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Best software for website design

Kalmah

Kalmah

Diamond Member
I'm trying to decide which software I should devote time into learning. I don't want to spend hours working with something to find out I would be better off working with something else.

I hear alot about Fireworks.. That lets you create the graphics as well as write the html/javascript? Doesn't it write javascript for you as well? Or does Fireworks only do half the job and you still need Dreamweaver to make the majority of the code?

Any info is appreciated.

 
Originally posted by: lozina
Originally posted by: Roguestar
NOTEPAD
Click to expand...

NOTEPAD++
Click to expand...

Actually I'd like to change my choice to Notepad2. Just close enough to Notepad and only adding stuff like syntax highlighting and not don't-bother-learning-the-code autocompletion.
 
I've always been a fan of notepad. I've never really used any big website software.. just kind of figured there was a good reason for them to be around or something...

So I guess I'll stick to my normal with notepad and photoshop.
 
Originally posted by: Kalmah
just kind of figured there was a good reason for them to be around or something...
Click to expand...

I don't know about the others, but many use Dreamweaver because of that design and code view. Type in your code, press F5 and get a preview.
 
I just found a program today called Litmus, which allows you to edit the CSS live in Firefox and Internet Explorer simultaneously.

Aside from that, I use TextWrangler, CSSEdit 2 and Firebug.
 
My serious advice would be dont become dependant on those overly bloated tools to write the code or you. They tend to be overly verbose and for no particular reason, with a huge amount of lock in.

As daunting as it seams javascript/xhtml/php are not that hard to learn if you've done any kind of stuctured coding. The time you spend getting completely familiar with one of those tools wont be much less that learning the actual languages and standards.



If your MS only guy then this next bit does you no good.



LAMP install (linux apache Mysql and Php) for an AJAX environmet.

gedit with project plugin
the gimp for graphics

cost $0

w3school tutorials (css,xhtml,javascript,DOM), a javascrip book ("learning javascrip" from orelly or "the javascrip bible")

you will learn web 2.0 that way.


At that point the only thing you will ever need to administer/fix/update a website, other then graphics) will be a terminal(ssh/telent etc...)



also disregard if you meant to learn graphics design, and not web design. They are not the same.
 
Originally posted by: Roguestar
Originally posted by: lozina
Originally posted by: Roguestar
NOTEPAD
Click to expand...

NOTEPAD++
Click to expand...

Actually I'd like to change my choice to Notepad2. Just close enough to Notepad and only adding stuff like syntax highlighting and not don't-bother-learning-the-code autocompletion.
Click to expand...

:roll:

Your e-peen just grew four inches. Way to kill your productivity though.

 
Originally posted by: Kalmah
I'm trying to decide which software I should devote time into learning.
Click to expand...

For coding, I think you would be better off, not learning the software, but learning to code by hand. Like Dravic said, w3schools is an excellent place to start for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Notepad++ is a good text editor to code in and there are plenty others out there. Don't listen to anyone who says just do it in Notepad.exe. Dreamweaver will write code for you, but it won't be pretty.

If you are looking into design you may want to learn something like Photoshop or Fireworks. I haven't tried Fireworks, but a designer I work with recently switched over to Fireworks and he loves it. I'm not sure if it writes code, but again, I wouldn't rely on any program to write the actual code, that is something you should learn yourself. There is much more of a demand for someone who knows how to write HTML as opposed to someone who knows how to use Dreamweaver. At least there should be.


Your post is a bit unclear as to whether you want to get into web design or web development. They are really becoming two different things now-a-days. You have your designers, who spend most of their time in Photoshop, etc., and the developers, who spend their time looking at code. But then there are still the old school guys, who do it all 🙂
 
Originally posted by: tfinch2
Originally posted by: Roguestar
Originally posted by: lozina
Originally posted by: Roguestar
NOTEPAD
Click to expand...

NOTEPAD++
Click to expand...

Actually I'd like to change my choice to Notepad2. Just close enough to Notepad and only adding stuff like syntax highlighting and not don't-bother-learning-the-code autocompletion.
Click to expand...

:roll:

Your e-peen just grew four inches. Way to kill your productivity though.
Click to expand...

Haha. QFT. I love all the "old school" notepad users. Really, you guys code in whatever works for you. But I was using text editors in the mid-1980's and I think modern IDEs are a huge improvement.
 
I use Dreamweaver, not for the WYSIWYG design view, but rather because the context-sensitive function reference, code completion and syntax highlighting.

I know HTML, CSS, PHP, and ColdFusion well enough and know the online reference sites well enough that I could probably do my design and programming in notepad...but my productivity would go through the toilet.

It's kind of like the difference between a plumber using his hands to loosen a pipe or using a torque wrench. In all things, you choose the right tool for the job. The right tool is usually the one that lets you get the job done in the most efficient way.

