get Paint Shop Pro. Macromedia Fireworks is a handy addition for anyone using Dreamweaver.

FTP Software

FTP is just a method of moving your files from your computer to your server and vice versa. Most web design software has a built-in FTP feature. So you may not need FTP software. But just in case, you need one, there are many FTP software out there to choose from.

My favourite is WS FTP Pro which can be found at Ipswitch.

If you're new to website software, or are unhappy with your current website design company, then be sure to contact us for details of solutions we can provide.