[thelist] Dreamweaver versus Frontpage versus Notepad

russ at unrealisticexpectations.com russ at unrealisticexpectations.com
Mon Apr 11 10:57:46 CDT 2005


> Interaction Architecture Faculty here, and in the last 3 years we
> didn't do any "design a web site" work, but all included templating
> for different CMS or backends, and this is where _any_ WYSIWYG fails.
> Furthermore we don't hire WYSIWYG developers, but require at least a
> basic understanding of XSLT and JS together with HTML skills.
> If your job aspirations are to make 10 page web sites or microsites
> that last a month for the rest of your career, then yes, WYSIWYG is
> enough. If you want to be a web developer that can be used in bigger
> projects (and get the higher rates / income) then please join us in
> the year 2005 and realise that web design is not "painting with HTML"
> but creating properly separated web documents
> (structure,presentation,behaviour) that can be easily maintained and
> restyled.

Wow. Getting a tad harsh and personal? :-) (kidding, kidding) Something of note 
is that, in order to become a "Certified Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 
Developer", you need to 
be aware of Javascript, HTML, CSS, some core usability and more. I'd say that 
it's hardly something simple that anyone who is intending to be a WYSIWYG 
developer for life, but then again, there's a point where someone stops 
becoming a designer and starts becoming a developer, too.  And somewhere in 
there was where you made the leap--there are loads of people still eeking out a 
living doing design work.  

No, not me.  That's not my bag, but it happens, and even the ones I've worked 
on, I've found that Dreamweaver is a really nice Site Management tool with some 
great functionality.  I almost never use it as a true WYSIWYG editor, but I do 
use it to have a general idea as to where my includes are, where my content is 
and how it plays out--it works well for what *I* do.  I can see it wouldn't 
work in all areas and have struggled with it some of the different languages, 
but then again...  It works for a lot of the tasks, and you're right:  People 
planning on being a WYSIWYG designer/developer... well, they shouldn't.

> > Furthermore, Dreamweaver also offers a built-in FTP program. This means that
> > you do not need to leave the Dreamweaver application in order to upload or
> > download files to and from the server you are using.
> 
> Using your live server as a test platform is not really recommended,
> unless it is a hotfix you have to perform. Any computer these days can
> run a localhost (or even does so out of the box) and even if you have
> _no clue_ about setting it up, you can ( http://www.apachefriends.org
> ).

I don't think the previous person mentioned that he was going directly to 
prod.  However, DWMX does allow you to set up your test server when you set up 
your site.

> > So in my opinion Dreamweaver is the way to go. It seems a bit complicated in
> > the beginning. But it certainly pays to find out how to use it.
> 
> It is the industry standard editor, I venture to say, but I strongly
> advise against believing all macromedia wants to make us believe. No
> editor can replace proper understanding of markup and code, and pure
> HTML is not here to stay.

I'm not sure you're following their thinking, then.  Otherwise, they'd not 
focus on the code parts of their own exam to become certified.  At least, 
that's my humblest opinion.




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