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Hand-coding Vs Dreamweaver for CSS

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  • 11-06-2009 3:47pm
    #1
    chakotha
    Registered Users Posts: 912 ✭✭✭


    I haven't written a site layout from scratch for 4 years or so and now find myself with a couple of sites to build.

    I will have to bite the bullet and abandon tables and finally learn CSS layouts as CSS now seems to be the preferred modus operandi.

    The only problem is I don't have much time to spend on learning the nitty gritty of CSS layout positioning. Or is it easy, a fast learning curve?

    I have always previously hand-coded tabular layouts but have read that Dreamweaver has improved vastly in the last few years as far as standards etc go.

    How do the majority of people on here design their sites?

    Do you hand code your CSS designs or do you use software such as Dreamweaver?

    TIA


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    #2
    Pixelcraft
    Registered Users Posts: 742 ✭✭✭Pixelcraft


    hand code the xhtml. do a mixture of hand coding/not hand coding with cssedit on a mac. By far the best css program I've ever used.


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    #3
    oeb
    Registered Users Posts: 2,793 ✭✭✭oeb


    chakotha wrote: »
    I haven't written a site layout from scratch for 4 years or so and now find myself with a couple of sites to build.

    I will have to bite the bullet and abandon tables and finally learn CSS layouts as CSS now seems to be the preferred modus operandi.

    The only problem is I don't have much time to spend on learning the nitty gritty of CSS layout positioning. Or is it easy, a fast learning curve?

    I have always previously hand-coded tabular layouts but have read that Dreamweaver has improved vastly in the last few years as far as standards etc go.

    How do the majority of people on here design their sites?

    Do you hand code your CSS designs or do you use software such as Dreamweaver?

    TIA


    I hand code, but I use the css framework 960.gs. The designers that work with me design sites that match the requirements of the framework (on my request) and this allows me to turn their design into a website very rapidly, and I normally need to do minimal work to ensure cross browser compatability.


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    #4
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    You could use something like notepad ++ for the HTML.
    I find it really handy how it shows you where your divs open and close, and the layout is very readable.

    Dreamweaver is handy for CSS in that in the code view it's colour coded, and recognises CSS parameters as you enter them making it quicker to write stylesheets. The design view won't really help you much, tbh.


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    #5
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    CSS isn't to bad, I got CSS the missing manual off amazon.

    I think your going to need to learn CSS no matter what way you go about it.


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    #6
    chakotha
    Registered Users Posts: 912 ✭✭✭chakotha


    Great replies thanks! Am reading through tutorials. I'll try notepad++ and start running through the basics.

    I haven't used Dreamweaver beyond 10 minutes worth but there is sure to be a learning time there too.


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    #7
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,306 ✭✭✭jmcc


    chakotha wrote: »
    I will have to bite the bullet and abandon tables and finally learn CSS layouts as CSS now seems to be the preferred modus operandi.
    Sometimes tables are useful but a lot of design now uses CSS and it can be far quicker than tables.
    The only problem is I don't have much time to spend on learning the nitty gritty of CSS layout positioning. Or is it easy, a fast learning curve?
    The basics can be picked up over a few hours as it is essentially a markup language. The problem is in getting the CSS to work as you had planned in all browsers. You will need more than one book on CSS and the Sitepoint.com books on CSS tend to be quite good.
    I have always previously hand-coded tabular layouts but have read that Dreamweaver has improved vastly in the last few years as far as standards etc go.
    I bought a copy two months ago and it looks amazingly feature rich. Standards wise, I wouldn't know as most of my html is cutting edge Web 0.2.
    How do the majority of people on here design their sites?
    Pen and paper. Then html/css and a lot of coffee. There are hobbyists/students/brochureware designers, graphic designers, small scale site designers and large scale site designers on the forum so you are going to get a lot of different answers. However I think I read in another thread that Dreamweaver was more a production tool than a site design tool. You have to know what you want and what you are doing.

    Regards...jmcc


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    #8
    p
    Registered Users Posts: 2,119 ✭✭✭p


    I user Dreamweaver to hand code CSS! :) It's got lots of helping stuff, but you do still need to have the fundamentals of CSS for layout. There's a great book 'Designing with web standards' that would introduce you to the whole concept and give you back and practical tips!

    As jmcc - Dreamweaver is a website & HTML building tool, not design software. People design in various packages, Photoshop & Fireworks being the main two and then convert those design into HTML & CSS using dreamweaver.


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    #9
    Tuolumne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5 ✭Tuolumne


    Hand-coding in Dreamweaver (Cs4) is a pretty good solution.

    Code completion, code hints and good syntax highlighting for the majority of languages you will encounter. (html, css, javascript, php, asp etc.)

    The site and file management features are handy too.

    Not sure if it's worth the price tag though, when something simple like notepad2 will do the job.


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    #10
    STBR
    Registered Users Posts: 442 ✭✭STBR


    Hand coding is the only way to go.

    Dreamweaver is the best way to go.

    So basically, I hand-code everything [XHTML, CSS,PHP, MySQL, etc.] in Dreamweaver CS4.

    Best way to go.


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