Recommendations for web design software

railbuff

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

These types of software are all well and good but don't generally teach you anything. Sure, if you just want something that 'does the job to a reasonable degree' then use one of these but what will you learn about web design?

Also, the really cool things that make a good website good will most probably not be possible with a free drag and drop type software.

I'm the type of person that doesn't just want to do a job, I want to know what I am doing and how it is doing it so guess that may be just me. If nothing else, learn html. It really isn't that difficult. There's also the fact that if you are using drag and drop software then you certainly cannot be classing yourself as a 'web designer' so surely you want that cool tag?

This is why i chose dreamweaver after using frontpage as you need to learn and work at some coding rather than drag and drop bits and pieces into boxes.

dug123

I used Microsoft Frontpage years ago and when I stopped using it I spent a long time looking for something which was just as easy to use and I would agree with others on here that Serif Webplus is absolutely superb, It is very simple to produce a bespoke website and the results are as good as you want to make them. I have made some company websites using Webplus and have been asked by countless other businesses if I would produce websites for them! (which I have refused).
My advice would be to search on Amazon for Webplus X5 and it is £16.99 and is hardly any different from X6, I would then register it with Serif and within 12 months they will be offering you an upgrade to the latest version for next to nothing.
I now have all the Serif suite and have paid very little for it.
Webplus is very very easy to use. If it did not exsist I would struggle to find something similar which gives pro looking results.
If you buy the software from Amazon I would look on eBay for the user guide and resource guide because you only get a pdf copy with the software and I like to have physical books in my hand. You should pick these up for a couple of quid.
I have used loads of software over the past 25+ years (yes, I started in DOS) and I am a big Serif fan.

booler

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

These types of software are all well and good but don't generally teach you anything. Sure, if you just want something that 'does the job to a reasonable degree' then use one of these but what will you learn about web design?

Requiring to learn about web design was not part of the original question. The OP is involved a single website project and AFAIK has no ambitions to become a web designer?

But applications like Dreamweaver and Kompozer are actually good for learning HTML as you can switch between code view and design view. If you are interested in the HTML then you can see examine this and watch what effect your design changes are having on the code. This is how I taught myself.

http://www.kompozer.net/screenshots.php

johnnyboyrebel

booler wrote: »

Requiring to learn about web design was not part of the original question.

Yes, that's why I said if you want to just make a website to a reasonable degree then use one of those types of software.

If you're doing it anyway, why would you not want to learn what you are doing? Mind you, there isn;t anything as strange as folk.

njm123

Microsoft Expression Web has been discontinued as a product but Microsoft have made it available as a free download (without support from microsoft)

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36179


More details here

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/expression/

It's a competent enough tool and may be a better bet than Kompozer or Serif for managing a site if you can't justify Dreamweaver.

johnnyboyrebel

njm123 wrote: »

Microsoft Expression Web has been discontinued as a product but Microsoft have made it available as a free download (without support from microsoft)

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36179


More details here

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/expression/

It's a competent enough tool and may be a better bet than Kompozer or Serif for managing a site if you can't justify Dreamweaver.

From what I've read, this one looks quite good as a free alternative