Why I stopped making sites in Dreamweaver and now use Wordpress

131 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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This post is intended to possibly help those who are wondering if they should start or keep doing sites in "straight" HTML using Dreamweaver or another HTML "wysiwyg" program, or should switch to Wordpress.

NOTE: I know there are already tons of posts/threads on the WF about this topic. I'm not posting an "HTML vs. Wordpress" post here.

My point is this:

I've been doing my own websites for a long, long time. I'm not a "great designer" but I did learn HTML early on and made sites by hand, so I know more than just the what-you-see-is-what-you-get interface. Despite that, I've never made "pretty" sites, just functional ones that at least looked decent and not like they were made in 1999 or by a 5th grader in an hour.

Since last December in 2008, I was really starting to look seriously at Wordpress - and my main reason was I was increasingly building larger and larger sites - setting up and maintaining proper navigational structure can really be a pain in a ~100 page site.

I've been working with Wordpress now in earnest for some months, and recently started a new site after doing my keyword research.

Wordpress has made creating this site a breeze:
*Selected a nice, SEOd theme not requiring major code tweaking (minor tweaks)
*Installed a bunch of great, time saving plugins
*Navigation - via Category set up - a total breeze
*Page / post creation and updating, a total breeze.
*Insertion of graphics or videos? push a button or two.
*If I decide to change the total look of my site, it's as easy as uploading a new theme. Changed my mind? Push a button and reactivate the old theme. Easy!

My new site is MUCH better looking than I could have designed in Dreamweaver, was put together much more quickly, is more easily customized and updated, and Wordpress - being essentially blog software - pings for me and I can add a ping list too, so that's nice too. The variety of plugins helps to make my site very easily managed. If I want, I could install a relatively inexpensive membership plugin down the line to create a membership site, or just password protect parts of the site for downloads etc.

Lots of benefits, no real trade-offs. Sure, there's some risks in Wordpress - site can get hacked etc., but I'll look into site protection and plus, if you back up your site you can't lose anyway.

All in all, a dramatic improvement over doing sites in Dreamweaver - at least for me.

I don't mind if people want to bash or compliment Dreamweaver or Wordpress or even another CMS (Drupal, etc.) - I have no agenda here - this post is just in case someone is considering which route to go, I say go with Wordpress.

Hope that helps someone!

Best,
David
#dreamweaver #making #sites #stopped #website creation #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Steve Campbell
    I'll second that! Don't get me wrong, I love Dreamweaver and all you can do with it, but WordPress is hands down the easiest/quickest way to build a top notch site. It took me a while to learn how to use Dreamweaver but with WP I figured everything out instantly. Thanks for the post David!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lindsay Brynn
    I come from a design background too. I launched my first site when I was in high school in 1996. For the longest time I was stuck on designing everything completely myself just because I had the ability to do so. In the past year I have gotten into the mindset of a marketer instead of a designer. So I definitely use the great power that is Wordpress and when I design I usually look for a nice template that I can adapt. The time savings is definitely worth it.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Ive been developing sites since 1998, and only within the last few months have I had this little niggling voice in my head that keeps saying "Use wordpress, it will be easier.."

      Being a stubborn web developer, Ill continue using DW and hope the voice goes away. :p
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

        Ive been developing sites since 1998, and only within the last few months have I had this little niggling voice in my head that keeps saying "Use wordpress, it will be easier.."

        Being a stubborn web developer, Ill continue using DW and hope the voice goes away. :p
        I would bet that you are a better designer and more advanced user of DW than I am - if I were really, really advanced using DW I might have a different attitude about this whole thing.

        I doubt that that voice in your head will go away!

        And, take a look at the posts of the others who, similar to me, also either use both or switched!

        WP really rocks!

        David
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        • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
          Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

          I would bet that you are a better designer and more advanced user of DW than I am - if I were really, really advanced using DW I might have a different attitude about this whole thing.

          I doubt that that voice in your head will go away!

          And, take a look at the posts of the others who, similar to me, also either use both or switched!

          WP really rocks!

          David
          Absolutely. I think its a personal choice. I can usually knock a site together within 24/48 hours right from domain name registration to the actual finished product using DW. I can do the same using wordpress in a matter of an hour or so.

          I just like to get my hands dirty and hack away at stuff :p
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          • Profile picture of the author dlundy1
            I am trying to Create a Membership site in Dreamweaver... any help?? or Would Wordpress be a better solution For this Site?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kael41
    Yup, old school Dreamweaver MX, Dreamweaver 2004 user here as well. Loved using it when Frontpage quickly became a dinosaur I'm more of a wordpress developer now than a straight html guy. But i won't forget my roots!
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      @Kael41: hahaha, I still use Dreamweaver 3!
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

        @Kael41: hahaha, I still use Dreamweaver 3!
        I mean, for the sites I've already done; all new sites are all Wordpress, all the time.

        My newest site, what a breath of fresh air to create the site with such ease using Wordpress (doing the "we're not worthy" Wayne's-World bow....) - I love Wordpress! (Sorry, Dreamweaver, still luv ya, like a really cool ex-girlfriend). :p
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      • Profile picture of the author Kael41
        Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

        @Kael41: hahaha, I still use Dreamweaver 3!
        I remember 3 fondly...hell, i remember when they changed the UI and I was like "wtf...what do i need to learn now!??"
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    Sure, there's some risks in Wordpress - site can get hacked etc.
    Wow - you had me hooked until that line!

    Will
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

      Wow - you had me hooked until that line!

      Will
      Yeah, I've HEARD of sites being hacked, but haven't experienced that myself.

      And if you have files backed up - and guess what, a plugin can also do that! - then you can restore a site at the push of an FTP button.

      I say the *downside* is far outweighed by the upside; plus, since Wordpress is so widely used, I'd be that the WP people are always working hard to plug security holes.
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    • Profile picture of the author Amber Jalink
      Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

      Wow - you had me hooked until that line!

      Will
      Will - don't panic As long as you keep your wordpress up to date when they make fixes, you'll be fine. The problem with people getting hacked usually is because they don't keep up with the security patches. (So far we've never been hacked).

      Let me rephrase that....

      YES we were the victim of SQL injection hack - but not with Wordpress We were with Adrevenue but the security on that has been since fixed too.

      Amber
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    Truth I LOVE Aptana. But to actually get things up and done, WordPress rocks my mocha
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by cypherslock View Post

      Truth I LOVE Aptana. But to actually get things up and done, WordPress rocks my mocha
      I haven't heard of Aptana - I'm going to google that.

      In the future I may get something like xsitepro if i want to continue with HTML sites but want "prettier" sites; for creating Wordpress thems, I just love artisteer, but there are a ton of easy to use, good looking themes already created.

      David
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    • Profile picture of the author grumpyjacksa
      i have messed around with a few platforms - even joompla...

      but i ended up back with wp

      ......
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        Originally Posted by grumpyjacksa View Post

        i have messed around with a few platforms - even joompla...

        but i ended up back with wp

        ......
        That's a revealing report, thanks for jumping in with that. WP seems to really be the CMS of choice... I'm sure glad I went with it!
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  • Profile picture of the author JonathanBoettcher
    Wordpress all the way. Can't beat a 1 click install.

