Web Design

[bfresh]

I am planning on purchasing an iMac in June, hopefully the hardware is updated by then. I am also starting to design websites. What software do you guys recommend getting for someone in my position.

Your help is appreciated.

 

[pengu]

What do you mean Design websites? do you mean design it graphically for someone else to create the markup, or create the markup from someone else's graphics, or both? will it be static content (xhtml) or will it be powered/generated by server side scripting/application (php/asp/j2ee/coldfusion/perl)...

For graphics (if you are doing that part youself) i'd recommend fireworks if you can afford it (Adobe have a demo, and im sure you can find "creative" ways to extend the demo ). and for those who say "photo is teh most cool for imagez" read this:

Accelerate web design and development with Adobe® Fireworks® CS3 software, the ideal tool for creating and optimizing images for the web and rapidly prototyping websites.

as for writing the markup, you have several good options on osx.

personally I like skEdit and TextMate, but recently I've moved to a product called Komodo IDE which is cross platform, as this is much better suited for writing PHP/Javascript/XML/SQL

for CSS, either skEdit or TextMate will work fine, or CSSEdit is great if you prefer something a little more GUI based.


I'm TOLD that the latest Dreamweaver no longer produces markup-soup, but I'm not going to put any weight behind that just yet.

If you are developing with PHP/MySQL, and done have a dedicated dev. server, I strongly suggest using MAMP locally. It is free, easy to install, and gives simple control to change between php4 and php5, as well as starting/stopping the Apache and MySQL servers.

 

[apfhex]

Do you have ANY software or starting from scratch? Depending on what kind of work you're doing you might want to consider one of the new CS3 bundles, Web Standard or Web Premium (the later lands you Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat — tools that many designers cannot live without).

Or if you're going to be coding by hand or just don't need/want a big program like Dreamweaver, and you're not going to be using any flash or making any PDFs, then you could just get Photoshop or Fireworks I suppose and then use one of the smaller cheaper HTML text editors like pengu mentioned.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Beginning Website Design and Development
Essential web-dev tools, tips and sites for Mac
Enjoy...

PS! This thread is moved into the Web Design and Development forum.

 

[Nicolasdec]

I use Dreamweaver Its geat and powerful.

 

[pengu]

Nicolasdec, where did you get your 12 foot PB and 15 foot MBP?

 

[radiantm3]

I use Dreamweaver Its geat and powerful.

Powerful is such a strong word.

 

[Nicolasdec]

Powerful is such a strong word.

it is but it cost a lot.

 

[tominated]

for graphics: photoshop and dreamweaver
for coding: textmate FTW!!!

 

[Elixer]

All I use for my site are Photoshop, TextEdit, and sometimes Illustrator (but I could do what I do in illustrator in photoshop if I had too)

 

[bfresh]

I am planning on purchasing an iMac in June, hopefully the hardware is updated by then. I am also starting to design websites. What software do you guys recommend getting for someone in my position.

Your help is appreciated.

Thanks guys. Your input helps a lot. I am actually finishing up a Java, xhmtl and vb class. So I guess I would be interested in web development on the coding side. Graphics appeals to me, but I have no graphics background and can't draw worth a poop.

 

[Nicolasdec]

Nicolasdec, where did you get your 12 foot PB and 15 foot MBP?

HEHEH, its custom made....

 

[bfresh]

Beginning Website Design and Development
Essential web-dev tools, tips and sites for Mac
Enjoy...

PS! This thread is moved into the Web Design and Development forum.

Mitthrawnuruodo, this post was great. I will have hours of fun with it. This is an essential tool that I will definitely utilize. I can't wait to get my Mac and start creating some great sites.

 

[bfresh]

Another question.

As you can see by my posts earlier I am a newbie to the web design/development scene. I have taken xhtml, javascript, java, visual studio classes. I want to find a position doing design or developing. I have no previous websites really to use as a portfolio, any suggestions?

 

[Cult Follower]

Dreamweaver.

 

[tominated]

design a personal site for the learning experience!

 

[chepistolas]

design a personal site for the learning experience!

Seriously that is probably one of the best pieces of advice, go and dive knee deep into HTML and CSS code. Read it, analize it, change it, and observe what happens to the final product.

Dreamweaver is overated IMHO. If you just want to create a website by clicking and draggin things around then save your money and buy iweb. However, if you actually want to learn how to build a solid website with both html and css code, then get a good texteditor and read some books. Learn how to markup a website using standards, and then dive into the css to design it.

BBedit, Fireworks and CSSedit all the way.

 

[Butters]

If you can afford it
Photoshop for graphics and Dreamweaver for code and site management

If you can't afford it and don't like piracy
GIMP is free for graphics and TextMate is affordable for code

 

[CygnusS]

Just my Opinion

I've worked with ALOT of different programs for web design - the power app is Dreamweaver - but if you dont have alot of code experience or patience - it can get a little overwhelming - for simplicity and design purposes I absolutely recommend Freeway Pro (Softpress) - I got it 3 months ago and It's perfect for my needs. Powerful clean & easy - OK back to my beer.