Web Designing Program

You should try RapidWeaver:
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/overview/

App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rapidweaver/id402477569?mt=12

Its more like iWeb than anything else you will probably find. You could also learn html and css and get a good text editor like Textmate, Coda, Espresso, or Sublime Text 2.

 

Judging by your comments, you don't want to learn how things work. Unfortunately, you have to learn HTML, CSS and CMS if you want to survive and eat. If you don't understand these concepts, than get out of web building. I may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Our company hired a so-called web designer from a world-renown corporation, big mistake. He knew nothing about how HTML, CSS and CMS work, let alone how to build a working site.

You need to understand how things work before trying to create. I use a Text editor, Smultron, and Photoshop. I have CS3 Web Suite, but rarely use Dreamweaver.

Advice, learn HTML, CSS and try Drupal or Joolma! for CMS.

 

A bit harsh. If the OP wants to work in web design, then it's good advice. If they just want to stick a site up for non-business use, then this is unnecessary advice.

OP, RapidWeaver is probably the accepted standard in the range you were referring to, although depending on the type of site you're creating, using Wordpress might be significantly easier to work with.

jW

 

Hello All,

To those who do webdesign already which versions do you use for HTML, CSS and CMS...etc. I am new to webdesign as well but would like to do things the best way and learn what I need to. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!
Steve

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Also, can someone tell me what software this particular site is using? I like the site layout (I am also a big vette fan...lol).

http://www.corvetteconti.com/blog/

Thanks!!
Steve

 

http://www.squarespace.com/

 

Probably the best answer for him. I am thinking he doesn't like dreamweaver because he doesn't understand the what's going on in the background of a website. The CSS and HTML, and the possible languages that could incorporated with it with all the plug-ins and such.

Using a service like that's probably not a bad idea, or find a free template and edit that.

 

They're using wordpress 2.1.2 (not the newest)
You can tell this by right clicking on the site, then select View Source.

It's pretty standard for blogs.

 

Hello Steve,

What exactly is it that you want to know the versions of? Are you asking which revisions of HTML and CSS people are using, or the Mac applications we're using for web design and development tasks?

 

Camomac....thank you!

I did look at the source but I must have been blind not to see "wordpress 2.1.2"....lol.


EmpyreanUK,

My goal is to do webdesign part time and for local businesses. I have a full time career doing computer forensics which I love but I know a lot of local people looking to have websites created for their businesses. I would say small sites anywhere from 2-5 pages or maybe a little more.

So I guess what I am looking for is what are the main tools that people use to accomplish the type of sites I am looking to create. I would definitely like to learn HTML at the very least but would also like to get up and running sooner rather than later. I am also learning photography so I would like offer photo services as well as web services and hopefully make a nice little part time business. Also, I am using a mac so are there tools specific to mac or does the platform really not matter?

I appreciate both of you taking the time to answer and any information to help start me on the path would be most appreciated.

Thanks!!
Steve

 

i personally use textmate, but there are other options for mac like coda, espresso, just to name a few.
all of them have a 30 day trial period, so just download them and give em a try to see what works best for you.

 

Web design applications have, in the past, broadly been split across two categories. There are what at least used to be known as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) programs and then there are text editors.

From what you explained in your post, it sounds as though the first of these categories would be better suited to your needs. WYSIWYG editors follow a visual approach to website construction, and allow you to create web pages by positioning graphical elements on-screen to produce your desired layout. When you export these designs to actual web pages, a WYSIWYG application will translate, or interpret, your design into HTML and CSS code.

The most famous WYSIWYG editor is Adobe's Dreamweaver, which is available on both Windows and Macintosh. This costs hundreds of pounds, however. Strictly on the OS X side of things, more popular alternatives include RapidWeaver and Sandvox (both of which are available on the Mac App Store), as well as Apple's iWeb. These programs are not considered as 'professional' level apps, though, especially so in the case of iWeb.

What I'm about to say probably won't go down too well with other web designers and developers, but if your intention is simply to make very basic (in terms of functionality rather than appearance) websites, consisting of just a few pages, as you have said, for some local businesses, then I think a WYSIWYG editor will be perfectly capable of enabling you to do so. I do not personally have any experience with any of the WYSIWYG apps I've mentioned here, so am unable to offer you any recommendations, but RapidWeaver and Sandvox both appear to have good reviews on the app store.

If you do indeed go on to practice web design as a part-time business, then such an app will at least allow you to start producing webpages during the meantime between now and you learning HTML. And if website design becomes an ongoing thing for you, then doing so will be essential. In addition to learning HTML, you will also need, at the very minimum, to learn CSS.

Creating websites directly with HTML and CSS is something performed through the use of the second category of apps I mentioned. Text editors are used to type out the HTML and CSS code that will be used to describe your web page's content and appearance.

