opinions on using dreamweaver and server-side code

[gtbuzz]

for the past however many years i've always done my web development in strictly notepad (or a notepad'ish program that does syntax highlighting and maybe some code completion).

almost everything i do is heavily dependent on sql and server-side code. i don't use flash unless it's absolutely requried (pet peeve of mine). recently i tried the evaluation version of dreamweaver not too long ago on a few sites i have and there was almost zero useful information in the wyswyg view. there's a lot of

if something=someting then (display this html) else (display this html)

and 99% of that just showed up in either <php> or <asp> icons.

DW's pretty useless to me if i can't integrate html with server-side code, but i've heard a lot of good things about it. is there something i'm missing? is this even the right product to be looking at? this all came about because while i try to make my code as "portable" as possible, i'm starting to think a content manager might help me out.

 

[Kappo]

I have it installed and was looking at a bit of Dreamweaver. I personally like Homesite + a bit better. It might be that you can add stuff to your tabs in DW, but I do not know how to do it. Homesite is pretty easy and it still offers good layouts on content management (I actually think it is the same thing as DW). I also know that you can use shortcuts for frequently used snippets and other code.

The WYSIWYG is worthless, unless you LIKE your pages to look like something out of 1993 I think that Homesite is geared a bit more for developers than designers. Maybe that is what you are looking for?

 

[gtbuzz]

the impression i always got was that there's two mindsets for the web developer. the first is the creative one, who is probably moving from graphic design / page layout, and then the technical one with the programming background. i consider myself to be of that second camp - i always like to stress functionality over everything else. aesthetics still matter but not at the expense of useability (in my opinion).

for example i got to try some of the web dev features in quark not too long ago and i thought they were absolute crap. you could make some nice looking stuff if you knew quark, but that's about it.

is dreamweaver more intended for that first mindset?

as far as wyswyg is concerned, i'm happy previewing in IE or Moz with apache/IIS. just need a way to better manage my code.

addendum upon reading one of the latter posts, i feel i should add this. i'm in no way bashing the creative crowd out there. you guys do some really amazing stuff. there's a lot of times i envy your ability. i'm just saying it's not me

 

[DannyBoy]

What your saying is like saying "I've always been a strict microsoft paint person, but recently i tried an evaluation version of adobe photoshop, i cant use it so therefore its crap."

I think you need to learn how to use dreamweaver before you start to bash it.

Ive used dreamweaver since version 5 and i find the code view incredible, useful and clean, not to mention the wysiwyg part for graphical design.

Dreamweaver has lots of stuff tucked away that generally is very hard to find if you dont know where to look for it.

One of these for example is a browser compatibility checker, that checks your code for compatibility across a range of browsers including all our favourite ones.

Another is the site manager to integrate your developement directly with your site, dreamweaver has its own ftp side to it, did you know?

you should start to read through the documentation included with dreamweaver to learn how to use it.

 

[gtbuzz]

oh yeah, i can't seem to find on their product page, but does homesite support asp, php, sql, etc. etc.? all i see is html, css and some cold fusion stuff. right now i'm using a program called hapedit. it honestly has taken a fair amount of work away from me, although i would like something that could autocomplete with fuctions / variables from included files. or at least something that told me when i misspelled a variable. this program seems to do that but only within the current file as far as i can tell. but the price is right (free).

 

[gtbuzz]

What your saying is like saying "I've always been a strict microsoft paint person, but recently i tried an evaluation version of adobe photoshop, i cant use it so therefore its crap."

woah, don't jump to conclusions there... i never called anything crap. that's exactly why i proposed the question, i'm trying to find out if it (or something else) is right for me. i'll be the first to admit that i don't know all the in's and out's of it as there seems to be a LOT.

there is something to be said thought, that if it saves me an hour here and there is it worth my six months to get really good at it? maybe, maybe not. if it'll help me to do my work more effeciently i'm all for it. it's just a large investment to make to find out later on down the road that it's not for me. i mean can i honestly make a fair assesment on such a complex product in 30 days? I'd wager no...

i do like your analogy though

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: gtbuzz

What your saying is like saying "I've always been a strict microsoft paint person, but recently i tried an evaluation version of adobe photoshop, i cant use it so therefore its crap."

woah, don't jump to conclusions there... i never called anything crap. that's exactly why i proposed the question, i'm trying to find out if it (or something else) is right for me. i'll be the first to admit that i don't know all the in's and out's of it as there seems to be a LOT.

there is something to be said thought, that if it saves me an hour here and there is it worth my six months to get really good at it? maybe, maybe not. if it'll help me to do my work more effeciently i'm all for it. it's just a large investment to make to find out later on down the road that it's not for me. i mean can i honestly make a fair assesment on such a complex product in 30 days? I'd wager no...

i do like your analogy though

Ok so what your saying is "I've always been a strict microsoft paint person but recently i got a trial of photoshop and i dont understand it", which, dont get me worng, is normal.

Dreamweaver is PACKED to the brim with an INCREDIBLE amount of features.

Will it help you work more effeciently? Yes
Will it help you get your work done quicker? Yes
Will you have to do less work to get things done? Yes

Is it worth the price tag? It depends.

If you write ridiculous amounts of sites, then yes it is, however, if you do one or two a year consider a free alternative.

Dreamweaver is not great at everything, no software is, but it is very good at most things.

If you pm me or fancy a chat on a messenger client or chat room to discuss this in further about your requirements / expectations then go ahead, i will be more than willing to assist you and run through the ins and outs of what you want to know

Dan

 

[Adul]

i have used dreamwaver for years and though I tend to stick to the code view side of it, it works well for that.