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Web Design Info: What software do I need?

web design info
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web design software (this page)

Web pages are plain text files that use markup coding called "HTML." You can learn HTML and code it yourself (not difficult, especially for simple small websites), or you can use a graphics-based webpage editor. You can create good-looking web pages much faster using an editor, but it is also useful to know some HTML so you can "go under the hood" and fix glitches. The UA Info Commons provides a pdf file intro to HTML coding.
Because HTML is for marking up text, and not for layout, it's difficult to create a coherent web page without using tables and table cells to separate out parts of the page. Hence, nearly everyone uses invisible tables within HTML for layout. Dreamweaver makes this extremely easy.

I recommend two editors: Netscape Composer (free) or Macromedia Dreamweaver ($99.00 from CATS).

FREE: Netscape Navigator (free) comes with a graphic webpage editor called Netscape Composer (free). Did I mention that it's free? The UA Information Commons has an intro to using Composer (pdf file).

Macromedia Dreamweaver ($99.00 from CATS) is a more sophisticated package with a lot more functionality. It also is a must if you are managing a large web site, because it keeps tracks of internal links, lets you look at all your files at once, etc.
The UA Info Commons has a pdf file intro to Dreamweaver.

There is also a package called Macromedia Contribute ($75.95 for educational version), which is for editing and updating existing websites. You can also create new web pages using templates set up for the site you're adding to. Not for designing pages or websites from scratch (for that, use Dreamweaver or Netscape Composer).

OTHER SOFTWARE:

Adobe PhotoShop: By now practically everyone knows what PhotoShop is, even if they don't know exactly how to use it. It's for editing images, especially photographs that have been scanned in or uploaded from a digital camera. It's kind of pricey ($300 for the educational version; $649 otherwise) because it has a huge range of functionality, most of which you will only need if you are a professional graphic designer or digital photography outfit. The pared-down version called "PhotoShop Elements" is only $69.00 for the educational version and has everything a basic web designer needs.

Macromedia Flash and Fireworks: These are for fancy effects like creating animations, rollover buttons, splash pages, and on and on.

Macromedia HomeSite 5.5 ($99.00)
This is a code-only (HTML) editor for web development. Create and modify HTML, CFML, JSP, and XHTML tags.

Bradbury Software: TopStyle Lite (FREE)
This is for editing Cascading Style Sheets and is extremely useful if you're incorporating CSS into your website. CSS is a way to set up and standardize formatting without gunking up your HTML code. Also, you can change every page in your site by modifying one style sheet.

UA Computer Technology Store:
CATS Prices as of March 24, 2005:

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (PC or Mac) $299.00
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 (PC or Mac)) $69.00
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 (PC or Mac) $99.00
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 (PC or Mac) $99.00
Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 (PC or Mac) $99.00
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