I'm preparing to change software for the website in sig link #2. It is currently on the Macintosh program Freeway Express 3.5.15, but there are some issues requiring me to migrate to some new software. I've whittled it down to Dreamweaver or Rapidweaver. Any recommendations on which one you would suggest. I am not an html guy, but I'm reasonably proficient in web design and optimization. What has been your experience with Dreamweaver or Rapidweaver? Any preference for one over the other? I'll be using either a MacBook Pro, with Mac OS 10.4 or (much more likely) an iMac with Mac OS 10.6. Thanks for your advice.
Well, i've been used dreamweaver for 3 years . i recommended you to use this great tool now in CS4 version
Neither, both do nothing a simple free plaintext editor does unless you rely on "features" that are outdated, outmoded or just plain bad practice. Stuff like that is how you end up using javascript to do CSS' job on things like rollovers, tables for layout, and non-semantic markup.
I still use Dreamweaver 8 (code editor) for its FTP features. Most text editors don't have built in FTP. ----- The best free text editor that I've used (it has intuitive FTP built in without the need for plugins) is PSPad. If someone can suggest an alternative (free, coloured syntax highlighting, FTP, multiple undo), then I'm all ears. If you're using a text editor, then it doesn't really matter what you use. Whatever you put in, is what you'll get out. Use whatever you're comfortable with.
I have been using Dreamweaver for five years and love it. It has become significantly better since Adobe bought out Macromedia. If you have the money get CS4, it is amazing!
Most of them do now... Not that I understand the point of or want live FTP editing since I prefer to do my edits local and then upload them once I'm done testing. Editing on a live public server to me is just asking for something to go wrong. That's why I run XAMPP on my workstation and edit a live local copy, only uploading using Filezilla when I'm sure it's ready to go public. I like Crimson editor which also has FTP (not that I use it) - but mostly I like it because it lets me turn off a lot of crap other browsers shove down your throat - like tabs (step backwards in functionality if you have large displays or more than one large display), syntax highlighting (stupid acid trip colors make the code painful to read - what are people punctuation blind?!?), etc, etc... But I really like Crimson because it has the best text-wrapping behavior of any editor I've used. It can be a bit #DDD (Carlos Mencia Grey) when it comes to handling UTF, but if you are working on an english language website what business do you have using more than 7 bit ASCII anyways. Which is also where Dreamweaver is /FAIL/ - it's great when it starts randomly deleting elements like span sandbags from gilder-levin - 90%+ of the sites I write if you even load them into dreamweaver and just hit save without making edits the stupid thing breaks them.
I use dreamweaver and I could be wrong but it's pretty much an industry standard for web designers - notice I said designers not developers. I personally like the autofill feature even though I can hand code html or css I like the autofill and find that it saves me time. I also like utilizing the snippets feature - you can save bits of code that you use on a regular basis and reuse them. I'm sure that other software has some or all of these features but having grown up utilizing adobe products for design I found the transition into dreamweaver to be very easy. I've been using the program for about three years and am currently using the CS4 version. I've never used rapidweaver so I have no basis for comparison.
Dreamweaver because of the code hinting and validating of HTML. To be honest today was the first time that I've heard about Rapidweaver.
I'm not Dreamweaver or Rapidweaver user but I'm using Coda in Snow Leopard, but lot of my friends are using Rapidweaver and they said it's better and more simple than Dreamweaver. It often happen because it's a Mac OSX programs not Windows
I am using dreamweaver CS3 and CS4 earlier i was using Micromedia Dreamweaver 8 its really easy to use.
Though I've never tried rapidweaver, I'm used to be a very big fan of dreamweaver. It's a really easy to use WYSIWIG, and it's really powerful. I still have CS4 installed on my PC, and I'd really recommend it. The only reason I rarely use it, is because I find that I code my PHP better using PHP designer.
Just because it's industry standard doesn't mean it's any good - Think of Dreamweaver as McDonalds, billions served but that doesn't mean anything they make has quality, or is good for you - or that you want to take food preparation tips from them. Actually, Dreamweaver is more like Wendy's... Frontpage is McDonalds, and M$ Web Expression would be BK... So Coffee Cup is Jack in the Box?