Web Authoriing
- Thread starter alex
- Start date
Curious why you want to break away from FrontPage? As a site creation and management tool, it's about the best there is. Others will disagree but I think we've tried them all and keep coming back to FP.
Frank
Chairman of the Board
I think the operative phrase here is site creation and management. It does a decent job of that, although I have no idea why it creates some of the stuff it does. But the poster mentioned web pages and honestly, I can't stand Front Page for most of that, but I haven't seen an awful lot that is good for GUI desgin. I've used Visual InterDev almost exclusively for the past few years, and occasionally Dreamweaver - but mainly because I'm not just making pages, I'm writing scripts and applications.
My sister does Web pages for a living, and has done so for about the past five years. I do know that, in a pinch, she'll use what all web page designers use occasionally - Notepad. But she leans towards stuff like HomeSite and - I can't remember. Whatever Macromedia has. She's a big user of all their stuff, plus she uses tools like Poser for 3-D stuff.
Making good web pages really isn't a matter of what program you use. It takes a while to learn good web design, and you can make truly awful pages with the best stuff. My sister had the advantage of being in advertising and publishing prior to her Web involvement. If you really want to make good pages, learn all you can about HTML and look at pages you think look good - learn what tricks make them good. Find a book or two on web design.
My sister does Web pages for a living, and has done so for about the past five years. I do know that, in a pinch, she'll use what all web page designers use occasionally - Notepad. But she leans towards stuff like HomeSite and - I can't remember. Whatever Macromedia has. She's a big user of all their stuff, plus she uses tools like Poser for 3-D stuff.
Making good web pages really isn't a matter of what program you use. It takes a while to learn good web design, and you can make truly awful pages with the best stuff. My sister had the advantage of being in advertising and publishing prior to her Web involvement. If you really want to make good pages, learn all you can about HTML and look at pages you think look good - learn what tricks make them good. Find a book or two on web design.
Well, Alex said he was a novice, so we can safely assume that he's not up to hand coding. This eliminates Notepad. Just about any WYSIWYG program will need some hand-tweaking to make it cross-browser. And unless you have some graphic or art talent, your pages won't be professional quality anyway. That's what's nice about Front Page or any of the other programs of that sort - you can find a page you like somewhere, save it, then open it in FP to see what makes it tick.
LynnCoffren
Member
Hi,
I used FrontPage for a little while but kept designing pages and it kept changing my code when I'd save the documents. So I learned HTML and started using Notepad. Now, though, I used Macromedia Dreamweaver exclusively. The code is nice, it doesn't add any proprietary code to the pages, and has lots of other great features. They have a demo you can try at http://www.macromedia.com.
Have a fun day!
Lynn
I used FrontPage for a little while but kept designing pages and it kept changing my code when I'd save the documents. So I learned HTML and started using Notepad. Now, though, I used Macromedia Dreamweaver exclusively. The code is nice, it doesn't add any proprietary code to the pages, and has lots of other great features. They have a demo you can try at http://www.macromedia.com.
Have a fun day!
Lynn
Thanks for the help. I went with Dreamweaver 4 since they had a competitive upgrade if you had FrontPage. Actually it is not as hard as I first thought it would be , in fact I like it better than FP, plus they have a great step-by-step tutorial in the front of the manual.
Fulton
Member
FP vs. DW or any other product: It all comes down to what the designer is most comfortable with. I use both DW and FP, I prefer FP, but it is a personal thing. I do use DW for what I have to do but if I have a choice it is FP.
There have been some projects that I have used both because DW and FP have different features. Shunning one over the other paints yourself into a corner. Learn both products, you never know when you will need to code a site for either.
There have been some projects that I have used both because DW and FP have different features. Shunning one over the other paints yourself into a corner. Learn both products, you never know when you will need to code a site for either.
ultracrisp7
New Member
novice never excludes notepad... i grabbed a 400 page html book a little over 4 years ago and opened up notepad and NEVER learned front page... now i do web development for a living. it depends on what you want to do... there is a big difference between wanting to be a good web designer and a good web developer... i say, do it by hand... once you pick it up you don't have to rely on any tool to do it for you.
good luck.
good luck.
Pookie
Ghetto Fabulous
I'm a novice at this stuff too, but need to learn my way around the web design s/w since I'm gonna start updating our intranet here at work. Meanwhile, I've been doing a lot of copying and pasting in Notepad and would like to advance my skills. Do any of you know of any e-learning or tutorial sites that would be advantageous for me? TIA.
K
Kain99
Guest
I'm with Lynn. Dreamweaver is the way to go.
K
Katie
Guest
Dreamweaver MX kicks butt.
You can make tables and forms, but if you need to edit the HTML you are able to.
You can make tables and forms, but if you need to edit the HTML you are able to.
ultracrisp7
New Member
katie!!!
i agree with you miss katie... dwmx is awesome... there is a lot to learn though... i like that you can access your datasources in it... that's the main reason i feel for it... because i'm a lazy typer... lol.
so, katie, how are things... this is the katie that i know right??? hehe.
i agree with you miss katie... dwmx is awesome... there is a lot to learn though... i like that you can access your datasources in it... that's the main reason i feel for it... because i'm a lazy typer... lol.
so, katie, how are things... this is the katie that i know right??? hehe.
K
Katie
Guest
Re: katie!!!
Of course it is. I sent you a pm...did you check it?
Originally posted by ultracrisp7
i agree with you miss katie... dwmx is awesome... there is a lot to learn though... i like that you can access your datasources in it... that's the main reason i feel for it... because i'm a lazy typer... lol.
so, katie, how are things... this is the katie that i know right??? hehe.
Of course it is. I sent you a pm...did you check it?