I would go with DW, FP just doesnt cut it overall IMO. Althugh nowdays I am using mambo (cms) generally, so the need to use a wysisyg had been slashed right down. DW takes a long time to be very good with it. As usual when you need something professional - stay away from MS
Go Notepad. Or at least something that gives you syntax highlighting. I tried FP in the early days of my webmaster career but hated not being in control. Used dreamweaver but still had the desire to be in complete control. Hand coding is the only way to get that. And especially when you add PHP in the mix which you have to hand code anyway, there is no way back. I now only use DW sporadically when I need to design a complicated table structure but that hasn't happened in over half a year now. Between FP and DW I'd go DW. But trust me, as soon as you get the hang of HTML you'll quickly get annoyed by its limitations and go scripting language.
Oh I agree... nothing I would like more than learning PHP... but that is totally unknown around here. Heck, just take a look at the mexican websites and you will have a good laugh, even the Government sites look like if they were done by a 5 year old
I dont see why you would ever choose notpad - unless ALL you do is code - this can be done with dw, different code highlights in different colours, you can manage many sites + make mass alterations much easier, it has predictive text for code, as well as being able to see layout, spell check, reorganise file structures, not to mention built in references, behaviours, library. I dont see any limitations. Why would you not choose dw even if you use it as notepad basically? understand notepad for pure coding or quick edits.
Hey, Have you ever tried mambo? I ve been building in php, css + html for years - but mambo is excellent
I know Notepad is a pretty crap solution and I only used it as a metaphor for hand coding. I'll be getting Zend Studio this month which is an all in one package for the professional PHP developer. It has everything one could wish for. I haven't worked with DW MX so that might well be a great package too. I do think that when you build high end software you should know your code inside out. And that isn't possible with WYSIWYG IMO. But if you're 'only' in the HTML stage then yes, WYSIWYG is the way to go for sure.
How can you say that? DW can be used ONLY as notpad if you like. I understand the need for knowing the code (+ hand coding). But as mentioned this can be done in dw.
True but I don't like all the peripheral crap you get with it. Open DW and you get 20 little windows (I know you can close them). I just don't have a need for all the extras so I won't use it. PS Congrats on your 1000th post this morning...
Thanks Tops You can set the windows to open how you like.. for example - you could decide that you only want the properties showing.. or folder structure. Also its easier to see errors instantly with a "what you see".. The only real issue i can see is the resources it uses - get a faster machine.
With Zend I'll be moving back from hand code only to something more like DW so I guess we agree but I'm stubborn Make sure the 1000th is a memorable one.
Dreamweaver even has "Frontpage specific code cleaning" .. I use it very often, when i redesign , client's websites
DW MX is the best in my opinion. Clean design, easy to navigate and you can customize the look and feel of dw. With the extension manager you can download extensions to enhance dw! What I like the best is the clean html/php output!
Honestly, I love Dreamweaver and don't know how I ever allowed myself to use FrontPage. Unfortunately, I have to keep up on my FrontPage knowledge because I teach the class at a local career & technology center. I find Dreamweaver (in tandem with Fireworkds) to be much easier to use and does not mess up my page when I hand code in code view. Honestly, Dreamweaver isn't any harder to learn than FrontPage if you learn to code correctly. I have found FrontPage to be less standards compliant as well, but then again, it is a Microsoft Product.
I use Dreaweaver 8 and have used the previous versions great program. I also took a couple of classes in DW and they really helped out by filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle that I had from teaching myself. One of the best features of DW8 is zoom very handy feature for tired eyes.
I recently started using DW8 and this version is a big improvement over previous versions, IMO -- a lot of handy features and a shorter learning curve than earlier versions. That said, I still find the load of crap people post about FP annoying. Most of it may have applied to FrontPage Express or FP98 but it's pretty obvious most of the anti-FP posters haven't even looked at an FP package let alone the program in many years. Also, for those of you still using FP in a Nix server, you can indeed use an .htaccess file successfully for most purposes (possibly not mod_rewrite though on some servers). What you need to do is the following: 1. access your site with an FTP program (not FP itself, because FP will hide the htaccess file from you) 2. make sure your FTP client is set to show hidden files 3. download a copy of the htaccess file installed along with the FP Server Extensions to your hard drive 4. open htaccess on your local hard drive using notepad 5. ADD any additional lines you want to the BOTTOM of the lines installed by the FP servewr extensions 6. save and upload using the third-party FTP client
I agree... but as soon as you see someone starting his post with the intelligent phrase "From what I heard" you know it is going to be pure BS.
That's true. It usually means "I don't actually know anything at all about this topic but I heard from another guy that he read in a forum somewhere that {insert balderdash of the moment here}"...