Dreamweaver?

[SuzanneB]

OK, so I downloaded the trial Dreamweaver.

Although it seems fine, I am uncertain what the advantages are over Frontpage. It is a little better at handling embedded script while editing. At least it doesn't completely screw the code when you copy chunks of it around. But apart from that, the way it handles PHP is still "it doesn't". I would have thought it would do some basic PHP processing. Oh well.

The PHP code editor is really nice. I like that!
I suppose it is better, but it is a lot of money...hmmm!

Is it possible to display html tags in the design window?

[mitcon]

I switched to Dreamweaver back when FrontPage and MS used to write really bloated, "interesting" HTML behind the scenes. I never wet back, because I found out that Fireworks (Macromedia's) is an extremely easy to use graphics package as well. Flash is a little overkill for me, but I have it anyway.

I like being able to do things like click on images in DW and being able to instantly edit them. I like the clean code that it produces. I like the add ons that are available from the Macromedia site, for free.

You are right, the script editing capabilities are weak enough that I use Komodo for my script editing. I just set it up in DW as my script/code editor.

Actually, you have 3 options for showing the actual HTML tags. There are 3 buttons in the upper left quadrant of the main window (at least on the MX version). One of them looks something like <..> (or something like that). You can display HTML without the layout page (uses Homesite by default great for debugging or just checking the code), a hybrid screen where the Code and the layout page are visible simultaneously, and finally; the screen that you are probably looking at, the one where you see nothing but the page layout. Look for those 3 buttons, they have popup labels.

Good Luck,
Mitch

[pyro]

Originally posted by SuzanneB
Is it possible to display html tags in the design window? It's called the code view... ;)

[andyshep]

the advantages of dw over fp

for me its the ability to validate pages for syntax and accessibility.
you can upgrade with extensions for little or no cost.

visual layout tools and design tools are second to none.

productivity tools will help you create a site in half the time.

dw has quite a steep learning curve and you will not be able to get a good feel for it with a trial version.

front page doesnt even come close to dreamweaver.
fp is for people who are not really web designers but need to make a website.

just my views
andy

[baseiber]

One of the biggest things I like about dw is if you select an element in one view and then change views the element is still selected. It makes error checking much easier.

The editor I have to use at work ,MS Visual Studio.Net, doesn't offer that. When something is wrong I have to scroll through all the code.

[Illufox]

I used to work with HomeSite and GoLive, but Dreamweaver is simply the best! I also agree on the clean code and the design view options. It makes web design and development such a breeze!

If you do Graphics as well, buy Macromedia Studio MX, it's cheaper than buying everything separate. ;)

[bokeh]

If you want to learn php or for that matter html and javascript you need a text editor like conText or crimson editor. Anything else and you are just using someone elses code.

[SuzanneB]

You know what bokeh? I agree with you.
I use CSS all the time, know Javascript, and am learning PHP. I have found that I the more I learn the less and less dependant on "power packages" like Frontpage and Dreamweaver and I spend most of my time just editing the scripts with simple editors. In fact the big packages just get in the way of good code and script. I do, however, use Frontpage as a fast protype tool. It is good for that, even though it has it's problems. Dreamweaver? Actually I liked it, even though many of the power tools I would never use. The PHP editor was nice, and some of the error checking was good. I would say it was better than Frontpage, but it's a lot of money and since I already have Frontpage, for the moment, I will continue to use Frontpage and an editor.
Maybe I can pick up a cheap copy of Dreamweaver on Ebay?! Anyone gives up and wants to sell their key, give me a shout!
ConTEXT is good! Column editing and Macro programming!! WOW! Long time since I have seen those in an editor - especially a free one.

[bokeh]

I don't know if you are learning to make money or for fun but it is funny how the majority of clients would think they are getting a better website if they were told it was laided out in dreamweaver rather than a text editor. I just do this for fun. I make money from photography. It's similar there. Often when I show someone a fantastic picture and they say that must have been taken with a good camera rather than Wow! you're a brilliant photographer.

[ShrineDesigns]

dreamweaver is ok, the best thing about it are: site management panel, syntax highlighting, and code formatting, everthing else is useless to me, even the design view can not correctly render my html files, and it's support for php is fairly poor

[DARTHTAMPON]

Well first of all I would say that dw is better than frontpage based entirely on the fact that its not written by microsoft (I know, I know but im entitled to my own worthless opinon) I do all of my webdev in code view then go to design view to look for stupid mistakes. As mentioned befor if you highlight something in design mode and switch to code view the same spot stays highlighted. This saves alot of time. I do not use any of the power tools and feel that the code generation features just creat a working mess that you will never be able to fix if something goes wrong. But for me the best feature that dw has is the auto tag thing. If I need to know an attribute for a table and just cant remember what it is or how it is spelled dw brings up a list of all possible attributes and you can choose from the list. This saves hours when I am coding and need to add something but am not sure how to go about it. Dreamweaver is for the hardcore developers that do not mind throwing away $600 to pick it up. It works very well with graphics. And is the only product on the market that works well with cold fusion (that I am aware of). But every piece of software has its nitch, frontpage is for IT managers who know absolutly nothing about IT. ms studio.net would be the recommended choice for asp/c# programmers. It all really depends on what you need and what part of the software you will use.

[SuzanneB]

Bokeh,don't know about you but I always thought the camera was the least important thing. If you are going to talk about equipment, then the lens is far more important than the camera. It always amazed me that folks would spend a fortune on an expensive camera and stick a cheap lens on the front. What is their belief here? Well, clearly, that the camera has some form of magic that they don't posses. Hmm..I suppose it does - SKILL.

[gizmo]

Dreamweaver generates something passable as HTML, whereas FP outputs garbage that only IE knows about. The use of someone else's bargepole comes to mind...

[spufi]

A good and cheaper editor than FP/DW is PHPEdit. (http://www.waterproof.fr/) I have DW MX 2004 and it largely just sits and collects dust as I use other editors. I had to tweek PHPEdit's default colors a bit, but they are fine now. I still prefer EditPlus's defaults as the best, but PHPEdit beats it as a much better editor overall. You can try out PHPEdit for 30 days too. Also, PHPEdit actually lets you create new file types with .ini extensions which DW doesn't. You can also create SQL and XSLT files by default that DW might not. I almost forgot. Here's something that took me a second to adjust too. When you are working on markup, it is brought into focus and your PHP is then faded. When you work on your PHP, it becomes focused, and the markup fades. Kind of cool in a way. Does PHEdit have all of the bells and whistles of DW? No. But it cost a fraction of it too. :)