What web-authoring software does everyone use?

[BigJohnKC]

I was using Arachnophilia, freeware, but I got a copy of Dreamweaver UltraDev 4, which is pretty good. I still use Arachnophilia, though, and also TextPad. Oh yeah, and Photoshop plus ImageReady, another little nugget of goodness from our friends at Adobe. Warez it up!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I've always thought that using Notepad to build and maintain a website is a bit like eating soup with a fork. Sure, you can do it if you're committed to expending that much wasted effort, but what's the point? There's a schism between us real coders (I use Homesite 4.5) and the WYSIWYG weenies that favor something like Frontpage. But the Notepad people take that to a ridiculous extreme. There's no nobility in stupidity and using Notepad is stupid. A real HTML editor has too many useful tools that save time and effort while still allowing hands-on manipulation of the source code. Hell, even if you want to abandon things like color highlighting, syntax checking, project management, reusable code snippets and all the other things that a real editor can provide and just live in the dark ages with a pure text editor, Notepad isn't even a decent text editor. Every time a thread like this pops up I get a chuckle out of how many people claim to use something like Notepad as if the sheer uselessness of it bestows upon them some special status like "Oh, he uses Notepad, what a hardcore, manly sort of coder he is". Yep, nothing will impress the blonde babe at the end of the bar like an opening line of "Hey, I use Notepad". Chicks dig rebels.

 

[SunnyD]

<< I've always thought that using Notepad to build and maintain a website is a bit like eating soup with a fork. Sure, you can do it if you're committed to expending that much wasted effort, but what's the point? There's a schism between us real coders (I use Homesite 4.5) and the WYSIWYG weenies that favor something like Frontpage. But the Notepad people take that to a ridiculous extreme. There's no nobility in stupidity and using Notepad is stupid. A real HTML editor has too many useful tools that save time and effort while still allowing hands-on manipulation of the source code. Hell, even if you want to abandon things like color highlighting, syntax checking, project management, reusable code snippets and all the other things that a real editor can provide and just live in the dark ages with a pure text editor, Notepad isn't even a decent text editor. Every time a thread like this pops up I get a chuckle out of how many people claim to use something like Notepad as if the sheer uselessness of it bestows upon them some special status like "Oh, he uses Notepad, what a hardcore, manly sort of coder he is". Yep, nothing will impress the blonde babe at the end of the bar like an opening line of "Hey, I use Notepad". Chicks dig rebels. >>



Ouch!

Well, I managed to weed out from that the info that I was looking for: (I use Homesite 4.5).

But in all honesty and defense, I learned HTML with notepad myself, before any of the major tools came out. HotDog and HotMeTaL has just been released and were nothing more than glorified text editors with a HTML reference help file attached. This, by the way, is the exact same reason I like Allaire's Homesite product - it ROCKS when it comes to doing HTML and CSS because it's an advanced HTML editor. The only reason I don't use it, is, well... I can't afford it. Even moreso with the Dreamweaver and FrontPage products.

But keep this in mind - I usually end up going back into a page I've created with ANY editing tool (WYSIWYG or editor) with something like notepad to clean up all the screwups that the editor introduced. Frontpage was notably horrible for "modifying" a page even after you've edited it. It would do things with tables that would make me cringe.

I'll admit - in the long run, it's probably better/faster/easier to learn a tool and use it, using a text editor to do simple modifications inline. But if you'll have to invest the time in learning that tool, and updating your knowledge of that tool periodically (upgrades), and invest money as well. If all you're doing is writing a web page for yourself every year or so, then how would that be in any way better than using notepad?

That's beyond the original scope of my thread. Sorry, no flame wars please. I was just interested in what the majority of people out there use.

SunnyD

 

[skace]

I don't code webpages but I gotta say, the people I know who use notepad for the majority of their coding, usually understand html the most and also have the some of the best designed websites around . To truely learn a language you must sit down and hack at it, notepad forces you to do this. Once you understand it then you can go find an application to give you a shortcut. Just like in math class, your teacher would tell you, "yes I know there is a shortcut, but learn the formula first because then you know how you got there". People who got further in math realized that the reason the teacher wanted everyone to know the formula is because it is crucial for understanding how things worked later on.

 

[rh71]

<< I've always thought that using Notepad to build and maintain a website is a bit like eating soup with a fork. Sure, you can do it if you're committed to expending that much wasted effort, but what's the point? There's a schism between us real coders (I use Homesite 4.5) and the WYSIWYG weenies that favor something like Frontpage. But the Notepad people take that to a ridiculous extreme. There's no nobility in stupidity and using Notepad is stupid. A real HTML editor has too many useful tools that save time and effort while still allowing hands-on manipulation of the source code. Hell, even if you want to abandon things like color highlighting, syntax checking, project management, reusable code snippets and all the other things that a real editor can provide and just live in the dark ages with a pure text editor, Notepad isn't even a decent text editor. Every time a thread like this pops up I get a chuckle out of how many people claim to use something like Notepad as if the sheer uselessness of it bestows upon them some special status like "Oh, he uses Notepad, what a hardcore, manly sort of coder he is". Yep, nothing will impress the blonde babe at the end of the bar like an opening line of "Hey, I use Notepad". Chicks dig rebels. >>



*Somebody* wasn't reading the thread completely... didn't I just say this a few posts above yours?... in a concise & nicer manner of course.

