So whats new in web design?

[fiona]

What’s the latest software program that we have now? Coz, im thinking of upgrading my old software program..thanks.





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print flyer

[Peter_AUS]

Dreamweaver is the prefered choice by a lot of web designers around the world, IMHO.

[ekstasis16]

Well, as far as new, Apple just announced iWeb a few days ago. From what I've seen, it looks like a very interesting approach to web design for non-technical users (or for those who care not to learn newer technologies like AJAX). I was pretty surprised at how well Apple has integrated different media, especially with this whole new photocasting thing.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/

But aside from that, Dreamweaver 8 is the newest. (Although why on earth Adobe is still pushing GoLive after buying Macromedia is beyond me)

[Peter_AUS]

I think you will find they will move away from Golive because of Dreamweaver, probably one of the reasons they acquired Macromedia in the first place, if you can't beat them, buy them, that is the nature of the industry isn't it.

[Asylum Steve]

Although why on earth Adobe is still pushing GoLive after buying Macromedia is beyond me...

Perhaps because it is a pretty freaking great program, and, oh I dunno...integrates seamlessly with the other big boys of the Adobe Creative Suite.

Guys, I really don't think it is the purpose of this forum to start any Ford-Chevy (ok, Canon-Nikon) type discussions. I'm sure DW is an excellent program, but no one is going to convince me it is far and away better than GL. Summarily dismissing GL is bound to ruffle the feathers of members here that use and love it...

Besides, I would imagine a serious webmaster/designer would have both, so what's the point in comparing the two?

[Peter_AUS]

I've used GoLive before but didn't like the interface and having to learn a new way of doing things. Dreamweaver is a fairly heavy learning curve for most people and there are advantages in using it over other programs due to it's intergration with server side software and the ability to run local webs for offline development and testing before it goes up live which is great for web developers.

I don't do mine that way, I just design and then upload and live test it, mine are that complicated to begin with anyway.

Steve makes excellent points but there will always be different horses for different courses and this sort of thing will be never ending.

[Axle]

Personally for me I use Dreamweaver 8 to do a majority of web design work on because it allows me easy manipulation of mark up. However when I'm remote, I use vi to edit my pages since my server is Linux based.

[Sebastian]

Well, technologies like Ruby, Ruby on Rails and AJAX are all working together to blur the distinction between web and desktop even more than it already has been.

I for one have transitioned to a CSS2 workflow, using as little HTML as possible for layout, only for structure. The entire look of a site is dictated by external style sheets, easy to modify, and much, much more flexible than the archaic table methods.

I just wish that I didn't have to make sacrifices for Internet Explorer, the only browser that doesn't render a lot of it properly. I wish everyone would just use Firefox.

[mtbbrian]

Perhaps because it is a pretty freaking great program, and, oh I dunno...integrates seamlessly with the other big boys of the Adobe Creative Suite.

Guys, I really don't think it is the purpose of this forum to start any Ford-Chevy (ok, Canon-Nikon) type discussions. I'm sure DW is an excellent program, but no one is going to convince me it is far and away better than GL. Summarily dismissing GL is bound to ruffle the feathers of members here that use and love it...

Besides, I would imagine a serious webmaster/designer would have both, so what's the point in comparing the two?

For anything considered serious it does seem to come down to these two programs.
I am glad that MS Frontpage hasn't been brought up, that was probably the most painful and horrible program I have ever worked with.
It gives me shivers thinking about it!
Brian

[Axle]

Frontpage *shudder*

When I first took over maintaining the CNO&B PYPS website whoever had done it before had used three editor, notepad (that's a decent one for quick work), Frontpage, and yes Word. It took me a month to shamble through the mess of code Frontpage and Word left behind.

I recreated the entire site, every single page from the ground up using Dreamweaver and Vi.

[ekstasis16]

I just had someone mention Frontpage to me a week ago, and I just about slapped them. Any non-scripting development software that requires proprietary extentions to be installed on the server gets a big thumbs down from me.

The only reason I said "Although why on earth Adobe is still pushing GoLive after buying Macromedia is beyond me..." is not because I think DW is better (I have little experience with GoLive) but because Dreamweaver has a much larger market share. Currently I don't know anyone or any educational institution near me using GoLive.

The only reason I like Dreamweaver is because its a combo FTP client and color-coded text editor, it has a great search and replace feature, and is very very cheap at the educational discount or in a bundle. The markup that DW generates in the design view is absolute garbage, however, and from my experience with it about a year ago, so is GoLive. Until these apps can produce clean, compliant code, they're just fancy text editors.

And as far as GoLive's integration with other Adobe software: the web is not print. It doesn't need to integrate with those apps.

And Sebastian, just wait until IE7 launches and all our sites break in NEW ways. The Beta 2 preview they just put out doesn't give me much hope. We'll be left supporting IE6 and IE7 for years with their own CSS quirks.