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travismp
Posts: 246
Joined: 2/1/2002
From: hutchinson ks USA
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Website Design Software - 10/6/2008 9:50:58
I need to stop using FrontPage 2000 because it is old and outdated.
What program should I get to do basic wesite design? I know there is dreamweaver and expressions but I know of no others. Should I use one of those or a different program? What are the main differences between those 2? thank you all.
t~
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mar0364
Posts: 3221
Joined: 4/5/2002
From: Florida, US
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RE: Website Design Software - 10/6/2008 10:37:53
Oh boy this thread will go on a while.. :o)
If you are familiar with MS products you will probably find Expression easier. If you use Adobe products you will find Dreamweaver easier. My big beef with MS is it marriage to the dot net framework. Don't get me wrong I understand why they do it. But if you create something that requires the use of sever side technology you limit yourself to less then half of the server on the internet as hosts.
They all write code. I use both for different projects. But the one reliable thing I use is Notepad or BBEdit.
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“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”
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Tailslide
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From: Out here on the raggedy edge
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RE: Website Design Software - 10/6/2008 13:45:32
The answer depends really on what you want to do with the software.
If you want to build sites for a bit of fun - nothing particularly serious - and you don't want to spend a fortune or a lot of time learning to use the software itself then try Kompozer. It's a free WYSIWYG software and will do the job to a basic level.
If you want to build websites to a reasonable standard but not necessarily for quality and you're feeling wealthy then Dreamweaver is the best of the WYSIWYG editors. BUT it's expensive, complex and only as good as the person using it.
If you want to build quality websites of a high standard then it suddenly gets cheaper again as you can rely on something as simple as Notepad (but I wouldn't make life deliberately hard for yourself) or one of the many excellent free HTML Editors such as PSPad, Crimson Editor or HTML-Kit.
HTML editors make you work in the code - no WYSIWYG facility. But that is a good thing as it forces you to really learn the code - learn how to use HTML and CSS properly and you'll never need to spend money on software like Dreamweaver. I've been developing websites professionally for 4 years and I use a free HTML editor like these. Once you know what you're doing you can go back to using DW - but since you'll have to double-check what it's doing all the time, I'm not sure of the point!
So in summary - Kompozer for fun, Dreamweaver for fun if you're feeling rich and HTML editors plus good tutorials if you want to do things really properly.
Good tutorials - http://www.htmldog.com and http://www.cssbasics.com
Also ensure you have all the major web browsers on your system to check as you go along plus download Tredosoft which allows you to have multiple versions of IE as well.
There - I don't think I've said that WYSIWYG editors are cr*p anywwhere... oops!
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Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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travismp
Posts: 246
Joined: 2/1/2002
From: hutchinson ks USA
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RE: Website Design Software - 10/6/2008 14:10:12
thank you alll very much . There is some great info in your posts so far.
Tailslide - your post had a lot of value in few words which is great.
I still need to do more homework to figure a few things out.
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RickP
Posts: 693
Joined: 11/13/2004
From: Kent, U.K.
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RE: Website Design Software - 10/8/2008 6:34:25
Hi Travis
Here's my tuppeny worth...
If you have no intention of learning html / css then there are plenty of freebie wysiwyg editors - quite a few, just search for them and give 'em a go.
If you already know some, or aim to learn coding then Dreamweaver or Expressions will help you both learn and utilise the code. Dreamweaver is expensive, Expressions is cheaper. You'll find the transition from FrontPage to Expressions is an easy one (plus you only need to buy the upgrade version of Expressions ).
As mentioned by others, if you know the code you can use the simplest of tools for the job (and usually free). However, I don't know how much the latter tools help in 'organising' your website. My favourite feature of Expressions, which I use (also included in Dreamweaver, which I don't use), is DWT - Dynamic Web Templates. For small sites (say 5 - 20 or so pages) this is the simplest, easiest way to maintain consistancy across the main areas of the site (e.g. navigation, banner, footer etc.). The same job can be done using 'includes' but the DWT method is easier for small sites in my opinion.
Hope that helps
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On-The-Web-Now!
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Printable Version 
I can't believe I said that!) If you want to do it professionally though (i.e. as a profession), then you need to have an understanding of the code and how it all works, then it's well worth going for a text editor so you can control the code, and later going back to WYSIWYG armed with that knowledge if you want to. 
