Best Website Design software.

[m411b]

As the title says, what is the easiest web design software to use for building websites and such? I have been using Dreamweaver CS4 for a while now but I know there is something better out there. Opinions are appreciated!

Thanx in advance
Lee

[trekie86]

IMO Dreamweaver is one of the best web pages design programs. It offers a ton of features and functionality but takes some time to learn. If MS Expression is anything like frontpage it will be really easy to use but not the most elegant, I think it has been re-worked a bit to offer much functionality. You can always make very static HTML pages in MS Word. I'd just look up on CNET what is available, and what offers the best of what you are looking for. If you want to get fancier, go with FLASH, that'll take some time to learn.

[Scubar]

Notepad.

[W1zzard]

i use photoshop for graphics, dreamweaver to slap together the layout and then ultraedit to integrate it into our site templates.
when i am working on css styles and want wysiwyg i use firebug in firefox which lets me edit the css on a live page.

learn html+css, dont rely on some stupid clicky html editor


If you want to get fancier, go with FLASH, that'll take some time to learn.

nowadays you should learn to not use flash. most things can be achieved with dhtml/ajax and will work on more systems. many corporate people cant/arent allowed to install flash

[faster3200]

I really like Notepad++ for Windows.
Dreamweaver isn't bad for learning, but only lazy people use it in the real world.

Learn to code valid xhtml + css for now.
In about a year or so html5 will start being put to use (hopefully) and that will change a lot of how the web works in relation to video and audio, so learning flash now would be pointless.
The next step is learning javascript. After you learn that you will be able to do a lot of things on your websites.

The thing I see people trying to learn this stuff struggle with the most is not the coding, but the actual design portion. Most people don't think about what leading and kerning their site should have or what is the most effective layout. It is important to learn how to design your pages and not just how to code them.

[trekie86]

The thing I see people trying to learn this stuff struggle with the most is not the coding, but the actual design portion. Most people don't think about what leading and kerning their site should have or what is the most effective layout. It is important to learn how to design your pages and not just how to code them.

I totally agree. Your page can have awesome functionality but if no one can find that awesome thing or even navigate around, its worthless. Layout presides over what it can do under the cover.s

[GTSRboy]

Notepad.

Lol thats what i use! Im not that advanced at the moment, but all i use it notepad

[faster3200]

Lol thats what i use! Im not that advanced at the moment, but all i use it notepad

Try Notepad++. It works similarly but with syntax highlighting, tabs, and much more. I too used notepad, but Notepadd++ beats the crap out of it.

Smultron or BBedit for Mac.

[bigdaddy25fb]

Another vote for Notepad++. If you're in school you might want to see if you have access (your school pays for) the O'Reilly bookshelf. There are some great text's out there that offer awesome tutorials and beginner projects to help you understand what you're doing.

[GTSRboy]

Thanks for the tip - Notepad ++ is a really great text editor. I like how when you click on a opening bracket, it shows you where the closing one is, keeps thing really organized

[kuebk]

Notepad.

Vouch.

[moiraesfate]

Either coding it yourself or using Dreamweaver. DW has so much functionality now that it can basically do anything you want it to do. If you know how to use the program. Its complicated.

[m411b]

What does everyone think of Zend Studio? I installed Notepad++ and am using it as my default text editor now and I have got to say, I love it! Thanx for all the replies. I mainly use DW CS4 because I like the visuals. With Zend there are no visuals but the program is pretty solid.

[defect9]

Either coding it yourself or using Dreamweaver. DW has so much functionality now that it can basically do anything you want it to do. If you know how to use the program. Its complicated.

Agreed with this. I started out hand-coding originally, and I'm glad I did, because sometimes (usually my fault, but still) the code in DW gets a little dirty with leftovers (damn automatic 'style' creation). Knowing how to do it manually should be what everyone learns first, before being allowed to have an aWYSIWYG web design software (the 'a' is for almost).

There's a lot of things that are faster hand coded, and there's enough things that are faster by using DW that knowing both is the best way for me.