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Good Web Design Program

T

thesdx

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 12, 2007
673
2
I've become extremely frustrated with iWeb lately. About 2 weeks ago, it suddenly decided to corrupt my entire band's website that I've been working on for over a year. I had realized early on that I was quickly outgrowing iWeb and needed something more powerful, but I never had the time to create an entirely new website. Now, I guess I'm forced to. Rather than start over with iWeb, I think it's time I find a new program.

I'm not really a noob to web design. I know a bit of HTML, and currently host 5 websites, unfortunately all designed with iWeb. The reason why I've stuck with iWeb for so long is because I can't seem to find anything that creates a good looking website and actually works. A while back, I decided to purchase Flash and Dreamweaver. I read tons of tutorials, and got help from some friends who use it. However, they have to be the WORST programs ever designed. I can't believe they actually call it a WYSIWYG editor, since there's no way to even move a picture without editing in CSS. I simply don't have the time to create an entire website with a program like that.

I then tried RapidWeaver, hoping it would be easy to use, but have the extra power I need. I was wrong. RapidWeaver is entirely based around templates which you can't even edit, and most of them are extremely ugly. It seems to be designed specifically for bloggers who aren't experienced with web design. Though it's easy to use, it makes terrible looking websites.

Basically, what I'm looking for is a program that has an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor, but can create an extremely high-quality, media-rich site with Flash and HTML support. I need stuff like dynamic photo galleries, embedded flash movie players, flash jukeboxes, a content management system, a blog, etc. Maybe I'm trying to bite off more than I can chew, but our band needs this kind of site. We don't have the money to hire a professional web designer, either. I know there are already tons of threads on this, but none of them seem to help. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
thesdx
 
I then tried RapidWeaver, hoping it would be easy to use, but have the extra power I need. I was wrong. RapidWeaver is entirely based around templates which you can't even edit, and most of them are extremely ugly. It seems to be designed specifically for bloggers who aren't experienced with web design. Though it's easy to use, it makes terrible looking websites.
Click to expand...
man i just couldn't disagree more. there are a ton of templates and most of them are highly customizable. you can use as much or as little html and css coding as you wish. Rapidweaver is much more powerful than iweb and sandvox which really aren't even in the same catagory.

there are a ton of plugins for RW that you can add which makes it even easier and more powerful but to each his own. you might try freeway pro, it might be what you seek...
 
Well, I tried to give RapidWeaver another chance, but it is terrible. The more I look at it, I realize that it's not even a web design program, it's a blogging tool. All of the themes are blog-styled, and there's nothing that even comes close to being suitable for what I need. Plus, the strange "not-quite-WYSIWYG" editing system is horrible and would never allow me to make a creative site. I'll try Freeway Pro, but from what I've seen, it doesn't look that good. It looks hard to use, like Dreamweaver. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

Looks like I'll probably just be stuck with iWeb. :( I can't believe how limited the web design catalog for the Mac is. Someone needs to create a program like iWeb, but with more advanced features.
 
You might be better served by learning HTML/CSS, you can even start by editing the code of the templates generated by WYSIWYG editors. Sure there's a steep learning curve, but I think it'll be worth it.
 
You might want to download the free .pdf copy of "The Art and Science of CSS" which is available for a few more days courtesy of SitePoint and offers 234 pages of good information that would probably prove helpful.
 
if you got the cash i suggest getting Dreamweaver, been using it all my life and i love it. never had any problems. it can do CSS as well but i dont do that stuff so i cant tell you how it works
 
Dreamweaver if you want Wizzywig. Coda if you want to be a real web developer.

Rapidweaver themes can be customised btw (although very difficult to do so by someone who has no idea about CSS)
 
Dreamweaver.

With CS4, any CSS files are linked to the page you are editing, so you can just easily switch to edit the CSS content without having to physically find and load the file.

Dreamweaver's split content option is brilliant too - I code as much as I design (eg JavaScript and PHP) but when it is simple HTML editing, being able to see exactly what you just changed is great.

It is a pro app, and worth it.
 
Dude,

I understand your problem & It seems to me that you’ve tried lots of way
One of the best solution was that you hire any professional Website design & Development Company but as u mentioned you’ve no money

So I think you will be success with Joomla Based Website coz it’s a open source system & it provides easy admin panel & from where we can do what we need for site. Any one can design and develop independent modules to add new features. For more check out Joomla CMS NJ
 
I've hand coded sites, used Dreamweaver for years, then switched to Textmate and CSSEdit when I switched to a Mac. I've created some pretty big sites with Joomla and Drupal. Joomla is probably overkill for a band website. I would recommend Wordpress. It's labled a blogging platform but over the past few years it has evolved into a full-fledged CMS. And Wordpress is free. There are thousands of beautiful templates available for free as well. The support community is huge. Every site I have created over the past year and a half has been a Wordpress site. I keep considering Jooma and Drupal, but fall back to Wordpress because it just works so damn well.

Check it out - wordpress.org

Here are some beautiful free templates - revolutiontwo.com

I hardly use anything else anymore and I have been creating websites since the late 90s.
 
I have used Freeway Pro for a few years now. Version 3 sucks, but, I actually like 4 and 5.

My process has been - design in Freeway, export to local HDD and then fix anomolies (coz I can't test it for IE) in Dreamweaver.

It is, literally, a code free tool for building web sites. I am no CSS/HTML guru. I do not have the time (nor charge that much) to design it all in Photoshop, slice it, hand code it in Dreamweaver, and right lots of Flash.

Freeway does 85% of the work for me. For sanity, and the fact that 90% of surgers use Windows, I use Dreamweaver/HTML to sanity check it all. as there will be compatibility issues.

I learnt the hard way - tested my design in Safari, uploaded it. Asked client for money. He tested in Internet Explorer - slide shows did not work.:eek:
 
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