DW or FP? Weigh In

[textrail]

Hi all..I'm new to the forum..not new to design though.

I thought I'd ask everyone which they thought was the superior wysiwyg editor...I have both, and often revert back to FP when DW does not cooperate. I'm still definitely learning DW as I just bought Studio 8 a few months back.

I was wondering even though my designs are good, would possible employers (for contract) think less of my designs if they can see the code is FP and not DW. Clients often have no idea what they even are, so I'm not worried there. I may begin to seek contract work from employers who can look at code and see if its sloppy or good.

I just want to be sure I'm good and not the other!

I love DW's css editor...but can't quite get images to stay put when running them alongside text like your typical magazine article layout...Also have issues sometimes importing Fireworks HTML for javascript rollovers.

I really think I just need to spend the time learning DW and I will probably see these annoyances leave quickly...

Thanks for your input! I'm glad to have joined the forum.

[drhowarddrfine]

Since Microsoft no longer sells FrontPage, and it is a horrible program anyway, I would concentrate on DW.

[zygh]

or Adobe GoLive... which is also nice... but i dunno how many peeps use it... besides me...

[grimmy_89]

definately DW...mainly coz FP is by microsoft! i find that the MS Office programs can be poorly organised, which doesnt matter say for word or excel, but if your designing websites and you want to keep everything organised it would begin to annoy me. mind yo u i havent used FP. i started webdesign from stratch only a few years ago at shool with MX 2004 education version. i knew nothing but i have found dreamweaver (i now have studio 8) very easy to use and being able to intergrate easily with fireworks is great seems how i use it for all my gfx design. thats my two cents worth

ps: what problems are u having with importing fireworks HTML?

[textrail]

the issues I have with importing are this:

I create the nav menu in fireworks, put the slices on and add simple rollover behavior. Export it no problem.

When I want to import it into DW, I used the import fireworks html option for the code and imported the images. sometimes the rollovers don't work.

I made sure the export options showed dreamweaver html and I haven't used css for pop ups so I don't check that box. Do you know of any good tutorials for these steps? Maybe I'm just missing something.

Thx!

[metalman3d]

I just posted a thread asking peoples opinion about it, but I've been playing with the Microsoft Expression beta and am pleasantly suprised. I was expecting that they had just given frontpage a new name, but it's got some pretty good features backing it. I'm going with dreamweaver as my first choice, but that might change the more I play with the other one.

[metalman3d]

which doesnt matter say for word or excel

Excel is an extremely powerful tool for web if you're dealing with lots of tabular data on your site.

[code_e]

Never used DW but I've tried Site Spinner, front page and Coffee Cup. I recently blew hundreds of $$ on front page and this was EXTREMLEY difficult for me because I HAAAAAAAAAAAATE microsoft. My big problem was that I am a programmer, not a graphical designer. This being said, I prefer to develop my code in Eclipse. I create my visual in front page and copy/paste it into Eclipse as I design mostly dynamic sites. Site Spinner was horible in this type of environment and Coffee Cup was just not close to what I needed. I went to front page and found that it works okay for this type of environment but it appears to lack in the WYSIWYG realm.

So what's this about microsoft dropping front page? Is this true?

So, in your opinion, is DW the way to go? I'm assuming you can push HTML straight to DW (not possible in Site Spinner). I need this functionality because Eclipse is my core environments. My visual designers are only supplemental.

Thoughts?

[nataliemac]

DW is by far superior to FrontPage.

However, if you are seriously considering web design/web development as a career, then you should invest some time into working through some tutorials and reading some books to learn how to do your code manually. No matter how great the WYSIWYG editor, it will have serious shortcomings that you can only remedy by being able to work without one.

DW offers a lot of great features that make some redundant and repetitive tasks quicker and more efficient, but I would never rely on design-view only.

[felgall]

Run the output from the various WYSIWYG editors through the validator at http://www.w3c.org and use whichever editor produces valid HTML. If it doesn't produce valid HTML then either the program is configured incorrectly or it isn't a web page editor.

[Centauri]

I also use DW - steep learning curve, but there are plenty of helpful support forums out there. I certainly don't rely on design-view though - I probably spend 75% of my time in code view. The css editor is great for trying various changes, and you can easily tidy up and reorganise the code when done.

And, as Felgall said, always validate.

Cheers
Graeme

[4rumgirl]

Thanks for this post! i had the same

[code_e]

I can't disagree with any of your comments. I prefer to be in the code (for all languages) rather than sitting on top of a GUI of some sort. I have, however, found that:

1. I have easily learned HTML in recent years without a designer.
2. Have NOT remedied my lack of artistic creativity in recent years.

This being said, a GUI designer does assist me when I am not mentally concerned with coding at the moment and am more concerned with a unique blending of colors and object locations. Once I've "played" graphically I tend to drop back into the code view.

Based on your comments, I plan to dump FP for DW.

[poiuy]

Just to defend Frontpage. It is not as bad as everyone makes it seem. Some people only pass on information they've heard and never used the program themselves.

HOWEVER, there are two kinds of Frontpage users out there. Those that use it as a fast and efficient tool and those who use it for Frontpage.

What I mean is the people out there giving Frontpage a bad name are those who actually use the Frontpage features at face value i.e. themes, interactive buttons, etc. Sometimes I see those pages and smack my forehead saying THAT is why it gets a bad rep.

I on the other hand find it fast and efficient to open a page make a couple changes, hit save and everything is updated instantly. I spend more time in code view then the WYSIWYG mode but I like it since it is a preview of the page before checking it in other browsers. I have also tweaked it with code shortcuts and such.

Another common complaint is the two programs add a bunch of extra coding. I feel Dreamweaver puts in 10 times more junk coding than FP does.

Just my input :cool:

[textrail]

I'm glad to actually here someone stick up for FP.

I used it to begin with b/c it was the only program I had.

Now I have DW too, and while some things are easier, I long for the easy form page that FP did for you without having to write any php or asp.

I have been trying to code a successful contact form for over a week now and I'm just not having success. I wish I had done this site in FP so it would be a done deal by now.

[code_e]

Most of my pages are JSP pages. A page designer to me will always be a supporting tool and not my core environment.

To me, it's the "cute" part of my development....