Best Wysiwyg Web Design Software?

Whats the best WYSIWYG web design software for someone who has only basic html skills? I'm only building single pages and not whole sites but I need something powerful.

 

Pretty much every reply you get here will say the same. Don't use a WYSIWYG editor. They produce horrific useless code.

You'd be far more productive learning to write HTML yourself using something like Notepad++

HTML isn't overly difficult to learn, its a case like most things, practice makes perfect.

I along with many others would strongly urge you to not use a WYSIWYG editor or anything like that such as Dreamweaver.

 

Dreamweaver is the best WYSIWYG editor available, but don't use it. Learn to code properly instead of taking cheap shortcuts. Download Notepad++ or Sublime Text, and start from there.

>inb4 deathshadow shows up and criticizes the op for wanting a WYSIWYG editor

 

Agreed WYSIWYG is not the best solution for coding at all. You'r better of using notepad++ or sublime text, which has been suggested from the posters above.

 

Dreamweaver is my choice. It's good for both designer and developer. I used this IDE for many years

 

Instead of using WYSIWYG software use Wordpress which is user-friendly for all of us.

 

Hey, look at all the Dreamweaver re-re's who probably aren't qualified to open their mouth on the subject. Do yourself a favor, listen to scottpool2003 and ignore every other response so far. Steaming piles of bloated idiotic BULL like Dreamweaver, PARTICULARLY when used as a WYSIWYG is the fastest road to failure there is. Anyone DUMB ENOUGH to be suggesting it's use needs a serious case of STFU and GTFO.

Though I say the same thing about poorly written half-assed idiotic garbage off the shelf CMS like turdpress -- and we've got some of those lemmings running their mouths in here too.

But again, just because something is popular, doesn't make it good.

 

It's all down to skills, you spit on Dreaweaver and Wordpress but for noobs, there is not much choices and learning can take sometimes if they are in a hurry. Even though I basically agree with you, OP says that he/she has basics coding skills, so back on that "detail" I would say Dreamweaver

 

Dreamweaver is helpful for beginners
but I often take other people design template to edit again

 

In which way?

DW is the dumbest thing a beginner can use. A beginner typically has no IDEA what he is doing and DW doesn't help with that AT ALL!

OHHH, DW is a "professional" tool. If I, a total beginner, use it, I am a "professional" as well .

You simply DON'T get what you see.

Also: It freaking costs $400 (even student version is $150), but I bet 99% of the guys suggesting it, just get a cracked version

 

I also want to say to avoid a WYSIWYG editor, design view sometimes produce useless code even in WP or Blogger. I always write my post in code html view and have to click the preview button to view my post in real browser window.

I agree that DW is not for beginner besides I think you need to have additional knowledge to be able to use it in correct way.

But if you can afford DW and still want to try it, here is a simple tips that might be able to improve your basic HTML skills.

Add .html .htm and .php extensions into your DW preferences to view only in code view, so all the useless buttons such as split view, design view, live view will be grey out (unclickable) when you open those extensions.

Add all browsers you have installed on your system into the browser list preferences, so it will be much easier to preview your website in any browser you want.

If you have a local server installed on your sistem you can integrate it with DW, so you can test/view your server side codes (scripts) locally.

I also use DW sometimes but most of the time I use Notepadd++. The other things I find interesting in DW are Find and Replace (code sources) and FTP features.

 

Agreed for the simplest of reasons -- there is NOTHING it can teach you, and there is NOTHING of value you can learn from it. The code the WYSIWYG (like all WYSIWYGS) makes is absolute rubbish -- but it gets worse, the code made by ALL of the automation tools / wizards / whatever they're calling them on this flavor of the month release AND any of the sample templates are horrifically outdated, impractical, and quite often using the wrong technology for the job. From tables for layout to "heading orders, what's that?!?" to using javascript to do CSS' job to even it's stupid 'templating' system inserting comments (yes, I said COMMENTS) in code locations (like between floats or inline-blocks or relative positioned elements) proven to CAUSE rendering bugs in IE and FF (which people then hack around instead of getting rid of the pointless comments) ...

