Concerning an IT tool

Rick,

As in most of life, a single tool is rarely enough to accomplish a complete
task.  We are primarily a ColdFusion programming shop, so we mainly use
ColdFusion Studio as our script editor.  The editor in ColdFusion Studio is
essentially HomeSite with a few more robust features incorporated that
enable the programmer to open and modify a broader variety of scripts.  Even
the makers of ColdFusion Studio / HomeSite (Allaire) acknowledge the
benefits of Dreamweaver by including the ability to establish a direct link
(by icon) between HomeSite and Dreamweaver.  This can be done in HomeSite by
hitting the "F8" key, then the Dreamweaver tab.

HomeSite is a great script / HTML editor.  The "Design" tab (Allaire's
attempt at WYSIWIG) should be disabled (even Allaire trainers say to disable
it).  Dreamweaver does this much better, and writes nearly spotless code.
Dreamweaver also allows you to convert table cells to layers, move them
anywhere you want and change their content, then convert them back to table
cells and automatically writes the code.  This is an invaluable tool at
times.  Dreamweaver has a very nice interface for creating and modifying
forms, and the new version has a history feature allowing multiple "undos".

ColdFusion Studio / HomeSite is still our "meat and potatoes" editor, but we
would spend way too much time on forms and tables if we didn't also use
Dreamweaver.  The short answer is always find the best tools for your
particular job or parts of your job, and train your people how to use them.
If all your firm produces is HTML driven web sites, Dreamweaver may be the
only tool you need.  Its features are very intuitive for creating HTML, and
its library of prewritten javascripts for mouseOvers and other effects is
very handy.  If you plan to venture into data driven web sites in the near
future, you should seriously consider a variety of other tools, including
ColdFusion.  Knowing the HomeSite interface would be a giant leg-up in that
learning curve.  HTH

Gary Churchman
Director, Production and Design
MedSeek
gchurchman(at)medseek.com
(805) 694-3110


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Reumann" <rick_reumann(at)coxtarget.com>
To: "hwg" <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 7:28 AM
Subject: [discuss] Concerning an IT tool


> I'm interested in ALL the drawbacks of using Dreamweaver especially
> compared to using Homesite and/or FrontPage. We're using Homesite and
> love it, but I need a list of all the poor things about using
> Dreamweaver, preferably by the end of today (Friday). Please email me
> off list at rick_reumann(at)coxtarget.com
> with your comments about Dreamweaver.  The guy pushing for Dreamweaver
> his little experience in Web Development and I'd like to post IT
> developers opinions on the product. (Also if you know any links to
> reviews on the product (not by those with a vested interest in the
> product) do let me know also).
> THANKS SO MUCH
> rick
>

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