recommendations, Weebly, WebPlus, Word, FTP etc..?

[#1]

OK, I have got my website hosted by a third party (not Plusnet) and have uploaded a sample webpage and it is working  
Now I need to do a reality check and seek advice form the wise (you guys)
I am not that clever, the extent of my ability is to get a piece of software and use it to create a website the way it wants to do it, check it works on my hard disk then upload it and use a browser based file manager ("FileManager") to check what it has done with my files.
I think now is the time to select which way to go because I think once committed I will find it difficult to change between platforms.
Years ago I created a website using "Word" and then uploading it using an FTP client with everything in the root directory.
Recently I have tried WebPlus, WordPress and Weebly. personally I prefer Weebly "drag and Drop".
I have had the problem that on two different hosting sites I have there seems to be different directory structures where one uses the root directory and another public_html. Unless I moved my index or home page from one to the other or vice versa it would not work and I got a snotty page telling me the page was under construction or something.
Question - does the hosting company have a directory structure to allow for stats and other "bolt ons". or does the software I use decide? Can I set it up to my preferences?
Which software to you recommend for someone with my level of skill?
thanks
Peter  

[#2]

All depends on what kind of web site you want, you can make a site with Notepad, but I would never ever use Word to make a web site with.
[Edit]
I use Netscape Composer 4.7 to make my main site with

[#3]

I am talking several years ago when FTP was about all that was available 
Would you consider Weebly, and drawbacks?
Also what about the directory configuration. is there a standard or recommended format?
thanks

[#4]

Would I consider Weebly No, it is not for me it's themes are proprietary.
Would I consider drawbacks if it is at: drawbacks.net No way.

[#5]

my concern is that all these web authoring tools have a single button to "publish" and I have produced websites with very little understanding of what I had done.
Then I get into difficulty if I want to change software or web host.
When I look at the directories through FTP or one of the browser based file managers I think thay you have to have the index or home page in the root directory. is this a hard and fast rule. Does software such as Weebly do a good job of organising the directory structure or des the host company have its own rules which I have to set up?

[#6]

Weebly is php driven, my main site is plane html only no CGI Server required, but for php you require an CGI Server to run the site.

[#7]

Weebly seems like an attractive idea for the level of knowledge you say you have, as it includes hosting and (presumably) automatic software updates to the software platform. That removes a fair few of the security/maintenance hassles of hosting and managing yourself, although the potential problems of reassembling the site on another platform should you decide to move (or Weebly folds!) remains.
If its a blog you want (or something that the blogging format can be adapted to) an account hosted by Blogger.com or Wordpress.com would probably do the trick; although it lacks the flexibility of hosting Wordpress yourself, its a great deal less hassle and more secure.
One of the big downsides of the likes of self hosted Wordpress - or any php/SQL etc based system that you host yourself - is that you usually have to update the install yourself if you've done any customisation. Failure to keep up with the updates has the potential for dire consequences for site security (and that of unwary visitors). Given the regularity with which Wordpress and its plugins are attacked due to its popularity, it can be a headache. A 'vanilla' Wordpress install can be reasonably hassle free, as many hosts either automate updates or make them fairly painless via cPanel. You could host the Wordpress install yourself, on your own machine, and use it to publish static HTML to a web facing host by using something like the WP Static HTML Output plugin. The upside is that that wordpress itself is more secure, the downside is that you lose the dynamic abilities it brings to visitors, and have to run a webserver on your own machine - although this is a lot less hassle than it used to be using something like WAMP for Windows or MAMP for Mac OSX.
Long and short is it can be a pain, has a pretty steep learning curve, but brings rewards and flexibility.
Like Midnight Caller, I tend to stick to static HTML/CSS (sometimes with Server Side Includes (SHTML) for repeating elements on large sites) where a dynamic site is not needed. It's secure, stable and, as you mentioned, easily portable. I've only ever used Dreamweaver (which I highly recommend) with TextWrangler/BBetdit for a text editor, and occasionally Fetch for FTP - the last two are Mac, but Textedit++ and CuteFTP are great on Windows. I believe there are free/cheap WYSIWYG editors out there, but I have no idea what's the current flavour of the month - the price for Dreamweaver as a standalone is shocking unless you're a student or lecturer. Unless you have a pressing need to regularly update a site when you're away from your own machine, I think this might suitable for you if you're prepared to tackle the initial (steepish but brief) learning curve; in your case you do have some prior experience, and there are free downloadable HTML templates around to get you started. It has the advantage that you can get something workable up pretty quickly that you can improve, customise and scale as you learn, and the knowledge would greatly boost your confidence in dealing with a self hosted php/SQL installation in the long run, or for editing wordpress themes. A basic static site is also easily portable between hosts. Stay well clear of MS Word; it outputs  HTML, but of a kind that is vile, almost incomprehensible and hideously bloated - you won't learn anything useful from it at all.
If you do go the HTML route, get yourself a reference book - there's plenty of advice etc on the web, but I still find a book a better starting point. The one I still rate most highly is Web Design: The Complete Reference by Thomas Powell; at nine years old the last edition is ancient in net terms, but as its mainly a "why to" rather than "how to", many of the principals are still entirely valid, even if the code is dated. There is almost certainly a more modern equivalent with up to date code and techniques.

[#8]

Thanks Mark
That is the sort of guidance I was looking for! I will particularly attend to site security . I think I will get this by using the the "vanilla" version of the software offered by my my hosting site and their  protections as they obviously want to protect their system and reput
I intend to stick to Weebly as long as there are no scams and it is a serious offering. I was concerned that most of the reviews on the net were "advertorial" published by websites with a vested interest.
I should clarify that I have hosted my domain (website and e-mail) with "i Page" having had a bad experience with "000webhost" and they offer Weebly drag and drop along with WordPress and CeMail Web site creator. All basic versions for free and then there is some mild pressure to trade up to the professional versions.
Regards
Peter  

[#9]

@PeterLoftus,  What was your bad experience with "000webhost" ?
Is i Page any good ?

[#10]

I was three days without e-mail and when I asked why i got the following reply
Posted by Staff Member, on June 13, 2011, 10:15:09
Hello,
This issue can be related to mail filtering rules. It's possible someone from this server (it's a SHARED server) has sent mass emails and email provider has blacklisted this IP for some time.
However, IPs do not stay blacklisted for a long time, so everything should back to normal soon. At the moment you can mark email as "Not Spam", this will speedup the whitelisting processing
Thank you for using our services,
Helpdesk Staff
www.000webhost.com
I fell that I couldn't complain too much because it was a free service! 
i page offered a good rate, for a year anyway, and it does what it says on the tin 
everything works, the e-mail setup was very straightforward, the control panel is implemented well, and I find Weebley very intuitive and no problems creating a site so far. And they havent been forced offline like 000webhost yet.....  You get what you pay for 
Peter

[#11]

I will add i page to my list to look in to for web Hosting, I am leening to www.wiserhosting.com with it been in the UK plus it has UP Phone Support.