    I've found that with most of the sites I build I end up using the same plugins, and often the same theme even (it's user-customizeable), so I've just created a directory with that stuff in it, and now after the 1 click install, I just upload that directory and I've got an SEO ready, powerful site at my fingertips to start playing with.

    Wordpress is my hero.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by JonathanBoettcher View Post

      Wordpress all the way. Can't beat a 1 click install.

      I've found that with most of the sites I build I end up using the same plugins, and often the same theme even (it's user-customizeable), so I've just created a directory with that stuff in it, and now after the 1 click install, I just upload that directory and I've got an SEO ready, powerful site at my fingertips to start playing with.

      Wordpress is my hero.
      Hey Jonathan - that's a VERY good point: I think in the future on my next site, I'll simply download my plugin directory, then upload to my new Wordpress site - should make for easy plugin package all ready to go on my new site, eh?

      THANKS!
      David
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  • Profile picture of the author Baystreet
    Wordpress is great but it can be a resource hog compared to a static html page.

    If I make a site I expect to get a fair amount of traffic I will use Dreamweaver but otherwise it is Wordpress.
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    • Profile picture of the author JonathanBoettcher
      Originally Posted by Baystreet View Post

      Wordpress is great but it can be a resource hog compared to a static html page.

      If I make a site I expect to get a fair amount of traffic I will use Dreamweaver but otherwise it is Wordpress.
      How much traffic are you talking about? You've got to be putting a fair bit of traffic through a Wordpress site before you start noticing it... especially if you've optimized it somewhat for performance. There are a lot of very large and high traffic sites running wordpress....

      Also what sort of hosting are you using? I never come close the server limits on my hosting accounts, and my accounts aren't anything special.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
      Originally Posted by Baystreet View Post

      Wordpress is great but it can be a resource hog compared to a static html page.

      If I make a site I expect to get a fair amount of traffic I will use Dreamweaver but otherwise it is Wordpress.
      I second that.
      I think you need to know both,
      then depending on your project requirements,
      you are in a better position to decide.
      So use whichever tool is best for that specific project.
      Sometimes it's WP, but sometimes not.
      There is no "one-size fits all" perfect solution here.
      my2c
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  • Profile picture of the author PrettyJenny
    Even though the time that I used Dreamweaver exclusively for making sites has gone (I'm still keeping my first website I created on Dreamweaver in my web design class), I still use Dreamweaver every day to do code tweaking.
    Still cannot imagine my life without it.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by PrettyJenny View Post

      Even though the time that I used Dreamweaver exclusively for making sites has gone (I'm still keeping my first website I created on Dreamweaver in my web design class), I still use Dreamweaver every day to do code tweaking.
      Still cannot imagine my life without it.
      Also a very good point, thanks Jenny - I do a fair bit of code tweaking myself in DW...

      David
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  • Profile picture of the author Stacey Wockenfuss
    Wordpress is a cool little tool and easy to use and manipulate. I just recreated my VA site in it. Nothing special, just wanted to see what was possible and to see if I could tweak it a bit. Does anyone know how to code it to not include the date/time stamp? If I google I could probably find the answer but I figured since this post was here, I would ask.

    Thanks,

    Stacey
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  • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
    For me this "comparison" between DW and WP doesn't really make sense: they are not in the same category. One (DW) is a website making tool - to put it simply; and the other one (WP) is a publishing platform.

    I heard about people using DW to design and code a WP theme in (strictly in code mode, btw, never in wysiwyg mode!).
    With DW or any kind of html editor, be it the fanciest or the simplest (liek what I use: PSPad) you create static html files. Your content is in the files.
    WP is a dynamic publishing engine that is based on MySQL database; your content is in the database, not in the files.

    As a sidenote: I edit all the WP themes and quite often even the WP files in the same PSPad editor that I use to create simple static html files.

    You can not really do the same thing with these tools, they serve different purposes. Yes, for a layman the end result seems to be "the same" - a website. However, we know better
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    • Profile picture of the author davemiz
      good points, but when you're using the same themes as 900 other sites, your site doesn't really stand out and its difficult to build a long term brand that way....

      unless you totally customize the hell out of the theme.... then you're good to go.
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        Originally Posted by davemiz View Post

        good points, but when you're using the same themes as 900 other sites, your site doesn't really stand out and its difficult to build a long term brand that way....

        unless you totally customize the hell out of the theme.... then you're good to go.
        I didn't post what you're replying to, but I'm replying to your reply to the post I didn't make... but yeah, if you use the same theme repeatedly that could get noticed unless all your niches are totally separate and would likely not "cross paths" with separate lists.. I suspect that's what the poster you're replying to meant, but that's just a guess.

        Personally I use different themes even in the same niche, myself, so I go along with your idea it's better to use separate themes.

        Best,
        David
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    • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
      Originally Posted by b.super13 View Post

      Where do you go to use wordpress to create a site?
      To your own comfortable chair in front of your own computer...

      Seriously, what your question really is?
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        Originally Posted by The Pension Guy View Post

        To your own comfortable chair in front of your own computer...

        Seriously, what your question really is?
        Yeah, I'm not sure I get the question either... but to have a wordpress - I install wordpress at my hosting service (I use bluehost) and you can use any wordpress theme (google free wordpress themes) then you upload your theme then you log into your admin function with your user name and password, and start creating posts and pages.

        If you're new to wordpress, I suggest going to wordpress.com and getting a free wordpress account, start up a blog just to play with and get used to how the wordpress interface works.

        Hope that helps!
        David
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      @The Pension Guy

      Being a practical person myself, and I'm grateful for the details you added, for me the end results - a website - is the ONLY thing that counts...

      ...well that, and how much less of a hassle it is to create a wordpress site than a dreamweaver site, and all the other advantages I already mentioned in my original post.

      Besides, when you think about it, putting pages on the internet using DW, WP or anything else, *is all publishing!* to the 'net.

      Best,
      David
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  • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
    David (JustaWizard)

    From a strictly practical point of view I might agree with the "is all publishing" statement of yours... however, for the sake of novice members who might stumble upon this thread in the future I need to clarify a few things:
    - the two tools (DW and WP) are very different in the way they work: on is a server side application the other is a desktop software;
    - one creates static html files (and, eventually) a css file, that must be uploaded/FTPed to your server, the other doesn't create any files, just interacts with the database and stores your content there
    - they are apples and oranges in this regard

    Now, all that said, I am a WP person and used to create non-blog website with WP years ago when most of the IMers didn't even know what the hack WP was! Way before the theme system has been introduced, not to mention the other present features (like the frontpage/post page) which were just a dream for most of the WP users. I am telling you this just to make it clear that you don't have to convince me about the advantages of WP.

