Which is better. Dreamweaver or Frontpage for web page design?

Question

I just cant get my head round using the software on Dreamweaver.

Answer 1

I've found in my use that Dreamweaver is a much more powerful tool for presentation. It makes designing a decent page much easier, and allows for easy integration of Macromedia (or Adobe since they bought Macromedia out) items, such as Flash animations etc.

Frontpage is a lot easier to use for actual web structure, giving you a nicely branched directory structure so you can see how your pages link together.

Personally, because I like to be awkward, I use Dreamweaver to design each page, and Frontpage to structure my site and check for broken links.

Answer 2

FrontPage produces so much junk code and 90% of the pages/sites done in FrontPage look like they were created using MS Word.

Dreamweaver definitely has a learning curve to it, but is far superior to FrontPage in every possible way. The code is so much cleaner and neater, no extra junk. Has an option to group your tags, built in CSS editor and has lots of plugins.

FrontPage may be easier, but the results always look poorly done. If you want a nice looking site, then take the time to learn Dreamweaver. Macromedia always had great Help Tutorials and I'm sure that's carried over with Adobe as well.

Answer 3

Dreamweaver is definately better - Frontpage tends to write a lot of dodgy code - but it's very expensive.

It's usually best just to write your own code. This means you have a lot more control over everything, rather than relying on a program which has limitations in terms of the quality of web design it can produce.

Answer 4

Dreamweaver is nice. I think FrontPage is good for beginners. I use Visual Studio 2005 now, though. If you're a student, you can get Visual Studio really cheap. If you've already graduated, sign up for a college course today so you can get a student ID as proof of enrollment. Or you could try Visual Web Developer Express Edition--it's free.

Answer 5

Dreamweaver produces cleaner code - more inilne with W3C standards. However, the layout and navigation of your site in Frontpage can definitely be easier to work with at times. It is a lot more point and click.

I agree that if you know enough, DW can definietly produce better results.

Answer 6

Think of it this way: Big Mac or Whopper? Some days you want the other one.

If you are going to really get into the business, you will need both. Some customers will require very specific things that one does a better job at.

Yes, FP does add in a bunch of extra crap, but as a developer, these are only tools. You will need to finally examine your source code before you publish.

With either, remember to keep your pages content only and free of presentation. This means not highlighting individual words and clicking on the bold button. LEARN XHTML AND CSS and keep the below link bookmarked as a reference.

I have DW8 and FP2003. I use DW more now that I took the time to learn it. Plus, DW integrates flash MUCH better.

If you plan on doing flash as well, buy the studio package from adobe. Its a better deal than buying individually. Get a student discount.

Answer 7

Frontpage is simplest(not much more complicated than using Word). But Dreamweaver has much more features, and it makes integrating Flash objects into your page easier.

Answer 8

Frontpage is easier but dreamweaver will give better results

Answer 9

Front Page is better if you like the Microsoft templates, navigation system, automatic headers, etc. But if you want to do your own design work, navigation system, etc. in Front Page, you end up doing an awful lot of hand coding, and if you're hand coding, why do you need a WYSIWIG editor anyway? (And Microsoft has never been known for its good taste in design.)

My job includes maintaining a website in Front Page, so I do lots of hand coding. At home and on outside projects, I use Dreamweaver.

Answer 10

Dreamweaver. My teacher is a professional and he recommends Dreamweaver