Hi all

 

I have recently managed to get myself my first job in web development and successfully got my first "real" website up and running for a company. To do this I did the whole lot in free hand code and photoshop.

 

Since then I have heard a fair bit about dreamweaver cs4 but have never touched it. I am currently downloading the trial now and I am waiting patiently for it (sluggish connection today).

 

Just wondered if anyone could give me their opinions on dreamweaver and wether it is worth moving over if I do everything free hand at the moment.

 

Thanks

If you want to try Dreamweaver then go right ahead. Your choice of editor is really up to you, DW may be right or wrong for you but the only way to find out is by using it. Bear in mind there are many alternatives so it's worth testing several before deciding which one best fits your style.

ok i'll take a look at the trial.

 

i have used used ultraedit to make the first one and that seems OK.

 

dreamweaver better have its benefits for the price that it is.

Hi

I had work with DW and I do not like it...

I work with widow platform and if you r gave a try HTML-KIT

I am using it for the last 4 years and would not trade for any other application,

I has CSS ,XHTML , PHP Java Script Modules and if you use any of this it can be very handy

It is not free bit it is not that expansive most of the module r develop by users and they r free

 

I am telling you it is One of the best one I had found and I try a lot of them ,I always search for a new stuff..

 

Here is a link http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

 

Good luck

L

i have used used ultraedit to make the first one and that seems OK.

 

dreamweaver better have its benefits for the price that it is.

Ultraedit is one of those editors that hard core developers use, and has a very loyal following. I remember trying it a few years back but couldn't get on with it, then I found WeBuilder and haven't looked back

OK thanks very much all for the help.

 

I've now got the trial of Photoshop, html-kit and webuilder 2008 and am trying them all out.

 

Looking at both I think I'll be using a combination of dreamweaver and webuilder.

 

Dreamweaver has a lot of preset code done for you. (lazy i know)

 

Webuilders code highlighting to check for missing tags in absolute genius!!!

 

Thanks again

"Dreamweaver or hand coding?" - doesn't have to be or. Dreamwaver got a a nice coding interface.

We use CS4Web Premium package, the nice integration between Photoshop, Fireworks and Dreamweaver make prototyping and image manipulation very easy. We both use Dreamweaver in its coding rather than design configuration which gives a nice code editing environment. So essentially we use Dreamweaver for hand coding, it's not an either or choice. It is an expensive option compared to using HTML-kit or Notepad++ which are both perfectly good editors.

Personally I prefer Dreamweaver.

---

www.zoneix.net

Dreamweaver is a great tool. I have always used it and find the coding window great as it speeds up your coding greatly. Also using it with other programs like photoshop is easy and a lot less hassle. I suppose everyone has their own opinion on it though.

I like the coding interface with Dreamweaver and site management functions. Have a look at see what you think and if the added things can be of use to you. I like using notepad++ too.

 

I'd like to try out Coda and BBEdit on the Mac...but don't have one lol

I pretty much hand-code in dreamweaver. I only use it over Notepad because it has colour coding fr easy tag recognition, and also auto closes tags. So I just have to type '</' and it'll write '</strong>' for me (assuming it's open).

I like hand coding in dreamweaver as well, although I wouldn't advice it for new web designers as it is better to get to grips with the code and understand why you are doing something a certain way, that way if you ever need to do a site with just notepad for some reason, you can do as your learnt how to code and understand it before becoming lazy

 

But much like anything it is all down to personal taste and what helps you the most However one word of caution, don't trust what design mode shows you, it is sometimes nice as a quick reference but always always browser check, as a lot of the time what you see in design mode isn't what you will see in all browsers.

However one word of caution, don't trust what design mode shows you, it is sometimes nice as a quick reference but always always browser check, as a lot of the time what you see in design mode isn't what you will see in all browsers.

 

I've never, ever seen my websites look correct in the design view. The design view is terrible in dreamweaver. Why it cant just pull in a live view from a selected browser, I don't know.

 

Don't ever use it as a reference, I'd say.

I too hand code in Dreamweaver, this is mainly due to the auto closing of tags, the auto completing CSS and the colour coding. Design view never works as I tend to use PHP includes.

I hate dreamweaver, its over complicated the syntax highlighting is crap, it crashes all the time, uses ridiculous amounts of memory and then to add insult it costs a bomb!

 

I personally use eclipse and the esftp plugin, or notepad++. Dont use the design view in dreamweaver you will never learn the code and you will be classed as a bedroom jockey

I've never, ever seen my websites look correct in the design view. The design view is terrible in dreamweaver. Why it cant just pull in a live view from a selected browser, I don't know.

