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Easy WYSIWYG editor?

7

7254278

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 11, 2004
2,365
0
NYC
Hey guys here is the deal,

I want to get into web design. I am or at least was pretty proficient in HTML but thats it. I have found that you cant make very professional looking site just with HTML coding, or at least my level of coding. So I would like to use a WYSIWYG editor, to learn a little more about web design. I have rapid weaver and iweb but they seem very limited, and while I can create some cool stuff on em which is my goal, I am not learning anything about web design which is what I really want to do. On the other hand I also tried dreamweaver about a year back and it had me so confused and frustrated that I just gave up. . . Maybe the new version is better. . . Anyway what do you guys suggest I do/use. Im just tryin to stick my toe into the door that is web design.

PS: Also what other program might one need to make a webpage? I already have an ftp client and photoshop cs(cant really use it, just use it mostly to crop and stuff).


Edit: I might just be confusing myself, but I also see lots of good looking webpages and blogs made on wordpress. . . How does that work, is it just a WYSIWYG editor or like a big template where you drag and drop. As you can see im the definition of a newbie regarding this subject, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
With WordPress a lot of people use pre-made templates that already look nice. Some people will tweak the templates to make it a little different. The changes are made with a text editor, not a WYSIWYG editor.

Unless you're using a theme, you'll want to learn to hand code rather than use a WYSIWYG editor. This way you'll actually be learning something. You're going to want to learn CSS, which will let you style your HTML in a ton of ways. Check out the stickies in this forum to find tons of good resources for learning various aspects of web design and development as well as software you can make use of. Reading is going to be the key thing to get you going.
 
You can make good web sites with HTML if you know what you are doing.

Mainly how the tables work, and how to get it to look the way you wanted.
 
The only WYSIWYG editor i have used is dreamweaver. If you can get hold of a copy i'd recommend it. However, the code it generates isn't particularly efficient or standardised, and i'd avoid using frames.

Have a look into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for all your layout and aesthetics. This can be embedded into your html documents or externally linked.
 
benben said:
The only WYSIWYG editor i have used is dreamweaver. If you can get hold of a copy i'd recommend it. However, the code it generates isn't particularly efficient or standardised, and i'd avoid using frames.

Have a look into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for all your layout and aesthetics. This can be embedded into your html documents or externally linked.
Click to expand...

Watch the HTML tutorials on YouTube. Download a "demo" of Dreamweaver and play with it. Rent some cheap hosting space and experiment. Start really basic and learn the fundamentals.
 
benben said:
The only WYSIWYG editor i have used is dreamweaver. If you can get hold of a copy i'd recommend it. However, the code it generates isn't particularly efficient or standardised, and i'd avoid using frames.

Have a look into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for all your layout and aesthetics. This can be embedded into your html documents or externally linked.
Click to expand...

Eh, I wouldn't say it isn't standardized. MX was very nonstandard, CS3 took a step forward and really bumped their code up.
 
I'd recommend Dreamweaver CS3, it's pretty useful WYSIWYG editor and has great functions. One thing I really like about it is that you can have the 'split view' on, which shows you both the design itself as well as the code. This way, you can learn coding very quickly and improve your HTML language. And also, you will gain very good experience which will enhance your design's ideas. It's really good!

Plus, there are two good video tutorials that can guide you through almost everything in Dreamweaver CS3. These are:

1. http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/adobe/dreamweaver.asp (Total Training)
They have Essential and Advance. I've got both, excellent!

2. http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modListing.asp?pid=270 (Lynda.com)

You could also find some other useful tutorials, like in Youtube.com or even in the both sites above.


Cheers.
 
I feel your pain!

I too am trying to take a sip of water from a fire hose! I am currently taking a Web Design course at a college here and learning all about HTML/XHTML. I have never before had experience with any of this and am learning it all on my brand spankin' new iMac after being fed off a PC my entire life.
There are many challenges with being more interested in the creative side of web design with my class because it seems my professor has no clue about Apple products.
I need a great WYSIWYG product to help with table elements and things like that. I am currently using SMULTRON which i Love and Adore, but it seems it is not everything I want. I do have Dreamweaver but have not yet used it. It seems complicated but I can just go on YouTube to watch some tutorials like someone said earlier in the thread.
There is SO much to learn. I love it though, and am trying to decide if getting a WYSIWYG editor is what I really need at this point. I almost feel like I would be doing myself a favor by learning to hand code everything to understand the framework before I go and do all of the fun designy junk.
I have this philosophy that you need to earn your artistic license before you can use it. Right?
Any thoughts on whether I am just creating more work for myself?
Also...CSS is very intriguing to me although I don't quite understand yet how to create them, the limitations, etc....are there programs specifically designed for them? Is there a good beginner website to go to that sort of explains everything? Should I wait until I have a totally solid understanding of HTML/XHTML before I start playing around with CSS????
You are a real trooper if you read all of the way through this...thanks =)
 
Here's my quick view on this subject.

If you are planning to build websites for yourself, personal websites, etc - by all means use iWeb, RapidWeaver, Dreamweaver - whichever one you choose and is easiest for you.

If on the other hand you are thinking of actually having any sort of career, freelancing, etc... you would do yourself a LOT of good learning to handcode HTML and CSS. It's really really not as daunting as many think once you get into it. It will save you endless future coding issues, make you understand designing for the web much better, create cleaner code and just in general give you a good understanding of what you are actually doing. It will also give you the ability to have a solid knowledge base to keep expanding your expertise. Tools like CODA for Mac are wonderful to use for hand coding but there are many others.

Hope that helps.
 
Just a follow up to my own post above ... good books:

Start with the basics with something like:
"The Essential Guide to CSS and HTML Web Design" by Craig Grannell

Then this is a good CSS book that will go from basics to advanced stuff:
"CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions" by Andy Budd

This one is also good ... it's a bit more beginner than the CSS Mastery book:
"Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook" by Dan Cedarholm

When I started with web design waaaay back when I was coming from an art / design background and had no real desire to 'learn code' so I started with FrontPage (yes FrontPage!) and then Dreamweaver .... I was fortunate to have a collegue that showed me years ago the value of learning to hand-code and I have not turned back to WYSIWYG since, but I wish I had not spent the first few years designing sites in Dreamweaver. So it may be a small investment of time right now for you to learn how to hand-code, but trust me it will more than pay off in the long run.
 
I use iWeb for my personal portfolio site (though I'm trying to get into illustration, so strong web skills aren't a must). Sometimes when you spend all day trying to tweak CSS for different browsers you kinda need a WYSIWYG editor just to feel like a designer again.
 
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