best web site editing tool

[Street cry]

Hi all,
I have created many a website in the past using a basic wizard that comes with preset templates and pics etc.

However when creating a more recent one for myself i decided i needed something better looking so i bought a nice corporate template website.

It needs to be change with text new pics logo , header etc and i am doing all that myself. To do this i have been using aversion of netscape. It is ok in part but i am having all sortd of problems with it. Is there a better program for editing websites in a wysiwyg fashion.

It looks like i'll have to pay so i want to get teh best software i can cheers SC

[Street cry]

dreamweaver appears to be the best program but i don't wanna pay $400 is there a free program that is very very similar that anyone knows of ? thanks SC

[Win2Win]

We're all ignoring you :)

[Street cry]

All these trusted members too good to contribute , you've created a monster

[Win2Win]

I only use Dreamweaver

[Street cry]

The problem i am having is i am putting content in to the site as i want and saving it and when i open it in internet explorer it is not as i made it , there are bits missing etc and it's becoming rather tedious , as i said i am using netscape editor will dreamwever alleviate me of these problems

[Win2Win]

I think you can get a 30 day trial for Dreamweaver...should be long enough for the job :)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

Are you just editing htm files?

[crazybadger]

The problem i am having is i am putting content in to the site as i want and saving it and when i open it in internet explorer it is not as i made it , there are bits missing etc and it's becoming rather tedious , as i said i am using netscape editor will dreamwever alleviate me of these problems

Which version of IE are you using?

I'm a developer and done a few websites in my time and version 6 of IE is terrible for displaying sites completely different to what you had. You basically need a completely seperate CSS (style sheet) defined for IE6. It's pretty easy and you put in a code when loading the page to check which browser s being used and then which styles to apply. I've found when doing web dev google is your best friend. Plenty of others out there would have come across the same thing and have generously posted tips/code on how to get around it.

For editing Dreamweaver is ok but I havent used it since uni days about 4 years ago so I cant comment on recent versions. If the site is just content on static pages (i.e you have a few HTML pages and a CSS) then you really can just use any text editor and just keep a copy of the page open in browser and refresh everytime you change. It's a little tedious but if you dont want to pay for something it could be your best bet, especiall if yo have purchased a style and are only tweaking it.

[John]

Options I know of are.....

Dreamweaver
FrontPage (bundled with MS Office)
iWeb (for Mac)

I'm sure there are loads but they're the 3 main ones I think.

I assume you're simply editing HTML files which is simple in itself but if you're not quite sure what you're doing then it's probably best to use a WYSIWYG Editor.

Good luck!

[Win2Win]

You can do web sites in Visual Studio I think, that's free from MS.

[Street cry]

Thanks guys great help as always. It's a simple enough site with a flash header, i have been opening it in a WYSIWYG style editor namely netscape 7.2 and changing the content, but as i said i am not getting what i see once i save the file. I may start again and see if i can just put everything in to the html files and hope it comes up as it should.

Crazy Badger , i have internet explorer 7 which may or may not be as bad as 6 i don't know.
Thanks for help guys and i was thinking same as u keith thirty day trial should be enough.
cheers Ben

[John]

but as i said i am not getting what i see once i save the file.

That's often the case with WYSIWYG, they should call it WYSIAWYG (What You See Isn't Always......) especially when you are working with Flash elements in web pages since their parameters can affect other elements on the page. Some browsers struggle with Flash.

Even in Dreamweaver's Design View, what you design i.e. what you see in the design editor won't always look the same as it does when you save and publish.

If you'd like any help with the files let me know.

[Street cry]

cheers John i might need some i'll complete all the content etc and then when i get really stuck i'll ask for help. Main problems are getting pictorial elements correct like getting logo's in to flash header etc but i'll give it a good go before i bother you :D

[Street cry]

Got dreamweaver and thus far all i am doing is coming out as i see it i DW so thats encouraging

[Win2Win]

Got dreamweaver and thus far all i am doing is coming out as i see it i DW so thats encouraging

I would hope so, the template you bought would have been written in in :)

[Street cry]

still can't work out how to alter the flash header probs should have steered clear of flash

[Win2Win]

:splapme You don't edit Flash in DW, you need Adobe Flash .... you can get a demo :)

...or if you are REALLY NICE to John, he may do you a favour ... he's good with Flash .....cleans a nice floor

[Street cry]

it was only the text i was trying to edit and DW made it appear as if i could i'll get flash

[Win2Win]

You won't recognise the Flash interface old boy :) It's a right pain just to edit text.

[Street cry]

christ ha ha ha ust gonna find someone who can do it and bung em a monkey , i have enough stress i my life as it is

[Win2Win]

Just check if the Flash in the web directory contains a text file. Sometimes they do which makes editing the text simple.

[Street cry]

No it doesn't i already looked booooooooooooooooo

[John]

Send me the Flash file by email and I'll edit it for you.

Please can someone [Keith?] remove my email address from this post after SC has emailed it to me, as I'm going out for the afternoon.

Thanks!

Will look at it Mon/Tues hopefully.

Email is: *****

[Win2Win]

You got the email addy SC?

[Street cry]

sorry guys was in sheffield all day cornering the show down 7 fight card sorry, got ur email John thanks i'll mailu in the morning xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[John]

Last edited by Ada; 10 Hours Ago at 00:29. Reason: Request of Removal of Email Address

Thanks!

[mathare]

You could have just PM'ed SC your email address and not had to worry about removing it then :wink

[John]

Anti-social behaviour. :wink

[ADIPaul]

Just seen this thread. You could try the open source site builder Nvu.
http://nvu.com/index.html

It's similar to Dreamweaver (what I normally use) and it used to be quite good a few years ago. Dunno how well it's kept up tho'.

Otherwise, do a search for X-site Pro. You have to buy it, but it may be what you want?

(edit) I've just had a closer look at the link myself and the KompoZer free software (on the same link) looks better. One thing I noticed was that the pages automatically re-size according to your screen width. I'm not sure if Nvu does that. I gave Nvu a quick try years ago but then got a copy of Dreamweaver CS3 and have used it ever since.