Re: Hand-coding all the way, or...?

Hi Shawn,

>  I don't care how fast you are or
>how spot-free your code is, there is no way to develop the design of the site,
>optimize the graphics, and publish SOMETHING to a URL for the boss to see
>without a WYSIWYG editor.

I use a multitude of templates, i.e., I have the basic pages already 
laid out with ####'s where I need to input new data. Saves a lot of 
time.
>
>  I would rather concentrate on the design of the site than spend that
>time typing a bunch of code.

I also save complicated Table designs, etc. so I don't have to retype 
the code--just fill in the blanks.

>Don't get me wrong.  I know alot of little bugs
>may spring up and hand coding from the start would definitely avoid this.
>There's also no way to layout the design of a site when doing it all by hand.

I assume you are talking about a Tree? I draw that by hand on a piece 
of paper. There is one thing that I can't do when I code by hand but 
just something you have to live with.

>Yeah, you can code your page and check it in every possible browser, but then
>if the design isn't quite what you had visioned, you have to go back and tweak
>the images AND go in and re-do that part of the code, unless the image change
>isn't that drastic.

Unless the WYSIWYG editor messes things up. And if this HTML person 
doesn't know HTML, or hasn't been keeping up on coding, they won't be 
able to fix it without help.

>I'll probably get a bunch of hellfire thrown down upon me from some 
>of the hard
>core coders about how the design isn't as important as whether the page will
>work on NN 2x or not, but that's a whole other discussion.  I'm not trying to
>say hand coding is wrong, I'm just explaining why I find it suitable to use a
>WYSIWYG editor, no matter how much coding you know.

I think WYSIWYG editors are fine---for those who know how to code by 
hand. I would be using one myself if I could afford it. But when 
there are no other options, this way is just fine.

BTW, I don't charge quite as much as other web designers who know as 
much as I do because I do all my coding by hand and it may take 
longer. But on the other hand those who can afford to buy 
DreamWEaver, etc., have to charge more because of their expenses. 
Thus I have a very low overhead because I prefer to do things by hand 
and I am learning skills that a lot of DreamWeaverists will either 
forget or never learned in the first place. So there are positives on 
both sides.

Lori Eldridge
Lori's Web Design
http://www.loriswebs.com/

HTML: hwg-basics mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA