Web Design Software

I like Dreamweaver a lot, though still use version 8, which is the last version before Adobe acquired Macromedia. So I don't know if or how it's changed over the last couple of versions. That aside....

The thing about DW is that there are number of different ways to use it, and entire aspects to it that you can ignore. (Not that different from Sonar, where you might only do audio and never touch MIDI, or vice versa, or never use Groove Loops....)

What I like about DW is that it's very useful for managing sites, and keeping local files in sync with the files on your server. It will auto-update links and link references.

It has a very nice code editor, with color coded tags, and tag auto-complete (I forget what it's actually called) so you can start typing a tag, or a value, and automatically get a list of possible ways to complete it. That might sound intrusive, but it's a great way to insure against tag-value mis-matches, or misused tags (it's pretty context sensitive) or plain old typos. It works for both HTML and CSS and Javascript (plus various other formats... I think... HTML and CSS are the ones I use mostly.)

DW has a WYSIWYG editor, but I've never found it too reliable as a check for what I'm actually doing. But, it's very useful for fast navigation through a page, because even though the layout isn't always accurate, it's accurate enough to see sections, objects, text, etc, and this layout view is always (usually) in sync with the code view. (Similar to how the Navigator in Sonar stays in sync with the track view.)

It's not perfect, but I find Dreamweaver a pleasant program to use.

I also REALLY like Macromedia (now Adobe) Fireworks, which is a web-oriented graphics program that seamlessly integrates editing bmp and vector art. (Here too. I'm a few versions behind.) It's not as powerful and all-purpose industrial-strength as Photoshop or Illustrator, but it combines the most important functions of both of those programs into one really neat package. I always look forward to using it. Unlike Photoshop or Illustrator, Fireworks doesn't need to maintain its legacy as a print-oriented program, so it has a more modern and streamlined feel to it. Every so often I need to do something that is better done, or can only be efficiently done, in Photoshop, but that's actually pretty rare. Fireworks can save with full PS compatibility.

Another program you might want to look at is Movable Type, a Content Management System (CMS) program that's most often used for (and is oriented towards) blogging but can in fact be used to manage almost any kind of website, especially one with frequent content updates. I don't find it a substitute for Dreamweaver... they're very different... but it's possible that others might. But, using MT and DW together, drawing on the strengths of each, makes a really powerful combination... though it does take some wrap-your-head-around-it time. Partly because it's packaged with a blog orientation with lots of premade templates and (supposedly) easy-to-use features, Movable Type can be kind of inscrutable until you manage to demystify it. It's templating language is not too dissimilar to XHTML. It's also free. :)

Hope this helps!

Simon although DW is handy, to get the most out of it knowing HTML on it's own is a big help. I mean my friends bought it / use if for their business and they know flash inside out.

you can even use open office , I mean to generate the basics and just build on that.

I used to use a thing called fusion

http://www.netobjects.co.uk/

I got it on the front of a mag cover disk and upgraded it, but the upgrades I feel are too pricey and they are forever sending junk mail to upgrade. There are plenty of other things out there besides DW that do a decent enough job.. it's a bit like people who go on about photoshop ... it's industry standard BUT there are plenty of other capable things.. e.g. paintshop pro... the gimp (which is free).. I have a light version of Photoshop that I got with my scanner OEM, which is still good enough for a fair few tasks.

most of the time I'd just use a text editor that has support for html tags like crimson editor (which is free)

some peoples sites assume everyone now has a fast connection , which is still wrong. I mean some people are on dial up still these days. So if I was to build a new site (which I will have to at some point) I will make sure the balance is there.. on one hand you want it to look nice, other hand it needs to load at a decent speed.

Marah, the wsiwg things have left bloat behind in the past I found..

another thing I used to use, haven't used it in a LONG time is ignite.. for optimising graphics

http://www.ignite-it.co.uk/

it was good in the sense of a friend would do a mock up the pages they wanted in say photoshop and do the on/off status as layers and put rulers / dividers in in PS..

I'd just run the files thru ignite to get the elements of the files.

but I did do a extra section of an album, it was basically a website on the disc.. with exclusive content videos included etc.

