Web Design

[johan777]

As an "amateur" web designer who wants to go professional, do I really need software like Dreamweaver or Adobe?

Could I find any similar, but free programs available on the net?

Thanks

Johan

 

[mikewould]

i think so, and i am trying to learn all that kind of stuff too. keep in touch!

 

[tall73]

Actually a lot of pro coders just write the code and then use the visual editors for revision. Others do it first in the program then fine-tune the code from there.

A program you might try would be NVU. It is an open source visual editor.

But if you are going pro then the web design studio is quite helpful for graphics, design, etc.

 

[mikewould]

I would like to learn how to make a whole website with just Macromedia Flash 8. hahaha

 

[wiggsfly]

I would like to learn how to make a whole website with just Macromedia Flash 8. hahaha

Not too dificult if you know a little PHP or ASP. Agood site for this is http://www.aspin.com.

As for needing fancy software, no you don't need anything like that. All you need is enough knowledge to code the site you wish to make and a good knowledge of the background technologies such as MySQL or others.

 

[rdale]

Definitely get well grounded in your HTML. http://www.pagetutor.com/ and http://www.htmlgoodies.com/index.php might help fill in some blank spaces in your knowledge for now. Like tall73 said check out NVU for a free wysiwyg editor, also 1st Page 2000. http://www.pspad.com/en/screenshot.htm is another free, but non-wysiwyg programming editor worth checking out.

<EDIT> Forgot another one worth checking out...

Namo WebEditor 2006 suite
at Frys/outpost.com

It's $69.99 after a $30 rebate, and is a very good wysiwyg editor roughly comparable to DW.

 

[mikewould]

thank you all.

 

[johan777]

thank you all.

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate your feedback
Johan

 

[mikewould]

you are welcome!

 

[Mr.Pious]

As an "amateur" web designer who wants to go professional, do I really need software like Dreamweaver or Adobe?

Could I find any similar, but free programs available on the net?

Thanks

Johan

Not that I am a pro, but I don't even use the visual editor in dreamweaver. I just like the color coding and the line numbers. Two things I am sure most editors would have.

 

[mikewould]

i used notepad and front page.

 

[pgp_protector]

Not that I am a pro, but I don't even use the visual editor in dreamweaver. I just like the color coding and the line numbers. Two things I am sure most editors would have.

If your just looking for a nice Color Coding & Line Numbers, check out "EditPlus 2"

Nice, allows multipe tabs to be opened at the same time, searching / swaping of text with wildcards (including global searching of all open tabs)

 

[AmazingLoveAmazingGrace]

I switch between the coloured code view and the design view in Dreamweaver. When I'm adding hotspots to images, I find it easier to use the design view because that way I can see exactly where the little box is going.

Otherwise, it's the coloured code view because it's easy to pick out what's what. And the line numbering system so you can eyeball something that's gone wrong quickly.

 

[mikewould]

does anyone here know flash?

 

[AmazingLoveAmazingGrace]

Flash? Partially to extremely badly, but I know some of it...

Coding webpages in NotePad? I remember that... used to work a charm. I used to use it all the time before I got Dreamweaver...

 

[mikewould]

i want to learn Dreamweaver too. lol. i want to learn everything any tips for starting Dreamweaver?

 

[superfly]

um, not really to plug my software, but i'll mention it anyways...

i'm a "professional" web designer/developer... most of my work is done on linux in an editor called quanta+, but when i have to use windows, i use my own editor, which is open source...

it's called ringhtml, and you can get it from www.saturnlabs.co.za/ringhtml3.php. it contains syntax highlighting (the coloured text) and autocompletion and eventually a few other things...
it *is* under development, so do not that there are bugs and things, but like i said, i use it myself.

 

[evange]

I like using notepad..... but then again, I'm no pro.