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Drag-and-Drop Design Programs: Worth It?

by Campbell24
21 replies
I have never used any drag-and-drop design programs, but have recently just heard of Dreamweaver and Wix. The concept of drag and drop makes sense, obviously. Save yourself time from figuring out code by just clicking with your mouse. What could be simpler? As I am relatively new to web design I am wondering if these are worth using, what are the other implications/downsides to using a drag and drop program, etc. What do you think?
#design #draganddrop #programs #worth
  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    Dreamweaver is great for double checking things, and simple projects like landing pages.

    But I would not suggest trying to do any major coding via Drag-And-Drop.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    Most of them are junk. We purchased Trendy Site Builder for our hosting customers and heard nothing but complaints about it.

    We're working with another provider who seems to have a solid drag/drop style website builder that we're testing. At the moment, it "does" look promising.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Some of these programs are really good...at first.

    What invariably happens is that you start out loving the simplicity of the program, but after you use it a few times you get an increasing awareness of its limitations. Those limitations have a way of driving you crazy, and what you once considered a fine program starts collecting virtual dust. That's been my experience.

    All the best,
    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
      ok i'm lost lol.

      which programs are you talking about when you say drag n drop???

      also for the other user when did dreamweaver become drag n drop? i got the older mx version which is wysiwyg. btw, dreamweaver is the choice of most web designers, including those coding html, css etc, because it's good.

      now, i do use webrealizer and sitespinner on some occasions, and you can move different elements around, but i wouldn't call them drag n drop.
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Walter Parrish View Post

        ok i'm lost lol.

        which programs are you talking about when you say drag n drop???

        also for the other user when did dreamweaver become drag n drop? i got the older mx version which is wysiwyg. btw, dreamweaver is the choice of most web designers, including those coding html, css etc, because it's good.

        now, i do use webrealizer and sitespinner on some occasions, and you can move different elements around, but i wouldn't call them drag n drop.
        I have Dreamweaver MX also and it is not drag and drop. It is world class site design software. I code so I would never use a drag and drop program. You're going to end up with some pretty cheesy results with drag and drop.
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  • Profile picture of the author Campbell24
    If you can really code then what is the point of using something like Dreamweaver? I'm trying to understand what it's benefits are.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by bathunter View Post

      If you can really code then what is the point of using something like Dreamweaver? I'm trying to understand what it's benefits are.
      Dreamweaver is a tool use to code. While seasoned coders use both Dreamweaver and programs like Notepad, some make it easier on your by auto typing/closing tags and color coding things.

      While I don't code anymore, when one of our customers has a problem it makes it easier to track down issues in files.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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      Originally Posted by bathunter View Post

      If you can really code then what is the point of using something like Dreamweaver? I'm trying to understand what it's benefits are.
      Because I can build a dreamweaver template for the site in Dreamweaver for all of the common elements that are on each or groups of pages. Then if I want to change one those elements, I only have to change the template and it updates all of the pages. Quite useful if your site is very large or even medium.

      I don't use the wysiwyg feature. It allows you also to use the page in code view, which is what I use and then check the wysiwyg view at times to make sure it's doing what I want it to do.
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    • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
      Originally Posted by bathunter View Post

      If you can really code then what is the point of using something like Dreamweaver? I'm trying to understand what it's benefits are.
      lol
      I think i stopped coding back in 2000.

      Things probably changed a lot since 2k,
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      • Profile picture of the author Mr. Ken Russell
        Originally Posted by Walter Parrish View Post

        lol
        I think i stopped coding back in 2000.

        Things probably changed a lot since 2k,
        pretty much this lol
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    • Profile picture of the author MONEYDON
      Try XSite pro, that is the happy medium if you ask me,. You can achieve front page results with X-=Site so i dont want the codebashers and wordpress cheerleaders coming along. Try that u will be better off.
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  • Profile picture of the author GarrieWilson
    I don't use drag-and-drop programs but I do use WYSIWYG programs.

    I use them to get the basic layout then modify the HTML/CSS/PHP/DHTML to "make them better"

    Garrie
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  • Profile picture of the author Ed Micah
    I use Dreamweaver but I don't have a options of drag-and-drop, and I usually just code it with the help of Dreamweaver.

    It helps you to ensure that your codes are correct, and structure it better. With the preview feature, I think it is very handy in terms of modifying your templates.

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  • Profile picture of the author ralchevd
    I'd say that if you are a web designer/developer, these programs are totally waste of time and money. I wouldn't pay someone for using drag and drop software. But if you are going to use them for your own purposes (your own websites), then it might work for you. Just remember that their possibilities are very limited.
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    • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
      Originally Posted by ralchevd View Post

      I'd say that if you are a web designer/developer, these programs are totally waste of time and money. I wouldn't pay someone for using drag and drop software. But if you are going to use them for your own purposes (your own websites), then it might work for you. Just remember that their possibilities are very limited.
      I still don't really know which programs you guys consider drag and drop.

      But if i use something like webrealizer or sitespinner it's usually for a quick page, maybe something like Coming Soon. I wouldn't even try to add a cart or anything serious with those lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author galmiar
    I think they are deff worth a look. In my experience they are not as simple as they make out, as the tool can still be a little confusing to grasp and some programs do have their limitations in what they allow you to do, but with a little practice i think they can be really great and help you get a unique site that does more or less exactly what you want it to do.

    It is so frustrating looking for a theme when you have set criteria you want to meet.

    In the long run it would be great if you could make them all yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    The so called WYSIWYG in Dreamweaver uses AP Div tags and layers. Of course, how it the page looks will vary all over the map with the browser used to read it. But, you can easily add code to it in code mode.

    Headway Themes makes a pretty slick drag and drop theme builder for Wordpress, and you can code in CSS and php within Headway's visual editor.

    :-Don
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  • Profile picture of the author Logicandy
    Dreamweaver is the best because you can do powerful custom designs with photoshop or fireworks and use dreamweaver to a energize the design with some great code. By the way you will enjoy coding php, js, html and others with dreamweaver
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Nothin wrong with a drag-and-drop. If you plan on making skinny little sales letter pages - this is the route you want to take. If you want to build something like Yahoo... probably best to hire a web designer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
    Dreamweaver is not a drag and drop web design system. Although there are some features that do work that way, such as some of their table design funtions.

    But more than anything it's a visual editor and code editor in one. With tons of functionality.

    I would never use a drag and drop per say, although I have seen a web design software recently that really interested me, and I have used it to make facebook fan pages.

    Other than than, none of those would compare to good ol' fashion hand coding. Which can be done in Dreamweaver just as it can be done in a text file.

    The great thing about dreamweaver is that you can test and make sure your coding properly and test your compatibility cross broswer. You can also add some pretty cool java script coding with their built in javascript snippets.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jtraits
    Just like it was mentioned above, those kind of programs are good at first .. but when you start and proceed and you want more, you will realize that they are not useful then... just to create a "basic" / simple index/website but later on when you want to develop and upgrade, you should learn some kind of coding
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