Advanced CSS

[dnavarrojr]

Is Dreamweaver the best choice for a wysiwyg design/modification of CSS based web pages?

I still use the old Macromedia version of DW for designing pages, but it outputs tables and such in HTML and I need to start doing projects in CSS and using Ajax controls.

I can't get the new DW demo to work on my computer, so I'm wondering if I should look at anything else before just buying the upgrade...

[Albacore]

No, No, No but there are extensions for certain types which does hep. Also you can develop and edit CSS in most of this type of programmes but not much more. It is much better to learn the language of what ever style of web page you are using. Rather than spending £300 odd pounds, invest some time in say learning some bits of PHP and then use the web to copy and paste in your styles and modules to assemble your templates that you use in your site. It can't be hard if can can do it cos they are so many people out there who want to help get sorted out. There are so many options out there that help, you much better help than all wysiwyg editors put together have a look at Wordpres, Joomla and Typo 3. If you cant get your head around any of those and you still want a CMS style site have a look at Cushy CMS which allows you an online editor and all the other benefits of CMS and all you have to is to put in code at certain parts of your site which refers to Cushy.

[jyoung]

Expression web or the new netobject fusion may be better options. I agree that the best way is to learn the css by hand first. Then it will be easier to make possible modifications to the css that is created by the software. There are a lot of less expensive ways to code that work just as good or better than dw (even if it is the "industry standard").

[dnavarrojr]

Thanks for the advice. I've been coding CSS for years, but I've never done a "pure CSS" site without using tables or other older HTML.

I learn better by LOOKING at existing code to see how it works and what it does. Therefore, I find code generators to be EXTREMELY useful. That's just how I work.

Not to mention that I have a project with a tight deadline and I don't have a ton of time to spend learning what can already be done by semi/automated software.

I'll check out the products mentioned, thanks.

[pauland]

Dreamweaver won't really help you with CSS layouts. Certainly it helps manage using CSS, but controlling layout is really up to you not the software. Dreamweaver tries to give a representative view of web pages but is often wrong, so it's far from wysiwyg. If I'm working with CSS I'm using the text view, not the design view.

There's a ton of tutorials out therefor CSS layouts and they'll teach you layout skill independently of the software.

We all pick apart other people's web pages from time to time, but it's the slow way to gain CSS layout skills (as you have shown yourself). Unfortunately, CSS layout is fickle with browser differences potentially playing havoc with a layout.

CSS layouts need far more care than using a html table. Looking at machine generated output from software such as NetObjects Fusion or Xtreme will never make you proficient with CSS layouts - they don't use CSS to layout their pages. Neither is a Dreamweaver upgrade going to help you much either.

Paul

[juergen]

If you look for software, MS Expression Web is indeed a pretty good choice to work with stylesheets. They sure have learned a lot during the last years in this regard. There is no support for languages outside the MS world though.

Personally I usually just use a good editor with syntax highlighting. UltraEdit can highlight all languages I use and thats enough. Tools like Expression Web have the huge advantage though that they offer Intellisense, where you get all available options for a tag displayed while typing which helps tremendously if you can't remember who things are written or what the options were at a specific spot in your code.

What we have at work too are books like:

Eric Meyer on CSS
Jeffrey Zeldman - designing with web standards
Recent JavaScript Reference

and a couple of others I can't recall from memory now.
And last not least the web is your friend. There are lots of good sites where people discuss things like how to create specific layouts, solve specific problems.

My personal choice is to take part in the various communities, live and on the web and talk with designers, programmers and project managers to discuss the plenty vital aspects to be considered in web development.

Juergen

[w00dy]

You could have a look at: www.westciv.com

They market Stylemaster, a CSS Editor and also provide some excellent CCS learning materials. The costs involved are quite reasonable.

[remi]

Or a free alternative: KompoZer

Remi

[a4hire]

I have seend Kompzer before but have not tried it. It looks promising, Maybe I will give a download and try it out.