I mean you don't even need to have to use things like flash etc. to do it.. the bonus disc that you got with the film Madagascar had a auto-run file on it that basically opens up a web browser ..it was a freebie shell execute program they used to do it that you can get off the web.

that's what annoys me, so many albums have the music and loads of space on the disc for more. e.g. my friends band spent a small fortune on a video BUT it wasn't included in the full album release.. which I never understood / got.

there is so many things people can do, but don't with websites etc.. that don't even need flash.

e.g. I used to have a basic / small java script that would change the colours of the site ever time it was loaded. people thought I was updating it a lot..when in reality all it was , just a transparent logo , and inverted.. so the background acted as a mask , and the background colour was used as the foreground colour

Yep, I would say that Dreamweaver is the best...

* Adobe Dreamweaver Web Development Software

and if you can afford it, getting Dreamweaver as part of the Design Suite is probably the very top-of-the-line:

* Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium

but there's also another pretty nice package out there that provides pre-designed site templates, etc...

* Namo WebEditor Professional

Best,
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series. Get Sonar 8 Power - Today! Go to: http://www.garrigus.com/ - http://www.musictechshop.com/ - http://www.cooltechshop.com/

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http://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/

very nice and easy to use - 30 day trial, register on line for $39 bucks.

TextPad isn'y bad for the price.

You have my vote for Dreamweaver as well.  The newest version is an outstanding product (of course not flawless as no software is).

HTH

Dave

  Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 is the best web site development software/tool available today. If you are a professional web designer looking for a rapid application tool to design web sites, this is your best bet.

abeyclinton


  Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 is the best web site development software/tool available today. If you are a professional web designer looking for a rapid application tool to design web sites, this is your best bet.

KVM Extender

Actually, Dreamweaver CS5 for been out for a while now

I'm a long time Dreamweaver user -- but like others, I've been quite reluctant to move up from DW8, the last version before Adobe bought Macromedia to get Flash and DW. (The first version of the "CS" creative suite after the purchase was roundly panned by many rank and file developers I came across. I don't know if subsequent versions have been better but the $200 upgrade stinks -- though MM was equally mercenary at times.)

As others have said, DW can be used in WYSIWYG mode -- but it's entirely possible to use WYSIWYG mode to create web page code that bollixes up the whole business -- unless you go into the code and unfugg it by hand. But that's pretty much pandemic for any sort of sophisticated web editor, since there are, oh, about a jillion ways to do anything -- NONE of which will work for all the browsers out there, for the most part.

The HTML standards process was JUST about getting straightened out when a certain large and very successful computer, software, phone and consumer electronics company decided to start playing heavy politics with the standards process and really poisoned the water -- forcing the committee to finally agree to disagree on a video standard. Most partners had wanted a standardized video codec at the heart of the HTML5 video standards -- but because that certain large company leaned hard on the process, simultaneously being obstructionist and going to the general media to wage a patently dishonest campaign against some of their former allies and, some would say, against the very standards process itself, the committee just wrote the codec out of the standard. Nice.


Anyhow, it's all a mess, now, no question. The HTML5 standards process has been thoroughly politicized and corrupted and we're likely entering yet another period like the late 90s and early 00's when developers need to write different code for different browsers and platforms thanks to the perversion of the standards process.


At any rate, learning HTML (which in the modern paradigm is where your content and basic markup lives) and CSS (which is where you format and style your content, customizing alternaitves  for different browsers and platforms to the extent necessary) is probably as important as ever for rising above simple designs. (That said, many folks only need simple designs. You can make a very elegant and effective page with relatively simple code or by using good CSS templates [though there is a lot of crap out there].)


One alternative I keep trying to dish up the time to explore is the open source, free BlueFish 2 editor.  http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/ Looks, from quotes from dev sites and such, that at least some folks think BF2 is one of the better editors out there. But I just haven't had a chance to explore it.             

[EDIT: Decided to DL BlueFish 2.0. It looks like it's got some good features but those who are looking for WYSIWYG should keep looking -- or get into the old school approach of writing code in an editor and viewing the changes in an open browser window -- and with Chrome and Firefox, you have a number of developer oriented tools either built in or easily addable, that can, for instance, allow you to see the CSS hierarchy of a give object -- cascades, if you will; I guess that was what the founding fathers figured we'd call them.]     

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Thanks& regards,
Angel anave
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