Ok, so, I hope I'm posting this in the right place...I have a site hosted on hostgator right now, I didn't build it, but am learning to maintain it. I plan on putting another site up for a non-profit organization some friends and I want to start to fight social injustices like human trafficking. Until I can find someone willing to do some probono work for the organization, that doesn't actually have any roots in reality yet, I wanted to get a basic site off the ground using a template or something. Google has tons of hits for this sort of thing but I tend not to trust the sites I'm running into. Does anyone know of a reputable site where I can get some decent looking templates and or some good software that will make this simple for me at this early stage of my web design career?

Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, you guys rock!

I personally don't think there is that much good free stuff out there. Some are ok, but if you can spend even $10 or $15 you might get something much nicer and possibly the psd to go with it.

Try this for example: http://themeforest.net/category/site-templates

Or you could try Joomla and then install a free template design - that way you have a CMS system and a simple design with an easy to update and maintain website.

Originally Posted by The Conqueror

Or you could try Joomla and then install a free template design - that way you have a CMS system and a simple design with an easy to update and maintain website.

I am using Joomla now, and I don't think it's good for a newbie to start their website.
In my eyes Wordpress is a good one to go for a start

Thanks for the replies everyone..I'll check out those options. I'm starting to do a lot more reading up from the bottom and trying to learn web design the right way.

This place I'm sure is going to be a priceless resource.

Thanks again for the help, you guys rock!!

Personally I do most of my logos in Illustrator. Of course you can bring them into each other.

I have used www.vecteezy.com for a year or so now, they also provide photoshop brushes.

Keep trying.

Looks like a cool site, thanks!

I use Expression - which gives me 12 templates to start with and then I can change them COMPLETELY so that the resultant design looks NOTHING like the template. Others use Dreamweaver.

I believe Wordpress is free. I've also heard that Microsoft have free websites.

If you just want a free website with free hosting -but pretty limited design - then try Weebly.

Originally Posted by jj1

I use Expression - which gives me 12 templates to start with and then I can change them COMPLETELY so that the resultant design looks NOTHING like the template. Others use Dreamweaver.

I believe Wordpress is free. I've also heard that Microsoft have free websites.

If you just want a free website with free hosting -but pretty limited design - then try Weebly.

Thanks for the reply, I was hoping to find some free/open source design software and or web templates. In my first post I stated that I have a Hostgator account so I don't have the need for free hosting..

Wordpress seems to be for blogging only, if I'm mistaken someone please let me know.

I guess I need to either learn HTML or buy a decent WYSIWYG editor or both.

Originally Posted by conradcliff

Thanks for the reply, I was hoping to find some free/open source design software and or web templates. In my first post I stated that I have a Hostgator account so I don't have the need for free hosting..

Wordpress seems to be for blogging only, if I'm mistaken someone please let me know.

I guess I need to either learn HTML or buy a decent WYSIWYG editor or both.

Wordpress is made for and geared towards blogging, but it is flexible enough to where you can manipulate it to almost anything to you need. As far as the WYSIWYG editor, I would be a little weary, because there are some out there that can output some sloppy code. My suggestion would be to bone up on your html & css and find a simple CMS. You can find a ton on them here.

Thanks for the info, I've heard the WYSIWYG editors can be a little sloppy in their code output..after researching CMS's I think I'm going to be looking into drupal.

So much to learn still, thanks for pointing me in a good direction!

wordpress is ok,it is easy to install and use .you need a FTP tool,when everything is right,oprerate your content in backstage.there are lots of template to choose.the defalt just two choice ,but you can upload any style of templete. just to establish a blog is ok ,if you want to build a forum ,i suggest you use drupal

Originally Posted by cindyfowler

wordpress is ok,it is easy to install and use .you need a FTP tool,when everything is right,oprerate your content in backstage.there are lots of template to choose.the defalt just two choice ,but you can upload any style of templete. just to establish a blog is ok ,if you want to build a forum ,i suggest you use drupal

Thanks for the reply, yeah, I think my next step in getting the abolitionist site up is going to be figuring out Drupal. Are there really nice templates that can be downloaded for free or even bought? And how difficult is it to create the template, what knowledge is required?

Also, can a moderator delete pollyanna03's post/account?

Thanks again for all the help everyone!! You guys are awesome!!

Originally Posted by conradcliff

And how difficult is it to create the template, what knowledge is required?

Having extensive knowledge in XHTML and CSS would go a long way.

Hard coding knowledge that is.. not IDE (dreamweaver/frontpage).

Sweet...what does IDE stand for? I just googled it real quick but didn't find anything..

Integrated Development Environment

If you make HTML/CSS websites using the dreamweaver IDE but can't produce a website with just notepad than the chances are that you will struggle when it comes to producing custom layouts for CMS systems since you are dependent on a generator to guide you.

Kind of like when you ride a bicycle with the support all your life but then someone gives you a 2 wheeler... it's doable but not effortlessly.

http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/

Many free templates on the top website.I hope you can use to be. Good Luck!

templatesbox.com free section is also worth of considering.

Originally Posted by softhink

http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/

Many free templates on the top website.I hope you can use to be. Good Luck!

This is where I got some of cool templates I used for my client websites.

Originally Posted by conradcliff

Ok, so, I hope I'm posting this in the right place...I have a site hosted on hostgator right now, I didn't build it, but am learning to maintain it. I plan on putting another site up for a non-profit organization some friends and I want to start to fight social injustices like human trafficking. Until I can find someone willing to do some probono work for the organization, that doesn't actually have any roots in reality yet, I wanted to get a basic site off the ground using a template or something. Google has tons of hits for this sort of thing but I tend not to trust the sites I'm running into. Does anyone know of a reputable site where I can get some decent looking templates and or some good software that will make this simple for me at this early stage of my web design career? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, you guys rock!

You really aren't going to find it simple, as in quick. But if you get your organization correct, everything will fall into place. Start with images (because they take up most of the page space) then text, then worry about colors and such. Once you got the organization down, you will begin to understand what is is that you want...That's the ONLY way to do it right.

Good luck