It is a blight upon the Internet that again, I cannot fathom why anyone would voluntarily use it apart from ignorance, and of course the "bandwagon". Just because all the other lemmings are running off a cliff...

Again why as I've said several thousand times by now, the only thing about Dreamweaver or any of the rest of the software Adobe makes for the web that can be considered professional grade tools are the people promoting it's use.

 

Clarifying the question: it wasn't "what's the best program to design a site with?" The question was "Whats the best WYSIWYG web design software for someone who has only basic html skills? I'm only building single pages and not whole sites but I need something powerful."

I've been in your shoes. You want to get started but you don't want to spend a bunch of time learning software. Dreamweaver is the best overall program for designing sites, but it's expensive and it's got a high learning curve for someone who has "basic HTML skills."

I had a lot of luck using Fusion, made by NetObjects. They are on v12 now and it only cost $59 if you have a coupon code. A quick search found this code for a 70% discount, WEBDESIGN70 (I don't know if that's an affiliate code; if it is, it's not mine. I'm just suggesting Fusion based on my experience to the question; I'm not making anything).

The concerns about WYSIWYG software are valid, but it sure makes web design easier. If you can use MS Word or Publisher, you can use Fusion.

On another note, you're going to want to build more than just a single page. Google looks for Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Contact Us, etc. pages. You won't rank and you'll be declined if you buy Adwords without them. They're simple to make. Really, you're only making one single extra page and then copying and pasting the information in them in the body.

One last suggestion. It's what I would do differently when I first started out. I would just pay someone to take the sketch that I came up with and design the site. Learning how to design and code a site is painful process. But so is teaching my daughter how to drive, and I look forward to soon giving her the keys to drive herself instead of me taking her everywhere. No pain, no gain. If you do decide to design your site, you might start out with a template from ThemeForest dot net.

Good luck.

 

Learn to code by hand use Notepad++ or Sublime text [has plugin with some simple modifications you can view your file in your favorite browser or other browsers you designate]. Dreamweaver is so overrated.

 

The best WYSIWYG editor is no WYSIWYG editor. Because WYSIWYG is the worst invention anyone ever came up with. Ick.

On Windows, I recommend PSPad. I used it for a while. For Ubuntu users: gedit, surprisingly, is my favorite. It has syntax highlighting, etc, and is quite simple to use.

IMHO, if you have to use a WYSIWYG, you should probably go back and learn HTML properly, then scrap silly notions of using anything but straight text editors.

 

You could try CoffeeCup it is a good program and you will even learn html while you are using this.

 

WYSIWYG editors are a nice way to learn how coding works. I would recommend BlueGriffin to start
http://www.bluegriffon.com/

 

Little late to the party, but short of doing everything by hand (which no one can argue delivers the most flexibility and assurance), using a graphical tool can be pretty useful. But while these tools can spare you some time and difficulty, you'll probably get the best mileage if you have at least a basic understanding of HTML, etc.

I've used OpenElement on a few projects. It's a free editor with some pretty advanced capabilities. If you don't want to work in text editors, give it a shot. But it's never a bad idea to brush up on the basics.

 

First of all, to answer your question, I have used both Dreamweaver and Netobjects fusion...both are quite good. True, it would benefit you to learn html..you WILL get better results with the wysiwyg editors knowing html, but wysiwyg editors are still fine for someone who doesn't want to learn 15 different programming languages just to whip up a decent web site. I personally have never had either of the 2 mentioned editors give me "useless" code...but have had to hand code a few things....but not often. Geeks crack me up..."wysiwyg editors are crap", lol. EVERYONE things they're tech savy nowadays

 

You can check out our framework, it sounds right up your alley. If you know basic HTML you can brand professional themes for WordPress quickly. http://www.FluidlabPro.com.