Dreamweaver and going off the web-designer grid.

[ozma]

I'm thinkign about getting Dreamweaver and going off the web-designer grid.

I may be asking my mom to use her educational discount, or figure out how to use mine here in Japan) to get Dreamweaver and design my own darned site. I’m not very worried about my design sense, just about beign overwhelmed with the more practical/technical issues.

Experiences? Favorite sites and books for help? Advice?

[sabrinabellydancer]

yes, def use the educational discount. some ed versions can't be upgraded, so check it out. may only be a usa thing :/

there's a learning curve for sure, but lots of good tutorials on line. the adobe paperback manuals are good too. they have little projects that teach you skills, class style.

cs2 made tons of spaghetti-like code if you use the wysiwyg editor, so viewing in split screen wont be a good tutorial for how to code cleanly. i haven't upgraded to the latest version but assume its better.

that said, i love dw and think you will too. i recommend you code some static html/xhtml pages before trying to create a dynamic site. something tells me you will be a css wiz too

can't wait to see what you create! if you have the patience to bead, you def have the patience to code :)

[ozma]

I made my first HTML sites about 10 years ago...been a while though

[Khaleela]

Visual tutorials can also be found on Youtube and iTunes podcasts.

[Khalida]

Should you want to give .css and plain html a go let me know, I can send you some practical tips and my css file to get started, I made my first website with the help of google, wikipedia and loads of trial and error.

[andalee-oriental]

I currently have CS4 (at work) and CS3 (at home). There are very few differences between the two of them. I can be used as a resource if you need any help.

I agree with Khalida in that you should have a css for your site. It is so much easier than having to write the html code for each page.

Here are some tools to get you started.
Web Design Help & Web Development Help | Web Design Articles and Web Design Tutorials – The Web Squeeze
Web Do's & Don'ts - Web design and development tips and tricks
45 Step-by-Step Tutorials on Web Design with Photoshop | Psdtuts+
Pro Blog Design - How To Design a Better Blog
Free CSS Layouts And Templates - Smashing Magazine
(Smashing Magazine is the best!)
Six Revisions - Web Development and Design Information

[Khalida]

Oo, great post! I'm going to check out some of these links myself :)

[tamrahennatx]

I use plain html and css for my site. I made my first site about ten years ago using dreamweaver and books like Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours.

Currently, I prefer to code by hand, or at least review the code created in a WYSIWYG editor because sometimes deleting items in WYSIWYG mode leaves behind empty tags in the code.

I like HTML Source: HTML Tutorials as a good site for the basics of both html and css. It's been my biggest resource over the last several years.

[roguepen]

Look into Joomla! (Joomla!) which is an open source content management system.

I was doing my site on Dreamweaver and decided to change over to Joomla! because I wanted more functionality than my web skillz would allow. It also allows me to update my site remotely from any computer which I am digging since my pitiful little laptop would choke on DW.

The appearance is controlled by CSS templates which is where it gets difficult because building them is a real pain unless you have a good grasp of CSS. (I'm still struggling a bit with the custom template on my site.) But there are plenty of good templates available for sale or you could have someone build you a custom one. In the end, it would be cheaper than buying DW and Photoshop.

Either way, both Adobe and Joomla! have training seminars. I've done both and gotten a lot out of them.

[sabrinabellydancer]

Look into Joomla! (Joomla!) ...
Either way, both Adobe and Joomla! have training seminars. I've done both and gotten a lot out of them.

this ^, but imo you will still want ps or gimp for image editing

[*Shira*]

I currently use Dreamweaver for both All About Belly Dancing! Learn to Belly Dance! Shira's Bellydance Site and Bellydance for Plus-Sized Women, Belly Dance for Full-Figured Women, and Bellydancing for Big Beautiful Women (BBW) and I'm very happy with it.

There is a bit of a learning curve. I concur with everyone who recommended CSS - I've actually been using CSS on my web site for about 6-7 years (ie, even with the old yellow-themed design) and it definitely is a beneficial thing to do.

In addition to using CSS, I recommend using the "template" feature in Dreamweaver. I figured out how to do it by just poking around with the Dreamweaver user interface and reading the built-in help files, but I probably could have saved myself some frustration by using documentation and tutorials. Anyway, I do recommend using the feature. If you're comfortable enough with computers to have made your own web site years ago, I'd expect you'd find that this feature isn't too daunting.

If you're skilled enough with Photoshop (or any other photo editor) to create your own navigation buttons, then Dreamweaver makes it really easy to create rollover buttons under the "insert" menu. I spent more time in Photoshop perfecting what I wanted the highlighted version of the buttons to look like than I did in Dreamweaver implementing them. Dreamweaver authors the javascript for you.

Roguepen makes a good point that Dreamweaver is kind of a resource hog, so if you go that route you'd need a computer with plenty of memory, speed, and hard disk space.

[deelight]

I haven't started working with DW yet, but when I bought another Adobe product recently (InDesign) and registered my purchase online, I got a free 1-month subscription to Lynda.com, which has hours & hours of video tutorials on every Adobe product, including DW. I assume they offer the same deal if you buy DW. If you buy the subscription yourself it's only $25 for unlimited viewing of tutorials. Totally worth checking out - way more comprehensive and better produced than anything you will find on YouTube.

[phoenixeyes]

Roguepen, I think I love you. I use Joomla extensively as well.

The only other thing I would add is that you don't need Dreamweaver or Joomla or any other kind of software to code a website. You can use just NotePad or Text Edit and do the same; gaining an appreciation for doing so from scratch will help you really use Dreamweaver's more advanced options to your advantage. I know some people find Dreamweaver a great learning tool, but it is often used as a crutch, in the same way everyone fancies themselves a fantastic graphic designer after playing with the text glow option in Photoshop too much. ;)

If you have a friend who knows web design, look over their shoulder or bounce questions you have off of them. I taught myself how to do web design in high school and learned a lot of it by trial and error. Having nerds nearby to consult if things go horribly wrong is a real relief. ;)

Good luck!

[Safiyah]

I bought Dreamweaver and as someone with limited HTML and no CSS experience, I find it very easy to use. VERY worth the price (IMO). My current site is based off a template I found online, but I'm starting to develop a new design. It's nothing super fancy, but I am finding it very straightforward and easy to use. Especially if you use other Adobe products.

You absolutely don't need Dreamweaver, but it certainly helps :)