    Story time.
    I have a technically challenged very good friend who succeeded to register a domain name but when I offered him free hosting on my reseller account, after two days he admitted that he couldn't find out how to change the DNS info, which is a one minute job for you and me. So, I did it, installed in 5 minutes a WP blog for him, handed over the access info and he is a happy blogger ever since. But don't try to make him to "publish" a website made in any kind of html editor - he doesn't even know and doesn't want to know what html or css is. He just want to publish his favourite brainchild ideas
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      @ The Pension Guy

      Very, VERY good points, indeed! I'm no newbie, but *I* found your post very helpful, so I'm sure those with perhaps-less experience will too!

      Thanks again!
      David
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  • Profile picture of the author mikecorp
    I have never used Dreamweaver and i dont think i will ever will, as Wordpress is much easier.
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  • Profile picture of the author ezeey
    Wordpress and it's plugins , thats what makes it the best and most time effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jimnopks
    I use DW wysiwyg and have taught myself some code, but if the money is in the marketing, shouldn't we all be outsourcing website design?

    And if we outsource, beings it is so much faster to build a wp, shouldn't we have our help design wp sites?

    Jim
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Jimnopks View Post

      I use DW wysiwyg and have taught myself some code, but if the money is in the marketing, shouldn't we all be outsourcing website design?

      And if we outsource, beings it is so much faster to build a wp, shouldn't we have our help design wp sites?

      Jim
      No disagreement from me, Jim! At this point, by the time I can tell / show someone what to do, I could have done it.

      That said, I am going to be looking at outsourcing down the line, for sure.

      Thanks for bringing up that very important point!

      David
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  • Profile picture of the author zen_affiliate
    "straight" HTML using Dreamweaver
    Some may consider that an oxymoron.

    FWIW, html really has little to do with "design". And though one may think it has little to do with "marketing", one may want to rethink that.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by zen_affiliate View Post

      "straight" HTML using Dreamweaver
      Some may consider that an oxymoron.

      FWIW, html really has little to do with "design". And though one may think it has little to do with "marketing", one may want to rethink that.
      lol, yeah... I kinda paused myself when I put those words together

      Wanna expand on the HTML/ marketing point? That'd be cool...
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  • Profile picture of the author babushka99
    Banned
    For something purely static: I use Dreamweaver, more control and flexibility.

    For something more dynamic - WordPress. The biggest advantages I saw:

    1. Site backup
    2. WYSIWYG - very user friendly
    3. Tons of tutorials on YouTube
    4. The most amazing themes (free and paid-for) that are out there, that you can use and implement in a few minutes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    After a long time in web design, I definitely agree that Wordpress is hands down the best way to create almost any kind of website. There are only a few things it's not suited for, such as forums and very complex ecommerce sites, but for any kind of site just designed to present information Wordpress is King.

    Now all you need to learn is how to create your own Wordpress themes, in Dreamweaver. It's actually not as hard as people might think, once you know what to do. I would say that if you can create an HTML site in Dreamweaver, it's not so huge to be able to at least make a page based Wordpress theme yourself. Getting your posts going has a little more to it, but if you are making an HTML page you don't have posts in the plan for your site anyway.

    Perhaps I might knock together some tutorials showing people how to build a traditional 5 page website in Dreamweaver, and make it work in Wordpress. Would that be of interest?
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Now all you need to learn is how to create your own Wordpress themes, in Dreamweaver.
      Hey Kezz, that's an intriguing suggestion! But, is there any reason why I should do that in DW when Artisteer makes it a complete no-brainer?

      David
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  • Profile picture of the author zen_affiliate
    Wanna expand on the HTML/ marketing point?

    I will, just a bit. Html assigns the essential elements of a page. To a very large degree it assigns "weight", hallmarks the content and that contents' priority in regards to page topic and, as such, is crucial in regards to what the spiders and bots use to determine the value and validity of a pages content and, subsequently, the site.
    If 2 of the principles of "marketing" are to select and implement a distribution channel and promotional strategy, then how good is your "marketing" if you're trying to force your square code down an oval channel and your "strategy" is causing a site to plummet in the serps?
    Even pumping pesos into ppc, what's going to happen to your sites if you've made a mess of the markup?

    It's not "marketing" if the goods rot in the cart. That's composting.

    Not that I mind. My job is to resurrect the deceased and the worse of a muck up the mark up, the more I make for working my miracles.
    Just as a scalpel does not make a surgeon, Dreamweaver does not make a web designer/developer. Just the same, I should send them a "thank you" card for all the business their marketing department has sent me.

    I will say, also, that I'm also a great fan of the wordpress platform and I use it extensively. I also alter it extensively ~themes, functions, plugins, etc~ which one can only do in an elegant and efficacious manner if one properly understands the tenets of the languages and code involved(which, of course, goes well beyond simple html).
    Still, there a world wide web of wonderful things one can accomplish with some simple html.
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  • Profile picture of the author embrown
    I've been trying to teach myself to make websites. At first I used Notepad++, which is an awesome editor, but now I use DW. I have a nice template that I use for squeeze pages now.

    I love WP, but one day I'd like to actually make a theme from scratch. I almost did and it ended with mixed results. Once I step up my PHP game, I'm going to try again.

    But back to the point of the thread, if you get an awesome and flexible theme, then you are golden. Flexibility and Hybrid are my favorites since you can manipulate them so that each version of the same theme is actually different. Throw in some spam, SEO, Google analytics and whatever else kind of plugs and you are good to go. Ask me how to do this stuff in DW and I'll look at you blankly. Go Wordpress!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Just like Andrew.

    Dreamweaver for my unique, small, or Coldfusion sites.

    WP for putting up stuff quickly.

    Joomla for large, scaling sites.

    TextPattern for all the above rolled into one.
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    • Profile picture of the author reapr
      Great post.

      Yes WP or Joomla or some other popular CMS all the way.

      Ok but what I can do in WP in 2-3 hours will take a week or two in an HTML editor. It may not be as perfect looking but it is pretty darn close and converts at the same rate.

      Updates are a snap and WP is free. I can't remember when I uninstalled my editor ... been a while.

      One can argue security risk ... I can argue time is money factor and backups are cheap.

      It really is a no brainier.
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      • Profile picture of the author bidmarket
        what wordpress resources could you recommend for someone wanting to build a site from start to finish? I have no computer language experience.

        everytime that i want to change something in a theme, it requires me to edit some sort of code. i have no idea on how to do this. so when you guys talk about how easy this is, boy do I really feel like an idiot.

        the problem is there is no default themes that I like.

        thank you.
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        • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
          Originally Posted by bidmarket View Post

          what wordpress resources could you recommend for someone wanting to build a site from start to finish? I have no computer language experience.

          everytime that i want to change something in a theme, it requires me to edit some sort of code. i have no idea on how to do this. so when you guys talk about how easy this is, boy do I really feel like an idiot.

          the problem is there is no default themes that I like.

          thank you.
          All I can say is Artisteer.com - shoot, I should make that an affiliate link, eh? lol!
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      • Profile picture of the author Minbani
        I tried using DW but it was soo time consuming. Then I tried WP and found all those plugins just too much so I went back to my favourite XSitePro and am a happy cat again. One of the features in XSP2 that I found absolutely fantastic was the ability to export websites between computers. All done in 2 minutes flat, holus-bolus. All I did was emailed them to myself....how good was that?

