Website creation software
- A server to put your site on
- Some folders to put all your files in
- A text editor and file transfer software
This is what you need to write HTML source code, CSS, and so on, which are the basic files needed to make a website. Without this, you can't do anything! There are two kinds of software you can use to make a website.
First, a text editor, which lets you manually write HTML and CSS (stylesheets) from scratch. The most basic example of this is the "Notepad" software which comes with Windows computers.
The other is a web authoring tool which lets you work on your website visually. Adobe's "Dreamweaver" software is an example of this.
Whatever you choose to make your website depends on your knowledge and your budget. Check out Website creation software for more.
File transfer software
Even if you make the best website on earth, if you don't put it on a server, nobody can see it. What's the word "web" in there for unless it's a part of the World Wide Web, anyway?
That's why you need file transfer software. You need to be able to send your stuff from your computer to the server. This was covered earlier, but to reiterate, I really recommend the software FileZilla for this purpose.
FileZilla
The program FileZilla is a free and easy FTP client which will allow you to get your files from point A to point B. If you don't already have such a software, you should give it a try!
Remember, if you're on Neocities, you can update your website right in your browser without any additional software.
Useful things to have
On top of the basic software, you'll need other stuff to create a great website! It's not essential, but there are other things you might want.