I'm starting my own business and need a very basic website to put some general information about services, contact information etc. I have never developed a web page before, but I'm a pretty quick study. Are there some good free webpage development tools available? Where is the best place to get my domain name and web page published?

I'm using a Mac for all my work so I need to get tools that are compatible. Are pull down menu's something I can do with any of these tools?

Thanks in advance for any information you are able to provide!

I'm willing to help with design and coding if you want.

my opinion, fwiw: hire a designer to build a page. find someone who can craft a good, professional look and feel (unless of course you have a background in design, then never mind). there are a few web designers on the forum, including myself. there are probably a few free web apps out there, though i have never used any. for a "non-free" wysiwyg editor, i recommend adobe golive, though i personally prefer to write most of my webpages by hand. most of the mainstream wysiwyg editors can do it all: forms, pulldowns, javascript, etc.

for hosting/domain, there are a load of sites out there that enable you to buy a domain and hosting all at once. i use interland.com for most of my clients.

and since you're using a mac, you'll probably get everything done about 50% faster.

~a

Mini Review of Mac Web Editors

Dreamweaver if you can afford it...

Nvu if you can't...

NO WYSIWYG editor will do everything you want it to, until you have a good understanding of HTML as a scripting language. You'd do well to get an HTML For Dummies book regardless of what editor you go with.