Re: HTML - why bother?

We actually make use of Dreamweaver for running some sites, and
for conceptual work, and, if the client insists on using a WYSIWYG
for maintenance, DW is the one we recommend.  Ours has been
modified to produce XHTML compliant code, however, including empty
element formatting, a summary fields in the table generator tool
and other such tweaks.  The first thing I look for in any editor
for Web-related work is flexibility.  The tool must be
configurable in a way that allows me to modify the code it
produces.  DW earned my respect with this ability, and with the
recent improvements to the Site Manager, which allows us to
synchronize local and live versions of a project.

That doesn't mean we use the WYSIWYG by dragging table borders
around or arbitrarily inserting rows and cells or otherwise
abusing the interface in ways that produce ugly code.  Everyone
here can code by hand, including tables and layers, and so we know
what is begin generated by the tool and we know what not to do
with it.  We also review the final code by hand after WYSIWYG
sessions, and we validate with Tidy as well, because we have old
eyes...:).

Success and quality are not attributes of a tool.  They are the
mark of a craftsman.  To use any tool correctly, you must first
know the craft.

D

----- Original Message -----
From: "Noteworthy Web Designs" <webmaster(at)noteworthydesigns.com>


Your point does make sense, but the combination is still good for
speed for
folks like us who do designs for many different customers. The
editor is good
for appearances and even some html clean-up, but knowing the code
and the
tweaking is what does the fine-tuning after we run it thru our
browsers. I
myself have run into several headaches with customers sending me
stuff in Word
to cut and paste, only to run it thru Dreamweaver's html clean-up
and find I
still need to go in by hand and do more cleaning. But, it's still
a time-saver.
And, yup, I also have customers who send me stuff in Publisher,
too. Ugh.

HWG hwg-techniques mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA