Best Web Design Software?

[Klae]

Hey guys I'm looking for an alternative to dream weaver. I know all of my HTML code biut when I get to CSS is where I get lost. I'm looking for a good piece of web design software that will help me. If its dream weaver tell me of something else is better or does what I need let me know. Thanks I really appreciate it.

[miles01110]

No web design program is going to teach you CSS. Perhaps you could be a little more specific on how a different program is going to teach you CSS.

[Glockron]

Coda2 or SKedit seem to be popular in the OS X community.

They support HTML, CSS, JS, ASP and many other languages.

Coding won't teach you CSS - but CSS is awfully simple.

As long as you have a cheat sheet of the commands, the syntax is very simple, just look online.

For maximum simplicity - I'd recommend Microsoft WebMatrix 2. It's Windows only, so you'll either need a VM or BootCamp. It has predictive text that'll help you not just code faster, but in your case also "learn"

Coda 2 probably has this too, you might want to check SKedit as well. Coda 2 is more expensive, SKedit is discounted at mupromo.com

Webmatrix is free

[tech4all]

Originally Posted by Klae

Hey guys I'm looking for an alternative to dream weaver. I know all of my HTML code biut when I get to CSS is where I get lost. I'm looking for a good piece of web design software that will help me. If its dream weaver tell me of something else is better or does what I need let me know. Thanks I really appreciate it.

All you need is a text editor. Mac, Text Edit. Windows, Notepad. Otherwise the one's listed should be fine too.

If you want to learn CSS I suggest W3 Schools.

The basic structure of a CSS style is:

Selector {property: value;}

Example:

p {
font-family: Arial;
color: blue;
font-size: 12px;
border: 0px;
}

So in that case P is the selector. Font-family, color, etc. are the properties, and Arial, blue, etc. are the values.

CSS is very simple once you get it. I doubt you'll have any issues with it. Be sure to check out CSS 3 where you could a lot of cool effects you once needed Photoshop or Illustrator to do.

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by Klae

Hey guys I'm looking for an alternative to dream weaver. I know all of my HTML code biut when I get to CSS is where I get lost. I'm looking for a good piece of web design software that will help me. If its dream weaver tell me of something else is better or does what I need let me know. Thanks I really appreciate it.

For learning CSS, I recommend Espresso http://macrabbit.com/espresso/

Web Preview with X-ray — See how your CSS affects web layouts, visualize margins and padding, and quickly find the relevant style rules for any page element.

^ Has saved my brain from destruction many, many, many times trying to figure out where I went wrong. It has a much better CSS editor than Dreamweaver too.

[Klae]

Originally Posted by miles01110

No web design program is going to teach you CSS. Perhaps you could be a little more specific on how a different program is going to teach you CSS.

Well to be more specific when it comes to positioning stuff on the page is where I get lost.

----------

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

For learning CSS, I recommend Espresso http://macrabbit.com/espresso/



^ Has saved my brain from destruction many, many, many times trying to figure out where I went wrong. It has a much better CSS editor than Dreamweaver too.

Alright thanks I'll give it a try. I know what you mean, I know how to do the CSS but when it comes to positioning things on the page is when I get extremely lost.

----------

Originally Posted by Glockron

Coda2 or SKedit seem to be popular in the OS X community.

They support HTML, CSS, JS, ASP and many other languages.

Coding won't teach you CSS - but CSS is awfully simple.

As long as you have a cheat sheet of the commands, the syntax is very simple, just look online.

For maximum simplicity - I'd recommend Microsoft WebMatrix 2. It's Windows only, so you'll either need a VM or BootCamp. It has predictive text that'll help you not just code faster, but in your case also "learn"

Coda 2 probably has this too, you might want to check SKedit as well. Coda 2 is more expensive, SKedit is discounted at mupromo.com

Webmatrix is free

Alright thanks I'll give them a try I appreciate it.

[NutsNGum]

Originally Posted by Klae

Hey guys I'm looking for an alternative to dream weaver. I know all of my HTML code biut when I get to CSS is where I get lost. I'm looking for a good piece of web design software that will help me. If its dream weaver tell me of something else is better or does what I need let me know. Thanks I really appreciate it.

Great resource for learning this sort of stuff very quickly.

Treehouse

I used them for refreshing my memory on some of that stuff, and it's covered in a very clear and well-structured manner. Thoroughly recommended.

There are alternatives also though such as Lynda.com, but Lynda covers a more diverse range of subjects, such as 3D modelling, etc.

I realise you were after software, but if you learn the basics, you'll be able to go between different software packages without any major issues.

[Lampmeister]

Someone already mentioned Espresso, and another good one is Taco HTML Edit. As for css, you just need to learn how to name/organize selectors (id and class) in a way that makes sense to you. (there's lots of info on the web) You might also look at the program CSSEdit. It is by the folks that did Espresso, and works nicely with that editor. Also, it doesn't hurt to look at the style sheets on various websites and see how they did things.

[thejadedmonkey]

I use photoshop, mamp, and text wrangler.

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Flux (by the Escapers) has a bit of a learning curve but is excellent- especially for the OPs situation of feeling pretty comfortable with HTML but needing some help with the CSS side. I have Dreamweaver for the HTML work but always go to Flux for the CSS. It seems like the same program is sold through some kind of U.S. license as MacFlux (and sometimes the pricing is quite different one vs. the other (for the same program)).