 

Don't ever use it as a reference, I'd say.

 

 

I go along with what most have said here, especially this comment ^^.

 

DW is brilliant once you learn how it does things but forget the design view, you'll only wonder why its their in the first place.

 

a little pricey, yes. Worth the outlay, I would say so for a professional. The extra help in code view like highlighting errors, auto closing tags and showing a list of context sensitive code is a real time saver and very useful.

 

Shame they can't just release a DW code view mini-app for under £100 or something. The cynic in me would say they rather people buying the more expensive version.

 

Although it seems HTML-kit does the same kind of stuff as DW code view.

I've never, ever seen my websites look correct in the design view. The design view is terrible in dreamweaver. Why it cant just pull in a live view from a selected browser, I don't know.

 

Don't ever use it as a reference, I'd say.

I've been wondering that since day one i have been using dreamweaver.

I generally use my laptop for all work. I purchased a typical size monitor (19 inches) and dual screen between laptop and the monitor. On the laptop I have my code editor open and on the monitor I keep Firefox, Sefari or IE open to view. I find this method easy. I honestly don't trust WYSIWYG editors. Their live view is terrible. Most software developers tend to not care for that portion. Also having a software pre-code things for you is not a good idea either. I know there are export design to HTML functions now, but they are terrible. I tried it 3 times but never got the layout to look the way I wanted it. It's always distorted. I know there are some software which give you the ability to contact tags. I find that a great function. Helps me keep things more organized and helps me from dragging up and down too much. I believe Dreamweaver CS4 has that option and so does Oxygen XML.

I do get a bit fed up of people saying that Dreamweaver is good, its not. If I gave you photoshop and said not everything you want to use is going to work how it should I don't think youd be impressed!

 

The code view is great but a bit pricey for something you can get from notepad 2, and theres no built in ftp functionality like pspad editor

 

I gave up on dreamweaver long ago, pspad is much better. You can edit and save directly to the server which is genius allowing you to see exactly what you have changed. Yes I know this can all be done locally, but it is really good to allow clients to see a work in progress. I obviously don't work on live environments.

 

The other security with working 'live' is that if all my files go caput they are always backed up on the server from the last save (usually no more than a minute prior)

 

Forget dreamweaver PSPad is the way forward and its FREEEEEEEE

As others have said , you other like it or hate it and the best way to decide is to give it a try....

Andylyon, dreamweaver does have built in ftp. It always has done.

Andylyon, dreamweaver does have built in ftp. It always has done.

 

 

Lol ok well I obviously disliked it that much I didn't use it long enough to find out.

 

Gotta concede it is a rip off!

I've never, ever seen my websites look correct in the design view. The design view is terrible in dreamweaver. Why it cant just pull in a live view from a selected browser, I don't know.

 

Don't ever use it as a reference, I'd say

y

 

CS4 has started to fix this by incorporating 'liveview' which will give you a browser view, if your working on a local server it will also show parsed PHP etc which is handy for includes etc.

 

Design view is still useless.

 

I also find the code navigator quite handy as it lets you get to the code you want pretty quick by cutting out scrolling and flicking between pages, and lastly I like that it shows all the included and relative files for a page at the top menu automatically, so i can find what I need quickly.

 

all that said, you can't help but feel so many companies & users must buy it, surely they could sell it cheaper?

Lol ok well I obviously disliked it that much I didn't use it long enough to find out.

 

Gotta concede it is a rip off!

Although there is a FTP software built into Dreamweaver, you still can't do live edit off the server. Which is the best feature of PSPad.

It depends on what version of DW people have used I guess. I've got CS4 and it's got pretty much everything that these alternative programs have and more. There's a feature I haven't explored fully yet that allows you to manage different sites. You setup a profile for the site and can work on files, validate, check links, database stuff, etc and then upload the files that have changed. Not sure whether you can work directly on a live server but then I'm not sure that makes too much difference all things considered. I know you can link directly to a database and retrieve table field info, etc.

 

Like most adobe products, it takes a long time to fully learn and understand what's possible. My opinion is that WYSIWIG editors (ie design view) are only any good for basic sites. And I wouldn't really consider DW a WYSIWIG site builder anymore, it's far more than that. A little pricey though.

Dreamweaver is a good application with lot of powerfull tools! I use Dreamweaver for several years and i am happy with it. However a lot of times you have to correct the program because it has some bad thinks as well.

Dreamweaver is a great application although it does crash and sometimes has random errors, i've been using it for years and its satisfying. I wont recommend purchasing it if you're not going to become a web designer and take your job seriously.