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Free alternative to dreamweaver

C

chainprayer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2008
638
2
I'm looking for a program that has similar features to dreamweaver but is free.

I would like built in FTP, coloring for code (mostly php, helps me visualize things), and file management.

Thanks!
 
Although it's not free I would suggest you check out Coda. You can get a free, 30-day trial and if you like it, it's only $79. It's my editor of choice on the Mac and has almost all of the features of Dreamweaver without a lot of the "bloatedness." For $79, it's a no-brainer.

Another popular, truly free program is Rapidweaver. I've never used it but I know some who quite enjoy it.
 
It has almost all the features unless you need a WYSIWYG editing mode. Which is why a lot of people use Dreamweaver. Or NVU for that matter.

I agree it's a great app though.
 
Is Kompozer better or the same as Nvu? What about Freeway Pro and/or Express?

Sandvox?

I want to be able to get to the coding so I can do a copy/paste of it for ebay auctions.....no problem when I was on a PC but now am searching for a program that I can use on a Mac....
 
miles01110 said:
Which is why a lot of amateurs use Dreamweaver.
Click to expand...

I am not defending it in anyway. The original poster specifically asked for something like Dreamweaver so I was just referring to his original post. I don't use Dreamweaver, and never have.

I personally think Coda runs rings around Dreamweaver and is well worth the money. I don't really consider it as having the features of Dreamweaver though or being 'like Dreamweaver' though (which is a good thing), and that is what he was asking for.
 
torndownunit said:
I am not defending it in anyway. The original poster specifically asked for something like Dreamweaver so I was just referring to his original post. I don't use Dreamweaver, and never have.
Click to expand...

Actually maybe we're both misunderstanding each other. I use Dreamweaver on occasion, but without the preview window. It's not accurate and you're better off just previewing in a browser window or three anyways.

Anywho, the OP might look into the latest version of BBEdit from Bare Bones Software. It has FTP, HTML syntax highlighting, and some semblance of project management with a drawer-like thing that contains a list of files with which you can switch to and fro (which was absent in the previous version). Plus it's BBEdit, which has been the text editor of choice for many different languages for several years (outside of eMacs, vim, vi, etc). I think an educational license is $50.

edit: Actually the latest version is being marketed as an HTML/text editor. I guess they made the newer version with web developers in mind.
 
Momofthree said:
Is Kompozer better or the same as Nvu? What about Freeway Pro and/or Express?

Sandvox?
Click to expand...

As it says on their web site, KompoZer is the bug fix of Nvu so it has a little bit more stability. I have it, but don't use it a lot. I've never tried Freeway or Sandvox, but some users here have. I can't remember much about them, but they didn't fit my methods of development.
 
miles01110 said:
Actually maybe we're both misunderstanding each other. I use Dreamweaver on occasion, but without the preview window. It's not accurate and you're better off just previewing in a browser window or three anyways.

Anywho, the OP might look into the latest version of BBEdit from Bare Bones Software. It has FTP, HTML syntax highlighting, and some semblance of project management with a drawer-like thing that contains a list of files with which you can switch to and fro (which was absent in the previous version). Plus it's BBEdit, which has been the text editor of choice for many different languages for several years (outside of eMacs, vim, vi, etc). I think an educational license is $50.

edit: Actually the latest version is being marketed as an HTML/text editor. I guess they made the newer version with web developers in mind.
Click to expand...

I don't work in PHP or programming language at all. Coda is great for CSS and HTML from my experience. From my experience with Freeway and Sandvox, they aren't really geared towards either coding or programming.

back to the original post though, the only free option mentioned has ben Kompozer/Nvu. So if 'free' is the main factor, there ya go.
 
I d/l Kompozer and it's ok..... it lags a little but it gets the job done...somewhat. Still have some things to figure out but the best part is it's FREE.....and you can edit visually.....and look at the code
 
ya i hate dreamweaver's preview window. i did a table within a table for a style and it looked completely off in the preview. works fine in any browser (even older versions).

thanks for the suggestions guys! :D
 
lol nvu drove me crazy for some reason. i really do think i will stick with textedit and drag the toolbar icon into cyberduck for fast uploading. even if it doesn't color code my php, it will be very simple :)
 
Hell just use vim and safari in the background.

Otherwise textmate is ridiculously handy. Got it as part of a macheist bundle, it's the only app I used out of the entire bundle.
 
When are Apple going to get serious about iWeb. I can accept that iDVD didn't need a lot of upgrading for iLife '09, but surely making a WYSIWYG HTML generator is not beyond the reach of Apple. I don't really care about the files being inefficient in size as my target audience has broadband, but the flakiness with which iWeb files display is really not acceptable, and yet Apple did nothing to improve things on this go-round.
 
netdog said:
When are Apple going to get serious about iWeb. I can accept that iDVD didn't need a lot of upgrading for iLife '09, but surely making a WYSIWYG HTML generator is not beyond the reach of Apple.
Click to expand...

They'll get serious about it when people start taking it seriously. Honestly, iWeb does just what it needs to for now- giving its users the false illusion that they're creating good webpages.

I don't really care about the files being inefficient in size as my target audience has broadband...
Click to expand...

Just because your audience has broadband doesn't mean you should throw efficiency into the wind. If you were hosting a site, you'd be a lot more considerate about bandwidth costs, not to mention other things that do directly affect the end user like load times.
 
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