website design software

[CaseyC]

I know this is a little off subject here, but since I have acquired so much useful knowledge here and respect many of the people that post here, I thought I would pose this question to you.

What is the best software for building a website?

I have spent several years around internet marketing and now search engine optimization, but have alwasy had a webmaster to actual carry out the ideas and knowledge I have gained. I am now to the point where I feel I need to learn how to build websites, but with all of the options available, I am curious what you all use to build sites. Of course I know the big players like Dreamweaver and Pagemaker, but are those the best or just the most popular.

Thansk

[mcanerin]

The package I'm waiting for is Microsoft Expression, which is currently in beta.

But I'm not going to recommend it directly, and here is why: The reason I really, really want this is because (unlike the now discontinued FrontPage suite) it's completely standards compliant and uses CSS for everything.

And that's the point - compliant code and uses CSS well. The reason I want it is because I like the FrontPage style interface and it's ability to work well with my IIS server. If you use a LAMP system and use DW, then that part won't impress you much.

The good news is that as long as you focus on those 2 things, you can choose almost any package that you feel comfortable using, and you can eliminate a lot of wanna-be's that seem nice but are not.

One of the main issues with website development software is that they need to do two jobs - make it easy to design a website, and make a website that's easy to use. The problem is that very often you can only get one or the other. FrontPage was (and is) infamous for being really easy to use, but not having the best code.

Likewise, Although I've probably got a lot more experience with handcoding sites than most people (since 1993 - 13 years) - it's not the most friendly interface and honestly, I don't care for it anymore. The code is usually tight, though. I always switch to hand-coding if something is giving me problems.

If I was to make a list of the best features of a web development system, it would probably include:

1. W3C Compliant Code generation, enforcable.
2. Strong CSS integration (not "launch notepad to make a css file and we can use it")
3. Accurate WYSIWYG mode (ie it actually shows you includes, etc)
4. Code / Split mode - sometimes you just have to cut and paste code.
5. Easy to use, with commonly used controls handy.

For things I would like to have, but could live without if I had to:

1. Error Checking - links, code, etc
2. Link management - when I rename a file, links should be updated (or at least I should be asked if I want to update them).
3. Import/Export ability - Flash, Java, word, excel, etc. Make my life easier.
4. Easy to use scripting (javascript, etc)
4. Connections to Server technology. ASP, PHP, etc. Expression has nice connections to ASP, but PHP isn't handled well by anyone - which is odd because it's so popular. DW isn't bad in this area, but it still needs work, IMO. Software libraries and drag and drop coding would be really nice.

I'm dreaming, but I'd also like:

1. Spider simulators and other SEO tools
2. USEFUL built in templates, like blogs, e-commerce, etc
3. E-Commerce hooks and templates.

IMO, the best packages right now include (I've used all of them personally):

1. Dreamweaver (mainly for support - I'm not fond of the interface)
2. FrontPage 2003 (anything earlier sucks)
3. CoffeeCup HTML - cheap and easy to use
4. AceHTML Pro (Code only - no WYSIWYG)

Finally, don't forget the non-traditional tools. There are some very nice packages that are basically CMS or blog software that (usually due to CSS) can be made very functional and beautiful. Also, there are some surprisingly good online-only tools (ie Homestead).

I hope that helps narrow the list a bit for you - good luck!

Ian

[mocgiit]

I like dreamweaver, but you have to know some web design. If not yahoo's small business has a solution that most people say are good.

[bsaric]

Well thread title say: website design software, then question is about building websites, coding and that stuff, this are 2 diffrent things.

Design software is Photoshop, Corel, Fireworks, Flash...

[Serio]

The original poster says "Of course I know the big players like Dreamweaver and Pagemaker, but are those the best or just the most popular." - So answer that...

Dreamweaver for me.

[GerryBot]

I've been using Dreamweaver for years. Admittedly, there's a fairly steep learning curve (especially if you're new to web design), but the feature set is fantastic and the later versions are much better about CSS and Standards Compliance.

On a slight tanget, I've discovered that there are a few good Open Source products out there also, like BlueFish, NVU and Quantas. Mostly for Linux, but NVU has a Windows version.

[Sean Schantzen]

If you are on a budget and actually want to learn to handwrite code, I recomend using Macromedia Homesite. It's basically stripped down dreamweaver. Not anywhere near as nice as dreamweaver, but it's relatively cheap and has some useful features to help along thew way.

[etechsupport]

You can have a brief about it, especially if you need to follow the current trend in web designing;
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/current-style.cfm