I’ve always coded directly in HTML and have added bits of javascript and CSS in, but I’ve got to get up with the times, and manual coding is taking too long now.
I’m trying to get away from using tables to construct web pages and concentrate on using DIVs and stylesheets as they allow more flexibility, but are a damn site more finicky and convoluted. They also work differently rendering in different browsers and with todays usage of iPad and mobile devices I have to construct my pages to suit all browsers.
With that in mind I would love a program like MS Frontpage that you could position elements in a screen and it creates the coding behind it ready for tweaking. I’ve tried Dreamweaver CS5, but unless you use their templates, you still have to do a lot of the coding manually which sort of defeats the object of a graphical proggy.
I like to style my screen to a customer’s spec rather like creating a PowerPoint presentation (it does work, but has issues) and be able to position elements specifically. Manual coding can cover this but is very time-consuming and I spend loads of time checking the end product in at least 4 different browsers.
Any suggestions for a good proggy that I could use, ideally as I said if it’s free or at least initially free to try out?
Nvu/Kompozer might be worth looking at. I’ve never had any issues with it but it might be a bit basic for you. However, it’s FOSS so you can have a play and see easy enough (I like it as it also has a portable version @ Portable Apps)
Had a quick play with it and it seems OK for basic building, but formats the page using TABLEs, TDs and TRs, which is what I’m trying to get away from unfortunately. Could be useful for basic page creation, but I need something with a little more adaptability that utilises style sheets a little more. Thanks for the heads-up Chris.
True, but what I would like is to create it like a Powerpoint presentation and have the proggy create all the script including the CSS, etc in the background. NVU lays out the pictures and text, but creates them in tables in the test I ran. May need to play a little more to see if I missed something. Tried another one (Beerwins HTML), but this does the same. Lays it out OK, but not in the way I would like and needs a fair bit of tweaking afterwards, which once again defeats the object (not centring DIVs in the page with margin-left/margin-right: auto, that sort of thing).
I don’t mind some work, having manually created sites for years, but having to go through the code to get it right is what I’m trying to get away from ideally.
Finally found one that mostly does what I want it to.
Virtual Mechanics web site has a free to play with cut down version called Web Dwarf ( http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/) and the full pro edition that you can download for a 15 day trial is available as well. ( http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/spinner/download.html ). Creates a web site by drag and dropping graphics and text on to a grid and creates all the CSS, DIVs, etc in the background for you and most important for me, no tables at all, which is what I wanted to get away from.
Still have some issues to sort out like how to create a container with relative positioning so that the whole page shrinks and centres when a browser window is shrunk, but at least I can get the basic elements in place and tweak it to suit my needs. All in all a pretty good little proggy and the full paid for version is only £33. Might buy it, if it proves to be as good as first impressions suggest.
