One more try... question about Frontpage

[Guest]

I posted this before but didn't get any response. Maybe someone with some
Frontpage experience would be kind enough to help me out.

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I am hosting a website using godaddy.com as a host. I've created my site
using software they provide called Website Complete, which is certainly meant
for novices. It is bug ridden and doesn't seem to support any type of
Javascript or PHP though my host account supposedly does.

I'm considering switching to either Frontpage or Dreamweaver. One specific
question I have is whether it is more difficult to use Frontpage if one is
hosting on Linux and using PHP rather than ASP? I've heard that PHP code
doesn't tend to stay where it's supposed to in Frontpage?

Other than that any general advice on Frontpage vs Dreamweaver (or other
cheaper programs) and/or hosting companies would be appreciated.

 

[Randy Morgan]

Others here can give more complete answers, but here's look from a
relative newbie and definite non-MVP.

I use godaddy to host a site I'm developing and FP as my development
platform, but my account is shared Windows, not Unix.

IMO, godaddy is OK but not great. At least in my case the php support
is very limited (they say it is more robust on unix accounts). They are
pretty inexpensive, and that shows whenever you want to do something
even a little "out of the box".

If you have a shared account, godaddy does not let you look at your raw
log files. They also do not allow external connections to databases.

Their uptime has been very good, and their email support responses are
pretty fast (within a day, certainly) although not always terribly
helpful. The primary goal of the support staff seems to be to sell you
one of their myriad add-on products.

There are several folks who have weighed in on FP vs. DW (google
"frontpage vs. dreamweaver"), and the answer seems to be "it depends".

I am relatively new to web development, and downloaded both products
before I chose FP, and I'm definitely no coder, so my experiences may
not be relevant to you, but I'd say:

1. FP has a shorter learning cycle, particularly if you're familiar with
MS Office products. The look and feel is very similar, and FP talks to
other MS products very well.

2. DW seems more powerful somehow, but more difficult to get used to. I
played with it for a couple days but went back to FP. I can't really
tell you if any of the FP observations I'll make apply to DW as well.
What is clear is that you can make good sites with either of them. You
can make a good site with Notepad, though, so it becomes and ease-of-use
issue.

3. I've only tried a little PHP and ASP stuff, but FP is definitely more
ASP-friendly than PHP-friendly.

4. To make full use of FP you need support for what they call FP server
extensions, which are some programs than reside on the host server.
Godaddy supports FP extensions for all accounts. When the extensions
are installed and working properly, publishing with FP is a beautiful
thing. When they're not, life can get difficult.

5. If you are one of those people who enjoys parsing every line of their
HTML by hand and making side bets with your buddies on whose code will
be the most elegant and have the smallest file size, FP may not be for
you. They have their own MS way of doing things, and it all basically
works, but it is sometimes a little awkward to work with if you want to
change things in Code View.

6. I'm sure DW has its own warts; I just don't know very much about them.

I'll stop there.

Randy Morgan

 

[Ronx]

I have never used Dreamweaver, so cannot comment except to say the
learning curve is much steeper than FrontPage's.

I used every version of FrontPage from FP95 through FP2003 on a Unix
server without any problems - in fact there are fewer problems (in my
experience) hosting on a correctly set up Unix site than on a not so
well setup Windows server. There are a lot of good hosts about, and a
lot of not so good hosts on both platforms.

I have very little experience with PHP and that had no problems at all
with FrontPage, however this experience is not shared by some other
users in this newsgroup.
One of the major causes of problems is coding methods - if, for
example, you start a table in HTML mark-up, and close it in a PHP
statement, FrontPage will close the table for you by adding and/or
rearranging code. Any tag opened in HTML should be closed in HTML,
any tag opened in PHP should be closed in PHP.
--
Ron Symonds
Microsoft MVP (FrontPage)
Reply only to group - emails will be deleted unread.

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[Paul]

HI! Dreamweaver is much harder to learn. but is much more powerful but like
the others mentioned its learning curve is far greater. DW has Allot of
advantages over FP as far as add-ons, functions, and CSS formatting.

FP on the other hand is far easier to learn and publishing is great.

One of my disappointments in FP 2003 is that I was certainly expecting more
functions, add-ons, CSS formatting ect.. I mean, I should not have to hand
code in a OnmouseOver event for a custom rollover. ( I mean please!!! ) The
WEAK release of FP 2003 is in my opinion one of MS top 10 stupidities. They
have a good product and instead of enhancing it to equal the competition
they decided to fall way short.

I hope they learn from this mistake and boost up there next version because
they are loosing allot of market to their competitors.

1: If you plan to get a small project done quickly and you are a first time
user I suggest FP.

2: For Advanced / Professionals or Power users I suggest DW.

3: For Intermediate. Well, Lets hope that the next version of FP fills at
least that spot .

Paul

 

[Theresa Bennett]

I've used FP on UNIX/Apache with php + cgi/perl and ssi for about 8 years
with no problems with the same host who obviously knows what they are doing.
Only two hours down time for a blown router about 6 years ago. I also use FP
on a few Win servers with .asp and used it to set up and edit a .NET
intranet portal. Although I've only worked on sites on the Win platform for
about 4 years, I don't think it matters much what you use as long as you get
the job done. It's not the tool or the platform, it's what you do with them
that matters. Use whatever you feel comfortable with.

At some point you're probably going to go beyond the server components and
actually dig into the code to a greater or lesser degree to get the
functionality you want.

I also used Dreamweaver for a while but to be honest, I don't think there's
much you can't do with FP, notepad and a good FTP program.

HTH