 

cf studio to code, nothing wysiwyg here
could use notepad and look 'cool' if i wanted to...but cf studio/homesite is the same - but with color coding and tag auto complete

 

[tommigsr]

flash 5.0

 

[GagHalfrunt]

<< But in all honesty and defense, I learned HTML with notepad myself, before any of the major tools came out. HotDog and HotMeTaL has just been released and were nothing more than glorified text editors with a HTML reference help file attached. This, by the way, is the exact same reason I like Allaire's Homesite product - it ROCKS when it comes to doing HTML and CSS because it's an advanced HTML editor. The only reason I don't use it, is, well... I can't afford it. Even moreso with the Dreamweaver and FrontPage products.

But keep this in mind - I usually end up going back into a page I've created with ANY editing tool (WYSIWYG or editor) with something like notepad to clean up all the screwups that the editor introduced. Frontpage was notably horrible for "modifying" a page even after you've edited it. It would do things with tables that would make me cringe. >>



Okay, if you like the Homesite type of editor and find it to be too expensive, there are a couple of other recommendations I can make:

1) 40tude - A good editor designed like Homesite offering most of the same features and functionality, but at a greatly reduced price. It's something like $35 and from a price/performance standpoint it beats HS in my opinion.
40tude

2) 1stPage 2000 - Freeware, but still one of the best editors available at any price and better than many that cost a fortune. It's got 3 "modes" built in that change how the program works and how much hand-holding it does, from a lot for a newbie to none at all for experienced. It might be a step behind Homesite, but it's only a tiny step. Definitely take the time to download 1stPage and play with it for a while. Odds are your search for a good editor will end with this one. One of the best freeware programs I've ever seen in any category.
1stPage 2000

Oops, and a quick edit. Frontpage and the other WYSIWYG editors are notorious for editing code from what you want to what it thinks you might want. They're horrible with tables and insert so many superfluous Break,No-break and font tags that the pages bloat beyond belief. A good HTML editor won't ever touch or modify your code in any way. If you're using an HTML editor that changes your work without your permission, change programs immediately.

 

[gooch]

vi

 

[rh71]

Gaghalfront: just a quick yes/no question: did you read my posts? Just wanted to know.

 

[Namuna]

- Photoshop 6
- Dreamweaver 4
- Homesite 4.5 (to clean up the CRAP code from Dreamweaver)
- Flash 5

 

[GagHalfrunt]

rh71, nope, not really well the first time through, was just scanning through. Unlike most people, I don't need to read what other people think before I venture an opinion of my own. Please don't feel that your views are so important that any of us is obligated to read them because you'll be sorely disappointed. Oh, and you might have said it nicer, but I said it better.

 

[Koeppster]

vi, all the time.

 

[Illusio]

i use Homesite 4.5
Adobe Photoshop 6


FRONTPAGE IS EVIL!

 

[rh71]

<< rh71, nope, not really well the first time through, was just scanning through. Unlike most people, I don't need to read what other people think before I venture an opinion of my own. Please don't feel that your views are so important that any of us is obligated to read them because you'll be sorely disappointed. Oh, and you might have said it nicer, but I said it better. >>



I don't disagree with you that you said it better. I'm not trying to compete with anyone. Never did I say my OPINIONS were important. But I really am sorely disappointed that people don't read the posts before theirs before they start writing though... I know on a few occasions I was going to just post without reading, then ended up not posting at all because someone has said it already or what I was thinking no longer applies. It makes sense these threads go in chronological order.

 

[BigJohnKC]

<< I don't code webpages but I gotta say, the people I know who use notepad for the majority of their coding, usually understand html the most and also have the some of the best designed websites around . To truely learn a language you must sit down and hack at it, notepad forces you to do this. Once you understand it then you can go find an application to give you a shortcut. Just like in math class, your teacher would tell you, "yes I know there is a shortcut, but learn the formula first because then you know how you got there". People who got further in math realized that the reason the teacher wanted everyone to know the formula is because it is crucial for understanding how things worked later on. >>



Exactly. I learned HTML on a unix shell, coding in pico and using a little bit of vi. Now that I know it, I've become a bit lazy and started to use an HTML editor like Dreamweaver and Arachnophilia, but I will never use a WYSIWYG editor - the code from those just looks sh!tty.

 

[BoberFett]

Homesite and PSP

But I don't do anything super fancy. This site is a database driven ASP based site, with simple graphics. I like simple.

If you're going to do lots of fancy layering and crap, you might be better off with Dreamweaver.

 

[CowSandwich]

Started out with Notepad, moved on to Frontpage, currently using Dreamweaver 4.

 

[Magicthyse]

I use Sage Payroll

 

[Valnir]

VS.Net
Notepad (when I'm feeling lazy)

 

[clarkmo]

Webattack
Looks like they have some good free downloads for simple home webpages. As well as a lot of other stuff.

 

[SunnyD]

<< Homesite and PSP

But I don't do anything super fancy. This site is a database driven ASP based site, with simple graphics. I like simple.

If you're going to do lots of fancy layering and crap, you might be better off with Dreamweaver. >>



This would be my optimal solution, if I had money.

Thanks for all the replies, and keep 'em coming.

SunnyD

 

[Gillbot]

the best pagemaker is.....SunnyD, since i can't do $H*T with HTML, LOL!!!!!!!

 

[jlee75]

another for homesite

 

[Paulson]

This nifty little program that comes with all versions of windows...

Don't let this get out too much, or all the web companies are going to want to find it. It's called "notepad" and I use it all the time...