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On page two (2) of Tools of the Trade, we will focus on a
few of the most popular Web Design programs on the market today.
Obviously, there are dozens of these programs available, including
shareware and freeware, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
Whether you like the following programs or not (and I, personally,
do NOT like them all), they have all been around for awhile and will
probably be around for a few years to come. What this means to
the Parish Webmaster is that there are resources available to
support your use of any of these programs, which should be a very
important factor if you are not a software and design guru.
And so, let us begin with the rants, raves and reviews...
For those of you who do not care to learn even a
smattering of HTML, and simply want a very basic Parish Web site,
Trellix Web may be the program for you. Known for it's sheer
simplicity, this program won't even let you edit the HTML
code! In fact, the HTML is not even generated until the pages are
exported. (The drawback to this is that the WYSIWYG is not
guaranteed to be accurate. And elements such as animated GIFs must
be previewed in an external browser.)
If you have used Microsoft's Power Point presentation
software, the style of the toolbars, design themes and placeholders
will seem very familiar. To start your Parish Web site, you can
either choose to use a template or a wizard. Although you are
somewhat limited by these choices, Trellix Web does allow you to
rearrange and rename individual pages within the template or wizard
before it actually generates the site.
The work area is divide into two parts: the top being a
schematic site map (and allows access to the site management
features), and the rest of the screen is filled by the
almost-WYSIWYG view of the current page.
One thing to strongly consider is the fact that Trellix
Web does not currently support CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which
are gaining much wider acceptance by the
"powers-that-be-developing-browsers". The program merely
generates simple <font> tags to control the internal text
styles. This, of course, means that each and every page must be
changed when you want to change the style of your Parish Web site.
That may not seem like a monumental task, considering that the
program will generate the changes for you. But it also means that
your entire Web site must be uploaded again in order to make a
universal change... which may be a long, slow process if your site
has become fairly robust and you are connecting over a 56k modem!
Another "design" issue with Trellix Web is that
it does not support absolute positioning. Much like older versions
of other popular design suites (FrontPage 98 comes to mind), you are
forced to use the table editor to create multicolumn designs. Still
a far cry from having to hand-code HTML tables, but nowhere near as
nice as absolute positioning.
If you are looking for a program to use for the
maintenance and updating of your current Parish Web site, you will
want to look elsewhere. Trellix Web does not allow you to import an
existing site.
It does, however, have container pages which let you
either capture or reference an HTML document through a simple
point-and-click method. Or, by utilizing the program's Web Gems, you
can snag the HTML code from a partner site. You are protected from
having to edit HTML by simply copying and pasting the code into a
Web Gem dialog box.
When you are finished creating your site, Trellix Web
exports your site to HTML. The FTP process is a breeze, too.
Although the Trellix Web is extremely bare-bones compared to many
other novice-level programs, it can be a very quick and easy way to
get a Parish Web site online. If you want to have more than a point
of presence site though, I recommend either NetObjects Fusion or
Microsoft FrontPage 2000...
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With a wide-variety of views from which to choose,
NetObjects Fusion provides a multitude of ways with which to look at
your site, yet it basically functions like a desktop publishing
program. You are able to place images anywhere on a page with
pixel-level accuracy, and it is thus an ideal program for a
graphics-intensive Web site. On the other hand, if you are looking
for a program with which to build a text-heavy site, or if you want
absolute control over the HTML code, you would be wise to look
elsewhere.
To start building a site with Fusion, you can either run a
wizard or create a one-page site based upon a style (which you
choose). Much like a desktop publishing program, you cannot then
simply start typing text and placing object upon the page...
everything must be contained within a box. Thus, in order to add a
graphic, you must first draw a box in which to place it.
The interface has pixel rulers which allow accurate
placement of elements, and make it much easier to place elements in
the same exact place on multiple pages. Of course, any page can
simply be saved as a template, which is another nice feature of
Fusion.
The program does pose some problems with its themes, which
are more varied than the those found in FrontPage, though not as
interchangeable. When switching between themes, some elements may be
of a different size, causing numerous layout difficulties. This is
nothing that a simple back-up file cannot take care of, if you find
yourself with a theme for which you do not care.
The single biggest drawback with NetObjects Fusion is that
it reformats the HTML of imported pages, which can be an absolute
nightmare. Due to this, Fusion is excellent for creating classy,
professional looking Web sites from scratch... but not much use if
you want to modify or maintain a Web site built by a different Web
authoring program or suite.
