Is Dreamweaver the best web design software to learn foran aspiring web designer?

Hi Everyone,

Perhaps difficult to get an unbiased answer to this in a Dreamweaver forum but
I'm sure most of you considered other web development software before you went
with Dreamweaver. Of course the answer is not as straight forward as just
choosing one piece of software over another. I understand that there isn't
really one piece of software that ticks every box for the web designer. What I
mean is that there isn't one standalone piece of software that's best for web
design (HTML, CSS etc.), graphics and animation etc. and that's why we have
things such as Adobe Creative Suite. Anyway, sticking to web design and
development in the Dreamweaver sense, would I be correct to advise someone who
wants to work in the field of web design to use Dreamweaver as their main tool?
Particularly, I would be interested to know if Dreamweaver really is the
industry standard as it's important to consider future job prospects.

I hope you understand what I'm asking.

Thanks, in anticipation for your help.

P.S. Has anyone heard of Enterprise Works?

DW is not a web design application. It's an HTML authoring system. If you
are looking for something that will not require that you know (and know
pretty well) HTML and CSS, then DW is not for you. Surprised? That's what
you get here - candor. DW is tough. It's worth the investment of time,
though....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
==================


"In at the deep end" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

Hi Everyone,

Perhaps difficult to get an unbiased answer to this in a Dreamweaver forum
but
I'm sure most of you considered other web development software before you
went
with Dreamweaver. Of course the answer is not as straight forward as just
choosing one piece of software over another. I understand that there isn't
really one piece of software that ticks every box for the web designer.
What I
mean is that there isn't one standalone piece of software that's best for
web
design (HTML, CSS etc.), graphics and animation etc. and that's why we
have
things such as Adobe Creative Suite. Anyway, sticking to web design and
development in the Dreamweaver sense, would I be correct to advise someone
who
wants to work in the field of web design to use Dreamweaver as their main
tool?
Particularly, I would be interested to know if Dreamweaver really is the
industry standard as it's important to consider future job prospects.

I hope you understand what I'm asking.

Thanks, in anticipation for your help.

P.S. Has anyone heard of Enterprise Works?

Thanks for that Murray. Please forgive my wrongful use of terminology in the
last post. I thought Dreamweaver was used to design and develop websites and
that's why I called it a web design application. Anyway, for someone starting
out, initially, with basic web page design, do you think there is a better
place to start than Dreamweaver and learning HTML and CSS?

Thanks

"In at the deep end" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

Thanks for that Murray. Please forgive my wrongful use of terminology in
the
last post. I thought Dreamweaver was used to design and develop websites
and
that's why I called it a web design application.

Murray is being kind of crochety :-) - of course it *is* a web design
application.

Anyway, for someone starting
out, initially, with basic web page design, do you think there is a better
place to start than Dreamweaver and learning HTML and CSS?

I don't think there's anything that even comes close to Dreamweaver +
knowledge of HTML and CSS.

--
Patty Ayers | www.WebDevBiz.com
Free Articles on the Business of Web Development
Web Design Contract, Estimate Request Form, Estimate Worksheet
--

Just to add my bit.

Forget about the best software, there are people who just use notepad!

Rather look at the programs support forum. This one and project seven are
full of helpfull people who take pleasure (or pain) in helping users. That
for me makes the software worth the price.

I could name one forum where I was advised to stop wasting their time and to
read the manual. I responded with the axim all questions are easy if you
know the answer and knowing the correct question is not always easy.

On this forum you will find that often the question you should have asked is
answered:-)

As Murray said a knowledge of html etc is vital but learning the terminology
takes time but it is worth it

HTH

Ian
"P@tty Ayers ~ACE" <signup1REMOVE (AT) ayersvirtualREMOVE (DOT) com> wrote

"In at the deep end" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote in message
news:g3jr11$qnh$1 (AT) forums (DOT) macromedia.com...
Thanks for that Murray. Please forgive my wrongful use of terminology in
the
last post. I thought Dreamweaver was used to design and develop websites
and
that's why I called it a web design application.

Murray is being kind of crochety :-) - of course it *is* a web design
application.

Anyway, for someone starting
out, initially, with basic web page design, do you think there is a
better
place to start than Dreamweaver and learning HTML and CSS?

I don't think there's anything that even comes close to Dreamweaver +
knowledge of HTML and CSS.

