I'm just looking around to see what might be available in terms of website templates that are easy to change and might be applicable for a theatre.

Do all of you have your own "webmaster" that created and maintains your site or were you able to locate a template and adapt for your needs?

Thanks ~

I was going to suggest the same thing.  I personally prefer yahoo site builder for folks with little web experience.  Our theatre did the "right" thing and went with a local company to design our site, which looks great, but I'm the only one on our staff that really knows how to update it! 

I am just getting started with my organization. In order to get a website without spending a lot of money, I built one online at www.CitySlide.com for about $9.98 per month (a little less if you subscribe by the year). It comes with a lot of bells and whistles: text editor, message board, pages for photo albums, calendars, links, polls, newsletters, mailing lists, etc.

I purchased a web address at www.GoDaddy.com and was able to direct it to my website. In order to take full advantage of the design tools, you'll need a PC as opposed to a Mac, however. My website is at www.JoyfulHP.org. They have stock photos for the header, but I designed my own so I could have my name and logo on it and it enabled me to add it instead.


Tracy

Was wondering if anyone might be able to take a look at my theatre's Website and give me an idea of what you think?  I have designed/built it myself, and of course, to me, its perfect (except for the fact that i can't figure out why my logo can't be found).

Thanks in advance!

Okay I've gotta chime in a second time here.

It's a misconception that you don't need a webmaster as long as you find some magic template. Just because you might have a template that removes most of the "design" element from your job, you still have to know how to put it together. You still have to know how to link.

They have what are called CMS's or Content Management Systems which is kind of like the aforementioned "template" but it's more than that. It's a website shell and fully customizable. It has a learning curve, but it's also got a ton of features.

Here's what I'd do...

First go to hostgator.com and click on Order now under HOST on the main page. Select a domain name if you don't already have one and click next. Follow the steps to guy a fairly low level package. Baby Croc would work. It's like $9.95 a month. Once you got it all set up, hit your control panel, go to the Fantasstico DeLuxe link and install Joomla 1.5 onto your site and learn how to use it. It's a really great CMS with a LOT of addons you can get from thier website to customize it how you want. There's also a TON of "skins" or "looks" to choose from or you can find one that's close, alter it and make it your own.

I chose hostgator because it's cheap, has a TON of options and just happens to be what i'm most currently familier after using many other hosts in the past.

Costs...
Domain Name............$10-$20 a year
Server.......................$10 a month
Joomla 1.5.................Free
Learning this.............Your time

If you don't like how Joomla works, try out Mambo or Drupal or Xoops or php-nuke or something else. There are eleven (11) different CMS's to choose from. There are also message boards, shopping carts, image gallaries, polls and surveys mailing lists and so on you can choose to install, all for free.

I understand there's a learning curve, but it's all worth it.