So-called "purists" who only use notepad are, in my experience, young teens who can't afford a better tool, and so bad mouth everyone who can.
 
Microsoft Expression Web, free for most college students.

Notepad's good for making clean, easy-to-read sites, and for learning CSS. You're bound to have to use it (or any plain-text editor) sooner or later to fix browser-specific problems anyway. If you have a design in your head, it's not that much harder to do a rough HTML layout in Notepad but I can see how having a CSS designer/editor would be helpful.
 
Jedit => syntax highlighting, encoding support, and a ton of plugins, like PHP error checking and as the name suggests, a bunch of Java plugins! Even if you use something like Visual Studio, or another IDE, Jedit is useful for manipulating text, and doing other not-so-standard things.
 
Originally posted by: jbubrisk
Jedit => syntax highlighting, encoding support, and a ton of plugins, like PHP error checking and as the name suggests, a bunch of Java plugins! Even if you use something like Visual Studio, or another IDE, Jedit is useful for manipulating text, and doing other not-so-standard things.
Click to expand...

Or SciTE. There are a lot of good choices for beefed-up text editors. I do a lot in SciTE, actually. If I have to edit XML or CSS and don't have the IDE up, then I pop up SciTE, which starts up 100 times faster.
 


Right now i'm using komodo...and i hate it.
I was using zend studio. I liked it, but not as much as homesite or cold fusion studio.

I might give homesite a try again to see how it is now.

edit: just bought homesite 5.5
what a great editor!
 
Flash + Wordpad.

Wordpad > Notepad

e.g. if you have a text file that is used by Flash (dynamic text file), and the
carriage return/ enter/ <br>-equivalent symbols in the text file screw up
the formatting when it's displayed in Flash, you take them out.

then you end up with a file one line high and very very long. hard to edit.

it works better to save your dynamic text files as *.rtf, at least then you
can see the whole thing. then re-save as a Unicode text file.
 
I had no idea so many are still in the stone age. It must be a hard problem for tools to make clean code.

There's got to be a way to template or something where you can produce clean code with a tool, perhaps the notepadders here didnt get far enough into it to find that??

Probably all the people that use dreamweaver and stuff are working instead of replying to this thread....
 
Originally posted by: drebo
I use Dreamweaver, not for the WYSIWYG design view, but rather because the context-sensitive function reference, code completion and syntax highlighting.

I know HTML, CSS, PHP, and ColdFusion well enough and know the online reference sites well enough that I could probably do my design and programming in notepad...but my productivity would go through the toilet.

It's kind of like the difference between a plumber using his hands to loosen a pipe or using a torque wrench. In all things, you choose the right tool for the job. The right tool is usually the one that lets you get the job done in the most efficient way.

So-called "purists" who only use notepad are, in my experience, young teens who can't afford a better tool, and so bad mouth everyone who can.
Click to expand...
QFT. I've been using DW for a few years now. Never have used design view either. With a WAMP install it's the perfect IDE for my php/html projects.
 
Meh. I use notepad, but simply because I'm primarily working on Miva, and thus writing bits of html and javascript rather then entire pages.


Haven't actually tried Dreamweaver, and probably won't, simply because it's Macromedia, and I don't trust the people who make Flash to do anything but aggravate me.
 
web design? or web development?

html / css / javascript - go for dreamweaver.

Development you can do in dreamweaver - but that opens a can of worms of what your developing in (language) and how well dreamweaver handles them, etc
 
Development is what I plan on focusing on.. But I will have to work with graphics on my own projects.

Really I just wasn't sure if I was cutting myself short by not using some of those well-know expensive software suites. They are so bloated that I'm afraid to devote time on one when I could be doing something a little more useful instead.

I recently installed sciTE on my U3 flashdrive which has been awesome. I'm currently using that and Photoshop.

 
Originally posted by: trexpesto
I had no idea so many are still in the stone age. It must be a hard problem for tools to make clean code.

There's got to be a way to template or something where you can produce clean code with a tool, perhaps the notepadders here didnt get far enough into it to find that??

Probably all the people that use dreamweaver and stuff are working instead of replying to this thread....
Click to expand...

There is no problem using the tools once you know the magic behind them. I just wouldn't start using these tools as a way to learn the technologies. They are often bloated, and can produce buggy code(WYSIWYG parts at least). A good editor that does syntax checking(never used one for auto compltetion, but i dont do much large app development), and a development environment that reflects you target environment are all you really need.

Templating is at a higher level, and more associated with modular code design so you can reuse your code base.

Also as I mentioned before, a big reason for using the smaller foot print apps and coding in VIM/gedit/notepad++ is that i can log into any computer and fix/update the code i support. Being tied to and IDE while efficient for supporting large scale code projects, also prohibits where you can work from.

 
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