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With its latest version of FrontPage, Microsoft shows once
again why it can be so arrogant and inflexible and yet remain the
King of Software. FrontPage 2000 has automated and integrated a
plethora of "bells and whistles" into this strong and
flexible Web design suite. Thus it is not only an excellent choice
for the beginning Parish Webmaster, but an appealing one for veteran
designers as well.
Similar to other Microsoft Office products, FrontPage has
a multipane interface consisting of a main pane (for editing and
other tasks) and an icon bar with which you may change views. There
are tabs that allow you to switch between WYSIWYG, HTML and preview
modes.
You will find that FrontPage provides some very excellent
templates, which can help you create a very professional-looking
Parish Web site relatively quickly. And, although many critics pan
the themes available from many Web design suites, FrontPage offers a
pretty impressive array from which to choose.
FrontPage 2000 does an excellent job of managing
hyperlinks, images and many other elements behind the scenes,
without the user needing to get involved. For instance, if you are
using the navigation bars, FrontPage will automatically rebuild them
as you add, delete or move pages around in your Parish Web site. The
one problem I have with the navigation bars, while we're on the
subject, is that they are fairly rigid. Although you can designate
the hierarchy (parent, child and/or sibling pages), you can't
customize it by adding specific links, as you can in NetObjects
Fusion.
There is a large offering of DHTML animation effects, and
you can position graphics and text boxes with pixel-level accuracy
(although it is difficult because there aren't any pixel rulers
available in the editing window).
The major drawback to using FrontPage, in my opinion, is
that many of the most impressive features do not work unless your
Web Host's servers have the FrontPage Server Extensions installed.
This somewhat limits the Hosting companies from which you can
choose, but more and more companies are installing the extensions as
FrontPage becomes more widely used.
Less quirky then its predecessor, FrontPage 2000 offers
very reliable Web design capabilities that are easy for the beginner
to use. Most Parishes will find that it is more than adequate to
meet their needs quickly and easily.
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HoTMetaL is a program that is asked about occasionally and
often receives favorable reviews... albeit from HTML gurus who are
fanatical about HTML validation and cross-browser compatibility. And
while the ParishWebmaster supports cross-browser design and the use
of good HTML code, I think there are much more practical ways in
which to achieve these goals without putting oneself through the
idiosyncratic headache known as HoTMetaL PRO.
In short, SoftQuad's HoTMetaL PRO 6.0 is very well suited
for experienced designers who earned their stripes battling earlier
versions of HoTMetaL. If you happen to fall into that category, then
I doubt that you need a review of the product from the likes of me.
If you don't fall into that category, then my advice is this:
a Web design suite such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive
will give you much more power... and they are much easier to learn
and use.
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Namo WebEditor 3.06 provides a good variety of tools found
in the high-end suites such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver with some
rather basic graphic theme capabilities like those found in
FrontPage 2000 and NetObjects Fusion. The major difference is that
WebEditor does it for a fraction of the price of Dreamweaver or
Adobe GoLive.
When you fire-up the program you will be greeted with a
user interface which is very similar to Allair's HomeSite 4.5 and
FrontPage. The program provides a tabbed display which has file
lists, a diagram of the links and project management tools. As with
FrontPage, across the bottom of the editing window, you will see
three tabs: (i) an HTML view; (ii) a WYSIWYG view; and (iii) preview
mode. Tabs across the top let you toggle between pages, and
subwindows allow you to view more than one page at a time (a feature
not provided by FrontPage).
WebEditor allows you to create pages from a set of
templates. You can also assign a particular graphical theme, which
creates a more uniform look and feel. Unfortunately, WebEditor lacks
the automatic navigation bar updating provided by FrontPage and
Fusion, so it is more difficult to make universal changes. What it
lacks in automation though, it tries to make-up for in flexibility.
WebEditor allows you to insert themed objects anywhere on a page,
rather than simply where the program decides to put them.
Namo WebEditor also stands out for its simplified upload
capabilities. A basic tree structure of the files and corresponding
checkboxes allow you to simply pick the files you want to upload and
click away! Of course, you can also choose 'all modified files' or
'currently open files' as well.