There are many available for the Mac. I personally use TextWrangler (which is free), and have always done so on OS X. I've also tried out skEdit which I found to be very good. There are many other alternatives, though, some paid and others free. Ultimately your choice of text editor will be something quite personal: they all function in broadly the same way, and the code you'll be typing into them will be the same whichever you choose. Whilst having a text editor, and being proficient in its use, is essential —*the text editor will be the bedrock of your web design work —*your particular preference will come more down to which interface you like more, or which example of code highlighting you prefer.

There is also something of a relatively new breed of application available, whereby a 'project' view is taken of each website, and where text-editing functionality is combined with basic FTP functions, visual or menu-driven CSS editing and, best of all, the ability to display a live preview of changes to your webpage. The two best (perhaps only?) examples on the Mac are Coda (available on the Mac App Store) and Espresso. I personally prefer Espresso, which has particularly excellent CSS editing capabilities, but both are really superb applications.

Applications such as these make managing larger projects, and updating changes between your local, development copy of the website, and the live version available on the web, much more straightforward. However, they may not be necessary for you just yet, as if you are just beginning, the plethora of functions and snazzy workflow paradigm may distract you from the nuts-and-bolts work of learning HTML and CSS. It's hard for me to imagine learning with one of these to apps, though, so it may also be that I am chatting nonsense and over-complicating things. Both have free trials available, so you can always give them a try and make up your own mind.

Peripheral to these 'core' apps, you will also likely need some supplementary programs. One example would be a solid FTP client, which will be necessary to transfer files to your web server. I use Transmit 4, which is excellent, but I feel that at £23.99, in today's app-market, it is now overpriced. The Mac App Store has many viable alternatives, for example Flow, which is priced at £2.99.

Anyway, this is probably a large enough wall of text for you to glance over for now. If I can offer any other help or advice then I'd be happy to follow up any other questions you might have.

Good luck

 

EmpyreanUK,

Thank you for a great detailed answer. I really appreciate your time and thought! One question off the top of my head is which versions of HTML (4 or 5) and CSS should I start out learning on? I guess simply put what are the most current versions that people are currently using? I know HTML 5 is the latest but it doesn't seem like a lot of people have switched to it yet. I want to be able to maximize my time so I can use what I am learning right away.

Thanks!!
Steve

 

HTML 4 has been out of favour (and has thus fallen out of use) for the last decade or so. Something called XHTML, which was largely derived from the HTML 4 specification, was since then used by many web developers who might be considered to be worth their salt. As you've rightly stated, though, the past few years has seen the beginning of the adoption of HTML 5, which is becoming more and more widespread.

Yet you shouldn't think of HTML 4, XHTML and HTML 5 as completely clean breaks from one another. Rather, they are continuations of the same underlying concept, and are different points along a single path of development. As such, it makes sense for you to begin with HTML 5, as this is the most recent revision of the HTML specification. Just bear in mind that, in essence, what you'll really be learning is the concept and practice of markup —*the description of the content on your web page, be it text, images, video, sound, or all or any of the above —*using a pre-specified language. HTML 5 is just one instance of this, as indeed is HTML as a whole, and once you've grasped the basic concepts behind HTML 5 (probably best achieved by diving right in and practising!), you will be able to understand and use any version of HTML, of XHTML, or of any other markup language.

Likewise, while CSS 3 is the most recent revision of the CSS specification, it too is just the most up-to-date node in that specification's development. So, similarly to HTML 5, if you're going to learn CSS, then it seems pointless to begin with anything other than the most current spec. But in learning CSS 3, you will also be learning (and applying!) underlying concepts that underpin all of versions of CSS —*namely, the styling of content. If HTML can be thought of as describing the substance of content, then CSS should be regarded as the description of how it should be displayed. As will undoubtedly become clear to you whilst learning HTML and CSS, it is almost always a good idea to keep these two 'descriptions' separate from one-another.

I hope all of this doesn't sound too complicated, as the ideas I'm trying to convey here are pretty simple. It's just that, in the practice of web design and development, they have not always been obvious, and it's therefore not always so easy to explain them in a clear light. Now is a good time to begin learning this stuff, as we're at a point now where many of the concepts/ideas/philosophies behind all of this are becoming crystallised and tightly-defined. As a beginner, you won't have any of the bad habits and mindsets that have obscured things for others

 

Website Design

Dreamweaver is a best tool for creating website but as you are saying it’s quite tough to you using this tool, you can use Joolma it’s quite simpler as compare to Dreamweaver.

 

Web design company

Dream waver is the best software for coding of website and easy to use.

Web design company

 

In my opinion this application is the best as an iWeb alternative:
http://www.quickandeasywebbuilder.com