web design

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Hi. I'm after a few ideas I'm wanting to install a web editor on my MBP and would like some input from anyone who has experience. I have been given (by a friend) some potential editors: Notepad++, Komodo, KompoZer all free, also Coda, Rapidweaver, Sandox, SiteStudio, SKEdit and Smultron. What I would like to know is which are compatible with Mac. I am a beginner and think maybe a free one to start with and then progress to better ones. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
 

Raz0rEdge

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Are you looking for a simple text editor to be able to do the web development or are you looking for a WYSIWYG editor where you create a site more by typing rather than coding?

Rapidweaver falls in the latter category where you drag and drop different components and create your site. There are also online versions of this like Wix and Squarespace. On the other hand, Notepad++ is just a plain text editor that you will use to code your site.

What is your level of knowledge with coding/web development?
 
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Thanks for your response. I'm a beginner and pretty much at the start of learning not to sure on which one to choose to get me going.
Someone told me that Notepad++ is not for Mac is that true.
I'm not sure but would using WYSIWYG be easier for me to start with. Also would it be better to get one from the App store or online.
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Notepad++ is only available for Windows. macOS has Textwrangler which is very similar. I use Atom as a code editor for all of my needs.

I don't believe there are any free WYSIWYG packages out there, but they are definitely much easier to use because they hide all of the complexities of web development. Long term, however, you might be better served grabbing a book on web development starting there.

The problem is that there so many web technologies out there that it's hard to know where to start.

Depending on what you are trying to create, you'll need to get smart on both the front-end and back-end server stuff..
 
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If you're just getting started, be sure you understand what it is that you're looking to do.

There's a difference between true web design and setting up and managing a web site. If you're going to truly be doing web design, then you need a really good text editor for sure. And, it might make sense to look into some various design software (which isn't necessarily cheap).

If you want to set up a web site, update the design to suit yourself, and then mainly focus on the content, then pretty much any text editor will do and you should focus instead on a good Content Management System suite. There are a lot of choices for a CMS, including Wordpress, where you get a template set up the way you like and then you only have to focus on writing the articles (which you do through the web interface of Wordpress and not with a text editor).
 
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Notepad++ is only available for Windows. macOS has Textwrangler which is very similar. I use Atom as a code editor for all of my needs.

I don't believe there are any free WYSIWYG packages out there, but they are definitely much easier to use because they hide all of the complexities of web development. Long term, however, you might be better served grabbing a book on web development starting there.

The problem is that there so many web technologies out there that it's hard to know where to start.

Depending on what you are trying to create, you'll need to get smart on both the front-end and back-end server stuff..

Thanks RazOrEdge. I do more looking.
 
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If you're just getting started, be sure you understand what it is that you're looking to do.

There's a difference between true web design and setting up and managing a web site. If you're going to truly be doing web design, then you need a really good text editor for sure. And, it might make sense to look into some various design software (which isn't necessarily cheap).

If you want to set up a web site, update the design to suit yourself, and then mainly focus on the content, then pretty much any text editor will do and you should focus instead on a good Content Management System suite. There are a lot of choices for a CMS, including Wordpress, where you get a template set up the way you like and then you only have to focus on writing the articles (which you do through the web interface of Wordpress and not with a text editor).

Also thanks to you Ember1205 for your help. A lot to look and think about. Cheers.
 
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Hi RazOEdge just downloaded Atom. Now as a newbie with this editor can you give me some tips or have you got a PDF on this so I can read up on how to use this editor. Something to get me started.
Thanks
 
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All I can say is that none of the editors or WYSIWYG programs do it all! I use several to do what I do. Text Wrangler is fairly nice, but it is an editor. Dreamweaver is nice, but it costs. You can do a lot with an editor. It also will teach you the inner code of a web page. There are many videos, websites that will teach you HTML. Having the knowledge to change things enables you to do pretty much anything you want.
 

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Hi RazOEdge just downloaded Atom. Now as a newbie with this editor can you give me some tips or have you got a PDF on this so I can read up on how to use this editor. Something to get me started.
Thanks

Check out Atom's own documentation which will explain how to navigate Atom.
 
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i'll suggest you to go with notepade++ its also campatibale with mac as well...
so if you're at beginner stage then i highly recommend you notepade++ as its simple and easy to use...
by the way, whats you level of web programming?

Cheers!
#Brain
 
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Hi. I'm after a few ideas I'm wanting to install a web editor on my MBP and would like some input from anyone who has experience.


I don't know why more people don't know about this awesome Web site creation program. It's free (some extended features are only available if you pay for them, but none of them are terribly important), WYSIWYG (but there is a built-in text editor if you choose to work with the raw HTML, and it helps you by allowing you to add HTML commands with one click), easy to use (if you know how to use a word processor you will take to this program quickly), and full featured. It's great for beginners and experienced Web designers alike.

BlueGriffon (free)
http://bluegriffon.org/
It was just recently updated extensively.

Free video tutorial series:
(The tutorial does not use the Mac version of the program, but the program is virtually identical across platforms.)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC06B5890CFFF491C
Other free BlueGriffon tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bluegriffon+tutorials

BlueGriffon's user manual is commercial (not free), but it's not necessary if you view the above tutorial.

Now, here's the best thing about BlueGriffon...it can do something that very few other WYSIWYG Web site creation programs can do...it can import existing Web sites in HTML format. Why is that important? Because if you have previously been using a program that is basically a page layout program with an HTML converter on top of it you can only export your existing Web site in either a proprietary format that nothing else can open, or you can export your Web site in HTML format. So, using BlueGriffon you can migrate from any other Web site creation program.

Even better, you can suck down the raw HTML from any existing site on the Web using something like SiteSucker, and use it as a template/starting point for your project. Basically this means that you have access to an unlimited number of free templates!

Some tips for using BlueGriffon:

1. When you first open it, the interface will look terrible. Don't get discouraged. Do this:
BlueGriffon menu --> Preferences --> General tab --> Theme -> enable "Light"
The interface will now look world's better!

2. The sidebar in the program isn't active by default. In the Panels menu choose Style Properties, and you should instantly get a sense of the value of the sidebar.
 
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