[Omelas0469]

Hi,

I'm a budding web developer who started by reading a textbook two months ago and has been volunteering making web sites for non-profits. Some professionals have begun approaching me and have expressed interest in commisioning me to make them web sites.

In the book I read that taught me the basics, they said that the use of frames is deprecated and that if you want to have static content (banner, menu, etc.) then it's best practice to use a template made using Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web. I use Dreamweaver CS4 to code my sites and so the last page I made I use a Dreamweaver template and I'm not sure whether I should continue to apply this technique. The reason why this question even came to mind is that I don't know if my clients will be able to update their sites on their own if they don't have dreamweaver if I apply dreamweaver templates to make their sites.

Does anybody know if people without dreamweaver can update a site using dreamweaver templates? What is the best practice to apply in this scenario.

Note: I currently don't have any knowledge of server-side scripting.

- Omelas

[BetaWar]

As long as you are modifying the HTML (not going through the design view) using Dreamweaver is fine, it is once you start relying on the design view to create your sites that you begin to lose the developer portion.

Now, it is always best to use server-side scripting to make templates, but from a quick look at Dreamweaver the templates they use don't require either you having dreamweaver (is static HTML and CSS) and they don't seem to add a whole bunch of extra crap (which they do when using the design view).

Personally, I discourage (highly) the use of dreamweaver because a LOT of people start off wanting to learn CSS and HTML and Javascript and then give up because Dreamweaver "can do it all". That really isn't the truth - they use a lot of conditional statements (for IE) and other hacks to get the sites looking about the same between browsers (and sometimes they still fail at it).

In short, anyone can modify a dreamweaver template without owning dreamweaver, it is after all just HTML and CSS.

[gregwhitworth]

I agree with beta (not uncommon). But anyways, I think there is a time an place for anything, and so I would say is it 'BEST' practice, of course not. But is it 'AFFORDABLE' practice - yes. Some clients don't want to fork over thousands for a custom site, or they only want their contact info at a certain domain. This is where templates can be really handy, mainly because they will find someone to do this for them and it mine as well be you. Then 6 months later you can tell them that hey, you know that cheap site we threw together for you - you've had a few hundred people a month coming there - so then they say, "you know what - why don't we go all out on this thing." Chaching!!

The whole while you should maintain standards and accessibility so that you never are compromising the quality site, just the depth of design and development.

--

Greg

[shafishstix]

As far as im aware the templated code produced by dreamweaver is very standards compliant and robust (a good basis). As betaWar mentioned dreamweaver doesnt provide "hacks" and you will need some concete knowledge of HTML to know what they do and where to put them.

The reason you might want to optimise your site with code such as "hacks" is primarily to ensure that a site displays as close as originally intended on "all" browsers, as they all have their own quirks.

In dreamweaver MX (not sure about CS4) but it was always good practice to use HTML knowledge to cut out bloated comments dreamweaver put into its documents to get the download size smaller and therefore a quicker speed.

If you properly define a site in dreamweaver (this should be in your book) whether locally or on a server, you shouldnt have many troubles updating templates and such. Dreamweaver takes care of a lot of the internal linking, but you must define your site properly. (this causes a lot of confusion for the newly initiated)

As betaWar mentioned a lot of people rely on dreamweaver to take care of the code without learning the underlying HTML/CSS. You at least need to know a bit of background on how CSS works, as it will give you familiarity on what dreamweaver's templates are about .

(Tables and frames are very old school, and aren't the best alternative for today webpages)

[kewlkreator]

Dreamweaver can be useful but annoying too. I use it to work out bits of code I've forgotten and to do a bit of validation. Templates can be nice but modifying them makes them even nicer.

However, don't go blowing a lot of money on a expensive program like Dreamweaver if you don't think you'll use/need it.