For the most part, Namo WebEditor takes some fairly
advanced functions and makes them relatively simple to implement. It
offers a wide range of powerful tools and a cut-and-dry user
interface, all for an extremely reasonable price.
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Extremely powerful and somewhat complex, Macromedia has
provided a Web design program which far exceeds the other suites
discussed here. Dreamweaver 3 has an intuitive interface which
allows the seasoned programmer to easily build Web sites that
integrate numerous high-end elements seamlessly.
Dreamweaver 3 has many drag-and-drop features to make
designing even easier. But unlike many of the other suites discussed
here, Dreamweaver 3 does not provide design wizards, canned themes
and other such template-driven automated functionality (although you
can save any page as a template). Macromedia definitely had Web
professionals in mind, as is evidenced by features such as the
ability to check files in and out of a server to facilitate team
authoring.
From a programming perspective, Dreamweaver 3 is very nice
because it does not require the use of strictly conforming code.
Thus you are able to work transparently with sites authored in other
suites. In fact, it passes through script languages untouched (e.g.
ColdFusion and ASP). Editing HTML is also simplified by the
(optional) Quick Tag Editor. Dreamweaver also has the advanced
scripting needed to support back-end databases as well as e-commerce
apps.
The only real drawback we see with Dreamweaver 3 is that
it lacks an internal preview window, which forces you to launch an
external browser whenever you want to check out the layout and/or
the interactive elements.
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By providing a workspace that strongly resembles a desktop
publishing program, Adobe has made it easy for more traditional
designers to transition to Web design without having to learn HTML
programming.
To create a layout using GoLive, a designer is able to
simply drag placeholders to build a grid on the page. This allows
the designer to then place objects with pixel-level accuracy. GoLive
converts the grid into a standard HTML table.
Adobe has packed GoLive with many advanced features such
as providing ready-to-use JavaScript and DHTML actions; the ability
to accept tags from such languages as ColdFusion, JavaServer Page
and XML without tinkering with them; an internal JavaScript
editor; and a rudimentary video editor for QuickTime movies.
Site management is clear and the tools are robust. The FTP
capabilities make publishing your site a breeze, especially the
ability to select what you would like to upload.
Adobe GoLive is a very powerful Web design tool,
especially for traditional designers who want a great deal of
control over the aesthetics of their Web site without having to
tweak the HTML. In spite of all that, for overall ease of use and
extensibility, Dreamweaver 3 still gets our vote.
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If your Parish Web site is lucky enough to have a seasoned
HTML coder as it's Webmaster, then Allaire HomeSite 4.5.1 may very
well be his/her tool of choice. This package helps facilitate the
quick, efficient and accurate hand-coding of Web pages.
The default interface is an HTML code editor, but you can
switch to a basic WYSIWYG editor or a page previewer. The dockable
toolbars and resource panel, along with slick conveniences like
pop-up lists of tag attributes that can be inserted with a mouse
click, and the ability to collapse tags so complex code is more
manageable, make HomeSite a hand-coder's best friend. Of course, if
you have chosen Macromedia's Dreamweaver, you'll get HomeSite
included, which may just qualify as the best of both worlds.
HomeSite comes with templates and wizards to help create
basic pages, and you can add your own templates. Even HTML die-hards
will appreciate the wizards, which help you add multimedia elements
and DHTML features to your Web pages. One very useful HomeSite
feature is the ability to create snippets of code which can be
reused as needed.
Other slick features include the ability to edit two
sections of the same file (in separate windows) and a drag-and-drop
interface for graphics. Simply view all of the graphics available in
a folder, choose the one you want, then drag-and-drop it into the
editor. Also, virtually all of the important interface elements can
float or be docked, allowing you to customize your workspace.
Publishing with HomeSite allows the user a great deal of
flexibility. You can easily manage all of the files to be uploaded.
In fact, you are able to store the files in multiple folders, or
even on multiple machines, until you are ready to upload them.
There are plenty of little quirks that coders new to
HomeSite may notice right away, but these cannot seem to take away
from the ease and convenience provided by the program as a whole.
HomeSite also works well with many third-party software packages. In
fact, the CSS editor is such a product... TopStyle Lite.
Allaire's HomeSite does not offer the automated features
that make FrontPage 2000 such a popular program. And it is not a
recommended choice for those who are new to Web design. But if the
person building your Parish Web site wants to hand-code the HTML,
this is the only tool they'll need. |