--
Patty Ayers | www.WebDevBiz.com
Free Articles on the Business of Web Development
Web Design Contract, Estimate Request Form, Estimate Worksheet
--

To clarify a bit more on Murray's points, DW will not really walk you through
learning HTML and CSS despite the fact that it is arguably the best editor for
both out there. A lot has to come from you looking over tutorials and even
using DW's reference tool to understand the code view in addition to the design
elements (ie: forms, layout, etc.). For example, DW will not make a form for
you and let you set it up to email with a click of the mouse. There is a bit
of coding involved with such steps. Also just because Dreamweaver will allow
you to write code in PHP or ASP, it does not mean it will make a forum like
this for you. In those cases most people are usually pointed towards premade
scripts that do this for you.

What Dreamweaver will not do is make the graphics or pictures for your site.
For that you will need an application like Fireworks or Photoshop.

If you can hold off for about a week and a half or so the downloads for the
30-day trials should be up and running then. It would probably be a lot easier
to explain the differences if you saw what we were talking about. This is
because the trials are full versions just with a 30-day limit on them.

"Ian Edwards" <i.edwards (AT) nospamedwards-micros (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Rather look at the programs support forum. This one and project seven are
full of helpfull people who take pleasure (or pain) in helping users. That
for me makes the software worth the price.

It's true that Dreamweaver has the best support forum for anything anywhere
I've seen. I'm not sure I would buy the software just for that, but it
definitely adds a huge amount of value, assuming you're the kind of person
who will use a forum regularly.

I owe a whole lot to this forum.

--
Patty Ayers | www.WebDevBiz.com
Free Articles on the Business of Web Development
Web Design Contract, Estimate Request Form, Estimate Worksheet
--

Thanks to all of you, even, the crochety ones. I've just started using this
forum and it rocks.
I was having a rather annoyed discussion with our web administrator at work as
he seems to take a short life time to make any changes to the website other
than the most basic text changes. He uses a combination of Domino Designer
(IBM) and Enterprise Works which I think is also IBM. I've seen people use
Dreamweaver which looks to be light years ahead of what he's using. Has anyone
heard of the programs he's using? As his senior in the company I'm thinking of
pulling the rug from under his feet and forcing an implementation of an
alternative workflow with new software. We've already purchased Creative Suite
3 as we use Photoshop, so in theory we could start trying Dreamweaver CS3. Of
course, we'll arrange the necessary training first. I just wondered if
Dreamweaver was a good route. Actually, I understand HTML and CSS myself and I
can see he should be more efficient. Do you have any ideas?

Many thanks.

It's not the tool that makes the website sparkle, it's the user. That's why
HTML and CSS are the most important thing you can spend your time on now.
If you have that well mastered, then anything will sing for you.

And I differ with Patty. DW is not a web design application. Web design is
completely out of the scope of DW.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
==================


"In at the deep end" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

Thanks to all of you, even, the crochety ones. I've just started using
this
forum and it rocks.
I was having a rather annoyed discussion with our web administrator at
work as
he seems to take a short life time to make any changes to the website
other
than the most basic text changes. He uses a combination of Domino Designer
(IBM) and Enterprise Works which I think is also IBM. I've seen people use
Dreamweaver which looks to be light years ahead of what he's using. Has
anyone
heard of the programs he's using? As his senior in the company I'm
thinking of
pulling the rug from under his feet and forcing an implementation of an
alternative workflow with new software. We've already purchased Creative
Suite
3 as we use Photoshop, so in theory we could start trying Dreamweaver CS3.
Of
course, we'll arrange the necessary training first. I just wondered if
Dreamweaver was a good route. Actually, I understand HTML and CSS myself
and I
can see he should be more efficient. Do you have any ideas?

Many thanks.

"Murray *ACE*" <forums (AT) HAHAgreat-web-sights (DOT) com> wrote

And I differ with Patty. DW is not a web design application. Web design
is completely out of the scope of DW.

1de·sign \di-'zin\
Function:
transitive verb
1: to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan

I don't know about you, Murray mi amigo, but I create, fashion, execute or
construct web pages according to plan, using Dreamweaver.

--
Patty Ayers | www.WebDevBiz.com
Free Articles on the Business of Web Development
Web Design Contract, Estimate Request Form, Estimate Worksheet
--