Author Topic: Web page design tools? (Read 909 times)

hazed- · « **on:** January 09, 2002, 09:49:00 AM »

Hi all im just getting into web page design and learning how to upload etc. As ive been downloading and trying various web tool programmes, and have found some to be poor while others are excellent, i thought id ask you guys what you use and what you'd recommend.

remember that I'd prefer 'ease of use' over full professional types that require a lot of learning.
heres the sort of stuff i mean:

Web page editor/design prog
image/photo editor
paint programme
web animation programme

maybe theres a programme that sort of covers all of these in one?

I have used 'hotdog' instead of frontpage but it doesnt like my graphics driver much and crashes now and then but its got good wizards etc and so easy to pick up it made it almost fun!<shock> lol.

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: hazed- ]

Eagler · « **Reply #1 on:** January 09, 2002, 10:04:00 AM »

Web page editor/design prog - Frontpage is easiest but Dreamweaver is better, especially if you use Flash

image/photo editor - Lview & Photo Paint 9.0 by Corel

paint programme - Photo Paint 9.0 by Corel

web animation programme - Flash or just animate ur gifs - Photo Paint 9.0 does this too

ftp - WS FTP Pro (I don't use the Frontpage upload stuff)

telnet - Hummingbird

Kieran · « **Reply #2 on:** January 09, 2002, 10:08:00 AM »

Agree with Eagler- Frontpage is easier, Dreamweaver is more powerful. I'd recommend the XP version of FrontPage if that is where you are going. You can also get GoLive!, Hotmetal, and a few others.

Photo editors? Photoshop 6 is the only way to go for rastar images, Freehand or Illustrator for vector graphics. This is professional grade stuff, and if it can be done, these three programs can do it.

Animations should be done in Flash or Shockwave.

WS-FTP is very solid, and is free to students and educators.

LePaul · « **Reply #3 on:** January 09, 2002, 10:12:00 AM »

Web Editor: FrontPage 2000 Its quick and easy, and very flexible. There are a few things I hate about it, but after playing with some of the others, I have more Pros than Cons.

HOWEVER....knowing HTML is a big help. I learned using "HotDog Pro" many many years ago, then went into Frontpage. If you understand the html tags and such, it really makes refining your work a lot easier.

I also use Macromedia Flash version 5. I haven't had a chance to make any real razzle-dazzle sites with it due to time, but its on my "want to really sit down and learn" list

I bought it and installed it, and have read a few guides on it.

GRAPHICS EDITOR: Paint Shop Pro 7 (www.jasc.com) The power of Adobe with a price the rest of us can afford. PSP 7 can do some amazing things, and has a really nice Animated GIF studio

FTP Program: WS-FTP Get the Light Version and make sure you tell it you are non-government/non profit etc and it will install fine. Great little FTP program. The other I liked for a while was Cute FTP, but WS-FTP is free and does just as much for me

Things to stay away from:

Java. Big, bloated and takes forever to load. I have some friends who love Java, and while it does some cool things, think of your web vistor as having a 2400 baud connection....downloading .jar files and waiting for the thing to load is very annoying.

Keep your pages clean, easy to read, and to the point. Use imagery to empasis your point/thesis as anything more is largely a distraction, and requires more time to download.

Feel free to check my site: www.checksix.net

If you need a web host, let me know

Kratzer · « **Reply #4 on:** January 09, 2002, 10:42:00 AM »

My 2c? Learn it from the ground up with a text editor like MS Visual Studio, or the working man's Visual Studio, otherwise known as 'notepad'. Your pages will work better (especially across browsers), look better, and you will learn what you need to know to have complete control, and be half a step away from learning ASP, and really having some useful applications online.

Dowding · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2002, 10:50:00 AM »

I'd advise getting a good book about HTML and learning to do web pages from scratch. The results are much better, IMO as Kratzer says.

I knew absolutely nothing about HTML until I bought 'Learn HTML 4.0 in 24 Hours' (I got it from amazon.co.uk) and have now created our squadron website (click on the link below).

The only applications I used were Windows Notepad and Picture Publisher for the artwork. I'm particularly proud of the buttons

.

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Dowding ]

Tac · « **Reply #6 on:** January 09, 2002, 11:18:00 AM »

Bah, you weenies with the expensive toys

NOTEPAD (HTML)
FLASH
PAINT

Weee!

Raubvogel · « **Reply #7 on:** January 09, 2002, 11:52:00 AM »

Yeah, Notepad is the way to go. Front Page and all that other stuff is great until you want to edit an existing page and try to decipher the gobbledy-gook code that those programs generate. HTML is a very simple language.

For photo-editing I like Paint Shop Pro, but I don't do much image work. The GIF animator in PSP is great and easy to use.

jan · « **Reply #8 on:** January 09, 2002, 11:57:00 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Kieran:
Agree with Eagler- Frontpage is easier, Dreamweaver is more powerful. I'd recommend the XP version of FrontPage if that is where you are going. You can also get GoLive!, Hotmetal, and a few others.

Photo editors? Photoshop 6 is the only way to go for rastar images, Freehand or Illustrator for vector graphics. This is professional grade stuff, and if it can be done, these three programs can do it.

Animations should be done in Flash or Shockwave.

WS-FTP is very solid, and is free to students and educators.

nothing to add, except for: get yourself some good html code editor, the code that tools of dreamweaver/fp2k/etc. produce is always pretty overloaded. i found hotdog to be a useful helper for starters.

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: jan ]

Sandman · « **Reply #9 on:** January 09, 2002, 12:26:00 PM »

There's a middle ground between the featureless NotePad and FrontPage...

Try Evrsoft 1st Page.

It's basically a HTML text editor but has many other tools.

CyranoAH · « **Reply #10 on:** January 09, 2002, 12:29:00 PM »

Go with the best:

Photoshop (includes Imageready for graphic optimization and animated gifs, among other virtues) + Flash 5 (learn to use it!) + Dreamweaver (extensions manager for Dreamweaver and Flash 5 can save you LOTS OF TIME).

Daniel, aka Cyrano

Exile · « **Reply #11 on:** January 09, 2002, 12:41:00 PM »

editor: HomeSite
images: Photoshop
animation: Flash
ftp: CuteFTP

oh ya ... Frontpage is EVIL!! run away! run away!

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Exile ]

Kieran · « **Reply #12 on:** January 09, 2002, 01:52:00 PM »

While I agree it is useful to know HTML (and believe me, I do!) it doesn't seem to me that was the question. Most people don't have the time or interest to develop full-blown HTML skills- they want a site quick and easy. Couple that with the need to really dig to understand Photoshop and Flash, and one can easily see why web editors are so popular.

FrontPage isn't that bad, especially if you are used to Word. Yes, MS does try to overwrite code, and yes, all WYSIWYG editors bloat the code, but for the most part neophyte users won't know the difference.

SOB · « **Reply #13 on:** January 09, 2002, 02:17:00 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Kieran:
FrontPage isn't that bad...

<slaps Kieran with a fresh trout>

If you have the time, a real HTML editor is the way to go. Notepad works great...especially the one with Win2k (includes find & replace). An HTML editor that provides color coded tags is even better.

Photoshop for graphics. Paint Shop Pro may be easier, but in the end you'll thank yourself for taking the time to learn Photoshop. (either are easily <cough> downloaded from Kazaa or other p2p system)

Flash is definitely the way to go. I need to learn it myself.

SOB

Eagler · « **Reply #14 on:** January 09, 2002, 02:32:00 PM »

For a beginner or part time web page maker, Frontpage is fine. It's an easy way to learn code as it shows the source tab. So is right clickin, "View Source"