Favorite Web Building Methods

[mike]

 

Just curious what everyone prefers for website building.

 

I use Cutehtml pro, and I haven't learned any php or css yet.

 

Which way is the best way to go?

 

:Nerd:

[MikeJ]

I still use a text editor, but I recently bought Dreamweaver and am trying to learn it. One thing I've liked so far about Dreamweaver is it seems to write pretty clean HTML.

[TCH-Andy]

I'm a dreamwever fan and user myself

[TCH-Thomas]

Im a cuteSITE builder since i have never understood any other program.

[boxturt]

I'm still doing everything by hand but I am curious as to trying the other methods again. I have dabbled in some others but I think I have a control issue here because a "wizard" will undoubtedly throw in something I didn't ask for. Then it takes forever to hunt down and fix / destroy.

 

But that's just me.

[TCH-Bruce]

I use a text editor (vi) and HTML-kit.

 

Moved to HTML and CSS for better exposure.

[Xantee]

I've used Microsoft Frontpage a lot, mostly because it comes with my Office suite. But it adds extraneous code, and I always spend a few minutes "cleaning up" the html code when I'm through.

 

I've experimented with Dreamweaver, but haven't used it enough to get real comfortable with it.

 

Notepad is really good for just touching up bits of code. I know people who have written long pages of html with it... but that's a little too much work for me.

[stevevan]

I use Homesite on the Windoze machine and Bluefish on the Linux box.

[Bunni]

I use an old version of HomeSite.

[TCH-Don]

I love my text editor from www.notetab.com

has a preview to your choice of browser, and some quick inserting of html commands. Favorite menu for often used files.

[TCH-Rob]

I use edit plus to do my PHP editing and if I need a fast HTML page I just pop open FP, kill the extra code and I am on my way.

[cmuskett]

I use Front Page, but I upload my to my site using Smart FTP. I like the ease of Front page but don't like to upload using it.

[bellringr]

Dreamweaver 4 at home and Dreamweaver MX at work. My very first site was made on Netscape Composer and I thought it was da bomb at the time I hate Frontpage - I think it's cumbersome for most functions although there are a handful of things that are more simple than in DW, and I hate all the Microsoft bs code it throws in. I tweak things in html, but most everything else is done in DW.

[phatfunkjazz]

I use Dreamweaver 4, TopStyle, and UltraEdit nowadays. Used to code exclusively by "hand", piecing together various javascripts, html, style sheets, and other snippets. That's when I would spend hours every day doing it, thinking that someday I would get good enough to get a professional gig developing web sites.

 

I learned a lot about the "behind the scenes" stuff, but in the meantime, other web site developers were spending THEIR time learning to use high-powered applications like Dreamweaver and doing nice work with less effort.

 

After designing my web pages, I test them in all my browsers: Mozilla, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Avant Browser, and MY IE2. These days I've gotten too lazy to consider all the different screen resolutions and operating systems other people use. So I live in denial, thinking that "if it looks good on my computer, it must look good on everyone else's".

 

What the heck, it's fun.

 

peace,

Stefan

[torvan]

I use FrontPage 2002 on the Windows box to update the site. It came with my free copy of Office XP (I won in a contest), so what the heck-. I use it on occasion, stripping out the extra code and adding a couple of Java pieces.

 

However, most of the time I am on the Mac, so when I am wanting to create new parts or do a full redesign, I use my free copy of GoLive 6. It is much easier, and should you already use any other Adobe product, it is a little less imtimitating.

[Deverill]

Dreamweaver here. 4 until about 2 months ago when I go MX. It's very clean code for a WYSIWYG editor and their CSS support is really nice. They pretty much have their act together better than any others I've seen.

 

If I code by hand it's HTML-Kit which is an excellent product for that type of development.

 

I, too, used Netscape Composer and thought it was great until I figured out what I and it was doing.

 

Used FrontPage for awhile but the extra fluff and the weird navbar stuff forced me away. When I hit on Dreamweaver and php includes and CSS I figured I'd arrived

[mike]

way cool

 

I've used most of the ones mentioned.

 

I tried ACEHTML KIT, then decided to try a "higher up" sort of creator, that's why I got a hold of CUTEHTML PRO.

 

When it opened. Lo & behold.......... it looks just like acehtml kit

??????????????

 

[DarqFlare]

I just use EditPlus 2. It's a souped-up Notepad and I like it.

 

I hard-code everything. I can't stand using WYSIWYG editors... Maybe someday I will, but not now.

[borfast]

I used to use Dreamweaver (up to version 4) but then I dumped Windows and I started using bluefish. Maybe I'll use DW again some day, if Macromedia decides to make a Linux version of it (I've read some rumours that they're seriously considering it). Untill then, I'll keep writing everything by hand.

[!!blue]

 

I use Dreamweaver MX myself. Love the fact that I can split the window pane by viewing the code and the preview at the same time (tho the preview is not perfect). I usually lay out my page in Illustrator or Photoshop then slice, export and clean up in Dreamweaver. Or just do it all in Dreamweaver after sketching it on paper.

 

But always figure out your content first! Content in King! First you figure out your content then the site's purpose then the design.