        I'm surprised that with such an active discussion here on the virtues of wysiwyg editors V's WP blogging platforms that XSP2 hasn't been mentioned. I thought it would be a very popular programme among IM......

        Cheers all,
        Jan
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        • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
          Originally Posted by Minbani View Post

          I tried using DW but it was soo time consuming. Then I tried WP and found all those plugins just too much so I went back to my favourite XSitePro and am a happy cat again. One of the features in XSP2 that I found absolutely fantastic was the ability to export websites between computers. All done in 2 minutes flat, holus-bolus. All I did was emailed them to myself....how good was that?

          I'm surprised that with such an active discussion here on the virtues of wysiwyg editors V's WP blogging platforms that XSP2 hasn't been mentioned. I thought it would be a very popular programme among IM......

          Cheers all,
          Jan
          Hey Jan,

          Actually, yes - if I ever decide I want to do HTML sites again, I've already got Xsitepro on my software shopping list!
          David
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Dreamweaver > Wordpress :p
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    • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
      I like wordpress for one reason, the plugins.

      I will say one thing though. Don't become a die hard, when you march into battle use what is needed as wp does have it's limitations.

      If you are going to create a social site you might want to use that type of platform which most likely will be html, php, css. Shopping carts would probably be the same, hey why pay 100 to 200 bucks to put your cart on wp when you can do that for free, along with built in affiliate tracking. Choose your platform based on what you want to accomplish.

      btw wp time machines backup plugin recently crashed all my wp sites lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jimnopks
    Jezz,

    I would be interested, especially if you use camtasia and make videos that we can stop, attempt the step and start it back up again.

    Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    yes, and yes, and yes. But for simple "one pagers" i usually dont bother to install Wordpress - i actually revert back to XSP...or make a very quick and sloppy page in MS expression web/dreamweaver. But this only for ultra simple sales pages with "contact us", "terms", "privacy". No doubt that for everyone else WP is the way to go. (As for drupal: My main site www.1UP-SEO.com runs on drupal...WAY to complex to admin/maintain...but ranks and SEOs very well. Will never install drupal again tho, WP is better.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Hey David,

    It's all about your needs really. If you have a set of needs and Artiseer meets them, then there's no reason to change. However if there are things you want to achieve with your themes that Artiseer can't do for you, that's where having the freedom to create anything you want becomes handy.

    I haven't used Artiseer myself, not really having the need, but I have worked with tweaking PLR artiseer generated themes so I'm somewhat familiar. Artiseer does seem like a great service, and I've nothing bad to say about it from the results I've seen, but the themes created by it all have a particular look and feel - you can spot them a mile off. From what I can gather you also have certain restrictions you need to work within, such as a set selection of layouts and styles. This of course is necessary to make it easy and accessible, and if the layouts and styles meet your needs, then no problem.

    However, say for example you are creating a site and you want to give it a particular look for branding, if you know how to create a design yourself and plug the right code in to make it play nicely with Wordpress, you have complete freedom to present any branding style you choose.

    The same goes with layouts. Say I want to create a sales page or a minisite design that I can use over and over very easily. I can design and code the page as a simple header, footer and main background layout, plug in a few lines of code, and hey presto I have a Wordpress driven sales page that I can easily deploy over and over again.

    So in a nutshell, the point at which it becomes handy is when you have particular custom theme needs, and you want to be able to meet them yourself, under your own steam. If you don't need the full gamut of Wordpress operations, and all you really want is to be able to enter and update your page content via Wordpress, it's actually not all that much harder to do than making a regular webpage.

    Happy to have my brain picked if you're curious about this approach to Wordpress. Wordpress is predominantly used as a blog, but if you think outside the box a little bit, it can be used for so much more. It's really like a great lego kit of website pieces, and with it you can build just about anything.

    - Kezz
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  • Profile picture of the author developerholic
    I taught CSS before and you could distinguish right away if the site was built through CSS or Dreamweaver. I stopped using Dreamweaver 3 years ago because the code it generates is just too messy! One of the "annoying" parts in building websites are the links


    I could not see myself making HTML sites because I so love Wordpress
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    • Profile picture of the author embrown
      I just noticed Kezz's quote. I would love a tutorial on how to do this. I'm in the process of designing some basic layouts for a product that I'm creating. But due to WP's popularity, I'd rather design them as a WP theme.

      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      After a long time in web design, I definitely agree that Wordpress is hands down the best way to create almost any kind of website. There are only a few things it's not suited for, such as forums and very complex ecommerce sites, but for any kind of site just designed to present information Wordpress is King.

      Now all you need to learn is how to create your own Wordpress themes, in Dreamweaver. It's actually not as hard as people might think, once you know what to do. I would say that if you can create an HTML site in Dreamweaver, it's not so huge to be able to at least make a page based Wordpress theme yourself. Getting your posts going has a little more to it, but if you are making an HTML page you don't have posts in the plan for your site anyway.

      Perhaps I might knock together some tutorials showing people how to build a traditional 5 page website in Dreamweaver, and make it work in Wordpress. Would that be of interest?
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  • Profile picture of the author Ilse
    Is there a plug in available for wordpress to make it a real cms (to add thousands of articles into several categories?)

    Thanks,

    Ilse
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      @ Kezz,

      Thanks way too much for taking the time to make such an informative post. And I also very much appreciate your offer regarding more info about WP theme work - I may be able to have time in the future to consult further, thanks again!

      David
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Ilse View Post

      Is there a plug in available for wordpress to make it a real cms (to add thousands of articles into several categories?)

      Thanks,

      Ilse
      I think "keywords to posts" might be the one.
      Hope that helps!
      David
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    • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
      Originally Posted by Ilse View Post

      Is there a plug in available for wordpress to make it a real cms (to add thousands of articles into several categories?)

      Thanks,

      Ilse
      lol good question. as I just recently realized the category problem myself. I originally had planned on just adding a forum to make things easier only to find out this popular affiliate theme couldn't protect the forum. I had to re plan everything and just when that was done Bam some guy releases a wso for a new membership program that does do what I need, protects forums etc.

      Anyway, I'm rambling there is probably some plugin out there that can handle the category issue but I don't know which one. One thing I was looking at though was setting up the categories and posts via a pinterest type plugin that way you could list then and just click to go to the posts.
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      • Profile picture of the author brillbranding
        I have been a web designer for the past 8 years or so. The last 2 years have been almost entirely Wordpress site. My clients are specifically asking for those, so obviously the "word" of Wordpress has been spread.

        That being said, the more and more Wordpress sites that I have built the more I am seeing a lot of issues with "purchased" Wordpress themes. Normally, I purchase a theme that is close to my clients' needs and brand them accordingly by adjusting their CSS files. The more themes I have downloaded the more problems that I am encountering with them!

        It's really tough to judge a Wordpress theme by its cover. You can do your due diligence and check for number of sales, ratings, comments, etc.. but more and more I have found that those factors simply aren't enough. You never really know what your getting with a theme until you download it and try to use it.

