Do you learn html to develop your website? Or site builder is your only option? If not, what development tools are you using? Dreamweaver, FrontPage or even note page? Which are you prefer?

When I started off I used Yahoo online builder, then proceeded to Dreamweaver... Any visual editor is a great opportunity for a beginner to make a start without too much headache and without been scared off the complicated code.But after a while I became ambitious and started to apply for awards, of course my code nor design at times were not good enough, as WYSWIG tend to generate a not of crap code that doesn't pass validation. Thankfully i had people who helped me and taught me how to use CSS and HTML -- evidently it was easier than many of u imagine...

so, i have like 5 sites now that were built without any editor, and i am proud of myself... however, for building an average site of an average importance, i would say that Dreamweaver is the best.

I agree with LoreLei, its better to start out small, something like a small create your own free web page thing. (yahoo, geocities, myspace, and more) This is how I got started with web design and coding. It took me 2 years to mess around with html then I move up after another year. ASP then PHP.. However I still need help in php from time to time. Dreamweaver is the best for a quick structure layout for a website. You can also use fireworks also to splic images to website.

the biggest problem with php is that you cannot view it on your computer -- u can only upload it each time to the server, which consumes a lot of time... and when u build a script yourself which requires thousands of page reloading and testing, it takes forever sometimes...

At least HTML can be viewed in your browser offline, and when you use Dreamweaver, even directly as you work. However, if you work with a separate CSS file (i.e. not the one in the body of your page) visual editors distort the picture, even though it looks properly in the browser.

I am using Dream weaver, it speedup the total time spend in development. I normally design in html first then only split the code in to tpl when finalize.

I have learned HTML using some of the free tutorials found on the web. I don't really like the WYSIWYG editors, I tend to code my website by hand using XHTML + CSS.

WYSIWYG editors are nice to use to make a quick site, but if you want everything to work properly you need to use your own coding techniques.

Originally Posted by TutorialWizard

WYSIWYG editors are nice to use to make a quick site, but if you want everything to work properly you need to use your own coding techniques.

The only problem to WYSIWYG editors is too much redundant script will be generated.

Also, the code generated by WYSIWYG editors tends not to be W3C compliant, if you are interested in that.

I learned html one step at a time, i don't go looking around to learn it, I started to make stuff with freewebs and got more advance and after 3 years I am where I am.

Now, I use Dreamweaver to make it faster.

Yes, WYSIWYG is good for beginners or those wanting to build a site quickly, but later on as you learn more, you may find it better to hand code your site.

For simple sites, Frontpage is easy to use. Check also your own host if it offers a free sitebuilder.

Personally I think the free sitebuilder is just another waste of time pre-made template that everyone uses. However some look professional and others are just sad.

WYSIWYG is mostly just a time-saving tool. Instead of going around and making all my tables by hand, trying to see how they look at such and such width, etc, is so much more tedious than clicking and dragging a table into place. Other than that, most of my coding gets done in the code section of dreamweaver, or notepad.

Haven't you guys tried NVU? I think it's the only WYSIWYG editor that makes code validate with W3C.

what does WYSIWYG stnad for

Originally Posted by Evo

what does WYSIWYG stnad for

What you see is what you get

If you do want to learn html. A good tutorial site is http://www.w3schools.com/

i found the site incredibly useful when i first started making web sites.