Do real web designers use DreamWeaver?

Posted by Wonder

October 31, 2008

As I’ve *mentioned* already, I’m taking a Dreamweaver class on Lynda.com so I can become a web designer.

Well, I guess I’m already technically a web designer, I’ve been building web sites since 2002. But, I’m not anything you could call “good” at it and I wanna get better, lots better. Hence, ergo, thus.

But, Dreamweaver? Actually, I have some mixed emotions about even having the program on my computer, let alone using it. My first web mentor, Serenata (more about Rena later), is probably spinning in her grave about now. Serenata was a real web designer and she wouldn’t have coded in Dreamweaver for all the tea in China.

Of course, things were a little bit different back in 2002-2003 when Rena was giving me a few clues about design and a lot of “helping hand” with my sites. Pages were mostly laid out in tables and even graphics were limited. I’m not even going to tell you what Serenata had to say about Flash.

Today, I have a bunch of sites. No, not quite true, I have a few sites and a whole lot of domain names that need sites to go with them :) But, I still only have the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else has.

Time makes more converts than reason.”
Thomas Paine

My thought is that Dreamweaver will speed up the design process for my sites without making the code too icky.

However, even after doing a bunch of googling, I’m still not sure that Dreamweaver is the answer.

37 signals still agrees with Serenata that you should hand code all your pages. Apple’s Developer Connection says I should be using ruby on rails. Still others recommend HomeSite or about a zillion other programs.

How about it, real web designers? Do you use Dreamweaver? Homesite? TextPad? Am I wasting my two most precious commodities, time and money, on this class?

Web design

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