        The "demo sites" that the Wordpress authors create are usually heavily customized. The files that you download need to be customized as well. Usually they don't come "packaged" like the demo sites. You have to tweak to get it to look like the demo site and it usually involves some coding (PHP). Luckily I have a programmer to assist me when need be, but he costs money!

        I don't feel like I should have to pay extra in order to get most of these themes to work. Maybe Ive had a bad run the last 6 months or so with purchasing themes (I usually get them at ThemeForest), but it never fails that there is some kind of issue that pops up. I will hear things like "oh, just edit line 93 of the blahblah.php code by adding some variables," or "thanks, for notifying me of the trouble. I can do customizing for X amount extra."

        Long story short... I thought that Wordpress would save some time in the development stage, but usually it doesn't due to some "weird" issue with the Wordpress theme purchased. Granted, there have been some good themes downloaded, but I feel that the quality of Wordpress themes have gone down. Looks to me like these developers are just trying to make a quick buck and not be there for you in the long run. Wordpress is updated quite frequently and the developer really has a lot to do to stay up with it.

        Wordpress is a great framework, but still takes time (to work out the bugs and format pages/posts) which in turn costs you money IMO.
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        • Profile picture of the author Birdi
          When i first started using deamweaver i loved it, you have more control over your site design, google still likes sites designed and built by dreamweaver, but after using wordpress i loved it ... plus google tends to love wordpress sites... wordpress makes it easier to put together a site even if you don't know html ... i like both

          Birdi
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        • Profile picture of the author Walter Parrish
          Originally Posted by brillbranding View Post

          I have been a web designer for the past 8 years or so. The last 2 years have been almost entirely Wordpress site. My clients are specifically asking for those, so obviously the "word" of Wordpress has been spread.

          That being said, the more and more Wordpress sites that I have built the more I am seeing a lot of issues with "purchased" Wordpress themes. Normally, I purchase a theme that is close to my clients' needs and brand them accordingly by adjusting their CSS files. The more themes I have downloaded the more problems that I am encountering with them!

          It's really tough to judge a Wordpress theme by its cover. You can do your due diligence and check for number of sales, ratings, comments, etc.. but more and more I have found that those factors simply aren't enough. You never really know what your getting with a theme until you download it and try to use it.

          The "demo sites" that the Wordpress authors create are usually heavily customized. The files that you download need to be customized as well. Usually they don't come "packaged" like the demo sites. You have to tweak to get it to look like the demo site and it usually involves some coding (PHP). Luckily I have a programmer to assist me when need be, but he costs money!

          I don't feel like I should have to pay extra in order to get most of these themes to work. Maybe Ive had a bad run the last 6 months or so with purchasing themes (I usually get them at ThemeForest), but it never fails that there is some kind of issue that pops up. I will hear things like "oh, just edit line 93 of the blahblah.php code by adding some variables," or "thanks, for notifying me of the trouble. I can do customizing for X amount extra."

          Long story short... I thought that Wordpress would save some time in the development stage, but usually it doesn't due to some "weird" issue with the Wordpress theme purchased. Granted, there have been some good themes downloaded, but I feel that the quality of Wordpress themes have gone down. Looks to me like these developers are just trying to make a quick buck and not be there for you in the long run. Wordpress is updated quite frequently and the developer really has a lot to do to stay up with it.

          Wordpress is a great framework, but still takes time (to work out the bugs and format pages/posts) which in turn costs you money IMO.
          when I started reading your post the first thing that crossed my mind was he's probably using theme forest. themeforest has some ok themes, but I noticed that most of the themes are freelancers, who use themeforest to sell their themes. Some of them are still selling the themes themselves.

          outside of IM most designers seem to have gravitated over to Premium WordPress Themes by StudioPress for their needs, it seems to be the choice for the basic theme.
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          • Profile picture of the author wendyann
            I like this post, it brings back memories. Anyone remember Front Page? I built my first site with that in 2004. It took about 30 minutes to write the page and 30 minutes more to edit the crap out of the code.

            Wordpress is a dream to use and as long as it is updated when a new version comes out, it shouldn't pose a hacking threat.

            Wendy
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        • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
          Originally Posted by brillbranding View Post

          {snip}
          That being said, the more and more Wordpress sites that I have built the more I am seeing a lot of issues with "purchased" Wordpress themes. Normally, I purchase a theme that is close to my clients' needs and brand them accordingly by adjusting their CSS files. The more themes I have downloaded the more problems that I am encountering with them!

          It's really tough to judge a Wordpress theme by its cover. You can do your due diligence and check for number of sales, ratings, comments, etc.. but more and more I have found that those factors simply aren't enough. You never really know what your getting with a theme until you download it and try to use it.

          {/snip}.
          A lot of paid themes and some of the free ones have stupid problems-interfaces that are too difficult for customers to ever make the smallest changes (of course there's a plus side to that), things that are buried an extra level or two deeper than they need be and even advertised functionality that just doesn't work reliably.
          I think in general the free themes are vetted better and not rushed out before they are ready in an effort to make money. They are usually much easier to work with also.
          It's a nuisance when customers fall in love with the look of a theme not realizing they can all be made to look any way you want, and they should be judged on what they can do more than how they look.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Okey dokey then, I'll plan to do a screen capture of this and make it public. I'm starting to do a series of training videos as it stands anyhow, and this would be a good inclusion I think.

    I did do one on how to set up permalinks for wordpress, but the synching went all pear shaped after I finished uploading to YouTube. I used Cam Studio, which is like Camtasia but open source. I guess maybe I'll have to go against my open source inclinations and pick up Camtasia. Hmph, double hmph.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Okey dokey then, I'll plan to do a screen capture of this and make it public. I'm starting to do a series of training videos as it stands anyhow, and this would be a good inclusion I think.

      I did do one on how to set up permalinks for wordpress, but the synching went all pear shaped after I finished uploading to YouTube. I used Cam Studio, which is like Camtasia but open source. I guess maybe I'll have to go against my open source inclinations and pick up Camtasia. Hmph, double hmph.
      lol - yeah, I'll vouch for Camtasia. I posted here some time ago on the WF asking should I just spend the $$$ on Camtasia or use another (free or cheaper) alternative.

      The consensus was, in short summary, don't muck around, get Camtasia.

      I know, too little too late, right?

      BTW: I had a $100 gift cert for Dell - I got it cheap on Dell's site plus the $100 GC, Dell practically paid me to buy it... but seriously, check Dell's price against for actual CD delivery (download is fine, but I like having the CD) against the TechSmith site...)

      Maybe that way you can save a few bucks.

      Hope that helps!
      David
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        @ Kezz - I'd look forward to seeing those vids! Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author warfore
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Okey dokey then, I'll plan to do a screen capture of this and make it public. I'm starting to do a series of training videos as it stands anyhow, and this would be a good inclusion I think.

