web design question: layouting one 'simple' page on my own?

[brotherS]

Hi,

my goal is to have a single web page online that contains some text, an image and a YouTube video. Other than that, I'd love to have buttons that reveal/hide additional content when clicked (is that done with HTML 5?). Are there tools available online to do that?

My HTML coding skills are roughly zero and the result shouldn't look like it has been put together by a monkey on crack.  

I already have a web server where I plan to put it.

[Shades]

Brackets is the name of an editor that comes with a live preview window. It also has options to add predefined bits of code to your that allow you to add images, video etc.

While you are doing that, the live preview is very handy.

I'm more of an ol' skool guy...getting to know how to do things is preferable to use a cop-out which most online solutions are. Besides, you will be the one maintaining that page, so it would really be better if you have a small grasp of the basics...

[MilesAhead]

I have no idea how well it works or how the output looks.  But there is a web page creation tool on giveaway:
http://www.mostiwant.com/website-x5-free-full-version-license-key/

As Shades says, it is better if you have an understanding of what you are creating.  What I did when I got stuck was to post a question on CSS HTML Forums where pros hung around.  They would point me in the right direction.

It depends what you are trying to do.  Doing the markup yourself can take a long time.  You can find wizards that will create a Navigation Bar for you by generating a List.  When you mouse over it will hot track and when clicked you navigate to that page.  The list generated is regulation html, not gibberish, so no need to feel guilty about using such a tool.

For my latest site I just wanted a sorted list of files to download.  So I used a tool that created an index page from a folder.  From there it was a matter of pasting in the description for each download.

The quickie tools get you something that works fast but the generated HTML is almost impossible to read.  It usually has several hundred "&nbsp" sequences,which is the code for a blank space, stuck in clumps all over each page.

If you find a template you like then one of the wizard type page generators may be the way to go.  If you don't like the result chances are you only spent an hour or two on it so just erase it and crank up an editor to do it the hard way. 

[tomos]

My HTML coding skills are roughly zero

you're kind of in trouble here -
I'd look for a template - or do a mock up in some graphics programme, and see if anyone can suggest a template.

Otherwise there's the WYSIWYG option, which doesnt seem to get positive responses in general... (see Miles's comments re 'quicky tools' above)

I'd love to have buttons that reveal/hide additional content when clicked

could you be more specific there? (or maybe a link to a site that already does something similar?)

[MilesAhead]

I would check out the freebie.  I installed it on my system.  So I don't think it is any malicious software.  I just haven't used it.  If it is not what is desired just uninstall.

[Shades]

I think he means CSS accordions. You can lots of examples on how to do those on the internet. Problem is then that need to know about core concepts of HTML and CSS. While not difficult, it will take time to get your head around those, especially if you start from zero.

This accordion can be used either horizontally or vertically.

[mouser]

there has to be a simple single-page/small-set website maker somewhere -- lots of people need to be able to do this kind of thing easily.

[wraith808]

There are.  As long as you don't mind hosted.

[wraith808]

http://mobirise.com/

I can't vouch for what it can do, but it is free during testing...

[Dirhael]

You could take a look at writing your page in Markdown, using one of the several free online editors available (such as https://stackedit.io or http://dillinger.io/). Just write away almost as you would in any other text document, and export/save it as html. You'll end up with a clean, simple web page that you can upload to a server somewhere. How the final page ends up looking like depends entirely on the editor you're using, but seeing as Markdown is just plain text you can just copy/paste your document to/from any of them

Here's a quick example:

[MilesAhead]

This freebie is still available.  Seems pretty basic.

http://www.windowsdeal.com/w/website-x5-home-11-discount-coupon-code/

Or you could use SiteSpinner Free Trial.  The usage counter counts the number of days you actually load it.  Not just subtracting the first day from the current date.  So you can make the trial last for some time while learning how to use it.

Most of the single page wizards I have seen are built into hosted free web accounts.  The ones I tried were geared to posting a photo gallery with descriptions.

[app103]

Sitepoint has a free beginner level video course available, to teach you how to build this single page responsive site.

It's kind of based on the original Learnable site design, before the service was integrated into SitePoint's main website as SitePoint Premium. Personally, I think it's quite pretty for a simple single page site.


Disclaimer: I work for SitePoint but they have not encouraged or compensated me in any way, for this post.