Front page vs Dreamweaver

[tadpole90]

Hallo

I have been using front page to build my first free site, and was advised that front page was rubbish and should use Dreamweaver. I have got dreamweaver, but being a novice I find a lot of the terminology beyond me, without spending hours looking up the tutorial. Apart from dreamweaver having many more features, is front page really that bad?

Bottom line is I would like to continue using front page until I feel I have learnt enough from cozy campus, to afford the time for dreamweaver.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[razor]

Dreamweaver is far superior to frontpage, the problem with Frontpage is that it generates non standard HTML code which results in larger file sizes and pages that are more difficult for SE spiders to index.

[porn punk]

I've been using Dreamweaver since I started doing this and wouldn't recommend anything else (although I've played with the idea of learning Golive until the macromedia adobe merge).

I don't see why you can't do as you suggest since you can open any (standard) webpage in just about any wysiwig web design program.

I'm biased but, I'd say move on to Dreamweaver as fast as possible expecially since it will probably now be becoming more and more integrated with photoshop the way it has been with fireworks (another program I never took the time to learn). If you're a front page pro this might not be good advice, but I would think you'd be able to learn the program even faster if that is the case.

Dreamweaver also has a pretty decent built in code editor. Get yourself one of those Macrodmedia course books that come with a CD and start playing with some projects. You'll pick it up in no time (matter of days I would think).

[artwilliams]

Originally posted by tadpole90
Hallo

I have been using front page to build my first free site, and was advised that front page was rubbish and should use Dreamweaver. I have got dreamweaver, but being a novice I find a lot of the terminology beyond me, without spending hours looking up the tutorial. Apart from dreamweaver having many more features, is front page really that bad?

Bottom line is I would like to continue using front page until I feel I have learnt enough from cozy campus, to afford the time for dreamweaver.

Any comments would be appreciated.

If you are using Frontpage then make sure you're using a current version. I understand it is pretty good. Earlier versions were pretty lame.

---art

[Compdoctor]

I've been using FP 2000 since it first came out. the only problem I've found is that when you copy code from IE, FP tends to crupped it. But I fould that if I copy the code to notepad first, there is no problem.

By the way, I built over 600 + sites with it.

Just my two cents

[timelord]

If you are starting, start with Dreamweaver. It's the optimal application to build with. No other application is as powerful including FP.

Frontpage has it place and can be used to do most (not all) things that Dreamweaver can. It's easier to use and cheaper.

But having used both, I'd not ever use FP again.

[tadpole90]

Hi

Thanks again for your input and comments.

[fpanko]

I have yet to see a complex page written in frontpage that was cross os/browser compatable.

Unless the newest version was dramaticially changed. It writes very ugly code.

[Compdoctor]

Originally posted by fpanko
I have yet to see a complex page written in frontpage that was cross os/browser compatable.

Unless the newest version was dramaticially changed. It writes very ugly code.

and yet, I built over 600 sites with it?

[fpanko]

Originally posted by Compdoctor
and yet, I built over 600 sites with it?

You can build an infinite amout of site with crappy code. It doesn't change the fact that it's crappy code.

[balls_deep]

I haven't weighed in on this yet so here goes...

I love Microsoft products especially when you have no idea what you are doing. MS makes things almost idiot proof even if FP writes sloppy code. For a newbie learning things i think that frontpage is a valuable tool. I own dreamweaver and i can make the exact same sites in FP as i can with the weave. Keep in mind that i don't use css as it's a bit above me right now, but if you want to learn code and create a site quickly i still think FP is a useful app, especially if you have no coding experience.

[Compdoctor]

Originally posted by fpanko
You can build an infinite amout of site with crappy code. It doesn't change the fact that it's crappy code.

So let me understand this, I have 600 + sites that work built with crappy code, and I make good money.

Is this an art contest? the stuff works so I don't bother it. Of course I do use dreamweaver for the fancy stuff!

[timelord]

So let me understand this, I have 600 + sites that work built with crappy code, and I make good money.

I can see why you wish to use it Compdoc, it is a much easier app to get to terms with and use. I'm sure your sites are well made bro.

But Frank does raise a good point about the code. I used to have to rewrite code after publishing any page.

I can't vouch for version since about 2002, but before that it was not very 'standards compliant' and it's unlikely that they have kept pace with DW.

[Compdoctor]

Interesting, and while I have never had a problem with it. By the way I use the 2000 version

[porn punk]

If it makes anyone feel any better I've done some crappy work with Dreamweaver too and plan on doing more crappy work with it in the future

[balls_deep]

crappy sells

[porn punk]

And to make things even crappier, I'm studying this css book at the moment and pulling my hair out of my balls trying to get it to click. By the time I'm done with this book, I ought to be able to really massacre a site!

[balls_deep]

happy butchering

[fpanko]

Originally posted by Compdoctor
So let me understand this, I have 600 + sites that work built with crappy code, and I make good money.

Is this an art contest? the stuff works so I don't bother it. Of course I do use dreamweaver for the fancy stuff!

I never questioned the amount of money you can make. It's irrelivant and has nothing to do with the application you use to make your site. Lots of crappy sites make loads of money.

The original question was about frontpage vs dreamweaver. When it comes down to it, they both have wysiwyg interfaces that a novice could use to make a site. Dreamweavers code is simply much better. It's typicially much cleaner and closer to w3c standards. This makes is much more browser compliant and future proof. As browsers change, there is less of a chance that you will need to make many updates to your sites when using dreamweaver as apposed to frontpage.

I have yet to see a frontpage site that comes close to this. I'm not saying a frontpage site won't make money. It's just a simple fact that it output non-compliant code, and when viewed in multiple browsers (ie6, ie7, mozilla, safari ect..) you can usually find issues.

The other thing that it affects is your search engine results. Proper code helps google and yahoo spider your pages better and make more accurate decisions as to the content of your page. I don't know about you, but I love getting page 1 results on search engines. All that free 'targeted' traffic translates to twice the number of sales. (for me at least).