Web design software, advice please

[PondLife]

Does anybody have a view as to the "best" software for web site design?

I've designed and uploaded a couple, using a very basic package (Serif WebPlus 8), but I'm now coming up against its limitations.

I'm not looking to build commercial sites, but just something fairly artistic.

Any advice as to a suitable package to use would be appreciated. I don't mind spending a bit of money.

[Jacques]

Best Software?

You can use anything from notepad to Dreamweaver.

A decent free HTML editor is NVU

[Sam Slater]

I've been asked to create a website for a new model in Newcastle and was going to post something similar on here. Have you used this software Jacques?

On another forum someone said Selida was also a good free package.

The model's in no rush and just wants a portfolio site to advertise herself and may go on to want a paysite. Since I'm a complete noob (though I once built a similar site about 6 years ago for another model) I'm looking for something free to play with to see if I'm any good before shelling out for Dreamweaver or whatever.

Can I ask for your personal opinion between the two editors, if indeed you know about their limitations etc?

Cheers...

[Jacques]

I personally use dreamweaver with xampp to test anything exotic.

Started out, like so many, with frontpage - really is a bag of crap. Then moved on to coffecup via hotdog before settling on dreamweaver.

NVU, I have on a USB stick as a portable app - only used it a couple of times but it has a similar feel to dreamweaver. In fact it's probably a good primer for dreamweaver.

The only problem I have found is with php - it doesn't support it very well.

Selida I can't comment on.

They all have faults, even dreamweaver is buggy. Pick the best tool for you to do a job.

At the end of the day they are free - why not try both and see which suits you?

[PondLife]

Many thanks Jacques. I know "best" is a subjective term, which is why I said that I wanted software which would allow me to be to be more creative than a fairly basic (?50, I think) Serif package.

I imagine that Dreamweaver would facilitate that, far more than Notepad.

I haven't used html.

I did a Google search for Dreamweaver and it seems to allow simple designs for beginners as well as more complex facilities. Do you know if it is fairly easy to learn for someone who has only built two sites with a basic package, please? I don't mind putting time and effort into it.

Also, Sam Slater makes a good point. Since so much seems to be free these days, there may be something there which is mid-ground between simple and complex.

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

[PondLife]

Thanks Jacques, you posted your reply whilst I was writing mine. I did see that Dreamweaver can be tried for free. I think that's what I'll do.

Thanks for your help.

[Bob Singleton]

Sadly the best "entry level" software stopped being sold a few years ago, but if you can find a second hand copy of Softquad's HoTMetaL Pro 6 you'll have yourself a nice bit of intuitive software that, even 5 years old, is lightyears ahead of your Serif software. Softquad were bought up by Corel, and I think the product was eventually dropped as I don't think Corel offer a web design product now.

Microsoft's FrontPage is used by many... it's very much a Marmite product; you either love it or hate it. The main drawbacks are that in WYSIWYG mode it creates vasts amount of code that slow down page loading times, and if you already have a web page designed in another program, it'll totaly wreck your previous work by adding superfluous code. On the plus side there are lots of people who create ready to use templates (some free, some not) for FrontPage. However the current product is called FrontPage 2003 which shows how much updating it's gone through in recent years. In some ways it has been replaced by Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

Adobe Go Live is an improvement on FrontPage, and if you're happy to take on a steepish learning curve there's DreamWeaver, which is now also owned by Adobe. Dreamweaver is the "industry standard" and if you're willing to fork out about ?700 Studio 8 is made up of Dreamweaver 8, Flash Professional 8, Fireworks 8 and Contribute.

The great thing about dreamweaver is that you can download the full version for a 30 day evaluation, so if it's not for you, at least you havn't spent ?300+ to find out!

Hope that helps a little.

Try going to the Amazon website and search for Website Creation & Management... then read the reviews about the various bits of software.

[Sam Slater]

NVU sounds the best path. Cheers Jacques.

[PondLife]

That's great advice from you all. Thanks very much. Thank you Bob for that last post.

(Hey, we are all experts in something. If anyone wants to know how to drink 12 pints of lager without falling over......just ask!!!).

Dave J.

[Guilbert]

Microsoft are replacing Front Page with a set of programs with the Expression name.

They hope to take on Adobe Dreamweaver with this set of products.

They are much more "standards" based and support the latest HTML and CSS.

The product Expression Web is for Web design

Other products available are Expression Blend, Expression Design and
Expression Media

Because they are new (or in beta) you can download the products from here: