Considering switching to Dreamweaver CS4 (Mac)

Hello, friends. I'm considering switching from Freeway Express to Dreamweaver CS4 for my website (sig link #2). Right now I'm tinkering with the free 30-day trial of DW.

My question: at age 66 , am I taking on too steep a learning curve with Dreamweaver CS4? I'm not a coder, but I'm fairly knowledgeable in SEO and web design in general.

What do you think? Is this new challenge winnable? Can a webmaster successfully use DW CS4 without a solid knowledge of coding?

Thanks,
Jim

 

Definitely, with Dreamweaver you barely have to know any code.

 

What is freeway express? If its just a more basic version of DW then go with DW for sure.

 

Dreamweaver is perfect for someone like you. As long as you have a semi-handle on code and design then your in perfect shape. I do suggest reading some tutorials on it though. I learned the hard way, by trial and error, which isnt bad, its just that it takes much longer to learn and it took me reading some tutorials to completely learn what i wanted to know.

To sum it up. Dreamweaver should be no challenge for you to undertake.

Good luck

 

Dreamweaver is a really great product that is pretty easy to learn. lynda.com has some great tutorials.

 

I know this isn't what you're asking, but if you're serious about being a web developer... I'd look up some free html tutorials, and then once you make a few basic websites using JUST code, start learning some basic CSS and go from there.

It's really not that hard, in fact, it probably takes as much effort as learning the ins-and-outs of software like Dreamweaver, only your skills won't be bound to a piece of software... you can use ANYTHING. Plus, software like dreamweaver tends to put a bunch of junk code in your websites that tend to screw things up when it comes to cross-browser compatibility, or just slows things down in general (or maybe even lowers your SEO rankings?).

So if you decide to take my advice, then on a Mac it's TextMate all the way!

 

In no way is this meant to offend anyone, but at age 66 dreamweaver is the best way you can go about learning html. I loooked at your site in your sig, and there is nothing more you need to know that dreamweaver cant offer.

now if we were talking about an 18yearold kid who wants to become a web developer i would say that jonbeebe was hands down right, but in your case i really would suggest using dreamweaver. even tho html is a basic language, it some times frustrates people who are learning it to the point where they just stop, like with alot of other things.

 

MrKushy, great answer! I appreciate your factoring in the age and learning curve issues.

I'm fairly knowledgeable about SEO. I have the site in sig link #2 up to about 85,000 unique visitors a month. So if I can pick up a working knowledge of Dreamweaver reasonably quickly, I think I can keep moving the website forward. I appreciate the post.

 

No problem, I wish you luck.

If you have any questions don't hesitant to send me a pm.

 

DreamWeaver 4 is very easy to use from a WYSIWYG perspective. I would go as far as saying it is one of the leading WYSIWYG platforms on the market. I have been using it since DreamWeaver MX and couldn't be happier with the extra features and look it received when being bought out by Adobe.