Web site creation

Adobe Dreamweaver?

 

There's Dreamweaver, Coda, TextEdit, etc.

Please search, this has been discussed dozens of times.

 

There are 4 web site development tools I'd consider using - which one depends on your needs. First of all, a text editor - there are tons of these, but there's no live preview, and you have to do all the coding by hand. It's a GREAT way to learn HTML though. Secondly, there's iWeb, part of iLife. This tool is good for basic GUI design, but isn't all that flexible. Third comes RapidWeaver. This costs about the same as iLife but is much more powerful, and offers GUI design as well as templating. Finally, Adobe sells an app called Dreamweaver. This is very expensive but also very powerful, and is overkill for most people.

 

Freeway Pro, by softpress - www.softpress.com

You can download a 30 day trial.

I tend to use Dreamweaver to sanity check the outcome, as there have been some Windows Internet Explorer.

 

Learning to crawl before running

Website creation is not my fulltime job. Although, I am trying it as a hobby. I don't see myself learning html anytime soon (2 fulltime jobs--work and family). If I get serious I may very well have to pay someone to do it.

I am starting with iWeb. A colleague at work pointed me to godaddy.com and I was able to register a few domain names. I realized that a registered domain name was a first good step because it allows my website to bypass the usual apple address nomenclature.

I am already bumping up against some iWeb limitations and since I am unwilling to learn html, I will have to live with these for the time being

 

My main job is web site development, which means a lot of time spent with software. If you REALLY want to get into good web design, then you will not only need to learn good HTML skills, but also PHP and MySQL along with maybe Flash and Javascript.

I am VERY particular and believe in investing time spent wisely from the start. That is why if you are serious about web design I suggest you start with Adobe CS4 Dreamweaver and learn it well. I have been using Dreamweaver for 8 years now and nothing comes close for development of sites large or small. It gives the most control over what you need for a given project. If you go that route, I HIGHLY recommend Lynda.com for the excellent video tutorials and also the books "Dreamweaver CS4 Digital Classroom" and "Dreamweaver CS4 Missing Manual". Read them and learn them well, it will take some time but it is well worth it and will give you a lot better skill set and grasp of understanding.

If you just want something quick without that much learning or detail, then I would also recommend "RapidWeaver" for Mac. It is quick and has good variety for doing basic web site layout.

Hope that helps some.