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pseudocyber

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Suggestion for Web Site design software to replace Front Page

Hello fellow experts,

I'd like to "take it up to the next level" with my Web Site design software.  I've been using Front Page but would like to move to something "more professional" for a couple of web pages.  

I'm a Network guy - so I think I have a good aptitude for reading books and learning things - but I just don't have the time to learn coding - so I really want to stick to a wysiwyg GUI program without having to know the coding on the back end.

So I'm looking for suggestions as to the best software for an intermediate level expertise for website design.  I was looking at Dreamweaver on Adobe's site - something like that & those capabilities.  Would like to keep cost < $500.

Thanks,

PC
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Julian Matz
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Hi! Why not give Dreamweaver a trial? Adobe offers a 30-day free trial, and the price on DW CS3 is 399 USD.

I use Dreamweaver myself, although I never use the WYSIWYG editor. The reason I like DW is because of the colour coding for PHP code.

There is another editor that came highly recommended - I just cannot remember the name, but I'll have a look and post it as soon as I've found it...
Here's the other one:

http://www.namo.com/

I haven't tried it but is supposed to be pretty good.
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pseudocyber

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Just wondering if Dreamweaver is what everyone would recommend for someone trying to move up without getting overwhelmed and less than $500.
It's got my vote...
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scrathcyboy
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I haven't used Dreamweaver's WYSIWYG editor, but I know that the code Dreamweaver generates is still better than the WYSIWYG editor in FrontPage....
I heard the new version is a lot better too... I downloaded the demo a few days ago, but haven't installed it yet. Best thing to do I guess is to simply try it. Use http://validator.w3.org to validate some sample pages...
Is Dreamweaver easy to learn for someone technically minded?  I don't mind reading ... Just don't want to plop $400 out of my pocket on something that will be too difficult for me to learn.  And like I said, I just don't have time to learn coding (but I would like to ...) - there's just not enough time to learn everything ... which is where consultants/contractors make their $$$ right? :)
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Thanks both of you.   :)
"Is Dreamweaver easy to learn for someone technically minded? "

NO, No , No and NO

"but I know that the code Dreamweaver generates is still better than the WYSIWYG editor in FrontPage"

Nope, you haven't tried to manually repair a sliced image that dreamweaver massacres.  You haven't tried.
<< Thanks both of you.   :)

No problem, you're welcome!

<< NO, No , No and NO

I would say that I'm more technically minded than anything else, and I found it pretty easy to get accustomed to. Anyone I've talked to about DW, never mentioned having any trouble learning it. I guess it's a little like Photoshop (or most other things for that matter) - when you first have it open in front of you, you're not exactly sure what you should be doing, but once you know where all the tools are and what they do, it's pretty simple.

<< Nope, you haven't tried to manually repair a sliced image that
<< dreamweaver massacres.  You haven't tried.

No, I haven't, and I'm not sure I know what you're referring to. As I mentioned, the only tools in DW I really ever use are the FTP client and the colour-coded code editor. I also use the text toolbar for inserting strong and em tags, and I  occasionally use the built-in tool for making image maps when needed. I also find the "Collapse Selection" tool very handy to minimize a selection of code while I'm working on a different section on the page - it gives me a better overview... But anyone I've ever met (especially here on EE) has always chosen DW over FP when asked which one of the two generates better markup...

I've personally never had any issues with FrontPage because I never used it to generate code either. I found it quite good really. The only reason I switched to DW was because of the colour-coding for PHP code.

These are all just opinions though. I guess one could go to
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=frontpage+vs+dreamweaver
to see what other people think.

And here's more food for thought .........
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=best+html+editor