First-rate Tools for your Web AuthoringWritten by kzetkin02@gmail.com
Indeed, if you want to make your mark in wide, wide Web, you would not need an expensive software package to create and post your very own Website. Even if you don’t have money to spare, many HTML editors and FTP clients are available that does not charge much. Some even do not charge at all. With these HTML editors and FTP clients hanging around, what’s use of troubling yourself understanding all features of web development software packages?Well, that’s scenario if you are simply dreaming of “having” a Website. But if you are keen on “making” your own mark in Web, and really interested in authoring it, brand it with your very own style and technique, then you need reliable and useful web development tools. To help you take your Web authoring to a higher level, we introduce you to Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX and Adobe's GoLive 6. These are web authoring tools that strive to make data movement simple within their own suite of products. These two top notch web development tools also allow Web development team members to swap tasks with one another more easily. So, let’s get to know these new tools… With Dreamweaver MX, Macromedia again placed new interfaces, as it always has done to its latest products. But, this $399 Web design package (upgrade, $199) gives option to use old version4 workspace. It is enhanced with more integration unlike previous versions which were separate, disintegrated programs. Thus, it gave way to a suite-ification with panels that now function in same way as panels in Flash and in Macromedia's Fireworks image editing program. It has a new look wherein panels are docked instead of floating on screen to reduce clutter. A new row of tabs along top of screen places layout, table, text, form, and other common functions, making it easily accessible.
| | Creating Data-driven pages in Macromedia Dreamweaver MXWritten by Kay Zetkin
With Macromedia’s release of new version of Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver MX 2004, creating data – driven pages have several requirements before you can begin making them. Unlike Dreamweaver 4, a previous version of Dreamweaver, wherein you can just dive in and everything you need are there in application already, Dreamweaver MX requires some bits and bobs that should be in order and set up your environment. There are three things you need. Here are they: 1. A Web Server – now, don’t panic with this! You can run some free web server software in your computer, for development purposes. Yes, when we say it’s free, you won’t have to spend a dime on any more equipment and you won’t even have to learn much about it. You need a web server because Dreamweaver MX creates sites using five main technologies – these are ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP and ColdFusion. All these systems require processing of pages which have to be done using a server. This is main feature that makes Dreamweaver MX different from previous versions. For you to see your pages working, a server is needed to do processing for you. If you are a beginner, you might find it best to start working with ASP, since it's most common choice. There are also lots of people around who'll know how to help you out once you get stuck. For ASP, web server you need comes free with Windows but it's not installed by default. If you have NT (with latest Service Packs), Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro, then you'll have IIS (Internet Information Server) on your Windows CD. To add it, go to Add and Remove Programs. Apache web server is on your machine if you’re running OS X. And if you’re on Mac, things can be more complicated but reachable still. You can use PHP as an advisable option in order to keep your costs low. But if you have plenty of budget to spare then, ColdFusion is best. Chili!Soft makes ASP servers for many different platforms, including Linux, in addition to Microsoft servers. Its good news if you already have a web server on your network. Still, if you want to run using JSP or ColdFusion, then you’ll need to set up appropriate servers for those. Once you have a web server running, we have a method of viewing dynamic pages. Now we need to pay attention to source of our data.
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