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Subject:RE: Recommended web site programs From:"Donald H White" <dwhite -at- jrtcllc -dot- com> To:<TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:05:36 -0400
Front Page was so bad that even Microsoft discontinued it. MS has set up the
Expression series to replace it (Expression Web goes for $149.95; Expression
Studio for $599.95). I don't know anyone who uses it.
I have and use Dreamweaver CS3. I haven't "upgraded" to CS4 or the Adobe
"suites" and won't. Adobe has priced me out of that market altogether. I
like Dreamweaver because I can run the tests to validate the HTML and CSS
before I post a page or component on the Web. The tutorials are pretty good,
but I still check with other sources (The Zen of CSS Design, Web Standards
and Solutions, and the W3C tutorials) when needed.
If you know the XHTML tags and structure, you can just use Notepad to build
a site and its pages. I like to think I do, but I sometimes forget the
correct syntax to use with collapsing a border in an XHTML table, for
instance.
Even if you go to an open-source CMS, you may find Dreamweaver useful,
particularly when you modify the CSSs used by the template and individual
components and plugins.
P.S. Order a chilidog and an onion ring at The Varsity for me!
Good luck!
Donald H. White
James River Technical Communications
www.jrtcllc.com
|-----Original Message-----
|From: Ken Poshedly [mailto:poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net]
|Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 12:46 PM
|To: TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
|Subject: Recommended web site programs
|
|
|Group,
|
|All of my previous -- and current -- fulltime tech writing
|positions have been involved with producing either hardcopy
|manuals or pdf's for posting online by another department of
|the company I worked for. Never was I able to become involved
|with editing or generating online content, or even designing a
|web page.
|
|A few years ago, I tried Frontpage 2003 to produce a web page
|for my function within a scientific organization to which I
|belong; I edit and publish its quarterly journal and post the
|resultant pdf online. While my own web page has sufficed, FP
|was balky for me to learn and the final page is . . . well . .
|. quite amateurish. (I'd post the url here, but I'd probably
|be banished after the laughter subsided.)
|
|Anyway, I'd like some advice as to what today's so-called
|benchmark web site program is (WordStar was the "benchmark"
|word processor when I got it back in early 1984). I learned
|some basic html coding back in 2000, and have used it to do
|touch-up work once in awhile, but I'm thinking an
|off-the-shelf program is what I really need.
|
|I belong to and lurk in the FrontPage yahoo e-mail list, but
|have learned that FP has apparently been discontinued because
|almost all postings are about "Expression".
|
|Earlier this year, I downloaded the 30-day trial version of
|Adobe's Dreamweaver and worked my way through the online
|tutorial with nice results producing the target web page for
|which the tutorial was designed. It's a really pricey program
|for someone who is not into web design fulltime, so I might
|consider a version one rev earlier or so. And I don't want to
|get into learning something already on its way out. (Yes, I
|know everything comes and goes, but some stuff stays longer --
|like FrameMaker, whose demise has been -- luckily predicted
|for many years now.)
|
|So what do you guys think? FP, Dreamweaver, or something else,
|and why or why not?
|
|No hurry. I've got lots of time.
|
|-- Kenpo in Atlanta
Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
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