8 replies to this topic

[Latina]

Hi, i have just started an CSS, XHTML cursus, at the moment we get basic lessons to leart how to use different editors, my question is, if is posible to download completly free a working old version of dreamweaver.

And i would like to know if is useful to learnt dreamweaver this way cause the last version is CS5, is the different in every new version and the last but one so big till the point is useless to leart dreamweaver in dreamweaver CS4 for example.

Some links where to get in a save way without virus a copy of dreamweaver is appreciated

[CommittedC0der]

Well if your just taking a course, goto Adobe's website and download a 30 day trail of the latest verion of Dreamweaver. I would suppose your not just using Dreamweaver for the whole course, and if you are, quit the course. Dreamweaver cost about $1000 and make's theeeee crappiest code Ive ever seen, download notepad++, and teach yourself XHTML/CSS from: W3Schools Online Web Tutorials you'll be much better off. ;)

~ Committed.

[zeroradius]

@CommittedCoder - Dreamweaver is a great program. I had the same attitude as you for a long time until i started using dreamweaver on a regular basis. You don't have to use the WYSIWYG aspect of it. It has many great tools build in making it easy for you to build, publish, and manage sites.

@Latina - There are usualy only small changes between each version of dreamweaver. I know that between cs2 and cs4 there were only a small handful of changes and those changes were small but powerful like live view and live code which allow me to preview and test my web pages (including the php moduals) from dreamweaver. The FTP, CodeNavigator, and other things that are used the most by the devwelopers stayed the same. I would assume this to be the case between cs4 and cs5.

[CommittedC0der]

Quote

@CommittedCoder - Dreamweaver is a great program. I had the same attitude as you for a long time until i started using dreamweaver on a regular basis. You don't have to use the WYSIWYG aspect of it. It has many great tools build in making it easy for you to build, publish, and manage sites.

Yes im sure it is a nice program to edit code and upload files ect. But you can easily get npp++ and filezilla to do that same job, yes it may not be as handy or as nice but its free, unlike Dreamweaver costing over a $1000.

[zeroradius]

it does a lot more than code editing and managing FTP. A few other things (just a few there are a lot of other thing it does) Code navigator lets you quickly jump to code held in asset files so you don't have to look throu file after file for a single line of code. Live view lets you preview the site and test it (including server side moduals) from the program. Live code allows you to view what the page source code will be once launched. You can insert PSD banners and if they needed edited just click on them and they open in photoshop for quick editing. Code check out is great for working in teams and prevents people from accidently editing the same files at the same time. My favorite feature of all is of course templating, I don't know if you are familar with asp.net but it has a feature that is called master pages and that is a feature i always wanted for my non .net pages, with dreamweaver i have that in the templating system.


You will continue to dislike dreamweaver until you use the extra features heavily. I understand because as I said I was the same way. You have a point that dreamweaver is expensive and I agree that just up and buying it is not the best idea (i got the entire master collection for $2000 is the only reason i have it, yay student discount). Even so it is a great tool once you learn it and I strongly recomend it for buisness and the less hounest that don't ever pay for anything.

(ps- sorry for the spelling, me and chrome are fighting (it dosent want the back button to work, so no spell check.)

Edit:

@Topic poster - If you are a uni student and want to but it try here: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 Student and Teacher Edition for Win with Academic Discount at JourneyEd.com that is dreamweaver for $149 you save $250.

or

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Web Premium Student and Teacher Edition for Win with Academic Discount at JourneyEd.com that is the web premium package for $449 a $1350 savings


That site is great and gives mad discounts. I saved thousands of dollars when i was in uni by ordering there. Even got me a draw pad for dirt cheap.

[opwuaioc]

I'm going to have to disagree. Anything that Dreamweaver can do, you can get elsewhere for free. It may not be as handy, but the cost outweighs the benefit. I use it because I have it, and perhaps I'm not fully taking advantage of all its features, but Live Code, no matter how great it is, isn't worth $250 when you can just upload to a server (or put it in your LAMP/WAMP folder) and test it that way.

[zeroradius]

I personaly find the templates and code navigator make it worth buying and then I get a lot of extra features i like thrown in as a bonus (intelesense, bracket matching, etc). In the end it is a question of your personal opinion and what conveniance means to you. I use to think that you should not use anything but plain old notepad, as I began to do more and more programming and began to try out more tools i relised how blind I was. You also need to think in the terms of career outlook, quite a few companies want you to be profeciant in the adobe suite including dreamweaver. I don't think people should be discouraged from using it because it really is a poweful tool. Let them try it and form their own opinion.

If you still don't think its worth the money go to File -> share my screen, set up a free acount log in and invite sombody to the room. Try out ALL the tools in there (some are hidden). Now imagine you are a freelancer and need to work with a client or a partner in another part of the world. Keep in mind that you can have up to three people in their at one time for free (more then three cost you) and you can pw protect it. Now tell me it isn't worth the money :c-grin:

Edit: the last assumes you are using cs4

[opwuaioc]

Share my screen is also present with CS5. And I fully agree that being proficient in Dreamweaver is (and probably will remain for a while) a requirement for the industry. That doesn't mean it's necessary for a budding designer who's merely building a portfolio, or who is still learning, or who is an amateur. Like all programs, all these factors need to be weighed.

[zeroradius]

(i din't know if you were using MX or one of the early versions of CS, i've never used cs5 eaither so i did not know one way or the other on it). I never said it was necessary, I was just trying to counter commited's argument that dreamweaver is a bad piece of software. It really is a great tool once you learn to use it .... at least thats my opinion. Also if you to plan on buying it i think while in uni is the best time to do so because A) Journeyed has great discounts B) You get at least one huge tax return. The combination of the two is how i bought the cs4 masters collection.