      I did do one on how to set up permalinks for wordpress, but the synching went all pear shaped after I finished uploading to YouTube. I used Cam Studio, which is like Camtasia but open source. I guess maybe I'll have to go against my open source inclinations and pick up Camtasia. Hmph, double hmph.
      This why I like this forum. Always farming "golden nuggets". Was not aware of an open source program for screen capture video. I will have to check it out.
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    • Profile picture of the author MeCanX
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Okey dokey then, I'll plan to do a screen capture of this and make it public. I'm starting to do a series of training videos as it stands anyhow, and this would be a good inclusion I think.

      I did do one on how to set up permalinks for wordpress, but the synching went all pear shaped after I finished uploading to YouTube. I used Cam Studio, which is like Camtasia but open source. I guess maybe I'll have to go against my open source inclinations and pick up Camtasia. Hmph, double hmph.
      I used Cam Studio for about 5 minutes and dumped it as...Camtasia rocks the socks off of everything!

      Can't say that I've tried it on a WP blog yet though...hmmm...

      It's expensive but worth it...

      here's a quick example...just a page I created to show peeps how to sign up on my site...(this is just an old link that I don't use anymore)

      Niche Marketing Zorro - Saving the Lost Niche Marketer

      I like the fact that I could easily edit the pages also that it produced automatically for me...but for some reason DreamWeaver always seemed to want to re-write the code...and then my videos wouldn't work...

      So I just put it in a simple editor now and utilize it that way...

      I can't say that I've tried adding the videos to a WP blog yet though...
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      • Profile picture of the author Kezz
        Originally Posted by MeCanX View Post

        I can't say that I've tried adding the videos to a WP blog yet though...
        It's super easy because you can just install a plugin that lets you just enter the address of the video with some brackets around it. For example, using Vipers Video Quicktags, you can post a YouTube address by just typing [youtube]videoaddress[/youtube]. In fact, you don't even have to type out the brackets, as the plugin will add a button to your editor - you paste in your video address, highlight it, push the button and it will wrap the brackets around the address. Super handy.

        Originally Posted by Jimnopks View Post

        Camtasia used to have a free version version 3 that does a pretty good job.
        Techsmith offers free Camtasia Studio download
        Posted in 2007 so may not be valid, but worht a try.
        Jim
        Arg, thanks Jim but I already went out and bought it! I haven't played with it as yet, always so much to do. Will enjoy having a tinker soon though and seeing what I can come up with. Thanks for posting that link though!
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  • Profile picture of the author MeCanX
    I use WP for everything now as it's quick to install and makes my life so much easier because it does all the hard work for me...!

    I used to use a program to install it but for some reason IE8 would make my pages look like crap...so I started doing it the manual way and it fixed it all...

    Dreamweaver now is just my sitemap editor now...LOL
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by MeCanX View Post

      Dreamweaver now is just my sitemap editor now...LOL
      Hey MeCanX - do you generate your sitemaps using xml-sitemaps.com?

      I'm curious what type of tweaking you do on your sitemaps in DW...

      Thanks!

      David
      PS: others may be tuning in for your answer too....
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      • Profile picture of the author MeCanX
        Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

        Hey MeCanX - do you generate your sitemaps using xml-sitemaps.com?

        I'm curious what type of tweaking you do on your sitemaps in DW...

        Thanks!

        David
        PS: others may be tuning in for your answer too....
        Well, when I was doing regular websites and was using software to create a sitemap for them...I would always have to go in and just make sure that the software didn't add a bunch of crap.

        And I say that by the fact that it would pick up on random pages that I didn't need to be indexed...so I would just go in and delete those pages...

        I mainly use WordPress now and I just go in to check to see if it's updating itself when I add new pages...WP kind of takes all the work out of having to "tweak it" anymore...and I've learned that Google loves WP's sitemaps...

        DreamWeaver just organizes it better vs. other editors that I've tried. AKA help you be able to go through it faster...

        So why screw with what works right?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Yeah it works great for the actual screen capture part. I just haven't figured out how to get the end resulting video compressed nicely and running smoothly. Think I'll have to check out David's recommended buy locations for Camtasia. I've already lost hours trying to convert and compress that video, arg!

    Maybe I can save the video I already made by running it through Camtasia. Will keep everyone posted on the vids!
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Yeah it works great for the actual screen capture part. I just haven't figured out how to get the end resulting video compressed nicely and running smoothly. Think I'll have to check out David's recommended buy locations for Camtasia. I've already lost hours trying to convert and compress that video, arg!

      Maybe I can save the video I already made by running it through Camtasia. Will keep everyone posted on the vids!
      I recently discovered that Google Docs offers a way-cool Powerpoint-like ability to create a presentation complete with player, then stick it up on a website. May not have all the functions you need, but it's pretty darn cool.

      And if you've spent hours, well Kezz my friend, you owe it to yourself to have tools that do what you want them to do when you want them to do them. Hope that doesn't sound preachy! You know the old "wha'ts your time worth" thing....

      Cheers!
      David
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      • Profile picture of the author Kezz
        Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

        I recently discovered that Google Docs offers a way-cool Powerpoint-like ability to create a presentation complete with player, then stick it up on a website. May not have all the functions you need, but it's pretty darn cool.

        And if you've spent hours, well Kezz my friend, you owe it to yourself to have tools that do what you want them to do when you want them to do them. Hope that doesn't sound preachy! You know the old "wha'ts your time worth" thing....

        Cheers!
        David
        Not preachy at all! I've decided I'm getting myself some Camtasic goodness today. Messing around with the last video was too much time lost already. All going well, expect to see some videos soon.

        Speaking of that, what's the etiquette with posting videos here? I'd like to put these videos up on YouTube and mention the name of my site to get some traffic, but I'd also like to share them here with Warriors and not step on any toes. What do you think?

        Checking out the Google Docs presentation as we speak btw

        @bidmarket If you don't want to touch code, Ralph's recommendation of Artiseer is probably the way to go. Otherwise, it's essentially impossible to change existing themes without touching code.
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        • Profile picture of the author bidmarket
          Kezz- thank you. that does look like the direction I want to take.

          what is the downside of using artiseer to create themes versus buying themes such as thesis? is it not possible to use artiseer to create themes that are similar to thesis or revolution?

          I really appreciate your input.
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          • Profile picture of the author embrown
            Originally Posted by JustaWizard View Post

            I recently discovered that Google Docs offers a way-cool Powerpoint-like ability to create a presentation complete with player, then stick it up on a website. May not have all the functions you need, but it's pretty darn cool.

            And if you've spent hours, well Kezz my friend, you owe it to yourself to have tools that do what you want them to do when you want them to do them. Hope that doesn't sound preachy! You know the old "wha'ts your time worth" thing....

            Cheers!
            David
            I'm such a Google fangirl. A guy I used to know used Google Docs for his customer surveys, too. I have absolutely no clue how, but I'm thinking it involved the spreadsheet somehow.

            sorry, I never got a chance to talk about how cool I thought that was.

            </OT>

            Yea, but thanks Kazz. I am really looking forward to the WP info. I found an awesome shopping cart that runs on WP this morning and I'm dying to learn how to skin it.
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            • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
              Originally Posted by embrown View Post

              I found an awesome shopping cart that runs on WP this morning and I'm dying to learn how to skin it.
              Hey, what shopping cart did you find??
              David
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  • Profile picture of the author rlpruitt
    Without a doubt, WordPress' theme implementation is the bomb.

