Considering a Career Change in Web Design

**ChrisBro** · 13 March 2010, 12:21 PM

Paul you are 100% correct my comment about binning Dreamweaver was meant to be ligh hearted, as in from the prospective of a complete newbie trying to get to grips with Xara and Dreamweaver at the same time will ultimately end in a muddle and confusion, I was simply suggesting putting some sites together in Xara and experiencing a bit of feel good factor, then moving on later to actually understanding how all these things work and of course learning more indepth about html, Css, Javascript, PHP the list is endless.

I should have made that clearer, of course the true professional cannot get by with just Xara you make a very valid point

Chris

EDIT

Looking at Paul's post it would be great to have it referenced somewhere, it os one of the best descriptions of the differncies between Xara and the more professional authoring software I have seen. I have read a few posts on these forum where people compare the softwares not really understanding the differences this explains it very well.

**badhairday** · 14 March 2010, 07:28 AM

I am sure we all took Chris's comment as being tongue in cheek . I know he was not really suggesting throwing out an expensive piece of software.

However my Lawyers are proceeding with litigation.

I understood exactly what Paul meant in his statement and of course he is right.

If you can only drive a car straight, what the heck are you going to do when you want to turn left, or right ...or heaven forbid... use the lights!!!!

**covoxer** · 14 March 2010, 08:51 AM

I shall add to what Paul says. Learning HTML, JS, CSS etc., is very useful even if you stick to WD/Xtreme. Deeper knowledge of these things allows you to add extra functionality to even Xtreme made sites.
Knowledge is never redundant. It's just that the minimum requirement for the WD is much lower than for the web authoring tools where it is mandatory. But otherwise, it's the same no matter what tool you use - the more you know, the more you can.

Good luck!

**slavelle** · 15 March 2010, 01:46 AM

And to extend what covoxer says:

Xtreme, with the knowledge of the web tech behind web pages, can actually produce quite professional and capable sites for MOST clients.

In reality, I rarely find a client who even knows what I'm talking about when I say HTML and CSS or Joomla or Xara or Expression Web, let alone the specifics and details of how subtle the differences are.

I have to do a lot of interviewing of my potential web clients to determine the best method for putting their site together. Sometimes the answer is to mock it up in Xara and then recode in something else to be more "standard", but often, using Xtreme for the actual production of the site is perfectly fitting - especially when you are talking about a brochure site.

Just my $.02

**subrosa** · 19 January 2011, 02:09 PM

Thought I'd chime back in since it's been awhile since I started this thread. I jumped in and did the immersion thing by getting to know a variety of programs, including WD6, XX5, etc. along with the Adobe Suite (CS5), including Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Artisteer, etc. Can't say I'm an expert at them but with each project I undertake I learn a little more in terms of their functions and how they can work together. One axiom I think is important is "simple is good". In looking at many websites, it seems they want to include everything possible regardless of the purpose of the site, does that make sense? I'm in this for long haul and to echo some of the other comments, indeed, knowing and understanding the "backend" is critical to success. Thanks to all of you for your comments, suggestions and encouragement. I'm sending you all a "virtual" beer!