Guest Pillar Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 I'm going to be designing a web page for a small business and I'm wondering what the best web design software is? I've heard the NetObjects Fusion 5 is great, as well as Dreamweaver 3. I want to learn something that will allow me to become "proffesional" at web design and possibly start my own company and/or become employed in the field. Thanks for the help, and sorry for the very OT post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorak Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 Pillar, Personaly I haven't used it. But the designers here at work swear by dreamweaver. Lorak ------------------ "someone you trust is one of us"..........the illuminati * http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/combatmissionclub Lorak's FTX for CM <--Proud member of the Combat Mission Webring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mace Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 Pillar, The Macromedia suite of products work extremely well together, and should be considered. The ones I've used include Dreamweaver (web development), Fireworks (graphics) and Freehand (vector graphics). I would suggest that you take the time to learn HTML though, as it's sometimes a lot more effective to develop HTML script with a text editor, and besides you'll learn how HTML hangs together! Mace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 Thanks for the advice guys. Just a quick question: Does Dreamweaver work like Microsoft Frontpage in that it treats web building like word processing, or is it more like a publishing program where you just "Drag and Drop" pics and text into the page where you want them? One thing I *really* like about NetObjects Fusion is that you can do this easily. No "Aligh Left/Right" positioning garbadge to worry about, nor do I have to create special tables and grids just to get things positioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manx Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 I would throughly recommend DW3 for designing and managing websites. The way it handles page layout/positioning is second to none. You can use LAYERS to place text, images and tables etc. exactly where you want them on the page. There is also a great deal of free user-made add-ons which enable you to expand it's power even more. The best IMHO. ------------------ COMBAT MISSIONS- The Source For CM Ops & Scenarios WWW.COMBATMISSIONS.CO.UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geier Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 I use Dreamweaver 3 and HomeSite 4.5 presently. They both are excellent but in totally different ways. One thing to understand about web design is that you (sadly) must know a bit about the "Left/Right positioning garbage" if you want all visitors to be able to enjoy the site. Just because it looks good on your screen doesn't mean that it looks good on your neighbours. DW3 is wonderful, very easy to work with, but I always end up having to clean up the code in HomeSite. I haven't used Netobjects Fusion. Good luck. Geier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 I use Dreamweaver 2 for the pages I maintain here: http://www.destinympe.com http://www.dsny.com http://www.radiodestiny.com Also my personal pages here: http://www3.telus.net/pop_n_fresh/gateway.htm I sure wish my bosses would ante up for v3 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 Can you "Drag and Drop" a picture or textbox exactly where you want it in DW3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manx Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 No...not to my knowledge...you have to use tables or layers and DHTML techniques to precisely position text/images. You can easily insert a layer onto the page in DW, then insert your text/image into the layer. You can then move the layer anywhere you want on the page. I used tables (more hassle!) to create the layout on the 'Combat Missions' scenario site, because some older browsers still have trouble displaying layers. ------------------ COMBAT MISSIONS- The Source For CM Ops & Scenarios WWW.COMBATMISSIONS.CO.UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 Odd that only NetObjects lets you drag and drop images precisely where you want them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 Yes, learn your tables. I know when I first got my hand on Dreamweaver I loved the idea of layers. And then to my horror I discovered how many odd browsers present layers. Some don't some do. But tables works on everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geier Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pillar: Odd that only NetObjects lets you drag and drop images precisely where you want them...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes it is odd. Maybe because it doesn't work as smooth as advertized? I would imagine that it will force all users to use 5.0 browsers in order for it to work. I really recommend that you learn some html. If you don't know the basics, fixing problems will be impossible. Please take this as a piece of friendly advice and not as a put down or anything. Geier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 What's going on here?? Every REAL web designer knows that proper web page construction involves the employment of voodoo magic and the ritual sacrifice of chickens. Anyone who even MENTIONS Microsoft FrontPage is consigned forever to the land of 3-D chrome type, red-on-black colourschemes and animated explosion graphics. And Fireworks has a very apt name - ready for the application of prodigious quantities of aviation fuel and a burning match. David "If it can't be done with Photoshop, it's not worth doing" - me =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted July 26, 2000 Share Posted July 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David Aitken: What's going on here?? Every REAL web designer knows that proper web page construction involves the employment of voodoo magic and the ritual sacrifice of chickens.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> LOL. Just try convincing my boss of the need for an altar. Maybe they sell one at Office Depot? Agreed on FrontPage. FrontPage is crap. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>And Fireworks has a very apt name - ready for the application of prodigious quantities of aviation fuel and a burning match.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I use a combination of Photoshop and Fireworks. I create all my graphics in Illustrator or Photoshop, then I pick up the rendered images in Fireworks and I use it to optimize them. I also like Fireworks' ability to cut the images up and make image maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 Hehe, thanks for the advice all of you. I don't have any programming experience, but I will try to learn some basic HTML. (I have a friend who knows it). Geier, You suggest that teh "Drag and Drop" pixel-precise method that NetObjects uses isn't as good as they advertise. Could you elaborate? I was pretty set on it, but if you make a good point I'll go with Dream Weaver 3. Thanks again for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aszurom Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 Personally, I find myself using a mish-mash of web design tools. Dreamweaver is THE BOMB for working with wysiwyg DHTML stuff. However, only Frontpage will allow word documents to be drag-n-drop into it and retain all the formatting. For building the structure of the pages themselves, I don't let sloppy wysiwyg editors touch my code. For that, I swear by and strongly reccomend Hotdog Pro 6.x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MantaRay Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 I use DW3, Front Page 2000, and one called GoLive4, which is the easiest of all 3 to use and my favorite. Ray ------------------ When asked, "How many moves do you see ahead?", CAPABLANCA replied: "One move - the best one." New CM Site. In process of switching. Brought to you by Hardcore Gamers Daily Hardcore Gamers Daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geier Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pillar: Geier, You suggest that teh "Drag and Drop" pixel-precise method that NetObjects uses isn't as good as they advertise. Could you elaborate? I was pretty set on it, but if you make a good point I'll go with Dream Weaver 3.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Remember I said it might not be as good as advertized. If it is, I'd go for it. I'm just wondering how a drag-and-drop interface can place objects on a web page that works for all browsers at all resolutions at all times. I haven't used NetObjects myself and I am by no means an expert at html/asp/jsp/cfm/xml/dhtml/snafu. One thing that you could look at is Flash (from Macromedia). Ever been to a web page where stuff is spinning/fading in and out? That's Flash, and it's great for publishing multimedia on the web. Check out www.k2sports.com for an example. For html editing, I'd suggest you go for Dreamweaver3 or GoLive (from Adobe, also a good prog imo). Or better yet, use as many as you can get hold of. Generally speaking, different progs are good at different things. Whichever you choose (and do not take my word as gospel about the progs), learn a little html. Best of luck, Geier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pillar Posted July 27, 2000 Share Posted July 27, 2000 Ok, thanks for the help Geier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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