 

later,

!!blue

[scotttyz]

I use 1st Page 2K (not front page) from eversoft.com and write my code be hand. I found most WYSIWYG editor wrote nasty code, and I had to hand edit some of it on most pages anyways. I imagine the editors have gotten much better in the last few years but now I am hooked on hand coding.

[P.T.]

I'm a newbie here but I thought I'd share my 2¢. I've used Macromedia's Homesite 5.0 for years. It's a nice editor for those who like to hand code and it's not just limited to HTML. I use it for just about all my coding. I also have Dreamweaver 4.0. Dreamweaver is nice to use too as I create most of my nav bars and graphics in either Fireworks 4.0 or Flash 5.0. Importing them is a breeze with Dreamweaver. I guess it's just all up to what you want to do and how you like to do it. There are some other nice editors out there but I've sort of committed myself to Macromedia, seeing as how expensive these appys are, I just haven't rushed out to get anything else. I'm using TopStyle Lite for a CSS editor but am looking to see if I can find any others . Got any suggtestions?

[kellybellydotnet]

I still use a text editor, but I recently bought Dreamweaver and am trying to learn it.

Ditto. I find myself in the Code area quite a bit, doing everything by hand.

[charle97]

just ole notepad for myself.

[davejenbarnes]

I'm a mac addict (which means I have no money to spend on programs since the dang computer was so expensive) so I use mainly free stuff and do every-single-thing by hand. I use The GIMP for all photo stuff and WebDesign 2.3 for my html, css, xhtml and other text files. Then I browse the life out of my pages to make sure they work in all different kinds of browsers!

 

-Jennifer

[ShadowBreeze]

I'm just starting out on web design, so I'm using MS Publisher (2000) for design and layout and then 1st Page 2000 from Eversoft (free) for 'fancy' items for javascript and the like.

 

Publisher is just extemely easy to use and does some nice validation checks as far as it goes. The code looks pretty clean to me (as a systems script writer, that is). This version has some quirks when it comes to modifying forms (can't set tab indices, for example), but nothing I haven't been able to work around. The best feature for me is that I can setup my web page to match my letterhead, business cards, brochures, etc.

 

The 1st Page 2000 is pretty slick. It has several modes from Easy to Hardcore for all kinds of users. You can preview in-line with the source document or only view in an adjacent window. You can have multiple browser and preview in each of them. (This helped me catch a quirk about using <marquee> between IE and Mozilla). But the killer features for me are: (1) the TON of FREE CODE they include that you can cut and past into test documents - javascript, DHTML, Perl, cgi. (2) There is a built-in Reference tab adjacent to your working document so you can check all kinds of references on HTML, CSS, etc. (For some reason, it doesn't support scrolling mouse).

 

Good luck and it get a chance, check out http://www.enmaso.com and let me know what you think.

 

Breeze

 

"No matter where you go, there you are."

TAoBB:AtED

[TCH-Bruce]

Last time I checked out 1st Page the archive had a virus in it. Just decided to stay away from it after that.

[kaseytraeger]

I code all my pages by hand and view them in browsers that I've downloaded and installed. For coding purposes, I use a freeware/shareware program called TextPad. It has a button in it that allows you to "view in web browser." You can set which web browser will be the default browser for viewing.

 

Depending on how you look at it, I could be a bonehead for not taking advantage of all the WYSIWYG editors out there, or you could see me as a purist who likes to get her hands dirty in the code she's dealing with. Either way, I've done a lot of programming over the past several years (while earning my B.S. in Computer Engineering, if that gives you any indication of how many keystrokes I've logged in raw code alone!). I was forever looking for a good, cross-language and cross-platform text editor that I felt comfortable working with. I've tried several, and for a while I used Visual Slick (owned by the company I was working for at the time ... kind of a pricey product) and Crimson Editor, but when a co-worker let me in on TextPad, I found I appreciated the clean, non-obtrusive interface and the fact that I could code, compile and view raw code in a variety of languages. Plus, you can't beat the price. It's free to try (the trial period never expires), or you can pay something like $29 for the "commercial-free" product.

 

Anyway, that's my 25 cents about my method for creating web pages and an added infomercial raving about Textpad!

 

[scotttyz]

Last time I checked out 1st Page the archive had a virus in it.  Just decided to stay away from it after that.

Just so you know it is a javascript called "6 buttons" that can be a nuisance and was targeted by virsus scanners long after 1st Page was released. Just let your virus scanner remove it while installing.

 

I have used 1st Page for years and have yet to find any software I would replace it with.

 

http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/av/six...s_from_hell.php for more info on Six buttons

[chuckmalani]

wow

 

hard to imagine noone mentioned photoshop and only one person mentioned fireworks.

 

(when not using CSS/tableless) i use fireworks to develop all my graphic content, and then export the html markup into dreamweaver. works like a champ.

 

i use macromedia studio MX, havent upgraded to 2004 yet. i want to get the adobe suite w/ my educational discount and learn that as well.

 

when i code, sometimes use dreamweaver, but most the time i use good ol' vi.

 

chuck

[ADAMmedia]

I go from a page of thumbnail sketches to rough comps to digital sketches (created using Illustrator and Photoshop), cut it up and then I use Dreamweaver.