Please boldly share your opinions, comments, and issues about "Concrete5 versus Dreamweaver"

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I am trying to quickly become a professional web developer, and financially support myself by having clients pay me to build and maintain their websites. I like Concrete5 very much.

When I search for jobs, the people who want to hire web developers for projects or full-time jobs, demand Dreamweaver competence. And knowledgeable career counselors insist on Adobe Dreamweaver.

I have not yet glanced at Dreamweaver; I am very happy with Concrete5.

Does anyone want to tell how they financially support themselves with Concrete5, and not Dreamweaver?

Thanks for your wise comments; I am appreciative.

tamarosher
 
adamjohnson replied on at Permalink Reply
adamjohnson
Dreamweaver and Concrete5 are totally different things. Concrete5 is a Content Management System (CMS). Dreamweaver is a program for Windows & Mac. Dreamweaver can be used to edit code to build Concrete5 templates.

Edit: There seem to be several threads on concrete5.org about DW & C5. Check em out. Among others:

http://www.concrete5.org/community/forums/customizing_c5/dreamweave...
tamarosher replied on at Permalink Reply
tamarosher
Thank you very much for this valuable information! Please contact me when I can assist you!
infront replied on at Permalink Reply
I have created a few sites with dreamweaver 3 and I was wondering how all this works. I have for the first time been asked if I could allow access to the site by my client so they could upload images of their own. I have found you c5 in my hours of looking and this sounds like what I am looking for, however the steps I am looking for are from the ground up. What I am asking is where do I begin?
cannonf700 replied on at Permalink Best Answer Reply
cannonf700
We use Dreamweaver for editing .css files and working directly with HTML files. If you want a career as a webdesigner you will need some type of program that will allow you to skillfully create/manipulate both .css/.php and HTML files. Dreamweaver has been the industry standard for this but it's not the only program available. If you don't want to drop the cash for Dreamweaver then check out Notepad ++.
tamarosher replied on at Permalink Reply
tamarosher
Thanks so much for this valuable information! Please contact me when I can assist you!

I have downloaded Notepad++ and will begin working with it.
stretchrt replied on at Permalink Reply
stretchrt
Another suggestion for a Dreamweaver replacement is PHP Designer, fromhttp://www.mpsoftware.dk
I've been using it for a few years now and rather like it, also quite reasonably priced.
As cannonf700 said, DW is the industry standard, which is why so many job postings ask for it, but if you can prove the skills in producing .css and html then whether it's done in DW or something else should be irrelevant.
clintre replied on at Permalink Reply
clintre
Yeah love PHP Designer, great program at a much better price.
tamarosher replied on at Permalink Reply
tamarosher
Thanks so much for this valuable information. Please contact me when I can assist you!
mesuva replied on at Permalink Reply
mesuva
To me Dreamweaver is a strange tool.

I have used Dreamweaver professionally and I've even taught it to high school kids, so I feel know it fairly well.

But the only reason I've used it professionally is because of template feature, to build static sites. Now nearly all of of the sites I build are CMS based, so dreamweaver templates aren't needed. I've occasionally found it handy for editing large tables, but again, that's a rare occurrence. When I have used it, I've pretty much stuck to the code view, and in that regard I've never found it that brilliant.

So the reason I use the word strange is that it's regarded as the 'industry standard', but I feel that a professional should know html/css well enough to not need a wysiwyg editor. It's good for people who want to build a website that don't have those skills, but then that isn't really going to be professional work. So I've never quite understood who it is aimed at!

I've got it installed, it works well on my computer, but I find that I NEVER open it. I find it too big and clunky. My workflow slows down too.

My new favourite editor is Espresso (mac) -http://macrabbit.com/espresso/
It has this awesome feature where it allows you to edit css and have a preview update automatically - no need to save or refresh. It also allows you to 'xray' a page, to inspect elements and automatically jump to the applicable CSS rule. That has sped me up dramatically.

I'm also a big fan of Coda (mac) - a great all-in-one editor.

I used to be a big fan of Eclipse/Aptana because of some of the php plugins. On Windows I have a lot of respect for Ultraedit (column mode for the win), and Notepad++ is great. I also regularly use Textwranger and Smultron on mac. Looking back, they are all code editors.

If you want to become a professional web developer, focus on the code. Be able to write a complete site with a text editor. Once you are confortable with what you are doing and building, Dreamweaver will appear simpler and just another tool to edit code and manage files.
pvernaglia replied on at Permalink Reply
pvernaglia
I agree with mesuva, I think there are better tools than Dreamweaver. Espresso is a nice editor, I personally us Komodo Edit, it's free and had all the features I need for doing HTML, CSS and PHP
tamarosher replied on at Permalink Reply
tamarosher
Thanks so much for sharing this information with me. I really do appreciate it, and have learned so much from you.

Please contact me when I can assist you!
Vapor replied on at Permalink Reply
Vapor
No offense but those jobs requiring dreamweaver skills...know nothing about web design. As mesuva stated: using a simple text editor is much more helpful.

I myself use notepad++ !
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Learn the coding side first, then you can muddle with weaver. If you start on weaver first you will surely confuse yourself later on.
PauloCarvalhoDesign replied on at Permalink Reply
PauloCarvalhoDesign
Please don't take ofense on my comments but if you want to become a professional in web development you must first learn html,css and one or more languages like js,php,ruby and so on.
If you have the knowledge from the languages above you would not be putting this question about dreamweaver or c5, makes no sense.
One his a web application the other a piece of software to develope aplication.
You just need a browser/text editor to create anything you would like.
Of course over time you would pick the right tools that will match your workflow.
Besides none of them c5 or dreamweaver will make you a better developer.
pdcouto replied on at Permalink Reply
pdcouto
Dreamweaver is a reference software, like for example Adobe Photoshop.

Even though there are others, like referred, if you want to work for a company that builds and produces web sites it's quite likely they will have bought DW and will want you to know how to work with it. If you don't, you bet they will choose someone who can.

And if you want to work with it and build websites, you will have to go behond WYSIWYG editors and learn some basic HTML and at least Javascript.

It seems to me, and don't take ofense, that you woke up one day, tried Concrete, and became amazed with what this can do. Trust me, there's much more to it than installing a great CMS like Concrete and build a few sites, to become a pro on this.

I remember building my first page on notepad and remember advancing to some HTML editors that were quite good, but when it comes to WYSIWYG, DW it rules. I build static sites since DW MX (was Macromedia, rememer?), had a few other softwares before. But about web site bulding the more I know the more I know that I know nothing.
tamarosher replied on at Permalink Reply
tamarosher
THANKS EVERYBODY! I am very appreciative for each person's comment, guidance, and advice. I am just starting out in web development.

Each of you have helped me a lot! Please contact me when I can help you. Have a wonderful day!