Website design

[iceman05]

Hey guys,
Doing a small survey and need input. In your opinion which software(s) is the best website designing software that can be used by novices and does not require coding but gives a very professional end result. Please list reason(s) for choice(s).

Thanks...

[owen]

I would say fireworks but I haven't used any of the more recent versions. Thats probably the simplest thing out there for you to use. Otherwise a couple minutes on google will give you better options.

[Flexx17]

Just Lookup WYSIWYG web design software you should find a bunch

[presto]

would suggest that you use a content management system (cms) to develop the website
where the client can login in and update their content through a web interface
here you develop the site and pass it on to the client to add in the information.
most websites now use cms.

easiest cms to learn without coding is: wordpress
wordpress has free and paid themes that look professional

a cms more with more advanced features: is joomla
little bit more learning but not A level physics
free and paid themes just like WordPress


Although it is not necessary for the above cms, it is good to learn some basic coding if you are going to do websites professionally

[gW33Zy]

Or just use Dreamweaver

[iceman05]

Or just use Dreamweaver

Likes and dislikes?...

would suggest that you use a content management system (cms) to develop the website
where the client can login in and update their content through a web interface
here you develop the site and pass it on to the client to add in the information.
most websites now use cms.

easiest cms to learn without coding is: wordpress
wordpress has free and paid themes that look professional

a cms more with more advanced features: is joomla
little bit more learning but not A level physics
free and paid themes just like WordPress


Although it is not necessary for the above cms, it is good to learn some basic coding if you are going to do websites professionally

Would you say Joomla and concrete5 are on par?.. Which is better and develops more professional looking pages

[gW33Zy]

Likes and dislikes?...

Dreamweaver is the gold standard for web development. There is not really any dislikes i have for it. It is very easy to use and learn especially if you are not versed in the in and outs of HTML/CSS.

And with the concrete5 vs Joomla piece... Joomla is more established so it has a mature support community. With that maturity you will find a larger collection of extensions and themes. However, personally i dont like how it approaches theming, so i stick with WP.

I was looking at concrete5 once and it seems the theming process is workable, haven't got back to it as yet.

[igodit]

You're better off just learning HTML, CSS and a bit of Javascript. Don't be dependent on having your IDE do the work for you without learning what it is doing, if something breaks you should have enough knowledge on what is wrong and how to fix it. Start by taking a class on HTML & CSS, when you do you will find that WYSIWYG may not be the best option for you when designing. I recommend using Sublime Text 2 (cross-platform) or VIM (or MacVim) for web design and development.

Read this article which sum up my own thoughts on using sublime text 2

[Satanforce]

Dreamweaver is the gold standard for web development. There is not really any dislikes i have for it. It is very easy to use and learn especially if you are not versed in the in and outs of HTML/CSS.

The problem with IDEs like Dreamweaver and Expression Web is that you end up having to learn the IDE itself. Those are industrial strength, heavy duty software that are expensive (Expression is free now) and require templates to be downloaded to manipulate, as someone inexperienced in webdev would not be able to build them from scratch.

Worse, using the IDE is not simply a matter of dragging and dropping windows and pressing 'Save.' Do you know how to make a datepicker? How about an accordion for menus? Setting up a slideshow for your homepage even? Do you know the difference between absolute and relative values, and how to set them in CSS3? What's the HTML5 header for disabled,or mobile devices?

You would have had to have had studied and memorized these features before using a IDE. The IDE gives the power to more easily fine-tune these features, but it does not replace the need to understand them.

The best thing to do would be to download or buy a good WordPress, Django (go Python! ) or *sigh* Joomla (PHP evil ), and tune the knobs on those, rater than full-blown webdev.