    Plus, if you can't find a theme that does it for you, Artisteer lets you build custom themes in no time.

    Ralph
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  • Profile picture of the author C A Perez
    Man oh man,
    I joined WF three months ago. I'm a newbie. I can't begin to thank all of you for your posts. Ive learned so much in the past hour or so by reading posts on here. I'm hooked! This is really the first itme I've taken the time to scan the forum. I spent the day searching the Internet looking for a hosting service and for a simple but complete website/blog creating tool. Thanks again, for your posts.

    C A Perez
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by C A Perez View Post

      Man oh man,
      I joined WF three months ago. I'm a newbie. I can't begin to thank all of you for your posts. Ive learned so much in the past hour or so by reading posts on here. I'm hooked! This is really the first itme I've taken the time to scan the forum. I spent the day searching the Internet looking for a hosting service and for a simple but complete website/blog creating tool. Thanks again, for your posts.

      C A Perez
      This place (the Warrior Forum) really does rock. For the most part people are really friendly and helpful - I've gleaned a ton of terrific tidbits and stellar strategies from being here. I share your enthusiasm! Welcome aboard!

      David
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Well I haven't used Artiseer myself, but it does have its own distinctive look and feel from what I can gather. Thesis and Revolution also each have their own unique look, so yeah you can't really make one look like the other. Each of them are what they are in a nutshell.

    I'm probably not too qualified to give you the pros and cons of Artiseer, having not used it, but I do hear nothing but positive reports about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author radio
    with the new features of wordpress 2.8 - installing themes and plugins is a breeze. i have set up friends and family w/ sites by doing the main install and then they amaze me at how quickly they can add their favorite theme and plugins. it's really phenomenal... like they say on their homepage

    WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jimnopks
    Camtasia used to have a free version version 3 that does a pretty good job.

    Techsmith offers free Camtasia Studio download

    Posted in 2007 so may not be valid, but worht a try.

    Jim
    Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author TelegramSam
    Horses for courses as they say.

    DW has its place.

    xsitepro has its place.

    Wordpress is very good.

    Once you get your site to require an even better solution (more visitors, more control needed, better back-end, need more functionality etc.) then you start to go down the drupal path.

    Now that I am beyond the basics with drupal, I will never go back to a static html site unless it is less than 40 or 50 pages.

    Even then, if I want some functionality and interaction I will go with drupal.

    Most people need to spend a few dozen hours to at least get to a reasonable beginner status in my opinion, but the time investment is definitely worth it.

    The more I learn about drupal, the more I am impressed with its power.
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Originally Posted by TelegramSam View Post


      The more I learn about drupal, the more I am impressed with its power.
      Aaaaauuuughg!

      Just kidding.

      I wish I had dozens of hours to learn Drupal!
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      • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
        @ Kezz:

        Shoot, I couldn't get to the forum for a day or two, and missed all this good stuff, dang!

        Video posting on WF: I'm not sure what their policy is, I've seen videos posted before. If you're posting free info with no upsells, I don't see how the mods could object............??

        Free Camtasia: Nope, you did the right thing getting the full version 'cause it has way more stuff like editing and many other capabilities a user like you (I can tell!) would want.

        Hopefully I'll be back sooooon!!!

        David
        PS: man, the coolest people have been replying on this thread, thanks everyone!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Sattarmalik
    Yes and it is fact that WP beats theDreamweaver
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    • Profile picture of the author dlundy1
      Originally Posted by Sattarmalik View Post

      Yes and it is fact that WP beats the Dreamweaver
      -- uhhh.. I disagree lol I believe that Wordpress is just a "Quick-Fix" for the NON-designers. But after creating 200 websites... you will Notice that they all BASICALLY LOOK the same! DW= Customization
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    • Profile picture of the author dlundy1
      Originally Posted by Sattarmalik View Post

      Yes and it is fact that WP beats the Dreamweaver
      -- uhhh.. I disagree lol I believe that Wordpress is just a "Quick-Fix" for the NON-designers. But after creating 200 websites... you will Notice that they all BASICALLY LOOK the same! DW= Customization
      Signature

      Don't Give UP! See how I made mt first $69.73 online :)

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  • Profile picture of the author High Impact
    The thing about CMS, is that I optimise my clients websites and then they change something with their CMS and ruin the optimisation, then want to know why they have dropped out of google for important keywords, lol. Ive never used dreamweaver, but I have made quite a few sites with web studio 4 (another wysiwyg) If you are going to use a cms, just make sure it doesnt javascript all the content, I had a client who had a HUGE website, 22 pages of real quality content, his javascript cms meant that out of all the whole sites content, google and other search engines could only see about 30 words on a small side bar from the home page.
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  • Profile picture of the author nontemplates
    My goodness are you guys really serious about Aristeer?

    I mean if all you want is a site that looks like the thousands being belted out with that software then fine but I can tell you right now that hundreds of these themes are being belted out to free wordpress theme directories (with sponsored links for backlinks) that you might as well just pick an existing free theme and replace some images (or not).

    and if you know enough to customize the aristeer theme then you will find it far easier to locate a wordpress theme close to the layout and features you want and go from there.
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  • Strange... I personally DreamWeaver for the full control you get.
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  • Profile picture of the author Willie Crawford
    While I have a lot of sites built on WordPress, Dreamweaver
    definitely gives me more control in getting a site to look exactly
    the way that I want it to.

    So, I'm still a big Dreamweaver fan.

    I have more sites built on WP than Dreamweaver, but I don't think
    that I'll ever stop using DW

    Willie
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  • Profile picture of the author SandraLarkin
    Banned
    Absolutely 100% agree. However, some major designers are going to have to use a program like Dreamweaver to design more complicated sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author WEBGEEK
    I Love Wordpress. Best way to create amazing websites without burning your head so much.
    So much free themes are available so its cost effective too
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  • Profile picture of the author Simon Ashari
    I only use wordpress.

    For me, creating a site with wordpress means actually making a site. You may be able to make better sites in dreamweaver, but if you are new then wordpress is the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author roxitsc
    You still need Dreamweaver to code the WordPress themes :p
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin McNally
    I use both but prefer html sites as I find them easier to update and they have less security risks than wordpress. One of my blogs got hacked and it was a real pain to say the least.

    Dreamweaver is a great option but being honest it was too advanced for me when I first started online and I took months trying to get a site online ! If you know html and can design it's the number one option for most folk.

