dreamweaver & front page
Hi........
I've been using Front Page for my website, here:
http://www.candylandcrafts.com/
since inception, about 3 years. I am not a computer expert (probably somewhere between a fair and middle ground user), which is why I don't attempt to write code directly (although I do sometimes "edit" it). I know Front Page is far from perfect......but it's been reasonably easy to use. I use Paint Shop Pro 6.0 for graphics.
It's been recommended that a better approach might be for me to use "Dreamweaver" for my web site. Less compatibility issues for one thing, I'm told.
I would be very like to hear some general comment about whether it's a good move for me to seriously pursue. The general questions that nag me are:
(1) Would I have to completely start over with the site? (it's about 400 pages and I cringe at a complete remake), or can Dreamweaver "start" with a Front Page built site?
(2) Does my level of knowledge with ftp, html, graphics, etc have to be at a highly proficient level (way beyond what I've described) before switching to something like Dreamweaver makes sense?
Thanks for any guidance you're willing to offer!
Joe Hussar
[email protected]
http://www.candylandcrafts.com
The Webmistress posted this at 13:09 — 17th June 2003.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
I use DW and although I can hand code I find DW saves me time with all the sites that I build. One good thing with DW is that it has a 'Fix Front Page Code' command so you wont need to start over!! Has built in ftp client and generally I find it very easy to use indeed
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
Megan posted this at 13:10 — 17th June 2003.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
1. No. What Dreamweaver can do is clean up the code that Front Page spit out, and help you move towards a more efficient development model.
2. I would say no. It might take you awhile to adjust to the DW interface, which is quite a bit different from FrontPage though.
Overall Dreamweaver does a much better job of creating web pages. The code behind them is cleaner, more efficient, more compatible with different browsers, and you can do more with your site as well. There are a lot of automated commands you can run to do anything from link checking to search/replace (within your whole site!). A lot of us serious pro's actually use Dreamweaver as our primary tool, although it's also well suited to less experienced users as well. Let me know if you have any more questions.
As always, it helps if you know what the code is doing, but if you don't, Dreamweaver is still a much better tool than FP.
Megan
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Joe Hussar posted this at 13:21 — 17th June 2003.
They have: 71 posts
Joined: Mar 2002
Wow.........
Thanks folks.....that's really encouraging news. I've had a number of issues with Front Page but have been afraid to venture far.......
Another quick question if I may:
Does Dreamweaver require special "server extensions" to be installed like FP does for certain web elements to work properly?
Does Dreamweaver have any kind of self contained web log traffic analysis stuff?
OOOOOppppppsssss.......that's two questions. Can't help myself
Thanks again!
Joe Hussar
[email protected]
http://www.candylandcrafts.com
Megan posted this at 13:26 — 17th June 2003.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
No, and no. You should be able to get traffic analysis from your host. There's also lots of free places to go for that. Dreamweaver is not a MS product, so it's more generic in terms of both the code it writes and the server requirements (or lack thereof!)
Megan
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druagord posted this at 22:11 — 17th June 2003.
He has: 335 posts
Joined: May 2003
you should consider frontpage like paint it's easy to start but you wont get far with it
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