Fustrated with Dreamweaver.. Need an alternative.

Hi,

I've been working with dreamweaver for a little while now and i'm really starting to become fustrated with it. Sometimes I wish I could just drag and drop images into the WYSIWYG editor. Is there a good alternative for mac os x. Sort of like windows "Web Page Maker" ? Where I can just drag images into place wherever I want them?

 

i'm using dreamweaver cs3 and i have found no problem with it

frustation is because of you having no knowledge in programming, not because of any software.

learn how to use table to insert image wherever you want

 

Got my hopes up when I saw the title, then saw the post itself for the huge letdown.

Do yourself a huge favor and get ANY of the WYSIWYG bull out of your head, grab a flat text editor and do it the right way instead of the sleazy way.

 

try coffee Cup

http://www.coffeecup.com/free-editor/

Its great lot easiyer to use

 

That would be nice if I wasn't working on a time frame. Unfortunately, my time is limited and I need to have this site up pretty soon. Yes, I am familiar enough w/ coding to do it. The bulk of the work is finished. It's just more time consuming.

 

Try nvu(freeware) or microsoft expression.

 

I've found that WYSIWYG editors end up producing code or styles that rely on DIV positioning, and unfortunately these tend to look different on different browsers.

If you do find an alternative make sure you test the outcome in IE/FF etc to ensure the output looks the same on different browsers (especially IE as it tends to follow a standard all it's own)

 

my 2 cents worth:

Short Answer to your question:

No. If you're looking for OS X software that's more WYSIWYG than Dreamweaver you're out of luck. Dreamweaver is the best that there is for that sort of functionality. But websites still get made somehow. Why aren't there more or better programs that make it this way?

Long answer to the real problem:

You don't actually know how to make websites. Websites aren't saved visually like an image, they are a set of instructions saved in text. Although Dreamweaver can help make the code a little more visual by allowing you to easily move things around (at the cost of having your code look professional), you cannot simply only create a website without touching code.

What I'd highly recommend it sitting down with Dreamweaver, in code-only mode, and w3schools.com and learning how to make an HTML and CSS webpage by hand. Otherwise, your only other option is hiring a professional web designer.

EDIT:

Just so you know, I'm not some elitist here. Literally EVERY single person who went on to do web design at one point has asked this question. the problem is with limited knowledge, they thought this would be the easiest way to make a site. Lets be honest - we don't like doing more work than we have to. When we learned how to code websites we realized that it literally IS the most simple and easy way to make a website, and that's why everybody does it that way.

Take it from me, I spent a couple of years convinced I couldn't make a website because I couldn't afford or run Dreamweaver, not I have it, and have paid for it, but I rarely use it because the only functionality I use it for is syntax-highlighted code, which I also edit in jEdit for free. Even though I have the tool doesn't mean I need or use it to make great websites.

 

I agree with Deathshadow. Forget WYSIWYG, and forget about looking for another HTML editor. All you need is a simple text editor. On my PC, I've got a bunch of editors, all of which just sit there. I haven't used them for years, since I switched all of my programming to Notepad. I can't bring myself to deleting them because they cost me money. Do yourself a favour: don't buy any more editors. Just use a text editor. You'll become a better programmer, too.

 

he's already got Dreamweaver, and that's more than he'll ever need to make a good website. Don't switch away from it, but stop using it like MS Paint, and start using to it's full power.

Yes, Notepad is great if you're on windows, but you shouldn't stop using a better tool that you already have because you can.

W3schools is where I learned web design, it's a great free resource online and there's nothing else like it. All the best to you on your journey. Because web design is 90% problem solving it can be VERY VERY rewarding when you do it.

 

^ I agree with your viewpoint. I have some basic knowledge of html and css. Just trying to get this latest project out of the way because I have several others lined up. Looks like i'm going to have to push a couple of deadlines back.

 

Yeah I know what ya mean, I tried to use Dreamweaver, then went on a
13 state murder spree...!

 

I have been using EditPlus for coding. Dreamweaver I use for HTML emails and such. But for coding, I prefer EditPlus because it is so much faster and not a memory hog like Dreamweaver. Although EditPlus is only a text editor.

 

comm'on ...you telling me that you don't have to worry about anything you can just drop the final "displayed" code so img whatever it may be, and the program does what no program has ever done before and assembles and aligns and does everything behind the scenes?....and were talking with embedded links and all the (french of course) code "garbaaaage" that comes with iframes, java, html and links?.....

what is it a quarter mil?

(sorry about that, I'm back to normal now) (honey can you bring me some Tylenol please? )(and of course I mean that with the greatest of respect, (gaaawwwddd!) (honey! it's time for my enema!)

 

Funny, I'm a firm believer the only way to write a good website in dreamweaver is to NOT use it's 'full power' and treat it like a multi-megabyte fat bloated notepad replacement.

At which point just use a flat text editor like notepad, notepad++, editplus, crimson editor, win32pad, gedit, textedit, etc, etc, etc.

Since as I keep saying the only thing you can learn from dreamweaver is how NOT to make a website.

 

I agree that the best way to create a website would be to code it by hand, but there is a lot to be said for site design software. I purchased the coffeecup suite and I couldn't be happier. They have a html editor-similar to dreamweaver and they also have a visual site designer that creates good websites and yes-you can literally choose a location on your page-click on it-browse for the pic that you wish to insert and presto. Then all you have to do is drag it around until you have it just so-choose your size-decide if you want to add any effects-create your link-etc. All of this is unbelievably easy to accomplish-with no knowledge of code. It also has an html editor that allows for precise placement as well. The VSD program is much easier than a WYSIWYG program and a complete newb can have a 5-7 page site up and running in a couple of days. If you want RSS, site maps, peel aways, etc yes you will need to learn code, but if you just need a good basic site-VSD works very well. I use it myself and would suggest it to anybody, with that being said-if you need to get a site up in a hurry, these are great-but as everyone else has mentioned-eventually you do need to learn how to properly code.

 

Coffeecup has been around for a long time, but tell me: can you create a website without it? Can you use Coffeecup to make websites on my mac if you were here? Probably not.

What you want to avoid here is something called 'Vendor Lock-in' and it happens when you have a software company that forces you to learn their software in order to do a task while keeping you ignorant to what's really going on. Lets take dreamweaver for example, because I've seen this happen to dozens of designers. Yes Dreamweaver will make websites, but it's hardly the only tool in the world that will do it. When Making CSS it's actually HARDER to make it using the buttons and menus than it is to just write what you want, and the same knowledge is required.

Here's the downside: what if Adobe cancelled Dreamweaver? How would all of these people make websites?

Don't get so far into one product that you can't switch to another, it's dangerous and harmful to you as a user.

 

Hmm, dreamweaver is excellent, but it does take any average newbie a while to figure out. A drag and drop one to use is BlueVoda --- BUT BUT BUT....the code so badly sucks and theres other things you can't do with it.

 

you know what would make dreamweaver easier for me is if
I knew how to create a 4 frameset page...

DW has predefined framesets, but they only have 2 or 3 framesets, I need one more...if anyone know how to add a frame please let me know...!

 

try microsoft expression web .