Why I don't like Dreamweaver

[ephex]

I've used Dreamweaver on windows before, it's actually not bad at all, in fact I LIKE it. But man, I just downloaded the Dreamweaver 30-day trial to test out on my powerbook, and it's driving me absolutely crazy!

It doesn't feel right [Using an installer kind of made me mad as well, but what can you do...]. I find the interface rather disturbing, and it gets in my way a lot. I can't really describe why I find it disturbing, but I do. Perhaps this has a good amount to deal with Macromedia deciding NOT to follow conventional Mac UI design - the absolute first thing I noticed was cmd + , didn't get me preferences, instead they use cmd + U. Then I start working, decide to delete a few words, so I position the cursor and press option + delete, and it starts undoing! There are too many quirks for me to handle... not to mention the UI looks poorly designed and out of place on OS X [even though it seems the GUI is the exact same layout as windows...].

All in all, I'm very dissapointed, and will NOT be buying dreamweaver for myself until they get their Mac version in order [but even then, vim is so efficient, and rigging some python scripts to manage the site between local, the server, and the testing server, should be trivial and decrease my need that much more...].

Am I the only one that thinks Dreamweaver is really bad?

 

[tech4all]

I find the interface rather disturbing, and it gets in my way a lot.

The UI is fine with me.

Then I start working, decide to delete a few words, so I position the cursor and press option + delete, and it starts undoing!

Why didn't you just press delete? I'm not sure what option > Delete does. And to undo isn't it just Command Z?

Am I the only one that thinks Dreamweaver is really bad?

For me, Dreamweaver is fine.

 

[Espnetboy3]

This is why learning html code is the only way to do it. People who just use dreamweaver and say they can develop websites just isnt totally true. Dreamweaver makes it easy but you dont really have total control and understand of whats going on . BBedit and css dhtml.

 

[bousozoku]

While things are scattered throughout the application, I don't think it's a disaster, just difficult to use sometimes.

Of course, if I was randomly trying keyboard combinations, I'd get what I deserved.

 

[decksnap]

This is why learning html code is the only way to do it. People who just use dreamweaver and say they can develop websites just isnt totally true. Dreamweaver makes it easy but you dont really have total control and understand of whats going on . BBedit and css dhtml.

These type of comments are annoying. Dreamweaver is what you make of it- and it does a lot more than manage code. Yes, it's a professional tool, and yes, it's a time saver. It's also a site manager, an ftp client, a snippet manager, a collaboration tool, and a whole lot more.

Being able to code and being able to manage a job and code on a deadline and under budget are two different things. Use the tools that help you get the job done.

 

[dornoforpyros]

I've used Dreamweaver on windows before, it's actually not bad at all, in fact I LIKE it. But man, I just downloaded the Dreamweaver 30-day trial to test out on my powerbook, and it's driving me absolutely crazy!

It doesn't feel right [Using an installer kind of made me mad as well, but what can you do...]. I find the interface rather disturbing, and it gets in my way a lot. I can't really describe why I find it disturbing, but I do. Perhaps this has a good amount to deal with Macromedia deciding NOT to follow conventional Mac UI design - the absolute first thing I noticed was cmd + , didn't get me preferences, instead they use cmd + U. Then I start working, decide to delete a few words, so I position the cursor and press option + delete, and it starts undoing! There are too many quirks for me to handle... not to mention the UI looks poorly designed and out of place on OS X [even though it seems the GUI is the exact same layout as windows...].

All in all, I'm very dissapointed, and will NOT be buying dreamweaver for myself until they get their Mac version in order [but even then, vim is so efficient, and rigging some python scripts to manage the site between local, the server, and the testing server, should be trivial and decrease my need that much more...].

Am I the only one that thinks Dreamweaver is really bad?

yeah I found the same thing when I first opened DW on Mac. Definatly takes some getting used to.

 

[Vader]

I tried just doing straight html, from knowing nothing. I now can actually do stuff, using DreamWeaver!
For me it is a lifesaver!

 

[bousozoku]

These type of comments are annoying. Dreamweaver is what you make of it- and it does a lot more than manage code. Yes, it's a professional tool, and yes, it's a time saver. It's also a site manager, an ftp client, a snippet manager, a collaboration tool, and a whole lot more.

Being able to code and being able to manage a job and code on a deadline and under budget are two different things. Use the tools that help you get the job done.

You're right. I can check code much more easily with the split code/design mode. Being able to do everything without several tools (and that applies to Adobe GoLive too) is satisfying, as well as mind saving.

 

[tech4all]

This is why learning html code is the only way to do it.

Yes knowing general HTML is a plus and can definitely be helpful when using Dreamweaver, but in a business where time is money you want to get things done fast. Dreamweaver helps in that perspective as it writes the code for you, but still allows the user to alter the code if they choose to.

People who just use dreamweaver and say they can develop websites just isnt totally true.

I think it's fair to say that a person can say that they know how do develop simple websites just using Dreamweaver. Here knowing HTML isn't as crucial. However when designing a more complex site, knowing HTML (and other languages) is needed more than just knowing Dreamweaver.

Dreamweaver makes it easy but you dont really have total control and understand of whats going on .

I wouldn't say that. You can also go into Code view and view and edit the HMTL code. Plus you can understand what is going on with the code. I for one learned how to do web design with HTML and notepad. Then after that was I introduced to Dreamweaver. Once I saw what Dreamweaver could do, it made building websites much faster. And if there is something Dreamweaver won't do, I can always go into the Code or Code/Design view and change the code myself. For example, there isn't no underline command in the properties box, I just go into the appropriate place in the code and do the <u> </u> code and it does what I want it do.

 

[mduser63]

I switched to Mac six months ago. Before I switched, I had used Dreamweaver exclusively under Windows. I didn't find the Mac version bad at all. In fact, I quite like it.

As for Espnetboy3's comment about not using Dreamweaver, I coded all my websites by hand for several years before using any kind of WYSIWYG app, so I feel I have a very solid grasp on HTML. That said, in many cases, Dreamweaver allows me to do routine tasks much more quickly, and also helps me to manage complicated sites fairly easily. I get paid to do web design, so saving time is important to me, and I don't feel that I have something to prove by hand coding everything. There are times when doing something by hand is much faster, easier, or gives you more control than using Dreamweaver, but there are also times where hand coding is slow and inefficient. I find myself spending about half my time in TextWrangler or the Code view in Dreamweaver, and the other half in the Design view.