    Back in the day I used frontpage and netscape to design sites, I bought a WSO recently where the guy was using microsoft word to upload to facebook, now that is back in the day !
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex6534
    Has anyone got experience with HeadWay theme? I'm new to all this and HeadWay seem to be pretty good. Since these frameworks e.g Headway, Thesis, Genesis and the sorts cost money I@d rather hear some people's opinions. However I definitely agree with everyone here, Wordpress has made things so much simpler. I'm currently studying interactive Media and they teach with Dreamweaver, let me just say that within a few minutes on Wordpress I've smashed my Dreamweaver site in terms of looks and functionality.
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    • Profile picture of the author SergioFelix
      Originally Posted by Alex6534 View Post

      Has anyone got experience with HeadWay theme? I'm new to all this and HeadWay seem to be pretty good. Since these frameworks e.g Headway, Thesis, Genesis and the sorts cost money I@d rather hear some people's opinions. However I definitely agree with everyone here, Wordpress has made things so much simpler. I'm currently studying interactive Media and they teach with Dreamweaver, let me just say that within a few minutes on Wordpress I've smashed my Dreamweaver site in terms of looks and functionality.
      With HeadWay themes you can literally "paint" your wordpress theme and it's very easy to learn once you watch their videos (and it's much better than Artisteer).

      I would avoid Thesis 2.0 if you're just getting started as it comes with a very steep learning curve and Thesis 1.8 is a lot easier to handle but you still have to study a lot to be able to do exactly what you want.

      If you like the Genesis framework you can go for the Prose theme, it's highly customizable right from the dashboard panel.

      Same goes for Canvas from StudioPress.

      Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author charm01
    Is Wordpress more of like a drag and drop thingy? Or still needs codes like Dreamweaver? Is it convenient and much more easy to use? I really love to know, thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zazz
      Originally Posted by charm01 View Post

      Is Wordpress more of like a drag and drop thingy? Or still needs codes like Dreamweaver? Is it convenient and much more easy to use? I really love to know, thanks!
      there is not much drag-and-drop in WP. A little, yes.
      But mostly WP is a lot of text forms you have to fill out,
      (in the admin section)
      which personally tend to put me to sleep after awhile.
      As I said previously, there is no "perfect" solution.
      But if you don't know much about site-building,
      WP feels like a wonderful tool. Which it definitely is.
      So give it a try and see for yourself if it fits

      hope this helps...
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  • Profile picture of the author maxaurelius
    First I thought you kept making sites on dreamweaver, but then I re-read the title.

    Dreamweaver is a thing of the past. It's like using a cassette player rather than an ipad mini. To many resources available to be stuck on a program like that especially in this day and era.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sumaryan85
      Originally Posted by maxaurelius View Post

      First I thought you kept making sites on dreamweaver, but then I re-read the title.

      Dreamweaver is a thing of the past. It's like using a cassette player rather than an ipad mini. To many resources available to be stuck on a program like that especially in this day and era.
      I think you just blurping things out man, haha.
      basiclly the original poster here is not a web developer, so he went from dreamweaver to wordpress. wordpress is free, dreamweaver cost you an elephant. I think its obvious which one you choose.

      you have to learn lots of things to use deamweaver, but for wordpress you just install it and bam there you go, your site is done. and you can easily learn how to install/operating wordpress easily just by browsing the internet. not so much with dreamweaver.

      but for guys like me that work in web design/development, using dreamweaver is like using microsoft office. its not the only software out there, but certainly one of the most powerful tool for web development.

      everytime I get a custom wp theme project, after finishing the mock up with photoshop, what do you think i do next? convert it in to html, and then code it in to wp theme using dw. I dont think you can compare dw with wp as old cassette and ipad mini lol.

      you can ask every single author in theme related site like themeforest,elegant theme etc.. how do they make a wp theme and plugins? most of them gonna answer using their creative brain but dw as a tool (most of them are dorks like me hahahah just kidding).

      my point is justawizard here is giving advice to other marketers to use the fast effective way but not comparing dw and wp because they cant be compared since they are different things.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeye
    I used to use Dreamweaver to build HTML sites and it's still the best for that purpose. But when it comes to building Web 2.0 sites to interact with visitors, Wordpress is the best. It's faster and easier to design and add/change contents and more powerful and flexible with all kinds of plugins. Once started using it, I've never gone back to use Dreamweaver again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Can you guys just stop this insane practice of calling WodPress a "web design tool"?
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    • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Can you guys just stop this insane practice of calling WodPress a "web design tool"?

      LOL Istvan is the man. Maybe you could make shortcut key that runs a script that make a post saying this...

      I know you must feel like you're beating a dead horse
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  • Profile picture of the author davemiz
    lol.... Istvan, you're 100% right.

    wordpress is just a CMS, content management system.

    its great for that.

    amazing.

    but its was not designed to be used as a sales funnel.... ppl who use it as one are making a huge mistake and you're costing yourself sales. (i've tested this so i'm not talking outta my rear end)

    you see there's this thing called a database... and wordpress speaks to it when you try to load the page... and this slows things down.

    straight up html page has none of that.

    and we all know how important pageload/speed are to conversions....
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    • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
      So let's say I want to make a Jobs site or a dating site or an auction site what makes Wordpress a better choice for this ?
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      • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
        Originally Posted by ronc0011 View Post

        So let's say I want to make a Jobs site or a dating site or an auction site what makes Wordpress a better choice for this ?
        Nothing. Despite the fact that you may (will?) receive a zillion replies from uneducated WP-users stating the opposite
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        • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
          Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

          Nothing. Despite the fact that you may (will?) receive a zillion replies from uneducated WP-users stating the opposite

          Yeah I was wondering where's the plugin that's going to handle all the DB backend for the dating site or the Auction site. That's going to mean something that will store user input and according to user ID and access data in response to user queries. Lots of fancy interaction I know there are already similar things out there for example Bulletin board plugins have a lot of this kind of functionality One problem I see with this is that as soon as someone writes a plugin for let's say an auction site then Auction sites are going to start popping up everywhere. same with dating sites or jobsites etc.etc.
          Yeah one of the reasons I asked this is because I' worked a little bit with ASP and Visual Studio and working with the database tools is amazingly flexible You can build and design on the fly to do pretty much anything you want. Way cool stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author XeBii
    WordPress is super awesome
    But i really love to code Traditionally & Dreamweaver does the job for me
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  • Profile picture of the author Thuuyavan
    I've found that with most of the sites I build I end up using the same plugins, and often the same theme even (it's user-customizeable), so I've just created a directory with that stuff in it, and now after the 1 click install, I just upload that directory and I've got an SEO ready, powerful site at my fingertips to start playing with.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Anyone that thinks plain HTML isn't profitable in 2012 is missing a HUGE upsell opportunity.

    Stop thinking "Is one better than the other?", start thinking "How can I convert this traffic into an upsell?".

    Get paid twice.

    BTW, WP is a CMS, it's silly to compare WP to an HTML editor.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikeye
    My experience with Dreamweaver and knowledge of HTML codes allow me to go behind the WrodPress themes and adjust some codes to meet my requirements and preferences.
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  • Profile picture of the author izoweb
    whats the point you can code a WP site on dreamweaver...
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  • Profile picture of the author Seoptimistic
    A friend of mine told me he is learning HTML at school but he told his teacher that he is using WordPress

    How can you use Wordpress if you don't use HTML?
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  • Profile picture of the author spesialis
    I never use Dreamweaver, so I don't know what it does.

    Well I know what it does, but I'm not sure what justify the price tag.

    Is there anything Dreamweaver can do, that notepad++ (text editor) and FTP software and googling can't do?
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