There are plenty of tools such as Microsoft FrontPage (which has now been
replaced by Expression Web) that allow novices to create web pages.
However, they also tend to have significant limitations. That is the
trade-off and there is no way around it.
This is why we web developers still have jobs!

Signature
I hope this helps,
Steve C. Orr,
MCSD, MVP, CSM, ASPInsider
http://SteveOrr.net
http://iPhonePlaza.net
>I have a group of people at work (Marketing) who have asked 'Why does it
>take so long to develop a 'simple' web site when we can just go on-line and
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> TIA - Jeff.
Mufasa - 11 Dec 2007 20:05 GMT
I understand that completely. It's one of the arguments we have. I was in a
meeting this morning where essentially marketing was saying 'Why does it
take so long to create the websites?' I would just assume give it to them
and let them deal with the problems.
And when it doesn't work, it's there problem.
J.
> There are plenty of tools such as Microsoft FrontPage (which has now been
> replaced by Expression Web) that allow novices to create web pages.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>>
>> TIA - Jeff.
Scott Roberts - 11 Dec 2007 20:18 GMT
>>I have a group of people at work (Marketing) who have asked 'Why does it
>>take so long to develop a 'simple' web site when we can just go on-line
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>> I've seen some web sites that will do it but they also host the site. I'd
>> like to host it on our server.
Maybe you are looking for something like http://www.TemplateMonster.com?
I will say, however, that most of the templates seem to lend themselves to
"static" sites. I've used a couple of templates over the years and spend a
lot of time trying not to mess up the template when I add dynamic
functionality.
Your probably arguing against people who don't actually undertsand what they
are asking for. If all they want is a few pages, then any online site
builder will do - but they rarely actually do. If they want a custom brand,
that works with accessibility requirements, has forms and manages an element
of business logic then they are running into different ground, as whatever
they see as a simple site now needs specilaist design skills. Add to this
the requirement many companies have for content management, in that once the
design is done they want to be able to add content quickly and you have gone
way past the cosmetic design into application development, or at least
templated development as supported by many online CMS solutions and having
to get a CMS system setup and potentially integrated with their simple site.
Regards
John Timney (MVP)
http://www.johntimney.com
http://www.johntimney.com/blog
>I have a group of people at work (Marketing) who have asked 'Why does it
>take so long to develop a 'simple' web site when we can just go on-line and
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> TIA - Jeff.